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Reconstruction era full essay
Reconstruction in America
Reconstruction era full essay
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Reconstruction happened after the Civil War ended, during 1865-1877. Many things happened during the time of the Reconstruction and it definitely did not do as much for African Americans as everyone thought it would. But they were still free. African American were free because of the 13th Amendment ended, the institution of slavery in the United States.
Following the ending of the Civil War in 1865, America was in an era known as the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction lasted until 1877. Citizens were attempting to rebuild our nation following one of the deadliest war in American History. In this time, the Fourteenth Amendment and Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution were ratified. Although slaves were freed, African Americans still faced intense racial prejudice and discrimination.
The goal of reconstruction was to rebuild the south and integrate the newly freed slaves into society. Reconstruction was a great concept but execution of it failed. Many schools were built and many newly freed slaves were registered to vote, but the southern ways took over again once the union soldiers stopped occupying the south. Southerners used sharecropping to basically bring back slavery, lynching of blacks started widespread in the south, blacks were threatened if they tried to vote, and many of the schools were given teachers who limited what was taught. This helps to show the significance that even after the war, which was fought for fair treatment of all, racist ideals still shaped the north and south and this would not be corrected for another 100
The Reconstruction Era of American history was plagued by many problems. One of the most important problems being the recently released from slavery Freedmen. Freedmen were in a tricky situation in which they had just been released from their owner and had nowhere to go, but the Federal Government made many successful attempts to help them out. The Government helped alleviate all the problems Freedmen had from their finances to basic needs and rights, and in doing so, made the period of reconstruction more helpful than harmful for Freedmen. The events of reconstruction were helpful to freedmen as they were not only freed from slavery, they were given rights directly from the federal government.
Once the Civil War ended, many people suffered from weaknesses. The war caused many problems, therefore, causing the need for Reconstruction. Reconstruction was used to fix the majority of problems that the Civil War caused. During Reconstruction, which occurred from 1865 to 1877, many people’s lives were impacted, especially African Americans because many were having to deal with political, economic, and social issues. A political perspective was that African Americans should be given more rights, a social perspective was to allow African Americans to have a normal life, while an economic perspective was that African Americans shouldn’t be allowed to connect with the government.
Reconstruction was the political, social, and economic progress for blacks. Blacks people made up majority of the Southern voters. There were 265 African Americans that were elected into public office. Out of all of them, 100 of them were born slaves, 16 of them served in the US Congress, and more than 600 of them served in state legislatures. Reconstruction also established a public school system to allow everyone to have some sort of education.
One of the main goals of Reconstruction was to require that the South give African-Americans equal rights. With slavery abolished, the Federal Government decided that it was now time to give African-Americans the rights given to the rest of American citizens. This was in the mid 1800s. Needless to say, these plans were not put in place, or at least not properly enforced, for many more years. It took a well-organized uprising by African-Americans about 100 years later to finally make some progress.
Positive gains from the Reconstruction Era include: Freedmen’s Bureau: food, Medicare, and legal advice granted to newly freed African Americans; 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment which abolished slavery, granted citizenship to everyone born in the U.S, and granting everyone the right to vote. Negative effects from the Reconstruction Era include: the KKK: a group of whites who threatened blacks so they wouldn’t vote, and killed many; Black Codes: laws that limited the freedom from U.S citizens. The effects of the Reconstruction, which linger in our society nowadays, are the three amendments passed by congress, the Civil Rights act of 1866, and black schools and universities were established; most importantly, we are once again a unified
Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
Recently the country has been handed the decision of whether or not to end reconstruction. To find this answer, it must be determined whether or not the southern states fulfilled the requirements of the Reconstruction Act of 1867, if the states “in good faith” implemented the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments and if federal troops are still needed in the southern states. As of now, the southern states have proved themselves to have successfully fulfilled the requirements of Reconstruction Act of 1867 as evidenced by their significant steps towards racial equality regarding political power. After this act came into action, the African Americans were given real political power for the first time. This lead to public schools, enacted civil rights
“... the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again towards slavery” (W.E.B. Dubois). Reconstruction, though it was ended, was created to rebuild the Union. The main intentions of Reconstruction was to have the southern states that seceded to rejoin the Union and to establish and protect the right of the newly freed slaves, commonly known as freedmen. Three new amendments were added to the Constitution during this period, giving basic rights to freedmen, like voting, citizenship, and freedom. Things like racism and terrorism in the South ripped through the precious fabric of Reconstruction, tearing it to shreds.
Maceo Cardinale Kwik Reconstruction Reconstruction was the twelve years after the civil war. Those twelve years were full of readjustment fixing the ruin the United States had fallen into. The problems that had the United states in disarray were how to, rebuild the South, reunite the states, and ensure the rights and protection of the newly freed African Americans. The civil war left the South in shambles, and newly freed slaves struggled to adjust to their new freedom. Most Southerners hated reconstruction and everything else about the North.
During the Reconstruction period, the North and the South had very different ideas on how to handle all of the new problems in America regarding the freed slaves. Though the North and the South had contradictory ideas that ranged from the basic needs of the freed slaves to establishing new state governments, the Reconstruction period strived to unify the North and the South. In the Reconstruction period, freedom was a new idea for many African Americans and they aimed to establish all of their new rights, even if they were unsure of their lives after the Civil War. The North and South, both having different ideas, had two different ways to meet the basic needs for food, service, and industry.
The American civil war led to the reunion of the South and the North. But, its consequences led the Republicans to take the lead of reconstructing what the war had destroyed especially in the South because it contained larger numbers of newly freed slaves. Just after the civil war, America entered into what was called as the reconstruction era. Reconstruction refers to when “the federal government established the terms on which rebellious Southern states would be integrated back into the Union” (Watts 246). As a further matter, it also meant “the process of helping the 4 million freed slaves after the civil war [to] make the transition to freedom” (DeFord and Schwarz 96).
The Freedmen’s Bureau was founded by Congress in 1865 to help former slaves and poor whites in the South by providing shelter, food, medical support, as well as giving legal assistance, and creating schools for them (Jordan 386). The Freedmen’s Bureau was also supported by carpetbaggers, Northerners who had readily packed up and left for the South, and scalawags, Southerners who supported former slaves and poor whites, both of whom supported the cause of freedom and equality. Thus, through the Freedmen’s Bureau, both black Americans and white Americans were receiving the same necessities, promoting equality amongst these two