Causes And Effects Of Reconstruction

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Once the Civil War ended in 1861, the United States had to undergo a long period of Reconstruction. There was a large amount of lives loss from the war and America had lost a lot of money as well as resources from the war effort. The Southern states were rejoining the Union and now slaves were free to find their own living. This led to the Republicans, ex-Confederates, and freed slaves all forming their own agendas during the Reconstruction period. However, not everyone was as successful as they hoped to be. When the reconstruction period began after the Civil War the Republican set into motion their own plans, restoring rebellious states into the Union and finding a place in society for free slaves. However, there were two major problems standing in their way, the ex-Confederates and President Andrew Johnson. The ex-Confederates were causing trouble by starting riots and trying take political action against freed African Americans, such as during the Memphis Riot in 1866. Johnson, being a Democrat, allied himself with the ex-Confederates because he shared the same beliefs as them regarding freed slaves. They believed that they should be forced to continue working on plantations, which is Johnson enacted the Black Codes, which were meant to force former slaves to work back on plantations. To make matters worse, Johnson was pardoning ex-Confederate leaders even though they had directly fought against the Union. This resulted in the republicans calling Johnson “a traitor to