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Civil War Reconstruction Research Paper

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Reconstruction officially began in 1865. The Civil War is believed to have come to an end in April 1865; however, it was not until the 20th of August, 1866 that President Andrew Johnson officially declared the end of the Civil War. Most people express the era as a period of putting back the broken pieces. The country was attempting to return to its footing after the Civil War. Reconstruction was not an easy task since the southerners were burning with resentment and trying to return to power within the government (Randall & Donald, 2016). The end of the war came with the freedom of almost four million slaves, who mingled freely within the population. President Abraham Lincoln developed the reconstruction plan. He proposed a lenient policy that …show more content…

The emancipation of the slaves was accepted by most of the northerners, and President Lincoln went to the extent of forcing the Southerners to accept the liberation of the slaves. However, President Lincoln was not lucky to see his plan materialize, but his successor followed through with the plan. President Johnson gave the southern states government free reign to rebuild themselves as long as they pledged loyalty to the Union and respected the emancipation of the former slaves. The radical Reconstructionist fought for the liberated slaves so that they could have a chance of building a living of their own and not depending on their white slave masters or colonist (Egerton, 2014). The Civil Rights Bill was passed by Congress in 1866, which guaranteed the African Americans equal protection under the law as well as renewing the Freedmen’s Bureau. By the time the freemen’s Bureau was established, most of the African Americans were former slaves, who had no land, food, or a place to go. Therefore, most of the free slaves were still under control of their …show more content…

The African Americans representative put it clear that they understand that the freedom proclamation, as promised by President Lincoln, was taking them from the under the yoke of bondage, enabling them to reap the fruit of their labor, take care of themselves, and assist the government in maintaining the freedom by enlisting as soldiers. The Reconstruction Era can be regarded as an extended period of the Civil War since there was cold war amongst the free slaves and the southerners. If the original purpose of the Civil War, which was to reunite the rebellious states, could have been maintained, then the Reconstruction would not be a total failure. Therefore, it would be advisable for the reunion of the United States to be the focal point, which, as a result, would bring the end of slavery, just as it happened in Spain and

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Then finally, the Southern states had to enact plans that dealt with freeing the slaves if their freedom was not going to become compromised. The terms of Lincoln’s plans were easy for most of the South to handle, but some Confederates had a hard time with the emancipation of their slaves. With the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, Lincoln got the initiative for reconstruction from Congress. The Radical Republicans, however, thought that the South had gotten away easy due to the plan. Most accepted it due to Lincoln’s prestige and leadership style.

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The freedmen’s bureau ceased to exist on July 1868. (“Slavery Timeline”) June 1866, this was when congress approves the 14th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For the second time, congress passed the freedmen’s bureau and Johnson tries to veto it again but congress overrides his veto. March 1867, Congress passed the first Reconstruction act.

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"Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address March 4, 1865" Realistically, the goals of reconstruction was not very reachable all at once. Lincoln basically expected to have all slavery abolished right away as soon as the Civil War ended and to never go back; plantation owners spent their whole lives bossing around African-American slaves and keeping their businesses running smoothly and efficiently. Getting rid of slaves in such a short amount of time and not just slowly letting them all go bit by bit would ruin the master's plans and livelihoods. Without slaves Southerners would lose a lot of annual profit and their way of living would shatter into 1 million pieces. Lincoln seem to be expecting way too much of the Southerners

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Many politicians felt this was a white man’s war and slaves had no right to fight this war. Slaves were not allowed to fight, all this changed when Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, it declared “ That all person held as slaves within the Confederate states should be free. Although it did not end slavery in the nation it gave people hope and uplifted the moral of blacks. Fredrick Douglas convinced Abraham Lincoln that African Americans were ready to fight and serve the Union.

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After the Union won the Civil War, the United States went into seven year period, known as Reconstruction. The goal of Reconstruction was to rejoin all the states into the Union and to help rebuild the South. While the goal of Reconstruction was rightful, the final result of the period didn’t do much to put America into a better place than where it was before the Civil War. During Reconstruction, the radical northern abolitionists was pushing to make America a country where everyone was equal, and granting every citizen, regardless of their ancestry. The Northerns tried to make everyone equal members of society and give each and every one of them a voice in their own government.

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One example is the creation of the Ku Klux Klan which was opposed to the rising rights of African Americans and change. There was also a rise of violence and racism against African Americans not only from the Ku Klux Klan but from regular Southerners as well. Many freed men also faced poverty as many business would not hire them because of fear bestowed on the by the K.K.K or by their personal disgust towards them. There were also several discriminatory laws but into place such as black codes and Jim Crow Laws which several restricted the way many “freed ‘men’” could live their

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Finally the marking of the end of Reconstruction was the Election of 1876 and the new President Republican Hayes. Great upset to the Democrats their solution for Republicans to get anything done in congress was to make filibusters. With the constant and neverending interruption the two parties came to agree on the Compromise of 1877. This meant the removal of troops out of the south. This lead to the south once again being controlled by white Democrats.

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During the Civil War President Abraham Lincoln made a second Emancipation Proclamation. On September 22nd, 1862, after the battle of Antietam he issued a opening Emancipation Proclamation declaring all slaves free. This is when the Union Army gave freed slaves “Forty Acres and a Mule”. Then General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Appomattox Court House, in Virginia which put an end to the Civil War. After the Civil War most of the South was destroyed so Abraham Lincoln made a plan called “reconstruction” that later turns into “Reconstruction Act of 1867”.

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The African Americans were “free” but were still being treated like slaves. They were given rights but had them taken away and were working for very little pay which was unfair compared to how whites were working for more. The blacks couldn’t even own a house or even rent unless they worked for a white man. They couldn’t even work unless it was for some white person or former owner. This is why reconstruction in the south after the civil war was a big

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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.

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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.

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Reconstruction: African American Unhomeliness Rather than deal with an unwelcoming North who had done nearly everything in their power to keep the population of newly freed slaves to a minimum: African American chose, and if not were forced to stay in the Jim Crow south or be sent to prison, sold at auction, or put to death. The false sense of freedom given to the newly emancipated blacks, provided no aid if laws were looked at as subjective and any success given to support their causes, returned with further hate, and violence. As a result the paradox of the time made the failures of reconstruction a result of any success granted during that period. The Emancipation Proclamation signed January 1, 1863 by Abraham Lincoln, declared, that

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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.

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The Freedmen’s Bureau freed slaves, land, jobs, fair treatment, and education. Before it was established, the war and the collapse of the economy left hundreds of thousands unemployed, homeless, and hungry. African Americans risked everything they had to stay alive during this overwhelming war. Africans started following the marching Sherman through Georgia plus South Carolina, seeking for food and shelter. To help these terrified freed people, Sherman reserved all abandoned plantations land within 30 miles of the coast from Charleston, South Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida, for use for the freed people.

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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).

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