Compare And Contrast Presidential And Congressional Reconstruction

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Test #2 Presidential and Congressional Reconstruction Evan Meekins, the author of The Black Banner describes the period of Reconstruction as, “War was easy. The hard part was cleaning up afterward.” Reconstructing a divided and severed Union was a difficult and insurmountable task, but it had to be done. It fixed the issue of slavery by freeing the slaves and had rejoined the ex- Confederate states into the Union once again. Reconstruction was semi-effective in the state of Texas. Reconstruction brought healing to the nation and the newly freed slaves through Congressional Reconstruction; however, it also brought destruction to them as well through Presidential Reconstruction. Reconstruction dealt with the issues of slavery and a divided Union. After the North’s victory of the Civil War, the United States issued a “reconstruction” to help amalgamate the country back to one nation, like it was before. While reconstruction was all encompassing and had many sections to it; the ex- slaves were the most influenced and impacted by it. Reconstruction “sealed the fate of slavery”, thus making the slaves free forever (page 48). The other problem it addressed was the title of the states that had seceded; the whole Civil War was fought over the Confederacy’s right to exist as a separate nation. The Supreme …show more content…

The “’black codes’ adopted in other southern states- denied equality to African Americans” (page 49). These codes provided positive rights to African Americans like the right to own property, make contracts, and sue/be sued. However, they restricted African Americans as well by not allowing them to speak against Caucasian Americans in trials, be in a jury, vote, serve in a public office, or intermarry (page 49). This affected state governments, like Texas, because when the people saw the effects of the Republican Party agenda, it influenced many people to vote democratic in the next