Domino Effect Of Reconstruction

This moment, just like any other, is part of one, long, and complex domino effect. That is because everything in history has happened as a result of something, just as every fall in a domino effect is the result of a prior domino. Therefore, we can trace the events of our past to the present. One major event that this can be done with is the United States Civil War. During the years of the war, Douglass, an escaped slave and great abolitionist, hoped that a result of that event would be the liberation of slaves, (Douglass) and Lincoln, the president at the time, anticipated an outcome of a just and lasting peace. (Lincoln) The circumstances that later caused the achievement of one of these goals, Douglass’s, in the Reconstruction period, 20th

This was the Union victory of the Civil War, and very shortly after, the assassination of Lincoln. As a result, the states would have to rejoin the Union under Andrew Jackson’s, Lincoln’s Vice President’s, new plan for the reconstruction of the country in the following month. The plan “included a vow of loyalty to the Nation and the abolition of slavery that Southern states were required to take before they could be readmitted into the Nation.” (“Reconstruction”) This and the Freedmen’s Bureau, providers of “relief and assistance to the former slaves, including health services, educational services, and abandoned land services,” (“Reconstruction”) allowed the slaves to be recognized as free, contributing to the achievement of Douglass’s goal. Along with this was the refusal of Southerners to accept the new rights of slaves though, resulting in the black codes. The black codes were laws passed that created a cruel Southern system similar to the one before. Consequently, this destroyed the peace Lincoln anticipated.

It allowed citizenship and guaranteed basic rights for past slaves. This in turn angered Southerners that wanted white supremacy, and therefore, the Ku Klux Klan formed. The group caused violence “ranging from whippings of black women perceived as insolent to the assassination of Republican leaders…. [It was so severe that] Freedmen's Bureau agents reported 336 cases of murder or assault with intent to kill on freedmen across the state from January 1 through November 15 of 1868.” (Bryant) Furthermore, “black churches and schools were burned, teachers were attacked, and freedpeople who refused to show proper deference were beaten and killed.” (Bryant) To matters worse, the unsuccess of past government leaders after the Fourteenth Amendment caused them to contribute to this brutality and threaten voters. Ultimately, the progress concerning slaves’ civil rights and freedom in the Reconstruction period sparked all of that extreme violence.