Examples Of What Was The First Goal Of Reconstruction Dbq

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During this period in United States history, it was the end of the Civil War. Now the nation's is going through Reconstruction, a process from 1865-1877. During this period, it was the nation's goal to rebuild after the war and provide equality for all. Reconstruction did not succeed in granting African Americans social equality, but Reconstruction did succeed in granting political and, economic equality for all African Americans. The first goal of Reconstruction is to grant all African Americans social equity. Unfortunately, the union did not succeed in this goal. This was first shown with the Black Codes. These were a set of laws that were passed in southern states to restrict African Americans of their freedoms. An example of the Black …show more content…

The first way they were able to do so was with the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865. What this amendment did was it abolished slavery in the United States when it says,¨Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punishment for a crime which the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction¨ (Document A). This is saying that no part of the United States or its territories will have slavery allowed. This is important because now instead of African Americans working for free they are now allowed to make a wage for themselves. Another way African Americans got economic equality is through the Freedmen's Bureau. This was an organization that helped newly freed slaves gain economic stability. This was shown when it gave an African American a fair job contract when it states, ¨that if this contract is violated by either party without legal cause, the party violating the same shall pay the other¨ (Document D). This is important because it gave African Americans a fair deal. After all, if either side breaks the contract the person that breaks it will have to pay the other person a fee. Now if African Americans are not being paid fairly there will be a punishment in place for not following the agreement that was formed. In conclusion, during Reconstruction economic equality was given to African