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Failure Of Reconstruction

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The process of rebuilding the South after the Civil War was a period called Reconstruction. Physical damage to people and places needed to be repaired. Former slaves needed help building free lives and securing their rights. Enemies needed to be reconciled, and a broken Union needed political repair. President Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan was intended to quickly readmit Southern states back into the Union without malice. As long as 10% of a state's voters swore an oath of allegiance to the United States, they could form a new government. When their state constitution abolished slavery, they could join the Union. Lincoln was a moderate. Conservative Republicans thought abolition alone was enough. But the Radical Republicans thought Lincoln was …show more content…

And when Southern leaders were reelected to their old positions at the federal level, the Radical Republicans in Congress refused to seat them. The midterm elections gave the Radicals enough votes in Congress to override Johnson's presidential veto, ending the short-lived era of Presidential Reconstruction. But despite his political weakness on the home front, Johnson's administration did have some successes in foreign policy by defending the Monroe Doctrine in Mexico and purchasing Alaska from Russia. He failed to acquire several island territories. The Reconstruction period after the Civil War was characterized by a battle of ideas waged between President Andrew Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress. While Johnson was lenient toward the South and didn't value African American rights, Congress focused on protecting and expanding the rights of former slaves through the Civil Rights Act and an extension of the Freedmen's …show more content…

For the first time in the South, especially, they could vote and hold office, own businesses, organize and meet without whites present and get an education. Four black leaders became role models to others within their communities and serve as examples to us today. Alonzo Herndon demonstrated economic success. Booker T. Washington proved that former slaves could become educational leaders. Jonathan Gibbs was a Reconstruction carpetbagger who served first as a missionary and then as a non-elected government leader. Finally, Hiram Revels achieved success as an elected politician, serving as America's first black U.S.

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