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How Did The Policies Change Throughout The Era Of Reconstruction

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Throughout the era of Reconstruction, President Andrew Johnson and Congress clashed in their views and policies, which can be seen in the way that they responded to one another’s actions. In May of 1865, President Johnson outlined his plan for reuniting the nation. This consisted of Johnson issuing a series of proclamations, one of which offered a pardon to nearly all of the white southerners, with the requirement that they had to take an oath of allegiance to the Union. In addition to this, the proclamations appointed provisional governors and ordered them to call state conventions to establish loyal governments in the South, elected by whites alone. These governments were required to abolish slavery, repudiate secession, and refuse to …show more content…

One of these bills extended the life the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was originally only for one year. The other, the Civil Rights Bill of 1866, defined all persons born in the United States as citizens, and also listed rights that they had regardless of their race. President Johnson vetoed both bills, saying that they centralized power in the National government, and deprived states of the ability to regulate their own affairs. In April of 1866, the Civil Rights Bill became the first major law in American history to be passed over a Presidential …show more content…

Reconstruction was the central issue to the campaign, which Grant went on to win. One issue that Grant faced was the South’s poor economy. Hopes for Southern economic growth was pinned on regional economic development, and railroad construction and Northern investments were extremely important. Despite the government’s efforts, the Southern economy failed to revitalize, and most African Americans remained locked in poverty. Furthermore, Grant faced immense opposition to Reconstruction. The traditional leaders of the South, planters, merchants, and Democratic politicians, bitterly opposed the new Reconstruction governments. In addition to this, rising taxes contributed greatly to opposition of Reconstruction, however, the main cause of opposition was whites not accepting that former slaves were voting, holding office, and otherwise participating in

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North's View Of Reconstruction Essay

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This legislation overturned "Black Codes" that had been established in the former Confederate states and had been used to keep African Americans in a near state of slavery. President Grant played an important role in what was the country's first civil rights movement in some ways. Reconstruction was very successful when trying to reunite a very divided country (A Short Overview). In the South, however, Black people voted. In some states like Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina, the African American electorate was a bigger number than its white counterpart.

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This was unfair because it discriminated the freedom of Freedman. Lastly reconstruction was a huge problem because of the poll tax law. This law made it very difficult for freedman to vote because they would have to pay a tax in order to vote. This made a huge difference because

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Sources Analysis Freedom During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872).

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