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Reconstruction era after the civil war
Reconstruction following the civil war
Reconstruction following the civil war
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Another way the reconstruction failed was by giving way to white supremacy groups. One white supremacy group that was created was the Ku Klux Klan in 1865. The Ku Klux Klan was created by six Confederate army veterans and it was appealing to many because it provided them a way to get rid of their anger for losing the war. The Klan's goal was to use violence such as riots and the killing of black Americans to reestablish white supremacy in the South. One of their main targets were African Americans and Freedman Bureau who was trying to help the African Americans by providing them homes and money.
Due to the ratification of the amendments, many southern elites could not stand the fact that African Americans were freed. One solution that was developed was to destroy reconstruction by murdering Black Americans. The Ku Klux Klan was then formed, this group consisted of vindictive Confederate Army veterans. Sought out to be heros to many southern democrats, but a nightmare for African American families. The Ku Klux Klan terrorized many African American families, burned down churches, drove thousands of families out of their homes, and caused great mayhem.
When the Civil War came to an end, Congress passed legislation on several civil rights issues that aimed at safeguarding those who had previously been slaves. However, even though this legislation had been passed, there was still a prevalent culture of racism that opposed the legislation. This resulted in the civil rights movement, a mass popular movement to acquire equal rights and opportunities for African Americans. Demonstrators pursued their goals through legal legislation, petitions, and nonviolent protests. It took the actions of many brave leaders to end the segregation between African American and Caucasians communities, which lead to many innocent lives to be lost in the process.
Before the Civil War most black people living in America were slaves. Once the Civil War ended slavery was abolished and black people were given rights. However, people in the south thought otherwise. After the civil war, slavery returned in the form of convict leasing, blacks lost rights again, and were arrested for petty crimes.
The Union triumph in the Civil War in 1865 may have given exactly 4 million slaves their flexibility, yet the procedure of revamping the South amid the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) presented another arrangement of critical difficulties. Under the organization of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state lawmaking bodies passed prohibitive "dark codes" to control the work and conduct of previous slaves and other African Americans. Insult in the North over these codes disintegrated backing for the methodology known as Presidential Reconstruction and prompted the triumph of the more radical wing of the Republican Party. Amid Radical Reconstruction, which started in 1867, recently liberated blacks picked up a voice in government without precedent for American history, winning decision to southern state lawmaking bodies and even to the U.S. Congress. In under 10 years, in any case, reactionary forces–including the Ku Klux Klan–would reverse the progressions created by Radical
In that span, blacks paid their debt to Abraham Lincoln, their Great Emancipator, by loyally voting for his party in local, state, and national elections. During Reconstruction, Republicans rewarded that loyalty by pressing for civil rights legislation and other protections for black citizens. They secured passage of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which sought to protect blacks’ access to public accommodations; and it was President Grant who successfully – although only temporarily – destroyed the Ku Klux Klan and its efforts to intimidate and disfranchise black voters. However, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Republican enthusiasm for black causes appeared to wane.
The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and the creation of the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment abolished slavery, giving all citizens “equal rights under the law” (United States Senate). However, even under the law, a majority of Americans disregarded the mantle of the legislations and continued to exploit the African American community for their skin color and their past history as former slaves. The American people overlooked these legislations because there was no strict law enforcement or cultural awareness of their wrongdoings. Ultimately, these discriminatory actions and negligence of Americans led to the Civil Rights Movement. The objective of this social movement was to cease racial discrimination and segregation and provide African Americans with legal protection of their rights in the Constitution.
Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans
Ku klux klan There were very few groups that were white supremacists in the civil rights ages. Out of all the groups there was one that really stood out. One klan became really famous which was the KKK. The KKK was the biggest white supremacist group they were against blacks at first.
Reconstruction caused prejudice and inequality. To elaborate, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes were both in the time period of reconstruction, which caused chaos and violence throughout the Union. One of the goals of reconstruction was to repair the economy in the South, because it depended on slavery, which was now illegal, due to the thirteenth amendment. The South’s economic system now depended on Sharecropping, which caused former slaves to be in constant debt and was unjust to the black society. The reconstruction time period, was a time of dispute between the Union.
