Pros And Cons To The Reconstruction Of The Union

Differences of Opinions between President Andrew Johnson, the so called Radical Republicans, and the Southern State’s resentment provided the country with a difficult challenge for Reconstruction after the Civil War. Without the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, who believed in pardoning the South, bringing the Confederates states back into the Union became a rocky and short-lived process. Many Historians call the reconstruction of the South a failure. Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the Union consisted of factors that ensured a full pardon for war crimes and a restoration of property with the exception of slaves for members of the individual Southern States as long as ten percent of the population of each state took an oath of loyalty to the Constitution

This made it illegal for anyone within the country to hold slaves, which was the whole reason for the Civil War. Civil rights would also be addressed, as in the fourteenth amendment. This guarenteed citizenship for all born in America, hoped to ensure that any state, “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property”, and claimed to provide equal protection to all citizens under the law. The addition to the Constitution also gave power to uphold and kick states out of Congress representation if one decided to bypass the law. Although this amendment was passed into law, many states did nothing to fight the constant violence and discrimination the freed people would face until the Civil Rights movement around one hundred years later. The first step to addressing this problem would be to place more enforcement and presence in the South to stop violence. The next step would be having the southern population sign a written oath saying that they would treat the former slaves with respect. This would hopefully stop some of the injustice to the African

President Lincoln listed the states as in rebellion, which meaned they seceded. First, the Confederates declared their independence, with the South forming their own government. Also, it would take responsibiligy for their actions more and be more likely to unionize if the south admitted they left the union and tried to agree to terms to rejoin. At first, their would be a strong government presence in the south to enforce the laws and equality reconstruction for which reconstruction aims. Based on the actual reconstruction, the south got away with a lot of unfair treatment. A gradual withdrawal of presence would slowly give the south full rights over time. Within 5 years, most of the presence will be out, depending on how the south reacts. One big problem resulted from the Redeemers, or southern democrats who overtook power at the end reconstruction. The Southerners were allowed back into power too early, and discrimination and racism