Reconstruction Dbq

The reconstruction era began right after one of the most significant in the US history war was ended – the American Civil War. The most dramatic of all, Civil War was the war between the states who wanted to be a part of the United States and where the slavery was legal. Eleven southern states decided to secede from the Union after Abraham Lincoln became the first republican president, who in fact was strongly oppose to slavery. The results of Civil War were catastrophic, but also brought some peace. Many people died during this time, and South was almost completely destroyed, however the positive changes in terms of ending the slavery era and creating a new amendments gave people hope for a better future. The main goal of president Lincoln

He included in his presentation that all white people from the South are able to restore and regain their properties only if they want to be a part of the United States. Lincoln also proposed a 10 percent plan that would help rebuild the state government in the South if the people would agree and vote to abolish the slavery and reconstruct their policies and laws. Although, the majority of radicals republicans demanded from the president Lincoln to treat the people in the South more harshly, they wanted to punish them for what they have done, they saw the reconstruction program a great opportunity to do so. One of the great examples how the republicans wanted to punish the South and made them realize their mistakes was the fact that they created the Wade-Davis Bill, which required a lot of things from the southern population. Not only they had to swear an oath but also claim that they wanted the state government and the laws to be changed right before the election.

In contrast of that, radicals republicans also grew in power and they tried to overcome the president Johnson decision, which resulted in passing two bills. One of them was the Civil Rights Bill, which gave Freedman the status of citizenship. The new Amendments that were passed and became a part of the US Constitution gave many people hope for a brighter future. After when the 13th Amendment was passed which ended slavery, the 14th Amendment which guaranteed that all the American citizens regardless of the race, color have a protection of the American Government was also passed. Following, the 15th Amendment that was passed gave the people right to vote.