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Reconstruction Dbq

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Recommended: Chapter 6 civil war and reconstruction

The Reconstruction, one of the roughest and controversial era in American history, took place after the Civil War between 1865 and 1877. This began the process of bringing the Nation back together and giving former slaves equals rights by three new Constitutional amendments. From the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, Lincoln’s goal was the restoration of the Confederate states to the Union. In 1863, Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent Plan that granted amnesty to those Confederate states which swore an oath of allegiance to the Union. It would have given a general pardon to all southerners excluding high-ranking Confederate army officers and government officials. The plan required 10% of the voting population to take the oath and the abolition …show more content…

They were often called carpetbaggers because sometimes they carried their belongings in luggage called carpetbags. The carpetbaggers were welcomed at first, as southerners had the urgency for northern investment to get the devastated South back on its feet. The northerners became unpleasant to be with, as many southerners saw them low-class and greedy immigrants trying to get rich off of their troubles. Though some carpetbaggers undoubtedly lived up to their reputation as opportunists, many were inclined by an honest desire for reform and concern for the civil and political rights of freed …show more content…

Andrew Johnson had only been vice-president for 42 days when he became president. He seemed supportive of the penal measures against the Confederates in the past, believing that they were to blame for the Civil War. However, Johnson was even more lenient to the Confederates even pardoning leaders and members. He was constantly clashing with the Radicals in the Congress solely on the status of the freed slaves and whites in the South. Many former Confederates were in denial to accepting both social changes and political domination by former slaves. The planter elite were afraid of their lost land, but were assured by Johnson that land redistribution from the planters to the freed slaves did not happen. He ordered that confiscated or abandoned lands controlled by the Freedmen's Bureau would not be redistributed to the free slaves but to be returned to pardoned

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211 Words | 1 Pages

The Reconstruction of many Southern states from the year 1865 to 1877 is a failure, although reconstruction plans are set up, African Americans still face the same poor treatment they are given prior to the Civil War. The president at the time, Abraham Lincoln, puts in place a reconstruction plan to help rebuild the South in a way it has never been before, without slaves. Lincoln also puts the thirteenth amendment in place, which abolishes slavery. However, after Lincoln’s death, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson takes over and overrules his reconstruction plan, and puts in place his own, which favors the former Confederate states. Johnson fights with congress over the passing of the fourteenth amendemnet, but Congress overrules his vetoes,

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196 Words | 1 Pages

How did Lincoln and Johnson approach Reconstruction differently? Lincoln and Johnson both supported the Ten Percent Plan .However, Johnson lacked Lincoln's moral sense and political judgement. He was a War Democrat who disagreed with the Republicans. The South would rejoin the Union on his terms. But, Johnson, who had long talked down against southern planters, allied himself with ex-Confederate leaders, forgiving them when they appealed for pardons.

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1157 Words | 5 Pages

Many “Radical Republican” did not like the ten percent plan because they basically thought that Lincoln was being too nice, and they wanted to the southern states to feel the wrath of their wrong-doings. The bill was created in 1864, and kind of restated Lincoln’s plan, but now with an increase of the percentage to 50! The bill however did not get passed because Lincoln would not sign it (pocket veto). Congress then created the Freedmen's Bureau. 3.Military Reconstruction Act of 1867: the Reconstruction Act of 1867 was basically Congress’s start to Reconstruction.

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1118 Words | 5 Pages

Lincoln’s successor was his vice president Andrew Johnson. Some have tried to argue that Andrew Johnson’s plans for reconstruction would have been what Lincoln himself was going to do, but this cannot be further from the truth. Lincoln showed some of his intentions with his decision to revoke the invitation to state legislature of Virginia to meet and officially remove Virginia from the confederacy, and in his last public speech he openly advocated for limed black suffrage. Johnson on the other hand had a very different vision of reconstruction and black suffrage.

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895 Words | 4 Pages

According to Johnson’s views of things, the south has never given up their right to govern themselves. This is what was under Johnson’s Presidential Reconstruction, that all land that had been confiscated by the Union Army and that was distributed out to the freed slaves or the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was established by the Congress in 1865) be given back to its prewar owners. Apart from the abolition of slavery, loyalty to the Union and to pay off the war debt and the southern state government is given free reign to rebuild themselves again. In 1865 and 1866, southern states was introduced to some new laws known as the “black codes,” which kept restrictions on the freed blacks’ activities and made sure of their availability as a labor worker. These codes made the North outraged which include many members of Congress.

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876 Words | 4 Pages

During the Civil War, President Lincoln and his associates began to plan the Reconstruction of the Union. Problems Lincoln faced were how to reintegrate the conquered southern states back into the Union and what was to be done with the Confederate leaders and the freed slaves. After General Lee surrendered, Lincoln was asked by one of his Generals how the defeated Confederates should be treated, and Lincoln replied, “Let em up easy.” (Thomas, 2008) In keeping with that theme, Lincoln led the moderates regarding Reconstruction policy.

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787 Words | 4 Pages

Johnson also, did nothing with/for the freed slaves, like Lincoln. That means that the four million slaves still did not have a home or jobs. That four million African Americans were just wandering the streets and had no protection from the whites that still despised them. This only lasted for two years, 1865-1867. This plan only lasted two years because Johnson was a horrible president and the North was getting nowhere with the

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1465 Words | 6 Pages

Eric Foner, contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica and author of many books, describes the Reconstruction as a time in “which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy and to solve the problems arising from the readmission to the Union of the 11 states that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war” (Foner). Due to the secession of southern states, President Lincoln tried to weaken their abilities by issuing the Ten Percent Plan, which was when “one-tenth of a state’s prewar voters took an oath of loyalty, they could establish a new state government… the plan was an attempt to weaken the Confederacy rather than a blueprint for the postwar South” (Foner). This, then allowed the government to ensure that the states would not try to secede again, even if they wanted to. It guaranteed that the states would remain a part of the Union, leaving fewer and fewer states in the Confederacy as more voters took this oath. Later on, President Johnson granted state governments the ability to manage their own affairs, which often resulted in southern slaves “enacting the black codes, laws that required African Americans to sign yearly labour contracts and in other ways sought to limit the freedmen’s economic

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1378 Words | 6 Pages

The period from 1865 to 1917 had a huge impact on the United States and its history. In an effort to redefine itself after the Civil War, the country underwent a period of reconstruction, expansion, and reform. Political, economic, social, and cultural shifts were only some of the many issues that complicated this process. The federal government of the United States made an effort to assist by inforcing a new vision for politics, conomy, and society. This helped the nation become more well-equipped and powerful in the end.

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539 Words | 3 Pages

After the Union won the major battles that is when Lincoln had put the ten percent plan on the table, this plan was when ten percent of the state’s eligible voters pledge oath to US then they could join the Union. To begin with, there are a few reasons why one would say that reconstruction in the south was a failure. One of these reasons being that, even after the civil war in the South’s government passed laws to limit the rights of the free African Americans. In document C we can see this is evident where it states “No negro or freedmen shall be allowed to come within the limits of the town of Opelousas without special permission of his employers. Whoever breaks this law will go to jail and work for two days on the public streets, or pay a fine of five dollars.”

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491 Words | 2 Pages

The landowners took advantage of their tenants by overcharging for land and underpaying for the crops. The tenants began falling deeper into debt. They could not leave until they paid off their debt, which was nearly impossible. Although former slaves had been freed, they were still facing many struggles in free life. America’s plan for reconstruction had good intent, but did not give African Americans the equality they deserved.

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199 Words | 1 Pages

The President Lincoln’s interest in the matter of reconstructions, articulated in action throughout the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, changed the congress’ sentiment of unity to defeat the South. The radicals, as they called themselves, disliked the President Lincoln’s plan due to two reasons. First, the ten percent plan was very moderate i.e. it did not satisfy the sentiment of the North to the South, and considered such a plan to be easy going in comparison to the outcome of Southerner’s rebellion. Second, the radicals could see Abraham Lincoln’s edge of admission intended from the proclamation. Lincoln wanted to prepare the stage for a strong Republican party in the Southern section though he considered the obvious

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232 Words | 1 Pages

At the beginning of Andrew Johnson’s Presidency many believed that he would punish the South for their treason during the Civil War and support African American suffrage. (Page 83) However, this changed when Johnson began to set up his plans for Reconstruction in 1865 when he moved to pardon all Confederates that pledged an oath of loyalty and the returning of all of their property with the exclusion of slaves. The only exception to this would be for high-ranking Confederate generals who owned property that exceeded over $20,000 were required to apply for Presidential pardons. With the passing of the Black Codes and violence seen towards African Americans in the South, prompted the Radical Republicans to take matters into their hands.

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865 Words | 4 Pages

It was a period of reform following the Civil War. After the surrender at Appomattox Courthouse, the United States began to piece itself back together through new changes to their policies in the Reconstruction Era. The radical republicans wanted to punish the south for the damages caused by the war while the conservative republicans wanted to restore the nation as quickly as possible. Once Lincoln was assassinated, the ideas of the radical republicans took effect with the institution of the bayonet rule, which was the military occupation of the south, and the passage of the reconstruction amendments. The 14th and 15th amendments were passed in order to help ensure equality for the newly freed African Americans.

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1534 Words | 7 Pages

However, the attempt of land redistribution “never met fully with congress” and was removed during

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