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Reconstruction Dbq Essay

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Reconstruction in the South caused a lot of controversy, and it faced many obstacles. The South was being integrated back into the union, and many people on both sides tried to obstruct Reconstruction because they did not like it, or because it did not align with their beliefs. The radicals of the North wanted citizenship and voting rights for all African Americans, while southerners believed that this went against their traditional values. The republicans were able to obtain power, with the help from former slaves and abolitionists. The republicans, once in power, passed the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. The mixture of military controlled southern governments that allowed African Americans to vote, and loyal unionists in the North, …show more content…

They were treated poorly, especially with the introduction of the Klu Klux Klan, which included many people who killed and assaulted innocent African Americans. People with the white supremacy mindset would not allow African Americans to enjoy the rights given to them in the Civil Rights bill and the fourteenth amendment, and they were forced to live in fear. This is shown in a petition written by African Americans in Georgia, who requested federal protection as the 1867 election approached. They wrote, “Men have been knocked down and unmercifully beaten and yet the authorities do not notice it at all. We would open a school here, but are almost afraid to do so, not knowing that we have any protection for life or limb” (Document E). This shows the fear people had of doing things that seem normal. They also wrote, “We wish to do right, obey the Laws and live in peace and quietude but when we are assailed at the midnight hour, our lives threatened and the Laws fail to protect or assist us we can but defend ourselves, let the consequences be what they may. Yet we wish to avoid all such collisions” (Document E). Radical republicans and African Americans in the South hoped the federal government would continue to assist them in allowing them to practice their

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The land of the free wasn’t always the free.slavery has been in the U.S. since 1619 in Jamestown, virginia. Political, economic, and social factors impacted the lives of slaves and freed blacks during the time of the reconstruction by limiting their rights, working without profit, and working in harsh condition. Political factors impacted the lives of freed and enslaved blacks. “Consequently, the special rights and immunities guaranteed to citizens do not apply to them. And not being “citizens” within the meaning of the constitution, they are not entitled to sue in that character in a court of the united states…”

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Once former confederates had their right to vote brought back, they tried hard to win public office and if they did they would try and undo most of the social and economic reforms. Their efforts were in attempt to undo Reconstruction and restore the “Old South”. Some efforts under the Democratic Leadership were successful, and government spending was cut and many Reconstruction programs were hurt or

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There are many different questions that came with reconstruction. How easily should the South be readmitted? Should blacks receive full rights? Who should control reconstruction? Should reconstruction be handled at a national level?

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The Reconstruction Era of American history was plagued by many problems. One of the most important problems being the recently released from slavery Freedmen. Freedmen were in a tricky situation in which they had just been released from their owner and had nowhere to go, but the Federal Government made many successful attempts to help them out. The Government helped alleviate all the problems Freedmen had from their finances to basic needs and rights, and in doing so, made the period of reconstruction more helpful than harmful for Freedmen. The events of reconstruction were helpful to freedmen as they were not only freed from slavery, they were given rights directly from the federal government.

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From 1865 to 1877 the process of reconstructing the Confederate States began just as the Civil War concluded. For many families the reconstruction period was a major inconvenience. For example, farmers lost their plantation workers, thus causing a huge inflation. This resulted in families losing lots of their money and struggling to buy things as simple as food, cotton, and tobacco. To politically heal, it is crucial to readmit the Southern States back into the nation politically and essentially allow African Americans the right to vote.

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The Civil War was a conflict fought between the Confederacy and the Union after the Confederacy succeeded from the Union because of new laws that were abolishing slavery. After the Civil war, America was severely unorganized and in need of reconstruction. Reconstruction was a series of attempts by the United States government to reconstruct society in the Southern states by adding laws that protected the rights of freedmen. As a result of the Union's victory in the war, the Confederacy was forced to rejoin and abide by its rules. The union began implementing civil rights amendments such as the right to freedom, the right to citizenship, and the right to vote for formerly enslaved African Americans to ensure equal rights and promote equality.

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The Capacity of Reconstruction Does a country ever feel guilty? To what extent will powerful individuals come together to quell their guilty conscience and their hypocrisy, or will they atone by superficial means? A country divided, the Republican president Abraham Lincoln sought to unify the United States that had become the Union States and the Confederate States. One-half of the country set on unifying the split country, abolition, and more industrial practices.

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In 1865 The North was amazingly prosperous, with a booming economy and a large amount of supporters there was no way The South could keep up. The South lay in ruins and the population dwindled with the shortage of food, shelter and clothing. The Reconstruction was necessary to help rebuild and reunite the nation, the Government at the time sought out ways to help southerners and give slaves more rights. During the Reconstruction African Americans where given freedom to vote, now making up the majority of Republican voters. Some historians group the Reconstruction and “Black Supremacy” together due to the growth of African Americans serving in office.

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This is shown in the article “Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow” “In an effort to preserve their superiority and keep blacks "in their place," whites in the South enforced the color line with the use of physical violence (The African American experience).” Many whites would abuse the African American to scare them so they wouldn’t go off and practice their rights. The whites were in denial and didn’t want the blacks to be independent. Many of them tried to escape but were caught and some of them would get killed or hit. Some people wrote books to raise awareness about was happening with the blacks.

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And allowed African Americans the right to vote, yet, denied the southern political leaders the right to vote. In addition, congressional reconstruction demands the south to agree to follow the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments of the constitution, before joining the Union. William Dunning and Eric Foner’s are two historians who interpreted the causes of congressional

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To prevent organized resistance, Congress disbanded southern militia units and prohibited new ones from being raised without its approval. Southerners did not give up their war for white supremacy and home rule. The north’s obvious desires for peace and its growing indifference to the fate of southern Republicans encouraged Democrats to act boldly. Democrats planned race riots and battled Republican militia prior to elections, in time to keep Republicans from the polls but too late for Washington to send regulars to police the voting. What occurred was not indiscriminate Klan-style violence, but a calculated insurgence as the last unredeemed states fell to

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But, when these officials were elected to Congress, they passed the “black codes” and thus the relations between the president and legislators became worst (Schriefer, Sivell and Arch R1). These so called “Black Codes” were “a series of laws to deprive blacks of their constitutional rights” that they were enacted mainly by Deep South legislatures. Black Codes differ from a state to another but they were stricter in the Deep South as they were sometimes irrationally austere. (Hazen 30) Furthermore, with the emergence of organizations such as the Red Shirts and the White League with the rise of the Conservative White Democrats’ power, efforts to prevent Black Americans from voting were escalating (Watts 247), even if the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S constitution that gave the Blacks the right to vote had been ratified in 1870.

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One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

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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.

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African Americans were mistreated because of their skin color and because they didn’t follow Christianity. In 1808, bringing slaves became illegal and by the 1850 most northern states outlawed slavery.

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