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Reconstruction Vs Reconstruction

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Reconstruction was the United States’ government’s project at attempting to rebuild the nation after the American Civil War. The main goal was creating a unified nation with the southern Confederate States rejoining the Union. From approximately 1863 to 1877 the nation sought several methods to successfully reconstruct the country (BOOK 447). There were multiple groups involved with the process. In hindsight, it is possible to draw commonalities between some groups and conflicts between others. There are those who wanted to move forward from the tragedies of slavery, President Lincoln, northern Republicans, and freedpeople. On the other hand, there are those who wanted to maintain a white supremacist racist south, including President Johnson …show more content…

Therefore, it would make sense that they would like their ideology of equality for African Americans to become law over the entire country. It is important to point out pro-reconstruction groups did not impose reparations, or prosecute slave owners; they simply wanted to reconcile the nation’s differences and move forward. This is evident in the desires of freedpeople. Despite the atrocities slaves suffered, they sought out means of moving forward, and did not seek revenge against southern whites. Freedpeople tried to reunite families, get married, and obtain an education. They also relied heavily on the Freedmen’s Bureau to help them buy land so they could farm for themselves, most commonly together through a process called sharecropping, since one freedperson could not afford the land on their own (BOOK 450). Their goal of living freely and finally enjoying life was aided by the help of President Lincoln and northern …show more content…

It is because of the southern racist whites’ resistance to reconstruction that the historical memory of the time is unique. Although the government sent troops in to protect blacks, they were eventually pulled out in the Compromise of 1877, which allowed Republican Hayes to win the close election in return. Without federal troops there for protection, racism kept on into the following decades, and caused for black leaders to emerge to push for their own rights later during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Had the government stuck with Reconstruction, perhaps racism would not have stayed in the south as long. Additionally, through propaganda like the movie Birth of a Nation, southern whites attempted to frame the Civil War and Reconstruction as a tragedy, which took away southern heritage and pride, and that the KKK was a good thing by restoring old ways. Also, they took the emphasis off the racial aspect, and tried to frame the war as a tragedy of being “brother vs. brother” and a loss for the entire country, and take the focus off the differing ideologies of racism and

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In the article “The New View of Reconstruction,” Eric Foner writes about the difficult time that the United States go through the Reconstruction era. Also, discusses the different point of view or interpretation that Reconstruction era had over the years. The author Eric Foner describes the Reconstruction era as a difficult time after the Civil War. The Reconstruction was from the beginning and before 1960 as a time of exceptional debasement and control of the freedman.

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Lincoln, Johnson, and Grant all had ideas of what they believed the United States should be after the war. They worked to reconstruct and build after the construction, each with their own views. Lincoln’s main idea was to try and bring back the South into the Union. He believed their needed to be unity between the north and the south. Johnson proposed his ideas based around giving the north and the south their own freedom by allowing them to make their own decisions based on what they believe is right for their state.

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There are three primary purpose of Reconstruction. First, bring former confederates states back (reintegrate). Second, rebuilding the country because the South was destroyed because of the Civil War. Then the last one is to bring the freedom to the society. There are two main phases of Reconstruction.

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African Americans were finally recognized as free citizens and we given the right to work, marry, and vote. However, the new hopes of the aspiring black community quickly diminished when reality came upon, and they were to be thought of again as slaves. Due to the implication of black codes and forced sharecropping, black citizens were technically forced to return the farms with restricted freedoms and a very slight income. Although it seemed to be a busted scheme to liberate the black community, numerous services, such as the Freedmen's Bureau, assisted to the improvement of black citizens. In Robert Butchart’s “ Freedmen's Education during Reconstruction,” he states that “the bureau assisted the aid societies in meeting the burgeoning African American demand for education.”

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If you were a brave, honest Republican like John W. Stephens the KKK would find you and stab you multiple times; then hang you (Collection 5, Source 2). The Republicans never doubted that they might be the next victim of the KKK. The Reconstruction wasn't successful partly because of the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan killed many blacks and whites because they were finding for equality. By the KKK killing people it only separated the north and the south and becoming less of a population to bring together.

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Compare And Contrast The Goals Of Reconstruction

161 Words | 1 Pages

The goals of reconstruction were to rebuild America, and to have white and black men live alongside each other peacefully. Only days after the north won the Civil War, president Lincoln was shot and killed. The new president, Andrew Johnson, because he was a democrat, pitied the South and refused to punish them. While in presidency, his biggest opponents were the radical republicans, who wanted to punish the South, and wanted equal rights for freedmen. In the 1860's the 14th amendment which rules that states can't deny rights or privileges to any U.S. citizens, including black men.

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Post Civil War Reconstruction Essay

1147 Words | 5 Pages

Just because people choose to overlook the negative aspects of reconstruction does not mean they did not occur. Freedmen were indeed given land to live on post-Civil War, which followed the premise of reconstruction. However, when the land was stripped from them, the steps on the path of reconstruction ceased. Even though President Andrew Johnson followed a path of reconstruction, he was reconstructing the nation to his own personal liking, not for the betterment of the nation and all its people. Due to the fact that mistreating African Americans was still a normality post-Civil War and during Reconstruction, the KKK, a group founded on racism, came to be.

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937 Words | 4 Pages

While the legislation of the radical Republicans brought much-needed measures of radical equality to America, their enforcement of such measures came at a time when the South was already looking for reasons to resent the Union, and the military action certainly didn't help the concept of remaining on good terms. Corruption under these regimes were rampant as well, in which radical government schemers took advantage of the money provided for new public programs and used it to pad their own wallets. The Ku Klux Klan began because of the backlash from the hastily-passed 15th Amendment and would proceed to beat, threaten, and murder blacks and Republicans alike, creating an atmosphere of fear and a movement that would persist until the 1920s. In the end, the results of Congress's actions served to alienate Republicanism in the South, and the good they attempted to do for freed blacks was ultimately undermined by Southern voting stipulations, governmental corruption, and a Northern disinterest in the plight of African Americans. Lincoln's plan never saw fruition and never had the chance to evolve as necessary; only the bare ideas were in place, and written before the war was even over.

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Reconstruction a Failure or Success? Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end.

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Who Killed Reconstruction North Or South Essay

435 Words | 2 Pages

The most powerful people in the south, the KKK were the only ones that could have helped with the reconstruction of the south were not helping matters, that is why there was not and big developments. The south only wanted white people in power because they thought that the freedman were not equal and unfit to be part of any governments. The south wouldn’t even allow the freedmen to attend and public events. In conclusion even though the North had taken the soldiers out of the south and had given up on the freemen, the south has had a lot more problems reconstructing and making the freedman equal.

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Thesis About Reconstruction

594 Words | 3 Pages

You can see how reconstruction was supposed to help the newly freed slaves while the definition of reconstruction says that it was, “ensuring the rights and protection of the newly freed African Americans,” (Terms to know, On reconstruction.) This shows how some of the intentions of reconstruction were supposed to help bring newly freed slaves safely into the society. The newly freed slaves would have been fond of the idea of being brought safely into the society. You can see this again when it says, “Presidential reconstruction began in 1865 with the ratification() passing of the thirteenth amendment freeing slaves, and continued lincoln’s signature of the bill that created the Freedmen's Bureau. The Bureau was to feed both black and whites in the south, establish schools to teach former slaves to read and write, help them find paying jobs, and shield them from discrimination,” (Stage One: Presidential reconstruction 1865 - 1866.)

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669 Words | 3 Pages

Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.

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1464 Words | 6 Pages

The Freedmen’s Bureau was founded by Congress in 1865 to help former slaves and poor whites in the South by providing shelter, food, medical support, as well as giving legal assistance, and creating schools for them (Jordan 386). The Freedmen’s Bureau was also supported by carpetbaggers, Northerners who had readily packed up and left for the South, and scalawags, Southerners who supported former slaves and poor whites, both of whom supported the cause of freedom and equality. Thus, through the Freedmen’s Bureau, both black Americans and white Americans were receiving the same necessities, promoting equality amongst these two

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459 Words | 2 Pages

Reflection on the Reconstruction Period The reconstruction period was a time of cause and effect. It was a time when in order to rebuild the strength of society economically, socially, and politically after a the loss of life and stability in the civil war. In the socratic seminar we discussed how the during the reconstruction period the goal was to ‘fix’ the south as in the eyes of the government, they were the cause of the problem.

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835 Words | 4 Pages

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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