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Revolutionary Reconstruction Pros And Cons

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The Revolutionary Reconstruction After America was devastated by the Civil War, several critical developments were instituted into the general idea of revolutionizing the future of America in constitutional and social aspects. In the reconstruction period of 1860-1877, several of these conflicting proposals, such as the additions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments and the essential compromises to balance governmental powers, loomed amongst the future of black citizens and the future of America. Although it is argued that these acts did not contribute long or short term benefits to the overall betterment of our developing nation, I believe that the majority of the implicated concepts provided concret reasonings to perhaps provoke the greatest …show more content…

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.” (Butchart). This service provided hopes and inspirations for the black population to get an education and find new opportunities in the workforce. Overall, although the newly freed black society was not granted equal opportunities, the concluding results of these amendments and supportive organizations served as long term benefits for the improvement of America's future while revolutionizing the manner of which the black community lived their …show more content…

In “The Failure of Reconstruction,” the authors state that new laws “required southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment, which broadened the definition of citizenship, granting “equal protection” of the Constitution to former slaves.” (Failure). These laws sufficed as a revolutionizing turning point for black citizens because they were guaranteed equal opportunities in all portions of America. By allowing fair citizenship, this may have potentially transformed the future for the African American population; therefore, once again proving that this time period revolutionized our country’s future. In a different aspect, our country also experienced revolutionary changes in constitutional means. In this time, our country was divided amongst the argument of the overall amount of state and federal powers. In Senator John Sherman's speech to congress, he stated that “The policy of this country ought to be to make everything national as far as possible; to nationalize our country so that we shall love our country… The [lack] of such nationality, I believe, is one of the

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