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. The other half of the country was set on sticking to slavery and the economical gains it brought the white slave owners through agricultural income. Through the midst of the civil war, as it approaches its end with the Union States obtaining several victories, Lincoln has hope
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After the ratification of The 13th Amendment [Document A] in December 1865, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States..” Southern states put forth what was called Black Codes, which were deliberately meant to demean and beat down Black Americans. An example of a Black Code is [Document C] “It shall not be lawful for any freedman… to intermarry with any white person… and any person shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and… confined in the State penitentiary for life…” where it is considered a crime deserving of confinement for life when a Black person to marry a White person, classified as a felony. This is only one example of many other Black Codes that were made to press Black people in retaliation to the 13th …show more content…
They were able to pass laws that protected Black Americans and let them have representation in the government at many different governmental levels. This was only effective during the reconstruction, but after that period, the amount of representation decreased a large amount until the 1960s and further, during the Civil Rights Movement. During the year 1870 when Reconstruction ended, there were around 15 African Americans elected to the U.S. Congress. This number only decreases till the 1910s when the amount of African Americans elected to Congress is 0. The Reconstruction had only been effective when radical Republicans of that time had the power to control the South with the military. After Reconstruction, the changes that were made were reverted, which isn’t really a