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African americans and the reconstruction era
African americans and the reconstruction era
American civil war reconstruction
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Following the Civil War, the Republican party controlled Congress during the period of Reconstruction. In 1865, Congress approved the Freedmen’s Bureau in order to help African Americans adjust to freedom. This agency believed that economic stability was a critical requirement for freedom; therefore, Congress also endorsed the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company, sometimes referred to as the Freedman’s Savings Bank. Several ads and articles appeared in various nineteenth century newspapers to inform and encourage African Americans to deposit their money into this bank. When the bank first opened in 1865, ads always mentioned that it was chartered by Congress and ran by trustworthy officials.
Election of 1876 was the end of reconstruction. Rutherford B. Hayes, republican, was running for president against Samuel J. Tilden, democrat. According to document K, Hayes won the election of 1876 because of three southern states didn't give him the electoral votes. South Democrats made a deal with Hayes to take away the military troops and Republicans from the south from then they would vote for Hayes this then lead to Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were Laws made to enforce segregation of blacks from whites.
Before the Civil War most business that was conducted was done by free blacks. Free blacks living in the South often supplied enslaved blacks and other free blacks living in very low social economic situations with merchandise on a very small scale. For example, in 1833 Solomon Humphries owed a small grocery store in Macon, Georgia. He was worth about twenty thousand dollars and had more credit than anyone in town.
This bureau was designed for newly freed slaves or homeless white men to take shelter after the war. The bureau acted at a ‘early welfare system’ which allowed these people to receive food, shelter, and medical aid if needed. They were also allowed to offer people farms that had been confiscated after the war however this was demolished after Johnson took office and pardon the initial land owners from any wrong doings which caused many of these farms to be repossessed ad given to their initial owners. However, one of the biggest accomplishments of this bureau were the 3,000 schools they opened for blacks which resulted in as many as 200,000 blacks getting an education until they no longer received funding from the government which occurred in
Uncompromising differences between the South (Confederacy) and the North (Union) created a civil war that lasted five years. During this war, Abraham Lincoln was president. His election led to the secession of many Southern states. After refusing to recognize the Confederacy as its own nation, the American Civil War commenced in 1861. The three main causes of the Civil War between the North and the South were industrial and agricultural economies, politics, and slavery.
The government provided food, clothing, and even land, in attempts to help the Freedmen who have been recently released from slavery. In the Freedmen’s Bureau, it stated, “...may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel, as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and Freedmen and their wives and children...” (Document D). The government put in place a way for Freedmen to everything they need to start a new life after slavery. They were even generous by even giving them fuel which isn’t even a basic need, and in doing all of this, Freedmen were able to live a healthy life due to the federal government.
The United States then went through the Reconstruction period (1865-1877),
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, popularly known as the Freedmen's Bureau (1865–72) was active during the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War. It was established by Congress On March 3, 1865 to provide health care, education, and technical assistance to newly freed black Americans in their transition from slavery to freedom. “This, in effect, constitutes the nation’s first social welfare agency and is tasked with helping 4 million liberated slaves adjust to freedom” (1144). The Bureau was involved in any problem of African Americans, including clothing, water, housing, education, health care and employment prospects. It provided twenty-one million rations of food to impoverished blacks as well as whites.
In 1877 racial tension and hostility was starting to take
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.
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.
The Bureau could not provide African Americans with land, but it did contribute to education. Formerly enslaved African Americans were educated with the help of Northern charities. This was a positive outcome during
Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans
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.)
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.
