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What Are The Causes Of Congressional Reconstruction

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Reconstruction was a period after the Civil War, which Northern leaders created plans to reestablish the south and for southern states to rejoin the Union. Presidential reconstruction was more lenient to the south. However, Congressional reconstruction wanted to punish the south for starting the war and for treating African American inequality. They put the South under military control. 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 …show more content…

According to the passage, “as black codes were concerned, it was pointed out that they could not be alleged as evidences of a tendency to restore slavery or introduce peonage.” This is saying that black codes were totally different from slavery and could not be used for evidence that the south was bringing back slavery. Since President Johnson’s presidential reconstruction was so lenient to the south and gave the white southerner to determining whether to abolish slavery or not. As a result, it led to white southerners passing the black codes, which restricted African American’s freedom. In another word, it is same as slavery, just in different word phrase. Dunning’s passage also mentioned that the southerners felt that Congress gave African American the rights to vote was just a way to gain support and wants the new government in the south to support the Republican Party. As it stated in the passage, “ the southerners felt that the policy of Congress had no real cause save the purpose of radical politicians to prolong and extend their party power by means of negro

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Reconstruction is known as the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. Every political question was a debate and they were many questions and statements and speeches. In the Reconstruction era the United States began to rebuild the South after the Civil War which lasted from 1865-1877. The federal government put forward many plans to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. The Reconstruction Era left many legacies such as the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments

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Reconstruction was successful in the idea that is reunited the United States by the former Confederate states pledging to the United States government and developing a new constitution which embodied the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments. At first, Reconstruction brought numerous job opportunities for black and whites in the South since collaboration was essential for the nation to be whole again. Furthermore, education, Freedmen 's Bureau, and laws were established in order to provide the newly freedmen with any assistance to feel like an American citizen. Some examples of these specific laws or acts are the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments and the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which “required the state governments provide equal

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Johnson’s plan stated that freed African Americans had no role in politics, and the new southern legislatures even passed “black codes” restricting the freedom of African Americans and forcing them into repressive labor situations, which was a development that they strongly resisted upon. In the congressional elections of 1866, northern voters rejected Johnson’s view of Reconstruction and handed a major victory to the so-called Radical Republicans, who now took control of Reconstruction. Republicans had strong determination to control the South. Congress’ passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 marked the beginning of the Radical Reconstruction period, which lasted for the next decade. That legislation divided the South into five military districts and delineated how new state governments based on universal suffrage for both whites and black were to be systematized.

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End of Reconstruction in 1877 Reconstruction means the action or process of reconstructing or being reconstructed. Today, when we hear the word reconstruction it is thought of as something that is being built or rebuilding to make new. However in 1877, reconstruction in the south was more a reformation of a way of life rather than a restoration of a building or a highway.

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The Congress on the other hand wanted to end slavery and allow them the vote right

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Dunning and Beale focused on how the Reconstruction was morally corrupt and disagreed with the freedom the former slaves had received. The majority of other historians to reevaluate the Reconstruction came to an almost unanimous conclusion of it being beneficial for the former slaves to have had this freedom. While there are minor differences in opinions of those writers, more people saw how that small independence for the blacks helped shape the civil rights movements for decades after. Overall, I agree with both general ideas of the Reconstruction being morally corrupt in a business sense and also that the freedom the former slaves received was beneficial for society as a

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Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

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amend. II, sec. 3). Then, when the south eventually lost the war, it seemed as though this guarantee ensured in the Bill of Rights was ineffectual, and they were stuck in the same old cycle of following rules that were harmful to them and feeling powerless to speak up politically with the suppression of Democratic politicians during Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Era changes only further added to this oppression, so the culture clung onto what gave them power originally: the assurance that they could protest Congressional wrongdoing (the preamble of the Second Amendment), the guarantee of some power symbolism (guns), and the ability to still have a power that had been historically theirs (the claim of racial superiority).

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With the beginning of reconstruction the amendment were created to abolish slavery, to give people born in America the right to be citizens and finally the allowance of men of to vote regardless of their race. With these amendments being put into place it cause a lot of kick back from the south and they didn’t agree at with these amendments being put into place. Although it took a while for these amendments to actually be followed it was a big door opener to slaves essentially giving them rights to be

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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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Finally, with the ratification the fifteenth amendment in 1870s, it secured the vote for the African Americans, and it forbid states from denying any citizens from the right to vote based on race, color, or “previous condition of servitude.” These three amendments were significant changes during the Reconstruction period because all people, not just white, can fully enjoy being an American citizen without worrying over their race or

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Reconstruction was a difficult time after the Civil War. Readmitting the former confederate states to the Union is call Reconstruction(History Book). Reconstruction was supposed to bring the North and South together, but that didn't happen because of southerners. Many reasons contribute to the failure of Reconstruction. The South was most responsible for the failure of Reconstruction.

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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 is the time period after the Civil War, where the country attempted to improve the Union. There were many successes, but what also comes along with success is failure. During the reconstruction many failures were present; such as the lack of racial equality and blatant racism towards blacks, a failing economy in the South, and tense relations between the North and the South. This created a very intense and challenging period of time for the Union.

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