Americans After Reconstruction

Following the Civil War, America was in shambles. There were many groups with strong, conflicting ideas of how things should be. However, most groups had one idea in common: reducing the rights of African Americans as much as possible. Freed slaves had very little freedom under the law, were treated like a lesser species by those around them, and faced dangerous environments everywhere they went. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation may have legally freed slaves, but African Americans were barely more than paid slaves.

The reconstruction era was a time that then affected America in positive facets and negative aspects as well, and still affects America today. Thanks to the reconstruction era, there are several implementations that geared the world on the path in which it is today. Had it not been for some of the laws that were set in place African Americans may have not had many of the opportunities that were presented during the reconstruction period, therefore the years of oppression and cruelty might still be present.

America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.

As a country, America has gone through many political changes. Leaders have come and gone, all of them having different objectives and plans for the future. One period of time in which leaders sought change was 1865 which was the time period known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a time period of many different leaders, different goals and different accomplishments. Many debate whether Reconstruction was a success or failure. Success is an event which accomplishes its intended purpose, which Reconstruction did, but during this process of accomplishment, evil came about. There was many good things that came from the Reconstruction era which leads me to believe that it was a success, these accomplishments were; Reunification of the Union , more laws came about along with the protection of African Americans and the Enforcement acts, the Freedmen's Bureau was created along with an education system, and the Compromise of 1877.

In hindsight it is sometimes claimed that Reconstruction was a failure. Although there was some good that came out of the Reconstruction it was mostly just a relentless uphill battle against Southerners and immoral politicians that were here to delay change and keep racism alive. Reconstruction brought the Ku Klux Klan who displayed great resistance, and poverty that swept the South once the blacks were freed. The freedom of these black slaves led to discriminatory legislatures such as the Black Codes and the Jim Crow laws to keep the blacks constrained from actually being free. The South was then encountered with corruption and high property taxes, as a rebuild was in order to reestablish the war torn part of the nation.

America was in disarray following the events of the Civil War. Southern economy was in shambles while congress was struggling to find a middle ground between the radical republicans and Lincoln’s lenient policies. Many Southerners faced the aftermath of uprooting their society and their way of life while thousands of newly freed slaves struggled to find a way to support themselves. The country needed a strong leader, however on the 14th of April, 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in the Ford Theatre in Washington (Farmer). Without the man that had once held the nation together, the country now faced an enormous obstacle; reconstructing American economics, politics and social life.

Following the Civil War, previous slaves were granted their freedom, after the North's victory. However, the dispute of equality was not settled between the two territories trickling new challenges into a time duration known as the Reconstruction period. Many in the South were unhappy with the results postwar, and created laws and customs to maintain “slavery” or inequality any way they could. Reconstruction succeeded in an extent by transforming how people of color were viewed in society and by law, from being slaves to freedmen and finally to equal members in society.

During The Reconstruction era, African Americans faced many obstacles on their way to success. Reconstruction of the United States refers to the remodeling that took place after the civil war. The country was injured in all areas. Its society, economy and physical structure had been In January of 1863; President Abraham Lincoln lifted the chains off thousands of African Americans’ shoulders by releasing the Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, this relief was short-winded. The Emancipation Proclamation stated that all people who were deemed as slaves, were to be set free from slavery and guaranteed to no return to it. At first glance, this new legislative act appeared to provide endless opportunities for newly freed African Americans. Instead, life after the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation conceived more problems for African Americans than those they possessed during the bondage of slavery. After the Emancipation Proclamation was passed, African Americans faced various issues including a lack of opportunities, an unfair starting point and continuous discrimination.

The Civil War is known most commonly as the war that freed the slaves, but when the war ended and all was said and done, were the slaves really all that free? The war sent the United States into ‘Reconstruction’, a period of around eleven years where the war’s aftershock, the new laws on slavery, and the backlash that came with these laws was dealt with. After the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed and slavery was officially illegalized, things took a pretty big change of course. The previous slave-owners were at a loss for what to do, and in a way so were the newly freed African Americans. Both parties had grown to rely on each other in order to support themselves and survive, and that relationship would continue to

why was did the destruction of the reconstruction happen and who's fault was it north or the south. The process of rebuilding the south after the civil war. The reconstruction happened after the civil war and after the slaves were freed they were trying to rebuild the south and almost everyone wanted that except the KKK and the south gave up on them because of their resistance. Who from the nation destroyed the process of reconstruction. The south resistance destroyed reconstruction of the United States by the resistance from the KKK and the north's neglect of the south's problems.

Reconstruction refers to the time period after the Civil War when the Union worked to reintegrate the Southern states that had seceded from the union, and were eventually defeated in the Civil War. The Reconstruction era occurred between 1865-1877 (American Destiny, pg. 409).

The proclamation by Lincoln provided freedom to millions of slaves which led to their active participation in American political life. The changes that were brought about during the Reconstruction phase was ultimately frustrating for African Americans, and the nation witnessed the rise of the white supremacy through racist organizations like Ku Klux Klan that gained popularity in the Southern States. The African Americans took time to change their lifestyle and were eager to enter every field. But even a century had passed since the Civil War there still existed resistance to the growth of the black people and this lingering racism and discrimination in America was chiefly responsible for the civil rights movement of the 1960s, which lead to

The idea of Reconstruction was to rebuild the United States, but instead it continued to tear apart the country. The Reconstruction period was during the late 1860’s, the time just after the United States civil war, and was when they decided to repair pieces from their divide. During the civil war, the northern and southern United States fought over their major differences, especially slavery. The northern United States were on the anti-slavery side and the south on the other, but the north came out on top. With ending of the war, Reconstruction was placed. The United States attempted to unite once again with it, but it is still split among the north and south just like when it was in the civil war. This divide led to a failure in the effort of the rebuilding process of the United

The Civil War left a country divided not only by property lines and borders but by beliefs as well. Not just religious beliefs, moral beliefs also. It left both sides, north and south struggling, trying to figure out what their next move towards reuniting the divided America was going to be. The period following the end of the Civil War would become known as the “Reconstruction Era.” An era that raised just as many questions as it did answers. A reconstruction of America that seems to carry on many decades later.

African Americans were treated as though they were different from other races, and were excluded from everyday rights. Black men and