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Michael Fitzgerald Splendid Failure

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The Splendid Failure Michael Fitzgerald's, "Splendid Failure" describes the unfolding tensions of the rebuilding of the United States after it’s horrid war the nation went through. In this essay, we will discuss three things. The government, the freedmen, and explain who’s at fault, the North or the South and discover why Michael Fitzgerald finds it all, a Splendid failure. The age of Reconstruction began right after the Civil war, a fight which was both, not and was about slaves. But the idea was to fix what was in ruins and that provided rigorous questions. What to do with the South that seceded from the Union? How to justly bring them back to the Union or peg them as traitors? What about the freedmen? These all begged the questions of …show more content…

Congress and Johnson at this point vetoed and overwrote said vetoes. It was made clear that Congress had to take matters in their own hands. Aside of blocking the admission for Southern representatives and senators, congress also held a public hearing and listened about the mistreatment of blacks and responded with the Civil Rights Act. All this lead to the support of congress and later, dominated two-thirds of seats in both houses and control of northern state governments. Meanwhile, the recently freedmen had been free (if they were in a state in rebellion) but still suffer with abuse. Even when the 13th Amendment ratified, southerners established black codes that violate and opposed the Amendment. Freedmen attempted to obtain representation, but they lacked education. “Freedmen increasingly sought representation that was accountable to them, African Americans or White allies independent of the statewide power structure.” Even when freedmen existed and made up to 40% of the population and only dominated in South Carolina and Louisiana. This meant in the rest of the South, republicans aimed to appease the majority, which were white people and used the Union League of America to control the black vote. Dissident southerners created terrorist societies like the Ku Klux Klan.” Whites perceived a frightening loss of racial control, which encouraged the wave of extralegal violence throughout the period.” The Force Acts were made to protect them, but the damage was

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