Causes Of Failure Of Reconstruction

It was clear to people in the late 1800s that the Civil War caused many national problems along with problems within the union. However, the Civil War assuaged many problems for the country. For example, slavery was abolished, the supremacy of the national government had been confirmed, and secession had been proved false. Some people may believe that the main reason why the congress’ reconstruction efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed was because virtually no one in America thought blacks were equal to whites. Basically it was because people still have racial thoughts; slaves didn’t get to fully acquire the meaning and prerogatives of their rights; in other words they were uneducated.

After the Civil War, the United States had many problems to solve. The country had to figure out how to integrate newly freed slaves into society and bring the former Confederate states back into the Union. Reconstruction was period of time after the civil war in which the United States addressed these problems. Reconstruction had two different phases: Presidential Reconstruction took place from 1865 to 1867, and Congressional Reconstruction took place from 1867 to 1877. Presidential Reconstruction began with Abraham Lincoln, who proposed the Proclamation of Amnesty and the ten percent oath plan. Lincoln was focused on leniency and forgiveness; under his plan southerners would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, and after only ten percent of a state’s voters had taken this oath, the state could be readmitted. After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson took over Reconstruction. Johnson wanted to punish landowners, but liberally handed out pardons, as he greatly enjoyed the power that he had over southerners. Under Johnson, former confederates were re-elected, and southern states discriminated blacks. Eventually, Congress took over Reconstruction. During Congressional Reconstruction, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were passed, and the freedman’s bureau was created. Overall, the failures of Reconstruction outweighed the failures because it took a very long time for it to achieve its goals, and the South was still able to

President Abraham Lincoln wanted to prevent a resurgence of resistance. He realized that time was of the essence, and a plan would need to be devised to clearly allow white southerners the ability to regain their status in the Union. His main objective from the beginning of the Civil War was to bring it to an end as quickly as possible. Thus, Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

The original purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the buildings and the economy of the south the best they could, but without the immoral element of slavery. But, reconstruction under the Johnson Presidency was a failure for a few reasons: 1) Convict Leasing, 2) Sharecropping, 3) the Ku Klux Klan, 4) Segregation in schools, even in the North, 5) Carpetbaggers/Scalawags, 6) misleading statistics, and 7) racism.

The process of rebuilding America after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877, known as the Reconstruction, fell very short of its expectations because of the negative effect it had on relationships within the country. President Lincoln came up with plans for reconstruction, however, Congress believed it was too lenient. After Lincoln’s death and events following regarding Johnson, Congress dominated the government and came up with their own plan that sets the nation up for further disagreement. The plan for Reconstruction as Congress made it, was a failure because of how it divided the government, turned the races against each other, and set up freed slaves for poverty.

Lincoln's main goal was to reunite the Union after the North had won and demolished most of the South. Lincoln wanted to reunite the North and South but the South didn't want to join a slave free north. Lincoln came up with the 10 percent plan which required 10 percent of the state’s population to vote to be loyal to the North and then that state would have to create a new government. The southern states combated this plan with the Wade-Davis Bill which stated that reconstruction would be handed over to congress and the Southern States

Many people had different views and ideas about Reconstruction. There was much debate about how the Confederate states, which included Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, should be readmitted into the Union. Some people believed that the states should be treated as territories, and others believed that the southern leaders should be punished instead of the states. Still, others believed that the South still belonged to the Union because secession was illegal. During the Civil War, on December 1863, President Lincoln announced his 10 % Plan for Reconstruction. Many Northerners considered it to be too mild, but the blacks condemned it for ignoring

               Reconstruction in  American society after the Civil War, which claimed many lives and displaced numerous families, was a period of integration of the Freedmen into the society by granting them their political and civil rights. However, one may ask, did reconstruction fail or succeed due to the high rate of racism at that period? According to Historian Steven Hahn, Reconstruction failed when Freedmen lost their military support of the North which increased the rate of violence towards the freedmen. Also, David Blight a Historian argues that reconstruction failed as a result of the high rate of racism and the injustice in the American society against the African American at that time. I agree with Hahn and Blight that, Reconstruction failed as a result of  lack of injustice and racism against the African American, because the Freedmen were still being persecuted, had no equal rights to vote or own businesses like their white counterparts and also lacks the basic support of their Government. The Government's support and protection for the African American was vital for the Reconstruction movement to have succeeded, Although, the Radical Reconstruction made a tremendous effort to see that reconstruction movement was a success. However, with the compromise of the 1877, the withdrawal of the federal troops and high rate of racism towards

Lincoln was the person who came up with the Reconstruction plan. As the leader of this newly reunited nation, Lincoln sought a very specific plan for reconstructing the South and solving all the issues they are facing. Lincoln’s ultimate goals were to reunify the states and ensure equality for all, including freed slaves. After all the rearrangement, all freedmen are allowed to vote, freedmen are now can be educated, and the South is known as a state that holds the most slavery, but now the South has changed into the state filled with impressive varieties. Lincoln was very passion about freed slaves and made every citizens in United State, especially the South has equal treating to everyone including voting.

The act also gave the federal government the power to step in if any states attempted to intrude on the African Americans’ rights.

Offered a full pardon and restoration of all rights to all persons who took an oath of loyalty to the Union and promised emancipation.

President Lincoln wanted to make it easy for the southern states to rejoin the Union. His goal was to close up wounds of war as quickly as possible. In December 1863, President Lincoln introduced a model for reinstatement of the Southern states called the Ten Percent Plan. This proposed a plan that if ten percent of a state’s voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States, the voters could

The plans for Reconstruction offered by Abraham Lincoln were to give a full pardon to the people that took an oath of honor and loyalty to the United States, so long as they promised to uphold all new federal laws regarding slavery. While doing this he would temporarily exclude those who held offices of high confederate and military positions. He would then allow each state to elect members to Congress, after they had 1/10 of the participating voters from the 1860 election take the oath within the state. The goal of Abraham Lincoln's Reconstruction plan was to end the war quicker and reunite the north and south.

On April 9, 1865, the Civil War ended. Most of the South was destroyed by the war. In order to get the South rebuilt, they had to make a plan. This rebuilding of the South was called Reconstruction. President Abraham Lincoln wanted to reunite the nations quick. Any southern state will at least ten percent of its voters made a pledge to be loyal to the United States, could be readmitted to the Union. The South also had to accept a ban on slavery.

After the war, the Union needed to effectively bring the South back into the country on equal footing, revive their economy, and rebuild their shattered landscape. Nevertheless, divisions in the federal government over Reconstruction caused a failure to achieve these goals. Lincoln first proposed the 10% plan, which offered a lenient way for Southern States to rejoin the Union. However, once Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson, a former owner of slaves, became president and initiated his own plan for Reconstruction. Although his plan initially worked, former Confederates eventually worked their way into the government and were elected to the United States Congress. The Republican dominated Congress refused to seat these Southerners. Furthermore, even the Republican Party itself was divided. Moderates and conservatives wanted the South to be readily admitted into the Union and Congress. These Republicans also wanted more reforms than those Johnson was providing. At the same time, radical Republicans wanted drastic change, desiring to "remake the South in the image of the North." These tensions within the Republican Party, and the