Causes Of Reconstruction

After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African

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

The Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves in the U.S. After the Civil War, the withdrawal of the federal troops from the south, and the Fourteenth Amendment was what they emancipated. The reconstruction lasted 12 years from 1871 until 1883 when the Supreme Court ruled the Civil Rights Cases in which some Acts were invalid because they addressed social as opposed to civil rights. Although Congress responded with legislation that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1866, States kept on the books laws that continued the legacy of the black codes which were established by white Southerners, seeking to control the freedom of the 4 million black Southerners former slaves and, therefore, second-class citizenship were imposed for the newly freed slaves; being that they were landless and with little money to support themselves. Furthermore, the Court noted that the Fourteenth Amendment protected people against violations of their civil rights by states, not by the actions of individuals. It was aimed to provide the means for the Southern states to recognize that African American and Whites can live in harmony, together, without slavery. That was President Hayes, who in 1877 thought, that it was a new Era having new feelings for respecting each other, but the Southern states did not welcome this. In that same year, South Carolina’s Governor Hampton promoted the full equal protection right to blacks and whites. All good intention to change the

Government had brought the seceded Southern states back into the Union, and they ended slavery and they tried their best to protect newly emancipated the slaves. But they rebuilt the nation after a lot more four years of fighting. The reconstruction occurred in 2 phases, the Presidential Reconstruction was very lenient in order Southern states to rejoin the Union quickly, this was initiated by President Lincoln but was carried out by President Andrew Johnson. The Congressional Reconstruction was stricter and protected rights from former slaves and they kept Confederate leaders from regaining power. But, before the Civil War Lincoln proposed his 10% Plan, which was lenient and allowed the Confederate states could re-enter the Union when, 10% of their population had sworn an Oath of Loyalty and they ratified the 13th Amendment ending all slavery. But, the Radicals in Congress had rejected his plan because, it did not protect ex-slaves and didn’t keep them from regaining power, they also wanted to have 50% of the population to swear to an oath of loyalty. But, the states could come back once they ratified the 13th amendment. But, the southern passed black codes in order to keep African- Americans from getting any land, jobs, voting rights, and also protection under the law. Finally, in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau had been established and offered assistance to former slaves and to protect their new

“The battle was done, the buglers were silent. Boneweary and bloodied, the American people, North and South, now faced the staggering challenges of peace.” After the Civil War, no one knew what to do next. The terrible conditions of the South after the war made it so no one wanted to participate in such a situation. When President Abraham Lincoln held office, he knew that the Union must be reassembled while treating the blacks respectfully which began the period of Reconstruction. Throughout this period, four presidents held office each trying to reform the poor conditions of the United States. Reconstruction ended when President Rutherford Hayes forced the Union troops to retreat from the southern states as a

“...the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery”(Dubois). The Reconstruction wasn’t just a time of leaving slavery behind us, it was a time of progression and development. In 1869, four years after the Civil War, the first ever college football game ensued, and in 1870 Hiram Revels was the first African American senator. Then, in 1877, the first ever easter egg hunt occurred. Moving past all the fun of the Reconstruction, is the death of it. The Reconstruction died due to the efforts, or lack thereof on the North. A financial crisis, racism, and a lack of effort brought the Reconstruction to a halting stop.

The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought great social, political, and economic changes to American society. These changes affected the way everyone in the nation was used to living. Slavery was a huge thing that led the economy for the south, providing a free source of labor, which would soon lead to a lot of change in the southern economy when emancipated. Slavery also did not allow the African Americans to have any rights or participate in any political things. White people dominated the nation and restricted all that the African Americans were allowed to do. The emancipation of slavery led to changes in economics, politics, and brought many social changes. These changes ultimately had positive effects on the world, and these changes are still seen today as they continued into the 20th century.

Shortly after the Civil War ended in 1867, President Abraham Lincoln’s new objective was to unify the union and the confederate states into what was formerly known as the United States of America. This time period is known as the Reconstruction Era, starting with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in 1865 and ending with the implementation of the Compromise of 1877. The Reconstruction Era was a time period full of political, economic, and social changes, some being temporary and some lasting to modern time. Many modern ideas about freedom and political equality come from the positive results of reconstruction. Reconstruction however did not successfully solve the problem of social inequality between African Americans and White Southerners, but the goal of reconstruction was not to promote social equality, it was to unify the union, which was accomplished. So, the Reconstruction Era was not a failure, if anything, it was successful because it granted rights to African Americans that they never had before, it started programs such as the Freedmen’s Bureau to assist former slaves and poor whites with education, and it met the goal of unification.

After the devastation brought to the South from the Civil War America entered period called “Reconstruction” to help mend America. One of the most debated things to come out of Reconstruction was on whether it was a success or a failure. Many believe it was a success due to the Southern states participating in the US government again and the freedom of slaves. Others believe it was a failure due to the repression of African rights and failures to protect them both physically and financially. Reconstruction was a failure because of the restrictions of African American’s rights, the social separation/mistreatment of the races, and the continous poverty of the African American community.

The challenge of reconstruction could have been met, if only President Abraham Lincoln hadn’t been assassinated in 1865 and replaced with President Andrew Johnson. President Johnson was a Southerner that believed the south didn’t have the right to secede in the first place. He also believed that African Americans had no place in reconstruction. During the period of presidential reconstruction (1865-1867), the president had state conventions held by provisional governors to create new all-white governments (which were similar to the old confederate governments they had replaced). Johnson

The failure of Reconstruction lies in the hands of the North. Due to the Northerners neglecting the events occurring in the South, it became easy for everyone to fall. Reconstruction was the period after the civil war, it was developed in order to reconnect the eleven states and allow for the Union to welcome millions of freedmen. This idea was easily placed on the back-burner due to the Panic of 1873. This occupied all of the North’s attention therefore leading to the overall failure of Reconstruction.

After the Civil War, there were two major paths of reconstruction–presidential reconstruction and radical reconstruction. Presidential reconstruction was headed by President Andrew Johnson, who believed that the southern states had never given up their rights to govern themselves, and failed to institute any sort of voting requirements. Aside from having to take an oath of allegiance to the Union and pay off war debt, the South was free to do what they like. This leniency led to the instillation of Black Codes and the continuation of wrongful treatment of African Americans. This caused the Republicans in Congress to take control of Reconstruction in the South after Johnson’s

The goal for the Reconstruction of the United States was to unite the country and make it a better place for everyone. Unfortunately, some facts indicate that it failed. For starters, a terrible consequence that became more evident was the racism. A really common thing at the US during the Reconstruction time was the segregation: to separate people in groups. In this case, African-Americans being separated from whites. There were laws called Jim Crow laws, a pejorative caricature of African American, that were made to separate them at schools, parks, public buildings, hospitals and in transportation systems Also, the cities became over populated because of the immigrants that became to arrive. There were so many people that the tenement system became necessary.

Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era began. During this time, the southern part of the United States attempted a transformation directed by Congress from 1863 to 1877. Known for its successes and failures, the Reconstruction was a time of great pain and an infinite amount of questions. As well as many long term, short term, positive, negative, social, and political effects.

The Civil War was a massive milestone in American History. This war started in 1861 and lasted four years. It was between the Union and the Confederacy over their differences and problems they created. The consequences the nation faced due to the demolition of the Civil War, was terrifying. Then the Reconstruction era was born to restore, reinstate, and unite the United States as one. During the Reconstruction of 1865 through 1867, African American lives were impacted economically because they were given few rights and their resources were limited, socially because they wanted to be given an ordinary lifestyle, and politically because they weren’t allowed to be joined or linked with the government.