Compare And Contrast Civil War And Reconstruction

After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government

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

Reconstruction produced enormous tensions among the political parties, and between the president and Congress. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his vice president, Andrew Johnson, became the following president after the Civil War. Andrew Johnson wanted the South back to full pledged membership in the union as rapidly as possible. Johnson quickly set his plans in motion while congress was not in session which then became known as the Presidential Reconstruction. It seemed that he wanted a rapid lenient restoration of the union. His aim was to bring the white south and white north back together. African Americans do not play a role in Johnson's vision of the postwar South other than to go back to work, be landless, and rightless plantation

Congress passes the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the South into districts and required Southern states to approve the 14th Amendment to grant blacks citizenship, before rejoining the Union. Later, congress gives African Americans the right to vote by ratifying the 15th Amendment. The Reconstruction established the South’s first state-funded public school systems, created a just taxation legislation, and passed laws against discrimination and economic development programs. The approach of Congress was different than Johnson’s plan, because they worked to improve the lives of African Americans by passing laws in their favor, and expanding their rights. Congress did not care what the South wanted, and expected the South to abide by their rules. On the other hand, Johnson wanted to preserve the nation, and did not want to do anything to anger the South. Moreover, he was a strong believer in states rights, and the idea that the federal government had no right to enforce restrictive laws on the entire country.

“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 Civil War sparked a new era of Reconstruction in America. This era was meant to change the everyday life of America and to allow African Americans to become a part of America. Though reconstruction started out with good intentions, it is considered a massive failure in almost every area. As a result of the Civil War and Reconstruction, American society experienced drastic political change in participation government while keeping social and economic structures the same.

There was a dispute over who won the election in 1876; the electoral votes were exceptionally close, and Samuel B. Tilden won the popular vote. Democrats threatened to filibuster if Tilden was not made president. The Compromise of 1877 allowed Rutherford B. Hayes to become president in exchange for all federal troops being pulled out of the southern states Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina. In addition, the appointment of a Southern Democrat to Hayes’ cabinet, the construction of an additional transcontinental railroad to boost the economy in the south. Finally, the right to deal with African Americans without northern interference The Compromise of 1877 adequately ceased the Reconstruction Era.

1. The war in 1862 was only more than a year old and the people in both the Union and Confederate sides didn’t anticipate it would last that long, but it is going to go on. Close to the end of the summer in this same year, the Union has made huge progress in claiming confederate lands, winning some major battles. They have put the confederacy in the defensive. They have taken over New Orleans, with even black troops major on the ground of New Orleans. They have taken Missouri and are working hard to take over the Mississippi Valley and maybe even Richmond itself. Bruce Catton puts it this way in The Civil War, “Except for guerrilla activity, Kentucky and Missouri has been swept clear of armed confederates, Western Tennessee had been reclaimed, there was a Yankee army in Cumberland Gap, another one was approaching chattanooga, and a third was sprawled out from Memphis to Corinth, preparing to splice down through Mississippi and touch hands with the Union occupation forces in Baton Rouge and New Orleans” (85) So not only that they Union had taken over regions, they are advancing as well, but they did not win the way this year for some reason. Firstly, because they did not have generals and army heads capable of taking them to victory. General Halleck, chief of the Union Armies and Pope in charge of one of the Union armies in Virginia, were major examples of this.

After the Civil War there was still a tremendous amount of tension between the North and South. Lincoln and Johnson however, believed in having a reconstruction plan and moving right on over the War. Not everyone agreed on what they had in mind for their plans for reconstruction. The North thought Lincoln and Johnson were both way too lenient in their plans for having the South rejoin with the North. The North wanted the South to be punished. So with that mindset, it became clear that it was necessary for a change. Sadly, Lincoln could not carry out his plans due to his assassination.

The era of emancipation, the Civil War, and Reconstruction has a contested view that affects the understanding of the past and present. The southern white population was angry at African American's newly won freedom, used violence against African American to control of their lives. The Lost Cause is the movement to describe the Confederate cause as a heroic on against all odd despite its defeat. The Lost Cause justified the violence against African Americans and rewrote the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction. The Lost Cause was central to the development of collective memory, and for the Civil War and Reconstruction erased African Americans as decisive historical actors. Collective memory is the memory of the group of two or more individuals the is passed from

During the election of 1877, there was a dispute over the electoral votes. The Democrats agreed to allow the Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes to become President, but only under certain conditions. With what became known as the Compromise of 1877, Hayes would become the president; but all troops must be removed from the South; Hayes must appoint at least one Southerner to his Cabinet; and federal money must be given to help the South’s economy recover from the turmoil of Reconstruction. Reconstruction in the South ended with the Compromise of 1877 (Grussendorf,

The Civil War, which was caused by the secession of the Confederate states, lasted four long years. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers have lost their lives during the bloody battle. However, after the war has ended and reconstruction took place, there were some very major events that took place that helped changed and bettered the United States, as well as bring the Nation back together.

As the dispute on how to handle the South continued, Lincoln was unexpectedly assassinated and Andrew Johnson was brought into presidency. Johnson turned out to be a much different president than Lincoln. Johnson himself was, “openly hostile to the freed slave and unwilling to support any plans that guaranteed them civil equality or enfranchisement” (Brinkley 415). However, since he was now President, Reconstruction and how to go about it was left up to Johnson, no matter how unpleasant he was. His Reconstruction plan turned out to be quite similar to Lincoln. He decided to, “offer amnesty to those Southerners who would take an oath of allegiance (high ranking Confederated officials and any white Southerner with land worth $20,000 or more would have to apply

The American Civil War was a second American Revolution. Even if the South did not win, the Confederacy was fighting for freedom from the Union. The opposing sides are different from the first American Revolution. The South fought the North instead of America fighting Britain, but both America in the Revolutionary War and the Confederacy in the Civil War fought to have rights and a larger say in government.

The period of reconstruction was the period of time between 1865 and 1877 when the nation was trying to rebuild itself after the civil war. This period of time had a very big impact on African americans across the south and many questions of “Were african americans actually free during reconstruction” have arised. The answer to this question is essentially yes, and no. African Americans were technically free during the period of reconstruction based on the amendments being passed, different tools that were being put in place to help African Americans, and the change in the number of African American elected officials, but if you were to look at how African Americans were treated during this time it is reasonable to believe that they were not truly free from the racism and hatred that there was directed toward them by the White race.