Debt In Virginia

During these years of radical reconstruction, the African Americans were going through some very tough times. The laws that were put on them were harsh and unreasonable. All they wanted to do was becomes socially and economically apart of the United States. Groups like the KKK were unfair towards the blacks and made their lives miserable by holding rallies and killing them. As a result of reconstruction, the blacks were not given social or economic equality because of laws like the black codes and Jim Crow laws, and the rebellious whites in the south. These African Americans struggled just to support themselves, but whites eventually accepted them at the end of the

Now, as the 1670's and 1680's came along, indentured servants were beginning to live longer lives. (CL) According to Professor Cutter this new class of potential landowners was unable to get land because the rich had already used it all up. (CL) The only land that was now available was Indian land and the rich people of Virginia, selfish and "psychotically" individualistic as they were, were not about to spend their money on a war against the Indians to get land that they would never see the profit of. (CL) So in response to this, the governor of Virginia

As the state elections of 1898 approached, the Fusion party was not thriving as well as it had been, when preparing for the last election. The Democratic party was preparing to defeat the Republicans in the election and were being led by Furnifold Simmons, the party chairman. He did a great deal of organizing and campaigning in an attempt to have Democrats regain power over the city. Simmons worked hard to prevent “negro denomination”, a fear that many white segregationists had at the time, they worried that if African Americans gained too much power in government, eventually they would take over. In reality, African Americans only wanted a say in how they were governed and wanted to be treated equally under the law. To conquer this fear that many white Democrats possessed, they planned to take over the government and run any influential African Americans out of town, to somewhere that they would no longer influence and encourage people to stand up for equal

Since raising revenue in the United States was one of the first economic issues the Federalists were up against, a solution to national debt had to be found and agreed upon. During the Federalist’s struggle, James Madison was a federalist who was

The creation of a central bank in the United States is necessary to increase the liquidity of the economy and to stabilize the debt ridden nation, which ultimately promotes stable economic growth and the fiscal independence, given the financial situation at the time. After the American Revolution, debts incurred by individual states amounted to around $18 million causing widespread uncertainty. Such a crisis threatened to destabilize the region as some states, such as Virginia, had already nearly liquidated their state’s bonded indebtedness, and did not want to pay yet again. Congress had issued large amounts of continentals, fiat money,

“During reconstruction, some 2000 African American held public office, from the local level all the way up to the US. Senate, though, they never achieved representation in government proportionate to their numbers.” The term Reconstruction Era or Radical Reconstruction in the context of the history of the United States, has two senses: the first covers the complete history of the entire country from 1861 to 1877 following the Civil War (1861-1865); the second sense focuses on the attempted transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877. Also, the period from the end of World War II until the late 1960s is often referred as the Second Reconstruction. One of the most important aspects of the Reconstruction 1861-1877 and second reconstruction 1945-1968, was the active participation of African American community in the political, economic and social life of the South.

Throughout reconstruction congress has passed acts that were basically designed to fail, or didn’t make sense from the beginning. One act that Congress passed was a general amnesty act (doc. three). This act was designed to restore the right of office holding to the majority of those who had been disqualified. This meant that the white men received their vote back, when they did they reelected officials who would make laws against the freemen. Democratic victory also helped to undermine Congress’ efforts to help the freedmen,

The reconstruction era ended, with the compromise of 1877 where republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, needed southern electoral college votes .in doing so, he abandoned reconstruction and allowed white supremacists to seize control of the democratic party, thus allowing a new ‘dark age’ for African Americans in the South.

Reconstruction (1867-1877) under Congress was a fast tightening of a noose in the South. Congress no longer trusted Andrew Johnson’s loose plan for Reconstruction, so they began closing in on their plans. Radical Republicans made many lasting impacts in this period. Under Congress, the 14th and 15th Amendment was created, guaranteeing rights to African Americans. A newly created Freedmen’s Bureau help create many schools and colleges, lasting up to modern times. African Americans held power in office, although they were quickly brought down by the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorism. The main path Reconstruction took was based on the government’s plans. There

After the Revolutionary War the United States had a massive debt to deal with, but because of the Articles of Confederation the federal government could not raise taxes to pay off the debt (Blake). States were responsible

With the era of American Reconstruction in America during the mid to late 1800’s came a sense of opportunity and hope for its people. America was on the move as nation, railroads being built faster than ever and the freedmen looking to find their niche in society. Although in the beginning the government provided support for these new citizens, efforts toward reconstruction faded as the years passed. Those efforts faded to a point where they were all but nonexistent, and with the unwritten Compromise of 1877, what feeble efforts that were left of reconstruction were now all but dead. Politically, reconstruction failed to provide equality by pulling Federal troops from the South, allowing former Confederate officials and slave owners

Blacks were treated as lower than whites and were stripped of the rights others had, which included voting. “…Blacks bent on remaining in America would naturally seek the right to vote and, equally as a matter of course…blacks contended that denying them equal franchise [suffrage] with whites contravened [contradicted] the principles of the Declaration of Independence.” (Doc. 2) African Americans had no civil rights, especially as slaves. In 1840, a rally in support of the Liberty Party took place in New York and they stood up for what was right. They told the statement of how all humans should have equal rights (including blacks) and those would deny the right would be going against the Declaration of Independence. During 1861- 1865, one of the bloodiest clashes in America took place, the Civil War. This was a battle between the North and the South. With the North’s victory, three amendments took almost immediate effect, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment. These resulted in the abolition of slavery, civil rights, and Black suffrage (Doc. 3). If the South were to win, these amendments would most likely not exist and would result in the opposite direction. Without the North’s efforts to win the war, there would have probably still have been racial issues with slavery, unequal civil rights, and also no voting privileges for the African

As much as Reconstruction had initially tried to help the South, it was the sole goal of this movement to, “undo as much as possible of Reconstruction.” State facilities originally that were supposed to help everyone were closed down, and the gap between black and white expenditures on schooling increased. Due to the depression in the 1890’s this worsened the situation for black families trying to make a living in the South couldn’t keep up their farms or the places that their children would learn. “In 1900, no public high schools for blacks existed in the South. Black elementary schools, one observer reported, occupied buildings “as bad as stables””. New laws about segregation also affected blacks in more ways than just demoralization, it also showed what kind of jobs were considered good work for them. In the instance of segregation on railroads, “many blacks could be found in “whites only” railroad cars. But they entered as servants and nurses, not as paying customers entitled to equal treatment. The rise of lynching also affected the way blacks lived their lives, by controlling the way they vote, how they treated whites, and how they couldn’t rely on the justice system to address their grievances. An example of the reduced number of voters is best seen in Louisiana, where the number of voters dropped from 130, 000 to 1, 342, which is directly linked to the use of violence as a way to intimidate black voters. Blacks also had to be careful how they acted around white, since murder wasn’t a federal crime and was handled by the state, many blacks were lynched without fair trials and accused of crimes like raping white women, murder, and theft. A majority of the accused never when to trial. All in all blacks in the South were largely affected negatively as a result in policy changes, social factors, and widespread violence. This injustice carried on

The Radical Republicans, and the rest of Congress, were the ones who passed most of the bills for Reconstruction, because of their ability to override the president with their majority. They expanded the Freedmen's Bureau, which did show some progress in the helping of former slaves and poor white men. The Freedmen’s Bureau set up hospitals, schools, and also gave out supplies. This achieved the enablement of former slaves having the right to free education. Later on, however, the Freedmen’s Bureau became neglected, and was often forgotten or overlooked. The Freedmen’s Bureau is accurately described in this following statement, “This auspicious beginning belied the great disappointments that lay ahead,” (CITE TEXTBOOK).

Though both Presidents and Congress agreed on ideas for the Reconstruction, the Radical Republicans didn’t feel the same. Shortly after welcoming Johnson, they quickly turned against him and created The Joint Committee of Reconstruction (source 5). Unlike Johnson’s Plan, the Radical Republicans wanted to see immediate change, starting with granting all rights to free men (source 6). The Radicals believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites as well as Confederate leaders being punished for their roles in the Civil War (source 7). In hopes to achieve all their goals, the Radicals created America’s first relief organization known as the Freedman’s Bureau. The Freedman’s Bureau offered general welfare for newly freed slaves, as well as foods, clothing, and medicine (source 6 & 8). The Bureau also assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in former Confederate States, border states, District of