Essay On Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln is credited to be the reason the Union won the civil war. His death and lack of leadership, rise of the radical republican power, and southern refusal to accept northern policies can arguably be the reason reconstruction failed. After the Union won the war the next task to be addressed was how to readmit the south into the union. Lincoln set the standard in his 1865 second inaugural address stating “malice towards none, and charity for all”. These words would be remembered in the following years as people, like Johnson, look to Lincoln’s ideals during the reconstruction years. Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction supported the idea of a strongly governed united country. Lincoln was one of the few to recognize that one needed to look past personal glory, and instead, do what was best for the country as a whole (Herman Belz pg.5). However, because of Lincoln’s untimely assassination in 1865, the newly re-formed United States was left in the hands

Reconstruction was the foremost goal for many after the civil war. Yet, various individuals and political parties held a plethora of contrasting beliefs concerning how to face this reconstruction task. In terms of the Reconstruction, two ideas permeated the political field: who would have the authority to enact these changes and in what ways would national unity be accomplished. It is obvious that throughout this time the power held within the federal government would be challenged by southern state governments. The struggles reflected the inability of reaching a concurrent decision. During Johnson’s presidency Republicans did not agree with the meager actions in regards to ex-rebels. Republicans did not agree with how the government

Disagreements over Reconstruction lead to conflict in government and in the South. Andrew Johnson was the vice president of Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln was assassinated, Johnson became President and was in control of how Reconstruction would go. Johnson was originally from the South, he was pro-slavery, and he wanted a lenient plan for Reconstruction. While Congress was out of session, Johnson created and put into effect a Reconstruction plan. The opposite party to Johnson was the Radical Republicans. Radical Republicans were mostly from the North, they were anti-slavery, and they wanted a strict plan for Reconstruction. They had strong support from scalawags, carpetbaggers, and freedmen. Their main goal of Reconstruction was to be a total reconstruction of society to guarentee black people true equality. Another party in this battle was the Klu Klux Klan. The Klu Klux Klan used terror to stop African Americans from gaining any power. They would whip, torture, shoot, hang, and sometimes burn people alive. There were hundreds of lives lost during the 1868 election. This cause voting from African Americans to decline. After all of the disagreements about Reconstruction, the end of Reconstruction still failed to give African Americans rights.

When Johnson let the South back into the Union he helped to make all the people who had died for the right to equality for all worthless. President Johnson was from the south originally. He had been a poor white living in Kentucky, and so had learned to hate the rich, white Plantation owners. But he always felt above the slaves which later influenced his decision to let the very people he had grown up hating back in to the Union. When congress passed the 13th Amendment banning slavery many of the people in the south feared what would happen to them. Johnson, who related to the poor white folk, knew that they needed someone who they could say "at least I'm better than you" about. The only way he saw to do that was by letting the South have their lands and rights back so that they could do something about their former slaves. So the pardons started rolling out of the Round Office like a printing press. The Radical Republicans weren't happy about it but at that point they couldn't stop him. The south began to return to the way it was.

Reconstruction was a period of time after the Civil War (1865-1877) that was supposed to be the rebuilding of America. It was also the process used to readmit all the Confederate states back into the Union. There was controversy, however, on how to go about rebuilding the nation. Abraham Lincoln proposed a lenient plan. After he was assassinated, Andrew Johnson proposed a very similar plan. The Radical Republicans, a group of legislators that were in favor of freedmen’s rights, were opposed to both plans under “Presidential Reconstruction”. They initiated “Congressional Reconstruction”. Because of the conflicting views, there was little cooperation between the Executive and Legislative branches. This lead to many unsuccessful

Both of the positions on Reconstruction are not without merit. Each one wanted a pledge of unity from the Confederacy to ensure that secession would not happen. The country would not survive another separation. The republican also had a respectable view in that the country was formed as the United States of America. Yet, the south seceded when they felt threatened. Their proposals were harsh with good reasoning to back it as if the majority of a state agrees then there is less chance of the state seceding or not keeping the oaths that were made. Lincoln just wanted the country to get the country going again quickly because it had practically ground to a halt because of the war. Little did Lincoln know that the battle for the freedmen would continue for generations.

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

For example, this made it easier for women to vote for political decisions. Also, the addition of new amendments helped a lot during this time. It allowed them to get more involved in the events that were happening in the society. It was also a fail because it caused a lot of tension between people. For example, people started to form a group called Ku-Klux Klan. They were people dressed in all white. This was a group of people who believed that the blacks should not have same equality as the whites. They violently attacked and killed those people that helped black people during the slavery time and black people. For example, “Klan tactics included riding out to victims’ houses, masked and armed, and firing into the homes or burning them down” (471). This group of people were considered a terrorist group during that time. Another failure would be that it caused a tension between the republicans and the democrats. The republicans did not agree on the same ideas as the democratic people. One of them would be that they did not agree with President Johnson’s position in

They believed in three things, first, they were mad at the South because they had caused the war. Second, they wanted to punish them. Third, they wanted to help the slaves who are now considered as freemen after the war ended. the Radical Republicans didn’t like Andrew Johnson’s plans, which are almost mirrored his previous president Abraham Lincoln, they felt that he did not pay attention to the major issue, which was the rights and protection for slaves, and because of that Andrew was considered weak and was impeached in 1868. Even though he was considered a southerner and should sympathize with the South except he was considered a racist for ignoring the blacks and consecrating only about the white men.

After the American Civil War in which attempts were made to solve the political, social, and economic factors arising from the readmission to the Union of the Confederate States that had seceded at or before the outbreak of war. President Abraham Lincoln planned to readmit states with a criterion in which 10% of the voters had pledged loyalty to the Union. This lenient approach was opposed by the Radical Republicans, who favored the measures passed in the Wade-Davis Bill. Andrew Johnson became the President after Lincoln’s assassination in 1865. He wanted to keep it simple and easy to restore the local rule. So, he took over and continued with the moderate policies of Lincoln, but due to the enactment in the South of the black codes and the demand for stricter legislation in the North resulted in victories of Radical Republicans

The differences between both presidents was that Lincoln wanted equality for all and wanted reconstruction of both South and North states. While Lincoln felt that way about how the North and South should act with equality, Johnson believed the Union should stay intact but, give slaves limited opportunities. Johnson’s view made many citizens dislike him because of slavery and what states should agree with what. The government knew that with Johnson as President nothing would come out of him being in the presidency because instead of reuniting the nations he was parting them in different ways.

President Abraham Lincoln believed that reconstruction was a matter of executive responsibility. Congress just asserted its jurisdiction. They both had authority to devise a plan for reconstructing the Union. But they didn’t give much thought to the South’s land and labor. Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction aimed primarily at shortening the war and ending slavery. His terms got sent out by “Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction”. He first offered a full pardon, restoring property (except slaves), and political rights, to most rebels to renounce secession and to accept emancipation. His term enraged abolitionists. And Congress agreed that Lincoln’s plan was inadequate. So Congress put out a plan of their own, but Lincoln