Failure Of Reconstruction Dbq

“…the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery” (W.E.B. Dubois). Reconstruction was an era, from 1863 to 1877, used to rebuilt the damage done in the South by the Civil War. Many people resisted in the South, so it was difficult to carry out the new ideas of Reconstruction. Rebuilding the United States was not an easy task, only lasted 12 years ending in 1877. The Compromise of 1877 settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election, which was pulled federal troops out of state in the South, and ended the Reconstruction Era. The United State come up with three Amendment to help the African Americans there are the 13th Amendment: ended slavery, 14th Amendment: gave blacks Americans citizenship and civil rights and the last one was the 15th Amendment: right to vote. Was the North or South to be blamed for ending the period of rebuilding in the United State after the Civil War? Reconstruction is the process of rebuilding or reorganizing

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

Reconstruction developed in 1865 and discontinued in 1877. What happened before Reconstruction was that the civil war fought by the Northern and Southern whites because of state rights, trading and slavery. During Reconstruction, the newly freed African Americans emerged and that was when Reconstruction started. Life changed for newly freed African Americans as the result of Reconstruction because it meant that they could start their worthwhile lives. The impact of Reconstruction on African American were socially and economically a failure because they were mistreated and were in control by the rich white people however, Reconstruction was successfully politically because African Americans were involved with the government.

Although the reconstruction did unify the United States and passed the 14th and 15th amendments, reconstruction failed on many other vital issues. The radical republican legislation that promised freedom and equality for all was far from a reality for black Americans. Legislation failed to protect former slaves from white supremacy, and persecution. The entire social and cultural backbone of the south needed reform in order for African Americans to enjoy the freedom and equality that this nation promised, unfortunately this change did not come during the reconstruction. In 1877 president Hayes removed federal troops from the south, almost immediately former confederates and slave owners returned

Reconstruction was a period of time in the United States that made history immediately towards the Ccivil Wwar. A lack of political focus on the effort failed to solve the sectional wounds and elimination of the freed slaves’ newly gained civil liberties failed to bring about long-term racial integration. In order for the slaves to have gotten social and economic equality, the North would have had to have focused strongly on pushing for black equality. In other words it was a social failure because it spawned segregation in the south that we still have today. It failed economically because Reconstruction sent the former slaves back into the fields to the sharecroppers, which drove them into debt and made them become slaves again. I believe the Reconstruction was a failure because of politically, socially, and economic reasons.

A couple reasons why Reconstruction failed was because of the South. People in the South killed people (Ku Klux Klan) who voted for Grant/radical ticket (Document A+B). The South had plenty of refusal and resistance. Also the lack of interest

Nonetheless, Reconstruction was unsuccessful by most different measures: Radical Republican legislation eventually ineffectively shielded previous slaves from white mistreatment and failed to induce fundamental changes to the social fabric of the South. At the point when President Rutherford B. Hayes withdrew government

Reconstruction was forcibly imposed on the southern states by the government, with the presence of overbearing federal troops, and, as a result, racial attitudes in the south didn’t really evolve during this period. With the support of a conservative Supreme Court, black codes, voter qualifications, and other anti-progressive legislation were passed through state governments to reverse the rights that blacks had gained during Radical Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson had already provided generous pardons to virtually the entire Confederacy, so the same leadership had come into play, eventually instituting brutally racist governments. Because the North stopped enforcing Federal civil rights law in the South after 1876, the freed slaves lost all political

Democratic voters were enfranchised while Republican influence was fading and by 1876, military rule was only left in 3 states. During the election of 1876, the democratic candidate Samuel Tilden won 184 electoral votes over the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, however, 20 electoral votes were contested as the states under military rule sent back two sets of returns. The electoral crisis of 1877 was resolved by a special committee of 8 republicans and 7 democrats. Because of their majority, the republicans were able to “win” the negotiations. Hayes won the presidency in return for an end to military rule in the South. The already influential democrats would win complete control if the troops removed, effectively ending Radical Reconstruction.

Although the purpose of Reconstruction was to help the country back on track and assist in getting rights for black Americans, it ended with the country in turmoil and all the rights given, stripped away again. The Civil War ended and there was much promise for freedom and equality. These hopes were dashed by the new laws restricting these black Americans from living how they please. The rights were given and taken, not given back for years. The voting laws passed in the south took away a constitutional right from citizens of America. The Jim Crow Laws segregated an entire society over the shade of the skin.

After the Civil War, there was a lot of rebuilding and reconstruction to be done but, nothing ever got accomplished. Personally, I think the North is at fault for the failure of reconstruction in the South because, they were concerned about blacks being a part of the government. Also, they were concerned the problems going on in their own government. Northerner’s were supposed to support the reconstruction of the South. And, they didn’t follow through with what they said they were going to do to help. So, here’s why the North is at fault.

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

In my opinion one of the biggest inadequacies of Reconstruction was that fact that slaves were not really “free”. That even though they were classified as free, they really weren’t because of all the restrictions that were placed on them by the laws. “Black Codes” is what they laws were called. These laws restricted free blacks activity and forced them into labor contracts and blacks saw little improvement in their economic and social status. If they did not abide these laws they were beaten, arrested and even forced into non paid labor contracts. Ultimately after they were freed blacks had nowhere to go that was safe. As former slaves they owned nothing, had no money, and had no shelter or food. The slaves had no protection from people who

Another reason I think reconstruction was unsuccessful is that the KKK was created and the Jim Crow laws were as well, these were problems because blacks were whipped for not leaving property if asked,schools were burned to try to kill black kids and also churches were burned,blacks couldn’t have or read books or newspapers or else they would get whipped

The Constitution and its subsequent amendments spell out the rights of all Americans. The 13th -15th amendments ended slavery, granted the former slaves citizenship and the right to vote. The Reconstruction Era saw an emergence of African Americans in politics and positions of power “Sixteen blacks sat in Congress from 1867-77.” (ushistory.org, 2014)The former slaves wanted to be a part of the country they had helped to build. However, the journey to equality was going to be a long one. Reconstruction offered new hope that the people of African had never seen in this country. With their freedom, there was a shift in plantation system of the south; the main source of wealth. Traditions are hard to break and this is evident as Reconstruction ended and the conditions of life as an African