The investigation will explore the question: How did the Radical Republican’s rise to power contribute to the failure of the post-civil war reconstruction? The time between 1863, when Lincoln passed the ten percent act, until the year 1877, when reconstruction was officially ended, will be evaluated with information provided by the sources. The investigation will specifically look to how the Lincoln assassination allowed for the rise in the Radical Republican Party from 1866 to 1868 and the party’s effect on reconstruction acts leading to the failure of the post-civil war reconstruction era.
Eric Foner’s novel Reconstruction: America 's Unfinished Revolution is largely accepted to be one of the most complete works regarding
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The novel primarily utilizes a traditional view point. The author views reconstruction in a negative light and as a time when power-hungry Radicals used their political power to punish the south, in contrast to the president’s attempts to revive, instead of change, the South.
Foner’s book provided significant information for this investigation. It provides substantial evidence of how the Radical Republicans gained power and their actions thereafter. The novel, with its traditional view of reconstruction, only allowed for a one-sided look of the years 1863-1877, focusing mainly on the Republican views and the Radical Reconstruction. This somewhat limits the extent the novel could be used in evaluating the research question in this investigation.
John Hope Franklin’s Reconstruction After the Civil War: Second Edition also assisted in the evaluation of the research question. Franklin earned his master 's in 1936 and his doctorate in history in 1941 from Harvard University. In 1995, Franklin was awarded the highest civilian honor by earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Franklin’s educational background qualifies him as a reliable source to reference for this investigation of American history.
John Hope Franklin’s work is celebrated as an accurate account of prior slaves’ roles during this era of American history. In this edition Franklin updates his original version with new information and records that came to light after his completion
During the post-civil war era, America, specifically the south, was undergoing a period of reconstruction. The general goal of reconstruction was to successfully readmit the former Confederacy back into the Union as smoothly as possible, as well as enacting specific safeguards of freedmen’s liberties. The social and constitutional developments in America between 1860 and 1877 were very minor. The lack of change between pre and post civil war status could hardly be considered a revolution.
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).
Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction verifies the authors prevailing leadership in historical revisionism. His extensive knowledge alters the scrutiny of the historical standpoint, stimulating students and intellectuals to reconsider the assumptions of prominent reconstruction works from foregoing eras such as those that influenced our understanding of the Reconstruction era. Furthermore, Foner advises intellectuals to continue to uncover neglected experiencesof the one of the most phenomenal eras in American history. Foner’s text provides a critical scheme for a more
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
The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.
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
The Reconstruction of the United States was an experiment in interracial democracy. The Civil War victory by the North brought to a close the establishment of slavery but, in turn, opened Pandora's box. The questions and answers pertaining to economical, political, and social equality for freedmen had yet to be addressed on a practical level. The Southern states, still bitter from defeat and economic stresses, strongly rejected the societal transformations thrust upon them. The Northern states' focal point remained on the necessary political powers by which to enact constitutional amendments, therefore empowering the federal government with the capabilities to enforce the principles of equal rights. On paper, slavery was abolished, but in reality, African-Americans were once again enslaved on a ship without the security or knowledge of what the next port held for them. The Civil War had not truly ended. It was still active under the guise of Reconstruction, but now coats and flags of many colors existed, and battles were merely fought on alternate battlefields. A war of ideas lacking in substantial practicality resulted in repetitious battles being won and loss. The motivating forces that set Reconstruction into motion were for the most part the North's quest for unification among states', and the emancipation of slaves. However, the primary objective of Reconstruction was to grant political, economical, and social opportunities for the freedmen. The
The Reconstruction time period, 1865 through 1877, was a complex time for America. The southern part of the nation was in need of governmental, economical, and social repair after losing the Civil War. Radical Republicans, Democrats, and newly freed African Americans all were influential in the age of Reconstruction. Historians have struggled to put into words exactly what Reconstruction incorporates and precisely what the motives of the different groups of people were. Renowned American historian, Eric Foner, is a professor at Columbia University. He has written many books concerning the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Eric Foner’s Reconstruction theory
The era of Reconstruction was a fourteen-year period following the Civil War filled with political and constitutional strife, extreme suffering, grand political ambitions and huge turns in race relations and human rights (Blight 32). During this period, many Americans realized that remembering the war “became, with time, easier than struggling over the enduring ideas for which those battles had been fought” (Blight 31). To people such as Frederick Douglass, a reborn United States could not
The early years of the Constitution of the United States were full of political strife. The two prominent political ideals were complete opposites. The Jeffersonian Republicans were focused on giving power to the people and maintaining a pastoral economy, while the Federalists supported the control of the government by the elite class, and maintaining “positive” democracy. Both parties feared the influence and effect the other party would have on the public. In Linda K. Kerber's article, “The Fears of the Federalists”, the major concerns Federalists held in the early 19th century are described. Ever since the war with and separation from England, the citizens of America were seen to be continually drive to “patriotic rebellion” as a way to
In 1876, it was the 100th year of the Declaration of Independence. After the Civil War. the government's purpose of the Construction was to bring the 11 Southern states back to the Union. But in the cause of reconstruction soldiers were sent to the South to control and enforce the law. And in that act of this the government was given more power. What really gained spirit was the 13th Amendment that gave African Americans their freedom, the 14th amendment gave African Americans their rights, and the 15th Amendment that made it illegal to deny the right to vote, for any race. But in the 1870’s some southern states denied the Reconstruction. Then because of the presidential race of 1876, Reconstruction was put aside. In the election Rutherford B. Hayes ran for the Republican
“In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it is perhaps not surprising that historians turned renewed attention to home-grown American terrorism. Recent books on Reconstruction…have infused their subjects with drama by focusing on violent confrontations,” Eric Foner notes in the introduction of the updated edition to his 1988 publication Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Up until now, Foner’s revisionist historiography of Reconstruction was the only alternative offered to the Dunning School’s account of the important historical era. In recent years a neo-revisionist interpretation of Reconstruction has emerged in works by a younger generation of historians such as Gregory Downs, Carole Emberton, Hannah Rosen, Megan Kate Nelson and Jim downs. This new scholarship pays close attention to violence, the body, language, and gender—how these important themes directly relate to power, struggle, and political status of freedpeople in the postbellum nation—and either rethink or are completely uninterested in Foner’s revisionist narrative of Reconstruction.
The following essay will analyze the economic, social and political successes and failures of the reconstruction period, after the United States’ civil war.
The American South was arguable formed in the formative years of the Civil War. What happened during and after this monumental event would shape the region for years to follow. The period after, or Reconstruction as it is sometimes called was a period of renewal and restoration. In this week’s text, Eric Foner a professor from Columbia University presents us with a monograph about focused on the aftermath of the Civil War. This monograph is entitled A Short History of Reconstruction. This book in my opinion covers all aspects that one needs to know about the period in a straightforward, concise manner.
Reconstruction during the period between 1865-1877 represents a paradigm desired for the desired consolidation and expansion of power of the federal government and the fostering of an open urban market system based on free labor in the conquered south, but does not adequately represent the tumultuous period that followed the Civil War. Though these goals would prove arguably beneficial to the south and the healing Union, Reconstruction characterized the volition of the victorious republican party and the attempted implementation of these partisan goals did little to provide lasting growth in the south or to rekindle unity throughout the nation. The growth of urban centers in the south and the progression of civil rights could be argued as evidence of the proper characterization of the period as “Reconstruction”. However, the dichotomy between the positive attributes of Reconstruction and the negative portions warn against the use of such a simple characterization of that period.