“I Want To Cushion The Shock Of A Total Revolution Of Labor…I

After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African

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

“Summer 1865, President Andrew Johnson, who had succeeded Lincoln, ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owner.” Foner P 483 “ The Civil War was an important time in the US history as well as the Reconstruction. The Civil War and Reconstruction were disappointing to a large part of the US population, especially slave, whose liberation was one of the major reasons for the Civil War. The Reconstruction gave slaves the basic rights and liberties but not all the freedom that the African Americans desired in their terms as being free. Even though, the Civil War and Reconstruction began the further development of the United States as a nation it also began controversies between different social groups in the US society, such as the social tension between different racial groups.

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

Abraham Lincoln had very unique views and ideas on how Reconstruction should be planned. He wanted to make the South’s return to the Union “as quick and easy as possible” (McDougal Littell, 2005, page 377). He also came up with the Ten Percent Plan, which meant that the government

In 1863 Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction plan was created for a rapid forgiving restoration of a broken union therefore granting Southern states political power, create new constitutions, organize new government, and create new legislatures within each state. In the beginning this sounded great for all parties but in reality the South encountered difficult circumstances before it was effective. In 1865 Andrew Johnson became president he supported white supremacy and defender of

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

After the Civil War, the South was strongly altered through a series of passed laws and acts in the a period known as the Reconstruction Era. This plan of reconstruction which was to bring reformation to the lives of Southern African Americans lasted from 1865-1877. This plan was brought by President Lincoln . Unfortunately he was shot and killed by a leader of a Confederate sympathizer, John Booth. As a result, President Jackson took office and was left in charge. The reconstruction was a great necessity for the fact that the result of this was a united nation between the North and South including the equality of African Americans.

Abraham Lincoln constructed a blueprint to reunite a broken America. Lincoln did not plan on punishing the South; he wanted to end the Civil Wars quick as possible. When Reconstruction began in 1865, a divided America had just finished fighting the Civil War. The objective of Reconstruction, or the Ten-Percent Plan, was mainly to stabilize the South economically. There was the intertwining problem that Lincoln faced reuniting a former slave population and a former rebellious population. The memory of massive death still was very present in the South, causing massive resentment. Lincoln wanted to achieve re-union as quickly as possible and ending slavery. His

After the Civil War ended – with the submission of Robert E. Lee at the Appomattox Court House – the raging era that followed this conflict was the period of Reconstruction. The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) was constantly misinterpreted due to politic issues such as: admittance to residency, voting rights, the comparative influences of the national and state administration, the affiliation among political and economic democracy, and the appropriate way to deal with terrorism. During the Reconstruction era, the country’s law and Constitution – convened from May 25 to September 17, 1787 – were revised to assure the basic rights of a former African American slave, and how the Confederacy was conquered due to biracial governments rising to authority, which was, in no doubt, one of the lowest points of national American democracy. By regarding this view, the Radical Republicans – within Congress – were so fixated on punishing beaten Confederates, Southern governments controlled by carpet baggers (dishonorable Northerners who journeyed into the South to obtain the advantages of office) , scalawags (Southern whites who endorsed the system), and African

Reconstruction efforts were complicated. After Lincoln's assassination, President Andrew Johnson favored legislation placating the South and the former Confederacy and returning property to prewar owners (History.com Staff, "Carpetbaggers & Scalawags"). Using his pardoning powers, Johnson restored virtually all political rights to most Confederates. Southern states balked when forced to repeal

Lincoln was the person who came up with the Reconstruction plan. As the leader of this newly reunited nation, Lincoln sought a very specific plan for reconstructing the South and solving all the issues they are facing. Lincoln’s ultimate goals were to reunify the states and ensure equality for all, including freed slaves. After all the rearrangement, all freedmen are allowed to vote, freedmen are now can be educated, and the South is known as a state that holds the most slavery, but now the South has changed into the state filled with impressive varieties. Lincoln was very passion about freed slaves and made every citizens in United State, especially the South has equal treating to everyone including voting.

The Reconstruction of the south was to rebuild the infrastructure the economical system of the South and rebuild white and black social system. The Reconstruction of the Confederacy from (1865-1877) was first by Abraham Lincoln until his assassination and then by President Johnson. The textbook stated (Such accounts add another dimension to the usual narrative of the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). The period witnessed the liberal readmission of southern states to the Union as proposed by Lincoln and his successor, Andrew Johnson. But when the readmitted states restricted the rights of former slaves, a furious Republican Congress “reconstructed” the South by empowering former slaves—and their Republican allies.

Reconstruction was a hard time for the south. Many people in the south relied on slaves to do most of their work for them, now that the slaves are free the previous slave owners must do much of the reconstruction work themself, or pay African Americans to do it. In the writing, “Reconstruction” author Paul Lagasse states, “The physical destruction wrought by the invading Union forces was enormous, and the old social and economic order founded on slavery had collapsed completely, with nothing to replace it.(Par1). Before the war had even came to and end president Abraham Lincoln prepared for a plan to carry out the reconstruction of the south. This became known as Lincoln's Plan. In Lincoln's plan he stated that the South never legally succeeded

They also called for any officials to swear an oath of allegiance to the union.2 After Lincoln's assassination, and Johnson's inaugeration these plans changed. Johnson pardoned all the southern leaders that were in trouble for seceding from the union. This effectively put them back in power in the South. Ultimately everything that congress and Lincoln had tried to do in the south. Taking back the power from those who seceded. As well as any help that was given to the poor whites or any blacks in the south was undone by Johnson.