preview

Impact Of Reconstruction

Decent Essays
The Impacts of the Reconstruction: Continuity and Change Overcoming human prejudice is one of the most difficult challenges any society has faced throughout human history, and will continue to face in the future. During the post-Civil War time period, Radical Republicans and other societal activists made significant efforts in the realm of civil rights. Throughout the time period, three new constitutional amendments were created, education was expanded, and the black population was able to participate in politics at a notable level for the first time in American history. However, like all social movements, there was ultimately pushback to Reconstruction policies. Although the Reconstruction Era led to some changes in the lives of blacks,…show more content…
Once Redeemer governments came back into power, a culture of white supremacy was developed, and white political dominance was regained. Because of this, efforts to disenfranchise and suppress the black population were furthered, resulting in the amount of black voters being restricted. Soon after, official segregation was pursued, with facilities being separated on the basis of race. Later on, this prejudicial systematic discrimination against the black population was ultimately upheld by the courts, with the Supreme Court ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson that segregated facilities were constitutional, as long as they were equal. However, these facilities were often anything but equal, resulting in long-term discrimination against the black community. Both of these examples clearly show that the Reconstruction, while creating certain political changes, failed to produce true long-term results in the matters of political equality. In a similar way, the social equality was not an impact of the Reconstruction Era, as the black population still faced several barriers in all matters of life. The existence of segregated facilities and Jim Crow laws are sufficient proof that this was the case, however, nothing shows it better than lynchings, and the existence of the Ku Klux Klan. These violent and bloody actions were often looked over by the local and state legislatures, demonstrating clear societal bias against the black population. The mere fact that the Force Acts
Get Access