Essay Racism in the South

Despite its achievements, Reconstruction faced tremendous challenges, mostly due to white resistance. While Abraham Lincoln’s objective was reunion and reconciliation, Andrew Johnson resisted and believed that African Americans had no role to play in Reconstruction. Johnson’s

In addition to being divided on the issue on how to bring the Southern states back into the Union, the nation later became divided on the rights that should be bestowed upon the emancipated slaves. After the assassination of President Lincoln, Democratic Vice President Andrew Johnson took control of the executive branch and his background foreshadowed the “political drama” that would take place. President Johnson was a Senator from Tennessee before he entered the Vice Presidency and he had racist leanings and he opposed political rights for the freedmen. Additionally, Johnson was open about his sympathy for the South and he was determined to control the path of Reconstruction. The first example of conflict between Johnson and the Republican

Throughout history in America there has always been the idea of racism. When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still very apparent in America. It is true that since the end of slavery, the U.S. has made great strides towards becoming a less racist country. In reality, racism will never be extinct. In today’s society, all American citizens of all races have the same rights as one another, yet there is still racism. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people. It is human nature to make conclusions about other people, this is what leads to racism. Today’s racism is not limited to whites

The Changing Concept of Race in the South Throughout the years, the concept of race has changed in the South.

Soon after the war, and after slavery was ended, there was a shortage of people to work for those who once had slaves as their main workforce. This posed a challenge for the southern economy. So during the constitutional convention of 1865 various states including South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi included language in their state constitutions that regulated and managed the now free slaves. This served at the basis for the Black Codes -- a series of codes that restricted the rights of African Americans. These Black Codes made it difficult for former slaves to work in a labor economy that wasn’t based on low wages and debt tactics, as well as restricted them from owning property, conduct business, and move freely through public spaces.

In the late 19th Century, Congress approved of three amendments to the Constitution: the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. The 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 14th granted citizenship to black people, and the 15th gave them the right to vote. At the same time, multiple Southern state legislatures passed Black Codes. These Black Codes prohibited blacks from renting or buying land, testifying in court, voting in some cases, and made a form of semibondage. Furthermore, these Codes directly violated the newly made amendments to the Constitution. This depicts how the South and their government leaders refused to follow the new amendments that they did not agree with hence revealing that their political views still haven’t changed since the Civil War. Additionally, the Plessy vs Ferguson Supreme Court Case legalized segregation as separate but equal. This showed the unwillingness of the South the fully accept the new amendments, especially the 13th and 14th amendments, and the legalization of blacks into citizens of the state. Michigan Senator Zachariah Chandler complained about this and more particularly Southern representation in Congress. He was outraged that there were 36 members of Congress from the South. He believed that this was against the 14th Amendment, since the South was disenfranchised. He also

When Confederate states wanted to join the Union after Civil war, they were required to undertake “Civil War” Amendments. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments were developed, with each supporting equality within the states. However, these Amendments proved to be insufficient in the provision of equal rights to African American citizens (Medley,2003). In the late 19th Century, laws limiting civil rights of the Blacks swept through state legislatures. Segregation then became a requirement in both Southern and Northern states.

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

After Lincoln was assassinated, vise president Andrew Johnson stepped into office with a goal to change some of the things he believed in. In the article Andrew Johnson it states, “Next they passed measures dealing with the former slaves. Johnson vetoed the legislation. The Radicals mustered enough votes in Congress to pass legislation over his veto--the first time that

When Reconstruction began in 1865, a broken America had just finished fighting the Civil War. In all respects, Reconstruction was a time period of

Prompt: How did the different backgrounds of John, Cornelia, Lou, and Samuel affect their abilities to adjust to the end of the war? How did the end of the war affect their daily lives? Explain, making sure to support your answer with evidence and quotes from the text.

Through the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments to the constitution, the republicans tried to protect and establish black freedoms. At the same time southern state legislators were passing laws to restrict free blacks’ freedoms. Through the use of black codes and vagrancy laws, the south attempted to keep blacks in a state of slavery. These laws were worded in a way such that blacks rights would be so restricted that it would remain impossible for them to gain any real freedom.

The conclusion of the Civil War in favor of the north was supposed to mean an end to slavery and equal rights for the former slaves. Although laws and amendments were passed to uphold this assumption, the United States Government fell short. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were proposed and passed within five years of the Civil War’s conclusion. These amendments were to create equality throughout the United States, especially in the south where slavery had been most abundant. Making equality a realization would not be an easy task. This is because many problems were not perceived before and during the war. The reunification of the country would prove to be harder than expected, and entry into a new lifestyle would be

Antebellum is defined at Dictionary.com as "Belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War."1 In the Antebellum period in the South, many people owned slaves.

"The legacy of past racism directed at blacks in the United States is more like a bacillus that we have failed to destroy, a live germ that not only continues to make some of us ill but retains the capacity to generate new strains of a disease for which we have no certain cure." - Stanford Historian George Frederickson.