Reasons For The Failure Of Reconstruction

The Reconstruction period is the name given to the time in between 1863 and 1877. This period’s main goal was to reunite the United States of America after the most substantial event of disunity in American existence: The Civil War. Reconstruction consisted of many proposed plans and attempts to reinstate the Southern states back into the union. In the early stages, there was some promise as to what reconstruction had the ability to accomplish, because some political groups had the right ideas about what was necessary to pick up the fragments of a war-torn nation, in order to reconstruct it into a prospering, free, and equal nation it had the potential to be. This reconstruction had had few successes and ultimately failed in the end—due to

The Reconstruction Era lasted up to 1877 from the time just after the Civil War. The Reconstruction failed to bring about social and economic equality to the former slaves due to the southern whites’ resentful and bitter outlook on the matter, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Jim Crow laws.

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

The original purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the buildings and the economy of the south the best they could, but without the immoral element of slavery. But, reconstruction under the Johnson Presidency was a failure for a few reasons: 1) Convict Leasing, 2) Sharecropping, 3) the Ku Klux Klan, 4) Segregation in schools, even in the North, 5) Carpetbaggers/Scalawags, 6) misleading statistics, and 7) racism.

After the Civil War, the radical Republicans attempted to reconstruct the nation by binding the tear between the two different sections of America while also attempting to give freed slaves the rights that they deserved. Although their intentions were good, the reconstruction ultimately failed. The ratification of the 13th and the 14th amendment successfully ended slavery, but it did not help freedmen conform to society. Slaves who were freed as a result often had no money and would have to work under white employers anyways. Moreover, freedmen would have to get resources loaned to them by their white employers, which would lead the freedmen to develop severe debt instead of making an income. Even though the 14th amendment stated that every

“...the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery”(Dubois). The Reconstruction wasn’t just a time of leaving slavery behind us, it was a time of progression and development. In 1869, four years after the Civil War, the first ever college football game ensued, and in 1870 Hiram Revels was the first African American senator. Then, in 1877, the first ever easter egg hunt occurred. Moving past all the fun of the Reconstruction, is the death of it. The Reconstruction died due to the efforts, or lack thereof on the North. A financial crisis, racism, and a lack of effort brought the Reconstruction to a halting stop.

The United States changed dramatically during the reconstruction period. After the reconstruction period, the United Stated continued to adjust well as we see it change economically and politically. Though the adjustment continued to go well, the change that occurs after reconstruction is emphasized with industrialization and the impact that industrialization has in certain regions of the U.S and on the people. Along with the new economy came with complications that affected the improvement of conditions in work and in life.

The Reconstruction era was a period of time after the civil war of 1865-1877. The President and later the Congress would both put forth ideas and initiatives. Legislative responses and shifts in political power would mark this era with moderate success but in the end, a failure.

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

Under the new Democratic leadership government funding for reconstruction was severely severed or eliminated altogether. After the former Confederates won back their right to vote groups of people known as “Redeemers” won public office and started to carefully reverse a lot of the social and economic changes. Redeemers were Southern Democrats who promised to bring back the “Old South” by undoing the reconstruction. They passed restrictions on voting such voting polls and literacy tests, which all but prohibited most African Americans from voting. For example in 1900 fourteen counties in Alabama had 79,311 African American voters on the rosters but in just three short years the registration in these same counties had dropped to just 1,081 registered voters. Jim Crow laws were established, making segregation legal. And the Supreme Court allowed it stating that the 14th and 15th amendments were only applied at the federal

The formal Congressional period of Reconstruction, from 1866 to 1877, was intended to readmit the former Rebel states into the Union, rebuild and reinvigorate communities ravaged by war, and eliminate the highly visible vestiges of Southern slave society. The events transpiring during these efforts made the whole affair largely ineffectual and reductive (“Reconstruction and Its Aftermath). In response, the South provided a marked resistance to the attempted establishment of civil rights and liberties for recently freed slaves, producing such scourges as the Ku Klux Klan, Grandfather Clause, and Jim Crow Laws. Beyond enforcing the rudimentary legislation that would grant basic agency to African Americans, Grant failed to institute long term and helpful efforts that would diminish the culture of racialized violence and white supremacy in the South. The Ku Klux Klan still exerted widescale political and local influence

During the Reconstruction, some southern states still found ways to segregate against former slaves and limit voting to white men only. For example, southern states used black codes, which were laws to limit the

After the Civil War, groups like the Freedmen’s Bureau were set up by the government and educational opportunities, medical help, and other opportunities were offered to newly freed African Americans. Later, the United States Government passed the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which granted protection and more rights to African Americans. President Abraham Lincoln had many visions for Reconstruction and planned the movement. However, he was assassinated before any change occurred. Although plans were made by the government to help newly freed slaves, a group called the Ku Klux Klan threatened others to turn against African Americans. Black codes and other laws were passed by states to limit the new rights of African Americans. Sharecropping was a system set up to provide a

Following the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era began. During this time, the southern part of the United States attempted a transformation directed by Congress from 1863 to 1877. Known for its successes and failures, the Reconstruction was a time of great pain and an infinite amount of questions. As well as many long term, short term, positive, negative, social, and political effects.

The period following the Civil War is known as the reconstruction period, and it was the most turbulent times in American history. After the Civil War ended, four million African Americans were freed, but at a cost. The South ended up being destroyed and no one planned to integrate the newly freed women and men into society. The reconstruction period was set in place to rebuild the Southern government, society and economy because the country was in disarray and needed to be brought back together. The reconstruction period of the United States was a failure because it brought terrible things to light, including the Klu Klux Klan, and Black Codes.