Reconstruction Dbq

Abram Colby, a freedman running for Georgia representative described this. He said he was taken to the woods by Klan members and beaten, but refused to stop voting radical. (B) The radical party was the radical republican party that felt the South should be punished for their actions. He was also offered $2,500 to have someone to take his legislative seat, but refused. (B) Colby was one of the men targeted by the KKK because he attempted to gain power. The KKK’s attacks in the South was a major tribute to the death or the Reconstruction in the

During Reconstruction, the KKK tried to throw out the reconstruction government and both intimidated and abused African Americans.

The Reconstruction was a period of roughly ten years that came after the American Civil War. During this time black Americans were able to vote, attend school and even hold public office. These ten years were a small break for black Americans following the end of slavery and preceding the Jim Crow Laws of the South. There is a question to be answered, who killed Reconstruction? There are those who say that the South lead to the end of Reconstruction because of the actions of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. However, the most important cause of the end of Reconstruction were the actions of the North because of lingering racism and a lack of caring by Northerners.

The reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 - 1877, had some feats but largely was a failure at accomplishing its goals. It succeeded in readmitting the Southern states to the union, but failed in integrating them fully; the Nation still remained divided by political lines. It helped to rebuild a war ravaged South until the North lost interest in the South and it gave former slaves and people of color more rights and political representation than they ever had before, but the South passed various codes, tests, and laws to limit the black resurgence and keep the old power structure. By 1870 the reconstruction successfully readmitted all the southern states that seceded under Andrew Johnson's plan, however all the states restored their conservative governments within 9 years of readmission (reconstruction map) because of Andrew Johnson's leniency to the South. After the division of the South into military districts in 1867, the governments established were under control of the radical Republicans and gave blacks the power to vote and participate in the government.

Forever. 170). The Klan were white southerners who were organized and committed to the breaking down of Reconstruction. By methods of brutality, “the Klan during Reconstruction offers the most extensive example of homegrown terrorism in American history” (Foner. Forever. 171). The Ku Klux Klan as well as other groups killed or tormented black politicians or threatened the blacks who voted in elections. The Klan strongly disagreed with the northern idea that slaves should become part of the government. The Historian Kenneth M. Stampp states, “for their [the North] supreme offense was not corruption but attempting to organize the Negroes for political action” (Stampp. Era. 159). This corresponds with Foner’s idea that the South was not open to the idea of change but more so consumed with the idea of recreating a society similar to one of the past. However, the goal of white power groups was not just politics. The Klan wanted to restore the hierarchy once controlling the South. Foner observes that, “the organization took on the function of the antebellum slave patrols: making sure that blacks did not violate the rules and etiquette of white supremacy” (Foner. Forever. 172). Like the power the southern whites formerly held over the slave population, the Ku Klux Klan wanted to control the African American population still living in the South. They did not want the freedmen to become integrated into their society because they saw them as lesser people. By suppressing and

With the death of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, a new president sought to reunite the nation at the end of the Civil war. The presence of Andrew Jackson in the white House took the Republican Party and the newly freed slaves in directions that shaped the way the North made policy toward the defeated south. The process became known as reconstruction, and it remained one of the most controversial periods in all of American history. During this period of reconstruction, was set out to change the south and better the lives of the white and black people that lived there. Upon President Lincoln’s assassination, the nation looked to the new presidents for leadership. Andrew Johnson was unknown to most political insiders, and promised to pursue Lincoln’s

Is a coward, a traitor, or fool( Doc A).Also, the KKK started to Colby,”Do you think you will ever vote another damned Radical ticket?”,after that, Colby responded,”If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical ticket(Doc B). The KKK wanted the members of Congress to stop and follow them to put Reconstruction to an

Reconstruction was an achievement in that it reestablished the United States as a unified country. By 1877, the majority of the previous Confederate states had drafted new constitutions, recognized the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and pledged loyalty to the U.S. government. Reconstruction additionally at last settled the states' rights versus federalism debate that had been an issue since the 1790s.

As reconstruction begin, many whites in the South seemed to ignore the fact that Blacks were no longer slaves. The Southern states created laws called ‘Black Codes’ that restricted the rights of the freed slaves. “Black codes were laws that were passed in each of the former confederate states following the civil war that applied only to black people.” (Hine, Darlene Clark, et al. 303) The laws highlighted that blacks have no right to vote in elections. However, after the troops were sent to the South, Blacks’ right to vote and involve in public office were secured. Many whites complained about the policy, and some of them created secret organization called Ku Klux Klan. This group tried everything including extreme and inhumane violence to

Democratic voters were enfranchised while Republican influence was fading and by 1876, military rule was only left in 3 states. During the election of 1876, the democratic candidate Samuel Tilden won 184 electoral votes over the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, however, 20 electoral votes were contested as the states under military rule sent back two sets of returns. The electoral crisis of 1877 was resolved by a special committee of 8 republicans and 7 democrats. Because of their majority, the republicans were able to “win” the negotiations. Hayes won the presidency in return for an end to military rule in the South. The already influential democrats would win complete control if the troops removed, effectively ending Radical Reconstruction.

K.K.K. members brutally murdered and caused fear to spread in the South. “They said to me, ‘Do you think you will ever vote for another Radical Ticket?’ I said, ‘ If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical Ticket.’ They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more” . (Colby 513) Members of this terrorist group set out only to murder supporters of the Reconstruction time period & African Americans. However, a Northern newspaper published a paper showing African American congress members being more like ape-men rather than being human beings. (Harper’s Weekly 517) This act was extremely racist, unnecessary, and contributed to the end of Reconstruction.

This attitude was ultimately the end of Reconstruction. The South acted harshly upon their racist ways: intimidation and violence affected the citizens and political activists working towards Reconstruction. Supremacist groups, like the Ku Klux Klan caused fear. Two white men are holding guns up to a black voters head trying to persuade him to vote for the Democratic Party. In this, the white men are trying to end support of Radical Republicans, who the free blacks were voting for, and to force blacks to vote for Democrats. This shows the South’s harsh intimidation and violence the Ku Klux Klan used. The Ku Klux Klan also targeted government officials. The Ku Klux Klan used violence in hopes of influencing Abram Colby to give away his position in office to a white man. This incident is an example of what blacks were exposed to while in the South: being randomly assaulted and left for dead by the Klansmen. John Stephens, a white government official, was stabbed five or six times and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury room. No one was safe from the horror of the Ku Klux Klan in South, and tegardless of race, white supremacists did everything in their power to prevent Reconstruction from continuing in America. Through use of violence and intimidation, Southerners worked to run Radical Republicans out of government and to ultimately end

The Reconstruction was an intricate time in America that helped freed slaves look for a second chance at life. But when the idea was found smoldering in flames, the question rose up through the ashes, who dealt the final blow? It was regarded as one of the most ironic events in history because, as it happens, the same year the “great plan” for America fell, it was the 100th anniversary the prestigious country was born. Reconstruction was diminished by someone, and that someone, was the south. The terrorist organization, Ku Klux Klan, otherwise known as the KKK was specifically organized to destroy the thought of reconstruction, in fact, they targeted government officials, and just about every living Southerner…. Supported it.

Reconstruction was a failure because negroes still faced restrictions such as what they were allowed to do without the permission of whites. Some examples of the negroes needing permission from the whites would be they couldn't rent or own a house in certain places and if you failed to follow the rule then you would be ‘immediately ejected’ (Document D). Also negroes were required to be in the regular service of white persons, and that said person is responsible for the negro (Document D). Although negroes were not slaves anymore the wrongs of all the whites were not ended and they were not quite free yet. The government left their freedom in worse condition than before reconstruction (Document E).

Because of Johnson's faults the Confederates gained a second chance when he became president. By the time Johnson was impeached in 1869, Reconstruction was already failing (Guelzo). As a result the Ku Klux Klan was founded. The KKK was initiated by former Confederates as an alternative to battle the Republican's growing power and to withdraw the political as well as social rights of blacks (Tucker [1619]). The Southern gang grew quickly and gained many outside supporters. The Ku Klux Klan used terrorist strategies to intimidate the Radical Republicans and also the recently freed African-Americans (Tucker [1619]). Many Southern state governments under guidance of Johnson and their revised Constitution were able to elect affluent Confederates to office. Subordinate to Johnson, some of the Southern states even passed "black codes," which restricted the rights of previously freed slaves to a ranking hardly better than slavery. Black-Codes were laws limiting the freedom of blacks, they aimed to prevent blacks from achieving social, political, and economic equality with whites in the South (Tucker [1617])." The majority of Southerners opposed emancipation and many made it their mission to make sure that Africans were not to ever be created