The Civil War was one of the most difficult and trying times during American history. The war ended with the the Union and Confederate states torn apart over one major issue: slavery. With the end of the Civil War came the end of slavery in the United States. Although the former black slaves were now free, they had no land and very few rights, and most did not even have family. Though out reconstruction, blacks were able to gain rights, but were continuously repressed by the white Southerners. The only way to truly enfranchise the former slaves was by effectively disenfranchising their former masters. The reign the masters had over their former slaves disabled the slaves from trying to fulfill their lives as equal American citizens. In …show more content…
Once convicted, the blacks were put on farms to work. Blacks would also have to pay a penalty if they were jumping contracts and moving from plantation to plantation; they could not leave the plantation. The whites were basically creating a “legal” system of slavery, which undermined the blacks newly acquired rights as a free citizen. Andrew Johnson would soon prove to be the oppressor in the fight for black equality during the time of reconstruction in the United States. First, the distribution of land was being brought about by a reconstruction-made institution, known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided food, clothing, education, and land to the blacks. By June 1865, the Bureau had settled nearly 10,000 black families on their own land, which was abandoned plantations. Just as the blacks were coming into and accepting their new freedom, the Southern white plantation owners were returning and demanding the return of their land. Andrew Johnson would support their demands and the government would eventually return all of the land. Just by this instance, it was proved that the whites in the South had tremendous control over the blacks and the government seemed to be supporting them. The North actually feared the potential power of the
After about four years of fighting, the Civil War finally ended in about 1865. Although the Northern states won, there were many predicaments still unsettled. Even though Abraham Lincoln had freed the slaves in the North, the Confederate States were still getting by with slavery. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation of Proclamation had a dramatic impact on the lives of African American slaves throughout the United States. As Frederick Douglass says in The Civil War: Opposing Viewpoints, “But read the proclamation for it is the most important of any
The Civil War is something almost everyone has a general idea about. It is more than a huge part of America’s history and is the central event in America 's historical consciousness. This war, unlike the American Revolution which created the first American states, determined what kind of nation it would be. Though there are many reasons for the cause of the American Civil War, one of the main reasons is the different attitudes the North and the South had toward slavery. In January of 1863, The Emancipation Proclamation was
After the Civil War, the southern soldiers were going back to devastated cities, destroyed railroads, and many cities were burned to the ground as a result of Sherman’s march from sea to sea. After the Civil War occurred, the slaves were given freedom from their owners, and slavery was banned. That attempt at reconstruction was not a complete fail, but it took a little bit of time for America to give social and economic equality to slaves. There were many attempts made by several different presidents, but not all seemed to work due to the South’s stubbornness. The failure of reconstruction later did not bring social and economic equality to former slaves in the south because of things like the Jim Crow laws and the South’s strong disproval
The victory in the Civil War in 1865 gave 4 million slaves freedom, but the Reconstruction in the south introduced a problem. For a while it was a dream that reconstruction might come true. Reconstruction was the action of rebuilding in the south. Many were hopeful that the Reconstruction may happen. There was terrorist attacks and acts of prejudice going on but who or what killed reconstruction? Although the South was an important contributor The north caused reconstruction to end.
The Reconstruction era was necessary for rebuilding the south. It was a success in some aspects and failure in others. The main purpose of the reconstruction was almost fulfilled, but it didn't stay after the reconstruction. Its aftermath was terrible in some aspects especially for african americans.
The thirteenth and fourteenth amendments attempted to establish the freedom and rights of former slaves, but was not entirely successful in its goals. Legally, former slaves gained their freedom in 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed, and received “equal protection of the laws” as well as other privileges in the Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868. (Document A) The years following the Civil War brought on many changes for both former slaves and former slave owners. While slavery was prohibited in the United States, white landowners found ways to twist the laws and create a system beneficial to themselves. The Reconstruction era was filled with a changing economy, a large predicament for white landowners, and unfair situations for
An attempt to transform the Southern United states between the sad years of 1863 to 1877 to finally unite a kingdom that failed to racism and inequality was the idea of reconstruction. First, the three different perceptions of the Civil war came alive during reconstruction. The reconciliationist vision, the white supremacist vision, and the emancipationist vision. Then president lincoln was inclined to fix it all and invite the south back into the union, while congress tried to make African Americans feel like more than ⅔ of a person make their rights feel like an advantage to life instead of them being commandments that they have to carry and strictly follow. Lastly reconstruction led to the end of republican rule at different times in different places.
In the 1870s, after the civil war, somehow, America was still at war. Americans disagreed over the topic of letting former slaves become citizens and reuniting a divided North and south. This was called reconstruction. When Andrew Johnson was in office in 1865 , congress passed an amendment declaring all the slaves in America free. The 13th amendment was disputed by many and a lot of people were extremely angry about it. The American government had a plan in include african americans in society. After the civil was, a lot of the American lands were literally in ruins. Farms and plantations and were trampled and destroyed. Also, Southerners were in despair because their currency was now useless after the Southern government was demolished.
Right after General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the North, ending the Civil War, decisions were made on how to secure equality for all African Americans socially, economically, and politically. The question is, exactly how successful were these attempts to allow all African Americans have the same rights as Whites during that time? Reconstruction was most successful politically because of the new laws made to give this race a chance for equality in the United States, failed economically because of less opportunities, and was even more of a failure socially because of much racism.
Reconstruction had failed in its tasks to properly enforce rights for blacks as promised after the Civil War. If more laws were passed to control the actions of the South in order to unite the blacks and whites, then Reconstruction could have had actually been successful in reconstructing the nation. If a tax break system in mid 1865, a Sharecropping Act of 1866, and a Diversity Law in 1880 were implemented in the South, such laws and changes could have guided Reconstruction to success.
Johnson’s policies were originally supported by most of the Northerners, and even some of the Republicans. However, there wasn’t any agreement on the rights of the African American’s based on the Emancipation. But a group of Radical Republicans desired that the rights be promised in the Declaration of Independence and extended to ALL free men, including the freed
The war raged on with lives taken away families and homes destroyed in the process of the war many people were terrified and worried that their loved one would be taken away from them wishing that would not happen. At the end of the Civil war all slaves were set free and if not owners would be
The American Civil War was a time wrought with peril. Families were split along party lines and took up arms against one another to fight for what they believed was right. Yet there was one group of people who had more to gain than any other present in the war, and that was the African American slave. This war was one of the biggest turning points in the morality of America all because of what happened to the slave in this war. They enlisted in the army, fought bravely, and after long last, gained their freedom.
The Civil War was a massive milestone in American History. This war started in 1861 and lasted four years. It was between the Union and the Confederacy over their differences and problems they created. The consequences the nation faced due to the demolition of the Civil War, was terrifying. Then the Reconstruction era was born to restore, reinstate, and unite the United States as one. During the Reconstruction of 1865 through 1867, African American lives were impacted economically because they were given few rights and their resources were limited, socially because they wanted to be given an ordinary lifestyle, and politically because they weren’t allowed to be joined or linked with the government.
Slaves went through a lot of struggle to try and get their freedom. They would rebel, runaway, commit acts of arson but in the end only a war could settle the disagreement of slavery between the North and South (2). The final battle for the end of slavery or the approval of slavery depended on the Civil war: the Union against the Confederates. However, what happened to slaves during the Civil war? Well slaves were permitted to take part in the war. Slaves fought in both sides, over 179,00 African Americans were part of the Civil war serving in over 160 units (3). Since the beginning of the war they weren’t really permitted to fight in the war, even though they had fought in wars before that one, because of the 1792 law that restricted them