Reconstruction: Eric Foner

Within the preface of Eric Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction, Foner details the distinct characteristics of the ever-changing era of Reconstruction, taking place after the Civil War. The always-changing definitions of history have transformed the process of understanding this time period (Foner, xi). Because of this, the Preface, written by Foner in 1990, illustrates the drastically different viewpoints of the schools of thought found during the Reconstruction period. The Preface is divided into four different sections; each section giving the reader a better understanding of the different interpretations. These four sections are: The Dunning School during the 1900’s, the Progressive School in the 1920’s and 1930’s, the Revisionists

The Reconstruction happened in period following the end of the American Civil and the main goal was to reintegrate the Southern Confederate States back into the Union after they had been defeated by the Union (Northern States). As would be expected, the process was met with many challenges as the interests of both groups had to be addressed. There was debate over the terms under which the Confederate States would be allowed back into the Union, and whether it was the president or congress to set these terms. There was also the question about what rights freed slaves had and their role in the new American society. Even though the war had ended, the reconstruction presented a new battlefront for a political struggle between the North and the South. This paper analyses what reconstruction sought to achieve, and why it failed with dire long-term consequences.

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

In “Reconstruction Revisited”, Eric Foner reexamines the political, social, and economic experiences of black and white Americans in the aftermath of the Civil War. With the help of many historian works, Foner gives equal representation to both sides of the Reconstruction argument.

Eric Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction is a shortened version of his Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877; however, in the shorter version certain broad themes unified the crucial narrative. His first theme is the midst of the black experience, second theme is to trace the ways Southern society as a whole was remodeled, third theme is the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations, and the fourth theme is the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction. This narration of Reconstruction begins not in 1865, but with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. This was done to stress the importance of the Proclamation in unifying two major themes, grass-roots black activity and the newly empowered national state and to indicate that Reconstruction was the beginning of a broadened historical process: the adjustment of American society to the end of slavery.

The Ku Klux Klan flourished in the South at the beginning of the Reconstruction succeeding the Civil War. There remained numerous ex-Confederates that were still strongly opposed to the Reconstruction and sought to preserve white supremacy in the South. Directly after the Civil War the government in the South was weak and vulnerable. The Ku Klux Klan leveraged this and used violence and threats to try to reestablish white supremacy. They were most successful in playing upon fears and superstitions. They not only brought terror to the black communities but they also targeted carpetbaggers and scalawags. They used these threats and fears in effectively keeping the blacks away from the polls so that the ex-Confederates could gain back political control in the

Due to the gradual elimination of African-American rights and the withdrawal of Federal troops from the South to enforce such rights, the end of Reconstruction surfaced in 1877. In the eyes of blacks, Reconstruction was a point in history where they could see their civil rights expanding before their very own eyes. On the contrary, whites were deeply disturbed at the way their once “white supremacy” government was dwindling in the rear-view mirror behind them. This fourteen year period known as Reconstruction houses the memories of temporary freedom, scandal, backdoor deals, and the unresolved social, political, and economical issues of our country.

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

Reconstruction Era has two uses; the first covers the entire nation in the period 1865–1877 following the Civil War; the second one, used in this article, covers the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877, with the reconstruction of state and society in the former Confederacy.

As a country, America has gone though many political changes throughout its lifetime. Leaders have come and gone, and all of them have had their own objectives and plans for the future. As history has taken its course, though, almost all of these “revolutionary movements” have come to an end. One such movement was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a violent period that defined the defeated South’s status in the Union and the meaning of freedom for ex-slaves. Though, like many things in life, it did come to an end, and the resulting outcome has been labeled both a success and a failure.

After the Reconstruction, the Democrats recovered control of the Confederate States, which caused the old Klan to die out in the 1870s. The new Klan recreated itself in 1915. The new Klan was responding to the fast-growing ethnic minorities in the United States. The Klan only wanted 100% Americanism, natives, white Protestants born in the United States. The Klan was against immorality, rejected bootleg liquor, and taught hate against African Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews, immigrants, Communist, atheists prostitutes, and adulterers. The new Klan saw these groups as a threat because they believed they would make a difference in the voting platform. The Klan was most influential in Atlanta because that was the base for their headquarters.

The KKK started off harmless, then quickly became involved in the violent struggle of the Reconstruction Era. They believed that blacks were inferior members of society, and were undeserving of citizenship or legal protection. Violence within the KKK was very destructive, and Congress soon responded by passing a series of federal acts to enforce the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. The Civil Rights Act of 1871, more formally known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, gave federal officials the power to arrest anyone who sought to deprive citizens of their constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The Ku Klux Klan was a politically and racially motivated group that discouraged and frustrated attempts at racial equality (Bowles 2011). They were against all equality for anyone who supported a Union or was black. They were in control of the Southern states and they ran amuck abusing and murdering anyone they felt would threaten their way of life and the local and state governments sat back and supported their efforts to keep the blacks enslaved at all costs. In and article written by the Harper’s Weekly paper about the atrocities in the South it stated that,

After the Civil War had ended, all the slaves in America were free, by the Emancipation Proclamation. Their owners did not think it was a good idea. If the slaves were free, then no one tend to the fields or household chores. The owners believed that blacks were created to serve one purpose, which is to serve the whites. One of the methods that the Ku Klux Klan used was propaganda to instill fear into the blacks. Many discriminatory laws were put forth by the government for African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan used physical violence to attempt to control the recently freed slaves in society. The KKK also used destruction of property. The Ku Klux Klan used discriminatory laws, propaganda, and violence to control the recently freed slaves in society.

The Ku Klux Klan was created by six men who were once a part of the Confederate Army, and wanted to start a social club. All six men were white, and had a strong hatred veered towards blacks. They believed African Americans were not equal to whites, but did not ever imagine the damage done to the United States from their simple “social club”.