Reconstruction Policy after the Civil War Essay

After the conclusion of America’s Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln pitched the idea of “Reconstruction,” which would bring the southern states back into the Union. President Lincoln, according to many radical Republicans, was too gentle on the south. The government was divided on how to solve the issue of readmitting the southern states back into the Union. In addition to that, the government was not certain on what rights to enumerate to the newly emancipated slaves. These issues became more difficult to solve after President Lincoln was murdered. Lincoln’s successor, Vice President Andrew Johnson, was a Tennessee Democrat that lacked respect of the Republican Congress. The legislative and executive branches of the American government

What should be done for the Freedman? Like I said above, I really don’t think that the Freedman should be dealed with first. Once they were dealed with, I believe they should have the full rights of a U.S Citizen, because that’s what they are. They should be freed from Bondage, and given the same opportunities as Whites. However that could almost never happen, and did not happen. People are always going to have prejudices, no matter what the law says. Even if a person does not hate Blacks, they could just prefer to hire a White man to do the same work. It’s something that still affects the Southern United States, and minimally in other areas.

Reconstruction was a period of time after the Civil War (1865-1877) that was supposed to be the rebuilding of America. It was also the process used to readmit all the Confederate states back into the Union. There was controversy, however, on how to go about rebuilding the nation. Abraham Lincoln proposed a lenient plan. After he was assassinated, Andrew Johnson proposed a very similar plan. The Radical Republicans, a group of legislators that were in favor of freedmen’s rights, were opposed to both plans under “Presidential Reconstruction”. They initiated “Congressional Reconstruction”. Because of the conflicting views, there was little cooperation between the Executive and Legislative branches. This lead to many unsuccessful

Following the Civil War, America was in shambles. There were many groups with strong, conflicting ideas of how things should be. However, most groups had one idea in common: reducing the rights of African Americans as much as possible. Freed slaves had very little freedom under the law, were treated like a lesser species by those around them, and faced dangerous environments everywhere they went. Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation may have legally freed slaves, but African Americans were barely more than paid slaves.

During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.

Reconstruction has been brutally murdered! For a little over a decade after the Civil War, the victorious North launched a campaign of social, economic, and political recovery in the former Confederacy and to readmit the land in the former Confederacy back into the United States as states. Reconstruction yielded many benefits for African Americans. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments freed African Americans, made them citizens, and gave them the right to vote respectively. The Freedmen’s Bureau also provided African Americans and poor whites with education, jobs, and supplies. Despite this, Reconstruction was cut short in 1877. The North killed Reconstruction because of racism, negligence, and distractions.

1. The war in 1862 was only more than a year old and the people in both the Union and Confederate sides didn’t anticipate it would last that long, but it is going to go on. Close to the end of the summer in this same year, the Union has made huge progress in claiming confederate lands, winning some major battles. They have put the confederacy in the defensive. They have taken over New Orleans, with even black troops major on the ground of New Orleans. They have taken Missouri and are working hard to take over the Mississippi Valley and maybe even Richmond itself. Bruce Catton puts it this way in The Civil War, “Except for guerrilla activity, Kentucky and Missouri has been swept clear of armed confederates, Western Tennessee had been reclaimed, there was a Yankee army in Cumberland Gap, another one was approaching chattanooga, and a third was sprawled out from Memphis to Corinth, preparing to splice down through Mississippi and touch hands with the Union occupation forces in Baton Rouge and New Orleans” (85) So not only that they Union had taken over regions, they are advancing as well, but they did not win the way this year for some reason. Firstly, because they did not have generals and army heads capable of taking them to victory. General Halleck, chief of the Union Armies and Pope in charge of one of the Union armies in Virginia, were major examples of this.

“In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it is perhaps not surprising that historians turned renewed attention to home-grown American terrorism. Recent books on Reconstruction…have infused their subjects with drama by focusing on violent confrontations,” Eric Foner notes in the introduction of the updated edition to his 1988 publication Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. Up until now, Foner’s revisionist historiography of Reconstruction was the only alternative offered to the Dunning School’s account of the important historical era. In recent years a neo-revisionist interpretation of Reconstruction has emerged in works by a younger generation of historians such as Gregory Downs, Carole Emberton, Hannah Rosen, Megan Kate Nelson and Jim downs. This new scholarship pays close attention to violence, the body, language, and gender—how these important themes directly relate to power, struggle, and political status of freedpeople in the postbellum nation—and either rethink or are completely uninterested in Foner’s revisionist narrative of Reconstruction.

Imagine being a soldier in the Civil War, fighting with a great risk of dying, and then, somehow win the war. Since winning the war, slaves had been freed and the United States would start rebuilding itself. Former slaves were even able to get jobs and become part of the government. However, after several years of rebuilding, there is still more things to do. Then, all of the sudden, the rebuilding stops and no one knows why. Racism was making a comeback, even more so fierce than before the Civil War. There was even talk of a second Civil War, and People started wondering if it was the North or South who had stopped this great rebuilding. Recently, there has been talk about who had caused the end. However, because of the North having the most power, them getting sick of carpetbagging government/“Negro Question”, and also deciding on slaves having a probation period, it is clear that the North was the problem to Reconstruction.

By March 1863, Union forces had taken control of the sugar-planting region and reported that all the slaves had come within their lines. Fellow sugar planter Andrew McCollam reported that he had only a few hands left and he doubted he would be able to do more than manage the seed cane. Viguerie, along with hundreds of Louisiana soldiers, including William A. Bisland of Terrebonne, surrendered on May 26, 1865 in New Orleans. Viguerie was paroled to New Iberia, Louisiana on June 6, 1865. He was released shortly after.

The American Civil War came to a terrible and bloody end with six hundred thousand casualties and the North winning and the South losing. Southern soldiers returned from the war and found their home in ruins. Lots of people lost their homes, land, businesses, and their way of life. Many Southerners faced starvation due to the high food prices and the widespread of crop failure. The Confederate money that was used by Southerners was now useless. Numerous banks collapsed, and the merchants went bankrupt because people couldn’t pay their debts. The people of the South were penniless and broken. (“Post”)

It is my wish that these newly freed African Americans be integrated into American society as ordinary people. However, it would be difficult to make African Americans feel like real citizens in our country when they are constantly being harassed by individuals and hate groups in the south such as the Ku Klux Klan. In my Reconstruction plan, freedmen would sometimes have to be separated from racist whites in the South to ease their transition into society. Over time, segregation would be done away with once more people in the south are ready for it. Initially separating freedmen and southern whites would be necessary to avoid further conflict in public.

While the war is over, there’s still tension between the states. Why? Because of Reconstruction. Reconstruction was the idea to rebuild the South after Sherman’s March to the Sea. Reconstruction caused positive things such as African American rights. But, there were some negatives. As the plan died out, it caused more and more tension between the country. Why did this happen? Because of Southern resistance and Northern neglect. Who ended reconstruction, though?

The postwar in the south led to collapsed property value,damaged railroads and agriculture ruined. Planters faced with overwhelming economic difficulties keeping the fields active with the lack of workers for their fields. Newly freed slaves faced an even greater problem they had no idea what to do with their newfound freedom. Blacks gained new rights and opportunities, before the law they could not do much now they have right to be married, attend school,and own property. The new Radical Republican state government even put a public school in the south for blacks.

When President Lincoln requested that I come to the White House I was surprised. The Civil War had ended along with my service to the Union. As we talked I understood that the President was determined to bring the South back into the Union. He believed in the United States of American. His plans for Reconstruction included the rebuilding of the South which was heavily damaged because most of the battles were fought in the South. Freed slaves and white soldiers, were competing for the few jobs that were available. The mainstay of the economy was agriculture. Now there was no money for seed, labor, or taxes. President Lincoln proposed that I tour the Southern States. I would also evaluate what would it take to rebuild and repair the cities. My