Failure Of Reconstruction Dbq

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

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 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.

For starters, republicans, for a while, had control over major government positions which helped the African Americans. However, stated in document 3, “…Congress has passed an amnesty act, which restored the right of office-holding [and voting] to vast majority who have been disqualified…” The “majority who have been disqualified” the text is referring to are the white southerners who were in the former Confederate states. Doing this, the only good exception is that the south is finally being unpunished for the Civil War, and the United States can possibly come together again as one. Other than that, passing an Amnesty Act was nothing but unfolding trouble for the freed slaves. Once southern democrats have the power to vote again and become congressmen, they will rip apart the stitching the republicans created to help the freedmen, and will try to restore white supremacy throughout the U.S.

Beginning in 1861, the civil war was fought over many political questions regarding slavery, yet was barely focused on the actual freedom of the slaves themselves. It is often taught that the Union fought for the freedom of slaves at the beginning of the war. However, it is more accurate to say that Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal at the beginning of the war was to reunite the Union after the majority of the slave-owning states seceded to protect their way of life: slavery. Yet, by the end of the war, the Union’s goal was to free the slaves. Though the laws securing slaves freedom and suffrage were contributed to by many, the primary driving forces behind them was the African Americans. Through their willingness to fight and support the Union cause, African Americans made the United States acknowledge their struggles and transformed the war into a fight for reconnection and freedom. Though hindered by racist people and policies, the African Americans’ participation during the war and Reconstruction greatly contributed to tremendous cultural change as well as the securing of legal rights to blacks.

During the 19th century, slavery expanded geographically and demographically in the South and Southwest of America, generating a wave of abolitionist movements. These events provoked a different response in the country’s society, since not everyone shared the same definition of slavery and freedom. These concepts started to get involved in almost every part of American sociopolitical life, creating differing points of view that would later conform the two sides in the Civil War of America: The Union in the north, and Confederacy in the south.

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.

               Reconstruction in  American society after the Civil War, which claimed many lives and displaced numerous families, was a period of integration of the Freedmen into the society by granting them their political and civil rights. However, one may ask, did reconstruction fail or succeed due to the high rate of racism at that period? According to Historian Steven Hahn, Reconstruction failed when Freedmen lost their military support of the North which increased the rate of violence towards the freedmen. Also, David Blight a Historian argues that reconstruction failed as a result of the high rate of racism and the injustice in the American society against the African American at that time. I agree with Hahn and Blight that, Reconstruction failed as a result of  lack of injustice and racism against the African American, because the Freedmen were still being persecuted, had no equal rights to vote or own businesses like their white counterparts and also lacks the basic support of their Government. The Government's support and protection for the African American was vital for the Reconstruction movement to have succeeded, Although, the Radical Reconstruction made a tremendous effort to see that reconstruction movement was a success. However, with the compromise of the 1877, the withdrawal of the federal troops and high rate of racism towards

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

Reconstruction was one of the most important periods in American history. It was a period right after the Civil War lasting from approximately from 1863 to 1877. During this time, the leaders of the country and the congress struggled with a challenge of bringing the South back into the Union politically, economically and socially. One of the key challenges they faced was how to reunite the nation and what to do with the thirteen rebellious states that broke off from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Another challenge the government was dealing with was what to do with four million former slaves who now needed housing, food, work, education along with basic civil rights such as voting and government participation. In my opinion reconstruction was more successful in bringing back the South economically and politically. Social reconstruction on the other hand, was almost an impossible task due to lack of commitment to insure equal rights for African Americans. In this essay I will examine successes and failures of presidential, congressional, and social reconstructions.

The Civil War was the turning point in the US history, while the Reconstruction era has completed the achievements of the Civil War and changes launched by the war. At the same time, the outcomes of the Civil War and Reconstruction were disappointing to a large part of the US population, especially slave, whose liberation was one of the major drivers of the Civil War, but the Reconstruction granted them with basic rights and liberties. However, the position of African Americans did not change much. Nevertheless, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further development of the US as one nation but, at the same time, the Civil War and Reconstruction have laid the foundation to the further controversies between different social groups in the US society, such as the social tension between different racial groups.

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.

The idea of all men being equal wasn’t a new idea at the point of the civil war considering this quote “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.”(The Declaration of Independence) This quote in itself shows our country and our

The term Civil War is defined as a war between citizens of the same country fighting for different views. The American Civil War (1861 – 1865) was the important step on the way to American independence and prosperity for all that is clearly visible today. As with every war, people pay with their lives for the benefit of the living and the future. We must look not only at the white people that took part and gave their lives in the Civil war, but at the brave African Americans that gave their lives as well to fight for what they believed in. Throughout the years before the Civil War, African Americans were questioned and thought to be less than dirt but when it came to the war, they proved to be valuable and have a significant impact on the war and the advancements in America.

America is a country that allows people freedom and equality. In the Declaration of Independence, it states that “all men are created equal” and most people agreed with that. However, there were a few people who thought that slaves were not part of the equality factor. Those people, who were mostly slave owners, saw the African Americans as property and did not see them as equals. Since there was such a big difference in views, it created many tensions between the people. Some people wanted to get rid of slavery and give them freedom and equality, some wanted to get rid of slavery but not make slaves equal to other people, and others wanted to keep slavery as it is. Mostly, there was a disagreement between the South and the North and since there is a difference in other factors such as political and economic, these things began to create tensions and drive them farther apart. During 1783-1859, there were numerous cultural, political, and religious tensions and differences between the United States North and South which led to the unforgettable American Civil War. For this essay, I will be using six sources to support my thesis.