South Killed Reconstruction Dbq Essay

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

The truth is both sides ruined the chances of reconstruction.They are both at fault. The south and the northerners had an equal part at failing to continue the reconstruction because from the south there was an organization; a cult called the Ku klux Klan.The kkk did not accept african americans. They were so cruel and inhumane to them the kkk would slaughter , manipulate, and even taunt them till the african americans would fear them(Doc A, B)As for the North , there was a lot of corruption due to Former President grant that committed fraud and caused the “ panic of 1873 “ which caused lots of jobs to discontinue and people to worry from it.(doc C)

After the Civil War, America was still amidst great turmoil and economic instability. During this time period, the ultimate goal for Americans was to seize the “American Dream”. This was defined by most as being able to support their family and live a comfortable life. Although some did achieve this, many faced social, political and economic hardships. Beginning with the unjust treatment of African-Americans, then the struggles of immigrants, and followed by the rise of big businesses, the challenges faced during this time of rebuilding varied among the classes.

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.

The South did all that it could to suppress and terrorize blacks. The idea was to demonstrate white superiority even though blacks were no longer slaves. The Ku Klux Klan was formed for this purpose and because of it, the Force Bill had to be imposed to control the racist men (Doc I and H). The Force Bill sent in the military to control the KKK terrorization but was ultimately useless because the KKK had already fulfilled its purpose of intimating blacks (Example). Because of this intimating, it is no surprise that social change did not occur. Blacks, though yearning, still did not have the power to counter racist white efforts against them.

The North and South both ended Reconstruction. After the Civil War there was a time if rebuilding the nation called Reconstruction. During this time everyone had their own thoughts about the North and South, people of different race, and political offices. This leads us to a major thought, how the North and South ended Reconstruction. As people targeted carpetbaggers and scalawags, African American voters and Government Officials Reconstruction became more tense, also problems and racism in the North sprung about.

However, the most likely target to blame is the side of the South. The North actually assisted in the progression of Reconstruction by legalizing the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments - which abolished slavery, ensured that blacks were equal to whites, and prohibited suffrage based on race - creating laws to enforce the amendments through military force, establishing black churches, schools, “and universities like Howard, Fisk, Morehouse, and Hampton.” (Background Essay) Without these endeavors, higher education for blacks would have perished and the numerous contributions of African-Americans would have been erased throughout history. With all these evidences to support the North’s innocence, the South is more responsible as it actively fought against the North through the KKK, contemptible leaders, and illegal solutions, such as poll taxes to react to the South’s greatest obstacle - the 15th amendment. As the South protested relentlessly to bolster their need for a modern slave society, the North forfeited and allowed the South to regain its previous condition as they knew Reconstruction was beginning to wilt. If the South transferred their tenacity to join hands with their brothers up north, our current world wouldn’t have issues resulting from segregation. A possibility of an accepting country was offered to the South, but the South rejected it. As such, the era

Over 50 percent of voters in the south chose to pledge allegiance to the U.S. Reconstruction also finally settled rights vs. federalism debate that's been happening since the 1790s. Also the south have acknowledged the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendment. The failures in the reconstruction era was that it didn't really protect freed slaves voting rights. When President Rutherford B. Hayes removed federal troops from the South. Former slave owners and confederate officials returned to power. White southern politicians passed black codes, voter qualifications and other legislations that reversed rights that african americans had gained during Reconstruction. Also with sharecropping it didn't really help African americans because it just kept them tied to rich white landowners. In mid reconstruction white northerners have gotten tired with fighting for african american civil rights that African american had to fight for their own because people weren't doing anything

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

The North may have won the war, but they did a horrible job in trying to win the peace. The south had their new form of slavery, which was contained in the "Black Codes"; laws passed throughout the South that laid heavy restrictions on what, who, and where African-Americans could be. President Johnson saw that the only way to get the freedmen as subordinates again was to let the south back in he started signing pardons so fast that they had to assign an office to help him keep up. Johnson didn't interfere with the south and they continued their plantations, with the plantation owners running the south, in essence becoming exactly what they were before the war. It was like it had never happened. When

For one, the North wasn’t as united as the South. While the Confederacy fought for their way of life, the North fought for politicians (Confederate States). They were also fighting in unknown territory. In order to win, they would have to seize control over a large area of land (Davidson and Stoff pg 488). Finally, the North couldn’t find a good military leader for most of the war. Most of the military colleges were in the South, so the North was at a huge disadvantage in leadership and skill (Confederate States).

The North and the South were far from settling the slave issue. Another reason that caused the South to go to war was the difference in economic policies. The North was expanding more in the commercial and industrial side while the South was reliant on agriculture. Cities and factories had developed in the North and in the South, it was still staple producing and agrarian. The North’s industry was beginning to dominate its economy while the South was still mainly based on agriculture. The South only produced manufactured goods for consumption and the North were able to export manufactured goods. The taxes and tariff was unfair to the South. The Tariff Act of 1832 put high import fees on all European manufactured good, which was established to protect the Northern industries. The South’s reaction to the Act was a threat to secede from the Union. Railroads were also built to bond the northern tier of states. This made transportation easier in the Northeast than in the South. The Northeast traded with the West while the South can trade only by sea. " They wanted to promote the industry of the New England states, at the expense of the people of the South and their industry" In politics, the North had an advantage over the South. The North was more populated than the South and the South only counted slaves which was big part of their populations as * of a person. Since the House of Representative was based on population

After the Civil War, the South was faced with a variety of social, economic, and political problems. Now that former slaves held more powers and privileges, upset whites southerners could not stomach the idea. White supremacist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, organized in an effort to suppress African-Americans and also in an effort to create a Solid South in order to avoid political controversy, in regards to their antebellum views on slavery. New political parties were formed that supported and condoned violent activist factions that terrorized both black and white Republican leaders during elections. The

By 1870, the Northerner lost interest in reconstructing the south. The north tried to reconstruct the south and change southerners attitudes about black people. Although they failed at this because many southerners were still racists and believed that the white race was superior to others, blacks were not as good as southern white men. To add to that, the Northerners lost interest in the reconstruction, which gave southerners a chance to gain control of their state governments again.

After the North won the civil war, it was time to rebuild this nation. This period of reconstruction was supposed to have a profound change on society. Unfortunately this was not the case. Reconstruction did not fundamentally alter this nation. Not to say that nothing happened, but nothing that really made a change or difference happened. First, the control of the south was given right back to the planter elite. Also, even though slavery was abolished; blacks were not free. Finally, Congress and President Johnson could not get along. Although the civil war reshaped this country profoundly. The reconstruction efforts did little but scratch a surface, before being quickly wiped away.