Thaddeus Stevens Civil War

     Radical Republicans wanted to enact a far-reaching transformation of Southern social and economic life, permanently ending the old planter class system, and favored granting freed slaves citizenship and voting rights. After the war, they came to believe whites in the South were seeking

It seemed as though black people were finally starting to be recognized as actual people. According to the article “Reconstruction” on the website ushistory.org it says, “Under federal bayonets,blacks, including those who had recently been freed, received the right to vote, hold political offices, and become judges and police chiefs.” African Americans were finally able to hold some type of power in political offices and could have jobs of importance, however, many Southerners were angered by black people having this new sense of freedom. From the same article it says, “Many Southern whites could not accept the idea that former slaves could not only vote but hold office. It was this era that the Ku Klux Klan was born.” Douglass’s dream of equality was starting to slip away with white supremacists discriminating against black people. To this day, there is still racism and discrimination among not only African Americans but all races and this goal of equality has yet to be reached and may not be achieved ever.

Radical Republicans, who identified as the anti-slavery and pro-reconstruction wing of the Republican party, were another key group driving transformations in the country during this time. They had a bold agenda: to punish the south for the Civil War, ensure the complete elevation of former slaves to the current standards of American society, and to prevent the Democrats from ever gaining another foothold in the south. To do this, they set out to pass the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. The amendments forbade slavery in the United States, guaranteed equal protection under the law and citizenship to anyone born in the United States, and ensured the right to vote for all men over the age of 21, respectively. They also supported the Freedman’s Bureau,

Obviously, the beginning of the Reconstruction was when the United States was at it’s lowest point, with no new amendments regarding slavery, with lots of destruction and death, and a lot of work to do ahead. Once things began to progress, things started to look up, especially for African Americans. The United States was becoming a more equalized environment, until the later events from 1870-1877, with the Ku Klux Klan ordeal, and the removal of federal protection in the South. Clearly, this twelve year Reconstruction period had made the US become a better and more controlled place than it was before, but the ending events caused damage to the minorities living in the South which would last for a very long time until the Martin Luther King Jr. era. If it were up to me, I would have kept protection in the South for a longer period of time, until the US was a guaranteed place of

Lincoln viewed Reconstruction as part of the larger effort to win the war and abolish slavery. He wanted to weaken the Confederacy by creating new state governments that could win broad support from southern white people. With Lincoln’s vision, he wanted things to be over quickly he didn’t want it to be dragged out and a long process. Lincoln’s plan angered the Radical Republicans (who advocated not only equal rights for the freedman but also a tougher stance toward the white South). Lincoln biggest fear was that if they asked for 50 percent instead of the 10 percent that it would continue the war making it longer and costlier for the United States. Unfortunately, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth on April 14th, 1865. At the time of his assassination, Lincoln’s reconstruction policy remained unsettled and

After the Civil War there was still a tremendous amount of tension between the North and South. Lincoln and Johnson however, believed in having a reconstruction plan and moving right on over the War. Not everyone agreed on what they had in mind for their plans for reconstruction. The North thought Lincoln and Johnson were both way too lenient in their plans for having the South rejoin with the North. The North wanted the South to be punished. So with that mindset, it became clear that it was necessary for a change. Sadly, Lincoln could not carry out his plans due to his assassination.

I think that it contributed to the reconstruction in a drastic way, because the slaves and or African Americans were the main key to all the actions that were taken place. They were the main focal point in the whole ordeal because they led to the money. The way they led to the money is this, slave owners had plantations with all sorts of valuable goods such as cotton, and produce and or animals and that is what made them their money and by using the slaves as cheap labor it would bring their profit up even more without the hassle and for less money. Money was really the key, because money brings power. That’s how the world was then and that’s how it is now. There was a few states that basically wanted to make their own rules and those were

After reconstruction, it had an effect on African-Americans. It affected African-Americans in a good way and a bad way. Here are the good ways the reconstruction affected African-Americans. African-Americans were able to find jobs as tenant farmers and sharecroppers to get moneys for a place to live and for food to eat. The Freedmen's bureau helped African Americans get an education.

The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865 when Robert E. Lee surrendered the last major Confederate army to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse. Lincoln had begun his plan in 1863 with the Proclamation Amnesty and Reconstruction. Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan would be able to succeed if the Ten-Percent Plan was achieved. This strategy specified that any southern state could be re-admitted into the Union if 10 percent of its voters swore an oath of allegiance to the Union. His plan was divided into two parts: First of all, it offered pardon to any Confederate who would swear to support the Constitution and the Union. “Reconstruction”, a documentary made by History Channel based on America’s Post- Civil War Reconstruction Act states the following, which explains the

They believed that African Americans were entitled to the same rights that white Americans had. Radical republicans also believed the southern states that seceded from the union should be punished for leaving and their roles in the war. Thaddeus Stevens, a lawyer played a major role in this group. Stevens even came up with idea to confiscate the land of planters who left the union and divide it among freedmen and northern migrants whom were going to the south. His idea failed to pass, as it seemed a little too

President Lincoln became president in 1860, causing the secession of South Carolina and many other states from the Union. They didn’t believe in the same rights as President Lincoln was going to put into action. Fort Sumter of South Carolina (a confederate state) was still held down by the union and their troops because the confederate states were such a new dynamic. Because of this, South Carolina decided to bombard and fire on Fort Sumter, which began a thirty-four hour battle. The confederates just wanted their land filled with people that shared the same belief system as everyone else. They wanted the union out of their harbor and they believed the way to do that when denied their wish, was to attack. Sydmonds explains my view on this issue very well, “Lincoln did not seek or expect a military solution. He had no intention of forcing the issue, believing as he did that the majority of Southerners retained some latent loyalty to the old flag and that they had simply been swept up by the emotion of the moment. He hoped that a period of quiet resolve would bring most of them to their senses and allows a national reunification without the shedding of blood. Time, he hoped, would be the great healer.”2 This all happened out of a sort of emotional

Lincoln also believed surrendering in the face of secessionist threats would undermine the democratic principle of majority rule. He opposed secession because he considered it to be unlawful, would disintegrate into anarchy, destroy the world's only existing democracy, and argued the U.S was better-off as a united, single entity. Furthermore, the North's business community didn’t want to endure the permanent loss of the South as a market and source of raw materials. Slavery and the status of African Americans were at the heart of the Civil War crisis. While some Confederate soldiers went to war to preserve slavery, other Union soldiers fought to end it.

After this occurred that did not think that they would would have say in the government anymore and how things were going to be run. The new president tried to assure the south that he would not end slavery but they did not listen to him. “ In your hands, my dissatisfied country, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of… war. The government will not assail you you…. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies.” -Abraham Lincoln, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861. This statement shows that Abraham Lincoln was sacred that the Union was going to break apart. He tried to assure the south that the north would not end their slavery but they did not listen and the United States was launched into a civil war.

After the Civil War, the fact that slavery was abolished might seem to be the end of the story; however, the problems derived from the abolishment of slavery had yet to be addressed. During the Reconstruction Era, these problems were reflected on the political, social, and economic aspects. Which played several major roles in shaping America from the late nineteenth into the twentieth centuries.These three aspects, political, social, and economical, affected one another so much that they were inseparable. The beginning leniency of Andrew Johnson all the way to the Confederates and later the political conflict between Johnson and the Radical Republicans, and lastly, the political struggle between Republicans and Democrats. It all resulted in the ever-changing policies toward the freed people. These different policies had strong effects on the society, especially the freed people. Although some of the policies, such as the abolition of slavery and several Constitutional Amendments were beneficial to the rights of freed people, the sudden increase of freed people brought about the separation of black and white and many other social issues. Thus the real equality among people still had yet to be achieved. The economy also affected the society and the politics. The depression of the economy after the Civil War made people focus on their own situations, instead of worrying about the freed people. For example the people were distressed about getting money and how to provide for

The Civil War, one of America’s most bloody wars in American History. “Lincoln who in which lead the Northern U.S. during the civil war.” (Allen 310) “America became divided, because the South didn’t like the idea of Lincoln becoming president, the South also didn’t believe that slaves should be free.” (Allen 8) This began of what we all know as the Civil war. The Nation split into two the south which became the Confederates, and the North was known as the Union. Lincoln fought the Civil war not just for what he believed to be right, but also to end slavery. This is one of the quotes from the Civil war that Lincoln made, “When I think of the Sacrifice yet to be offered and the hearts and homes yet to be made desolate before this dreadful war is over, my heart is like lead within me, and I feel like hiding in a deep darkness.” (Freedmen