The Failure Of Reconstruction In The United States

Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. "All these ex-slaves", Dr. Susan Walens commented, "and no place to put them," The ex-slaves weren't just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation

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)

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

I think that the North killed Reconstruction. If the north had taken more of a hold on south then the KKK would not have run around killing people. And if the north had been there in the south then the KKK would not have existed either. If the north had kept its focus on the south then it maybe reconstruction would have worked better. The north was more focused on the scandal (doc C) and if they had trusted the freedman more (doc D) then maybe Reconstruction would have been a success.

The original purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the buildings and the economy of the south the best they could, but without the immoral element of slavery. But, reconstruction under the Johnson Presidency was a failure for a few reasons: 1) Convict Leasing, 2) Sharecropping, 3) the Ku Klux Klan, 4) Segregation in schools, even in the North, 5) Carpetbaggers/Scalawags, 6) misleading statistics, and 7) racism.

The process of rebuilding America after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877, known as the Reconstruction, fell very short of its expectations because of the negative effect it had on relationships within the country. President Lincoln came up with plans for reconstruction, however, Congress believed it was too lenient. After Lincoln’s death and events following regarding Johnson, Congress dominated the government and came up with their own plan that sets the nation up for further disagreement. The plan for Reconstruction as Congress made it, was a failure because of how it divided the government, turned the races against each other, and set up freed slaves for poverty.

America was in disarray following the events of the Civil War. Southern economy was in shambles while congress was struggling to find a middle ground between the radical republicans and Lincoln’s lenient policies. Many Southerners faced the aftermath of uprooting their society and their way of life while thousands of newly freed slaves struggled to find a way to support themselves. The country needed a strong leader, however on the 14th of April, 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in the Ford Theatre in Washington (Farmer). Without the man that had once held the nation together, the country now faced an enormous obstacle; reconstructing American economics, politics and social life.

Another way the South was in fault for the failing reconstruction were the fact that regardless of the new equal rights the blacks were getting the whites were against these new sets of laws to help the blacks and were terrorizing them. “(As seen on Document B in the picture below) Caption: He wants to vote the Democratic ticket. The Black man is seen being threatened by two white men with guns pointed to his head.” The man is trying to vote but the whites aren’t allowing him and is being threatened by them. Let’s also include the text from document B “[The Klansmen] broke my door open...whipped me three hours and left me for dead…”If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote the Radical ticket.” They set in and whipped me a thousand licks more, with sticks and straps that had buckles on the ends of them “ They didn’t want the black man choosing something against them so they would beat them or threaten them with death if they didn’t do as they wanted. Terrorist groups also caused violent oppositions in the south for example the KKK(Ku Klux Klan) wanted to restore the old political order the way they did this was by methods of threats, house burnings, and killings against blacks and

If the north was to succeed, they would forever be oppressed by their victory, and slaves of their achievements. The Confederates fought to promote the wellbeing of their family and the protection of their land “from Yankee outrage and atrocity”(Mc.Pherson 20) .

As for reconstruction it is a whole different story. You would presume that the North would have won reconstruction

The South killed the reconstruction with violence and threats. There is evidence of a former white soldier pleading with Congress to help solve the KKK issues in the

When Reconstruction began in 1865, a broken America had just finished fighting the Civil War. In all respects, Reconstruction was a time period of

Abraham Lincoln is credited to be the reason the Union won the civil war. His death and lack of leadership, rise of the radical republican power, and southern refusal to accept northern policies can arguably be the reason reconstruction failed. After the Union won the war the next task to be addressed was how to readmit the south into the union. Lincoln set the standard in his 1865 second inaugural address stating “malice towards none, and charity for all”. These words would be remembered in the following years as people, like Johnson, look to Lincoln’s ideals during the reconstruction years. Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction supported the idea of a strongly governed united country. Lincoln was one of the few to recognize that one needed to look past personal glory, and instead, do what was best for the country as a whole (Herman Belz pg.5). However, because of Lincoln’s untimely assassination in 1865, the newly re-formed United States was left in the hands

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.

The reconstruction of America would decide how the south would rejoin the Union, what was to become of the nearly 3 million black slaves freed, how America was going to recover from such a devastating internal war. There appears to be phases that the Reconstruction Era went through, roughly three of them. The first is that of the Presidential Reconstruction, it lead to a more radical Republican party. After such we find ourselves in what was to be known as the Radical Reconstruction. A period where the blacks found their voices being heard. Finally we lead up to the end of the Reconstruction-era. It is said that the reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877, however it can be said that, to this very day, some reconstruction is still ongoing.