The Necessity Of Radical Reconstruction After The Civil War

In addition, freedom had been achieved but the freed slaved couldn’t find or rightfully obtain basics necessities like food or protection. This could have been alleviated by setting up camps, with necessities such as food, water, shelter and eduction, to help African Americans more successfully transition from slavery to their newfound freedom.

In the beginning of 1865, the Civil War came to a close, abandoning over 620,000 dead and a destructive path of devastating all over the south. The North now was confronted with the task of reconstructing the destroyed and aggrieved Confederate states.

America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.

In hindsight it is sometimes claimed that Reconstruction was a failure. Although there was some good that came out of the Reconstruction it was mostly just a relentless uphill battle against Southerners and immoral politicians that were here to delay change and keep racism alive. Reconstruction brought the Ku Klux Klan who displayed great resistance, and poverty that swept the South once the blacks were freed. The freedom of these black slaves led to discriminatory legislatures such as the Black Codes and the Jim Crow laws to keep the blacks constrained from actually being free. The South was then encountered with corruption and high property taxes, as a rebuild was in order to reestablish the war torn part of the nation.

The 1920’s better known as the roaring twenties was a period of dramatic social, and political change. Throughout history the roaring twenties was the first time most Americans lived in cities than farms. After the years of World War I this was a period where America and the public wanted to separate themselves from other parts of the world, foreign countries .

As the civil war was ending many people could see that the odds of the north winning increased dramatically however many people can argue this idea based on the several events that took place during the second phase of the civil war. Carl Schurz concluded, “The Civil War was a revolution, but half accomplished.”(Roark et al 434) Reconstruction started before the civil war ended until 1877, when people of the United States tried figuring out how to put the country back together. Many people had different ideas on how the reconstruction should be handled as a result conflict began between different political groups, between groups in the south, between north and south, and between congress and senate groups. The dramatic transformation of southern states took place during the reconstruction that proved their victory was the organization and formation of government, being reunited in the union, and acquiring constitutional and legal status of African Americans.

Although the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the Reconstruction brought great hope to America’s four million former slaves, the efforts of Congressional Reconstruction ultimately failed to establish equal rights for the freedmen because the racist mindset still dominated American society at the time and Democratic influence steadily overcame Republican control in Congress. Despite the Union’s victory, the end of the Civil War brought many significant national problems, including an economically and culturally devastated South and the protection of the freedmen. After a period of Reconstruction under Lincoln and then under Andrew Johnson, it was Congress’s turn to determine the path of Reconstruction. While the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were large steps in the freedmen’s road to equality, it was never going to be that easy to attain true equality for all. The Southerners’ mindset was still fixated on the idea that freedmen were naturally inferior.

Reconstruction began early in 1865 after the end of the civil war when the South was undergoing political, social and economic upheavals (Foner 15). The South embraced Union methods of total wars that led to damage to their land and crops. As a result, many people died while others were captured as slaves due to the huge drought and inflation facing their state, while their masters fled oncoming unions. From these losses, policymakers by 1865 in Washington had no other choice rather than reconstruction. Reconstruction involved several initiatives including abolishment and transformation of the Southern society, recovering the Southern Unions and most importantly the enactment of an assimilation legislation program that would aid in favoring the freed blacks into the American social and economic system. President Lincoln had pardoned reconstruction of the South long before in1863 two years before the war ended (Kennedy and Cohen 44). This was known as the ten percent plan that supported one of the initiatives. This plan allowed the Southern state to be assimilated to the union after every ten percent of the population. Later in the year 1865 president Lincoln got assassinated and Andrew Johnson succeeded him. President Johnson carried on with the ten percent plan. Both presidents shared a similar interest during their reign which was to abolish slavery before joining the union.

Congress held a minority of people who called themselves the Radical Republicans. They were led by Charles Sumner and they wanted to free slaves and give them the right to vote and punish their owners.

There was a transformation period after the Civil War called the reconstruction during the years 1863 to 1877. The reconstruction was the rebuilding of the United States, mainly in the South. There were three major types of reconstruction, which were political, physical, and social. The political reconstruction allowed some African Americans to vote; however, they had to be literate in order to take the Oath test. Not many African Americans knew how to read and write, because they were slaves and never had the opportunity to be educated. There was the Physical reconstruction, which was the building of sea ports, farming, and railroads, railroads being a major part of the reconstruction. Social Reconstruction was the most important step during the reconstruction, because many families were reunited after being separated from each other at birth, or after years of living together. By being reunited with their families the former slaves had already won the ‘battle’.

During the times of reconstruction, Lincoln wished to reunite the country both physically and metaphorically. By this, he intended to have certain hoops the southern states had to jump through before they could regain their statehood. However, due to his death this did not come to complete fruition. Johnson technically made the southern states do certain things before they could rejoin the union, but basically the terms could be met simply by a few individuals telling pretty lies. Also with Johnson, Black Codes were created that returned slavery to the country. Reconstruction itself was a major failure in what it actually accomplished in that time, but the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed made it possible for future civil rights

When people think about Reconstruction what comes to their minds first is the rebuilding of the Union. For all intents and purposes, the years between 1865 and 1877 following the Civil War were about the reunification of the Northern and the Southern states and the government’s attempt to return everything back to normalcy. This time was about letting the southern states join the United States again. However the issue that was also happening at the time was the issue of emancipation. After the Civil War, black slaves were freed and made American citizens. However, as proven by history, the struggles of black people were only just beginning. During this period of Reconstruction, black people would face many obstacles and challenges as they integrated into American life. Indeed, the hate crimes and attempts by the government and the media to dehumanize black people was rampant during this time.

During this time period President Abraham Lincoln appointed provisional military governors to oversee the re-establishment of the southern states into the union as well as a functioning government. Yet, during the late 1800’s the Republicans ruled Congress and made efforts during the Reconstruction end to ensure that everyone had the same equal rights by passing the Civil Rights Bill to ensure that everyone had equal rights. This also led to questions as to what to do with the recently freed blacks.

Reconstruction was the period when America was figuring out on issues pertaining to who was an American, what rights an American should enjoy and what rights other Americans were exercising. The post bellum period was a period after the civil war that had affected the United States of America. This conflict had mostly taken place in the south and therefore the people there were the for the most part affected by this warfare. After the civil war, racism was still a threat and a struggle for the nation, mostly to the African-Americans (Brown, 213). The progression of the black people was hindered by lack of education, lack of African-American political leaders for the black people. Reconstruction for that reason needed to be done (Brown, 213).

The Civil War left a country divided not only by property lines and borders but by beliefs as well. Not just religious beliefs, moral beliefs also. It left both sides, north and south struggling, trying to figure out what their next move towards reuniting the divided America was going to be. The period following the end of the Civil War would become known as the “Reconstruction Era.” An era that raised just as many questions as it did answers. A reconstruction of America that seems to carry on many decades later.