The Reconstruction Amendments During The Civil War

The Reconstruction happened in period following the end of the American Civil and the main goal was to reintegrate the Southern Confederate States back into the Union after they had been defeated by the Union (Northern States). As would be expected, the process was met with many challenges as the interests of both groups had to be addressed. There was debate over the terms under which the Confederate States would be allowed back into the Union, and whether it was the president or congress to set these terms. There was also the question about what rights freed slaves had and their role in the new American society. Even though the war had ended, the reconstruction presented a new battlefront for a political struggle between the North and the South. This paper analyses what reconstruction sought to achieve, and why it failed with dire long-term consequences.

Reconstruction was like ice cream on a hot day because it is cold and refreshing . Similarly, from 1865 to 1870 the United States passed three Amendments, the 13th, 14th and 15th, to help end slavery. As stated in the 13th amendment,“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Then, three years later, the government passed the fourteenth amendment which said, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction

During the Civil War, the president Lincoln promulgated the Emancipation Proclamation(Colling 5/22/17), this document helped the union win the Civil War.By the end of the war, the Thirteenth Amendment(Colling 5/22/17) of the Constitution was implemented. This amendment brought the freedom to the slave and it made Emancipation Proclamation permanent validity. The south returned to the union and started to reestablish. At first glance, the Reconstruction seemed all right and it fulfilled the promise of America. Nevertheless, a multitude of problems were still not addressed. Although the slave regained freedom again, but they can not integrate into society. In order to deal with this situation, the 14th Amendment and 15th Amendment(Colling 5/22/17) were implemented

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.

A revolution is a dramatic and sudden change in an organization in the social order that is replaced by a new, more favorable system. When Historian Eric Foner called the Reconstruction period “America’s Second Revolution”, his characterization was correct. Reconstruction can be viewed as a revolution because the previous social order, slavery, was replaced suddenly by a more favorable one, freedom for African-Americans. There was a long period of politicization for incorporating free African-Americans into white society. Reconstruction also revolutionized the preconceived notion that the states had autonomous power.

To make sure that slavery stayed abolished, Amendments had to be passed in order for slaves to be safe and treated fairly. The northern government wanted to get rid of slavery once in for all, but the southern government did not. The northern government passed amendments to keep the slaves free and safe. For example, in lesson 3, document B, it talks about three main Amendments passed to give slaves rights. Amendment 13 was the first one mentioned and it says “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, (except as a punishment for crime,) shall exist in the United States.” This meaning that no one can be forced to work without pay or mistreatment. Amendment 14 was mentioned second and it states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States. No State can enforce any law that limits privileges or rights of citizens of the United States nor shall any State deprive any person of life, Liberty or property.” Meaning that everyone in the United States is equal to one another and no one can be treated lesser than anyone, by law. The last Amendment talked

As the American Civil War came to a close, the United States started to revamp the country, during what became known as the Reconstruction Era. Throughout this Period of time (1865-1877), the authorities attempted to fix America politically, economically, and physically. The United States unfortunately faced struggles, when people were evidently unable to adapt themselves to the era. As a result of bringing an attempt to come back from the defeat, the result was insufficient. This clearly shows that the Reconstruction Era was certainly not a success because the changes created by the government failed to make positive changes to society.

Reconstruction succeeded at ending slavery because one of the requirements demanded by the government for Southern states to join back into the United States, was that they had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, which banned slavery. (History Alive, 312) This amendment was extraordinarily successful because instead of an executive order or law, an amendment is exceedingly difficult to overturn, therefore making it so that former Confederates, who would eventually be able to vote once again, did not have enough power to overrule it. By cementing it into the Constitution, the United States government has made it so that for today and for the foreseeable future that there is not, and will be no legal legal slaves in the United States of America. On one family record book dating back to

During the U.S. Civil War, African Americans that were slaves became people of the United States and gained the rights they deserved. Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862 which ended slavery. This signing also led to the 13th Amendment being created. This goes along with the idea of the civil war that took place in America that was fought over slavery. Lincoln abolished slavery hoping to reunite the Union. During Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation speech, he says, “All persons held as slaves within any State or designed part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be them, thenceforward, and forever free” (Document 10, unit 4). Abraham Lincoln had now freed slaves in

In 1861-1865, The Civil War started because of uncompromising differences between the free (northerners) and slave states (south) over the power of the government to end slavery in the places that had not yet become states. This is when in 1865, the United States defeated the North and abolished slavery nationwide. As the war was about to end, the southern states were re-admitted to the United States. The northern states added the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution. The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, the 14th Amendment give them rights to to be citizens, and the 15th Amendment gave the right to vote.

The Reconstruction efforts in the South targeting social reform worked at first, but evidently led to a segregated South. The attempt for social reform involved new amendments and Freedmen’s Bureau, which caused the opposition to black rights. The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. The creation of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 intended to give African Americans equal rights. It stated that anyone born in the United States was a citizen and prohibited states from making and enforcing laws that deprived people of their rights. States were not allowed to strip citizens of their liberty or property without cause. (Doc F). Lincoln recognised the plight in which the freedmen were in, so he proposed the establishment of a Freedmen 's Bureau. This agency provided educational, social, and economic services to the African Americans. Many northern whites who traveled to the South with the Union army were astonished to see that many former slaves craved literacy. Many teachers who went South where white women, but by 1870, teachers both white and black were flooding South to teach former slaves. While many were delighted with the African Americans’ newfound freedom, opposition to black rights never fully

The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendment claimed to want to end slavery and have slaves become citizens but there was still segregation. The Thirteenth Amendment’s main goal was to end slavery. One of the greatest changes that would happen would be brought by the U.S Civil War. Although the main conflict (most thought) was slavery for the U.S

The result of the four-year long Civil War, was a nation in need of much repair. The split of the union dividing North and South was centered around their opposing views on slavery. These tensions placed black slaves in the middle as an object the was in a tug of war between the two sides. In the end, slavery was abolished and the rights of freed slaves were thus added to the Constitution in the fourteenth amendment that prohibited their exclusion from the unalienable rights of a United States citizen, " nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws" (doc 13). Despite the new addition to this law, the

Social and economic challenges played significant parts in drafting constitutional amendments and molding civil rights of individuals during the Reconstruction Era. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments were recognized as the Civil War Amendments because they were put in place directly following the war. The purpose of them was to ensure the end of slavery and give recently emancipated slaves equal protections and rights. The Thirteenth Amendment was first put in place to abolish slavery and all forms of involuntary servitude except for penance of a crime.

Prior to the Civil War, the United States’ economy was essentially agricultural based; slavery in the South was the key player in its prosperous economy. Hence, it is no wonder the South stood in defense of slavery’s permanence when challenged with the demand for abolition. The Southern proslavery Confederate states fought against the Northern antislavery Union states during the Civil War. The Union prevailed in the war and once the Confederates seceded and left the United States with a new predicament: The Reconstruction Era. In which, the Union needed to find a way to readmit the Confederates back into the nation in accord to Union principles. Essentially, although the ex-Confederates rejoined the Union, the reconstruction of the South was unsuccessful. Presidential, Congressional, and Radical reconstruction individually served to the collaborative failure of readmitting the South based on Northern ideals.