The Reconstruction Era ( 1865-1877 )

During reconstruction, the meaning of freedom suited many different types of interpretation; the perception of freedom between former slaves and their slaves masters were very contradictory. To begin with, African-Americans had suffered severe abuse over those years of slavery, so to them, the meaning of freedom was basically a hope that in the future, they won’t experience all kind of punishment and exploration that they have been experienced so far. Besides that, formers slaves were demanding equal civil and political rights. In the same way, they valued their freedom by establishing their own schools and churches, reuniting families that were separated under

Eric Foner’s A Short History of Reconstruction is a shortened version of his Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877; however, in the shorter version certain broad themes unified the crucial narrative. His first theme is the midst of the black experience, second theme is to trace the ways Southern society as a whole was remodeled, third theme is the evolution of racial attitudes and patterns of race relations, and the fourth theme is the emergence during the Civil War and Reconstruction. This narration of Reconstruction begins not in 1865, but with the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. This was done to stress the importance of the Proclamation in unifying two major themes, grass-roots black activity and the newly empowered national state and to indicate that Reconstruction was the beginning of a broadened historical process: the adjustment of American society to the end of slavery.

The reconstruction era was a time that then affected America in positive facets and negative aspects as well, and still affects America today. Thanks to the reconstruction era, there are several implementations that geared the world on the path in which it is today. Had it not been for some of the laws that were set in place African Americans may have not had many of the opportunities that were presented during the reconstruction period, therefore the years of oppression and cruelty might still be present.

leader. Freedom became a symbol for the nation, but not everyone in the nation was “free”. In the 1760s, the American Revolution changed the views of many living in the States. With much talk of freedom, people began to question the concept of slavery. As the States kept growing, the North and South started to gain different views of slavery. Because the North was industrialized and believed in factories while the South had huge cotton plantations that needed many workers, slavery was controversial. But one-by-one, Northern states began to outlaw slavery. Black slaves became free men, but because of the contrasting views, were often not treated as such. The question remains: how free were free Blacks in the North? Free Blacks in the North were not truly free and very restricted because of political, social, and economical limits.

The documentary Slavery by Another Name reveals an astonishing fact that slavery in America went on until World War II even with the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book titled Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, the film depicts how new forms of forced labor and slavery emerged in America. This was indeed a contributing factor to the Civil war, especially to the southern whites.

In the United States’ history, the Reconstruction Era had two senses. From 1865 to 1877 was the first, which involved the post Civil War action. The second sense, focused on the transformation of the Southern United States from 1863 to 1877 with the Congress directing the issue of reconstruction of state and society (“Reconstruction Era”). Frederick Jackson Turner argued that the frontier was the chief determinant in American history (“Frederick Jackson Turner”). Both the Reconstruction impact and Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis play a role in the environment during the Economic Revolution.

Beginning in 1861, the civil war was fought over many political questions regarding slavery, yet was barely focused on the actual freedom of the slaves themselves. It is often taught that the Union fought for the freedom of slaves at the beginning of the war. However, it is more accurate to say that Abraham Lincoln’s primary goal at the beginning of the war was to reunite the Union after the majority of the slave-owning states seceded to protect their way of life: slavery. Yet, by the end of the war, the Union’s goal was to free the slaves. Though the laws securing slaves freedom and suffrage were contributed to by many, the primary driving forces behind them was the African Americans. Through their willingness to fight and support the Union cause, African Americans made the United States acknowledge their struggles and transformed the war into a fight for reconnection and freedom. Though hindered by racist people and policies, the African Americans’ participation during the war and Reconstruction greatly contributed to tremendous cultural change as well as the securing of legal rights to blacks.

The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.

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.

It is commonly believed that after the onset of the Civil War, Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation was the key driver to freeing the slaves of the south. After the Civil War, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Constitutional amendments were passed which aided newly freed slaves in being equally treated under the law, or so the story goes. The fact of the matter is that even after the Emancipation Proclamation and after the amendments, slavery in the United States was still “legal” and not only that, but it took on a much different form. The institution of slavery changed from having the direct enslavement of blacks, to the United States legal and prison system enslaving blacks. Yet, the enslavement itself was changed as black convicts

Though this statement only freed slaves in regions still participating in rebellion, it demonstrated a shift in purpose and gave the North moral justification to fight in the war. By thrusting themselves into the war effort, African Americans changed a war based on political disagreements and state power into a war to terminate and “forever prohibit” slavery. (Doc. D) This document may be considered bias, especially by Confederate sympathizers, because it was written by members of the Republican Party platform -- most of which heavily advocated emancipation. Lincoln, who initially remained neutral on the topic of slavery, became inspired by the willingness with which African Americans “stake their lives for us, they must be prompted by the strongest motive—even the promise of freedom. And the promise being made, must be kept.” (Doc. C) Therefore, the willing participation of blacks in the Civil War with the hopes of achieving freedom caused an entirely new goal of the war to form in the

Another specification identified in the text by the author stated that in 1826 Chancellor Kent of Albany felt guilty of the enslavement laws and set new laws again that would not cut off African Americans off from all hope of reform and full citizenship. The author also specifically identifies in the text that these new laws were just laws and not enforced because African Americans were still devalued in comparison to the Europeans. These laws continued to degrade, demeanor and scare the African American culture deeming them as unable to think for ourselves. As a result of these unforeseen laws the Europeans continued to destroy the minds of the men, woman and children that were enslaved. Because of the “Emancipation Proclamation” which was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863 changed the federal legal status of more than 3 million enslaved persons in the designated areas of the South from slavery to

The main purpose of this article is to inform and articulate who was responsible for the freeing of African American slaves in the South. During the 1890s there was tension between the North and the South because of “state rights”/slavery and the South wanting to secede from the U.S which cause the Civil War. Accordingly, the tension, Abraham Lincoln had a Proclamation drafted already but chose to release it after all efforts had failed.He debunks the myth that Emancipation of Proclamation allow slaves to become free. Many Americans paint Abraham Lincoln as the freer of all slaves because of the document, but the article proves that it was a misconception.

The dichotomy of freedom and slavery in rhetoric and rise of the United States of America has long been an enigma, a source of endless debate for scholars and citizens alike who wonder how a nation steeped in the ideals of republicanism could so easily subjugate and enslave an entire group of people. The Chesapeake region was home to America’s great statesmen, men who espoused ideals of freedom and liberty from tyranny. Yet at the same time, these men held hundreds of men, women, and children in conditions of lifelong bondage. How then did this dichotomy arise? The dangers posed by indentured servants that became freemen resulted in the development of a system of African-descended chattel slavery in the Chesapeake, a system whose creation and continuance was aided by a continuum of racial thinking and racial prejudice aimed at Africans in Virginia.

myth of white supremacy. It is also has a very serious attempt to be fair and objective