The Reconstruction Era after the Civil War

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.

History helps shape the future and what we can learn from it to make sure that we do not repeat the same mistakes. During Reconstruction, the country was trying to make amends after the war was over. The country needed to find a way to mend a broken nation because it was divided. The main issue during reconstruction was the status of African Americans because they wanted their civil rights, but could not get that. The question that needs to be answered is: who did the most to aid the cause of African American during Reconstruction, and why? Many organizations and people helped African Americans, but the Freedman’s Bureau did the most.

With the end of the Civil war, many blacks felt that they would start reaping the benefits that had been denied from them for years. Being able to vote, own land, have a voice in political affairs were all goals that they felt were reachable. The era of Reconstruction was the "miracle" they had been searching for. But the South wasn't going down without a fight and blacks would have to wait at least 100 years for Freedom Summer to arrive to receive the "miracle" they wanted. 100 years it took for equality to become more than just a word but a way of life for blacks. But they did enjoy some privileges that weren't available to them.

I feel that the Reconstruction failed to give African Americans equal rights. They were not able to vote in any public event and without that ability they had no voice to attain what they desired. Additionally, the Reconstruction lacked a clear structure to help African Americans develop any means to earn a living on their own. Many turned to sharecropping as a means to survive, which gain them no true independence. The African American had to continue to rely on the white southerners or large groups of one another to earn a living and it some cases just survive. The Reconstruction failed to provide a steady direction for African Americans and it did not protect them from abuse the white southerners could enact similar to slavery. For these

The era of Reconstruction was supposed to be a positive turning point for the United States. The North and the Confederacy was fighting to see who was gone represented the South. After the North beat the South there were a lot of hopes of the nation moving forward together, The south didn’t agree with the plan and wasn’t corporative. These Documents shows the struggles and views for the North and South, American Horizons; Louis Hughes, "Thirty Years a Slave: From Bondage to Freedom," 1897: Letter to Colonization Society 1880: The Social Principle among a People, Reconstruction, 1875; and Equal Suffrage 1865. During, the Reconstruction era there was a failed attempt to bring the Nation together; there were some positive came from the Reconstruction and also some negative.

After the Union’s victory in the Civil War during 1865, the era of Reconstruction began, an era in which the prospect of rebuilding the nation once again after the catastrophic effects of the war arose. During Reconstruction, African Americans were attempted to be integrated into American society, it was questioned on what terms Confederate states would be welcomed into the country, and the economy was meant to be fixed but all of this ultimately failed. Reconstruction was not successful in rebuilding the political, economical, and racial issues in the country post Civil War as there were even more racial and discriminatory issues, a damaged federal government, and an injured economy as well.

They also began to attack the Reconstruction plan. Sadly, this caused a rebirth of racism in the north. This renewed racism along with a sudden economic depression halted the Reconstruction process altogether. And, even though congress passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1875, banning racial discrimination, support for Reconstruction was lost and the era was over. Looking back, Reconstruction was actually both a success and a failure at the same time, although, its failure far outweighed the success. It did accomplish bringing the United States back together as one united country. However, it do very little to help the newly freed slaves. They were not seen as equal peers in the eyes of most Americans and they had very little support to help them make it on their own. Many had to resort back to working for former slave owners for very low wages. Their daily life had not really changed at all. And it would take years before most of them would see any real change in

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’.

The Reconstruction effort that occurred after the Civil War from 1865 - 1866 had both positive and negative effects on the nation. Leading up to the Reconstruction attempt, there was developing regional differences between the North and South. Slavery was the issue of the decade. North argued that it was inhumane, while the South was quick to point out that many Northerners benefited from slavery. The Presidential election of Lincoln lead to the succession of the South. They believed that the United States was becoming too tyrannical, much like Great Britain before the Revolutionary War. The Southern attack on Fort Sumter started the long and bloody civil war. After the Battle of Antietam, President Lincoln issued his Emancipation

Between 1860 and 1877, the era of reconstruction in America had been ineffably prominent with societal and constitutional change. Between achievements such as the Freedmen’s Bureau of 1865, helping recently freed slaves, to the 14th amendment establishing a set equal rights, multiple advancements to the country had been created. While the dilemmas of the reconstruction period were often caused by the Northern versus Southern ideals after fighting a bloody Civil War, or tackling racial inequality, the question of constitutionality of the era’s laws were regarded as the essential piece to the time’s strife. Moreover, there was often argument if whether the federal government, morally and constitutionality, was privileged to decide on laws not explicitly stated in the Constitution. Supporters of federal government heavy ruling often debated with those in support of sovereign states, leading to deeper issues then who was creating rules. Important topics of the era like allowing state government to decide on race issues such as black suffrage, or the enforcement of the Black Codes started at the root of power. With these adverse differences in who should first hold and manifest the power of the nation, great revolutionary debates, ideals, and attacks transpired. These various constitutional and social evolutions catalyzed into a revolution regarding the state and federal power in the nation.

The main issue between the states that seceded from the Union and those that remained in the former unity was that of state's rights, of which the right for citizens to own slaves was of primary concern. It is often argued that one or the other was the main reason for the conflict, but they both played a major part because the people of the Northern United States and the Southern states of the nation lived such different lives. It is true that people in the North had owned slaves until very recently in the nineteenth century, but that time had passed and Northern states had rescinded the rights of humans to own other humans (especially in the chattel sense because people still had servants who were essentially slaves though they were paid a miniscule wage), as if it ever was a right. The Civil War commenced, and it was found that cause and the better ability to kill (Northern soldiers died at a rate two times that of Southern soldiers), was superseded by industry and ingenuity. Since the states in the South had been devastated by the War, it was deemed that the victorious but beneficent North would attempt to reconstruct the South into a more compliant neighbor. Thus, carpet-baggers were sent South to establish some order, and laws were enacted by the US Congress to ensure the rights of all people in the region. This paper discusses the reconstruction of the South while paying specific attention to the political, social and economic realities that came to

The Civil War had ended and the Reconstruction era had given African American’s a much-needed voice in the electoral process. They were finally able to have rights in the way that business matters were being organized. Unfortunately, this was short-lived. White domination took over every aspect of life, particularly in the south. Between 1890 and 1906, every southern state was involved in constitutional provisions and passing laws that were meant to completely wipe out the black vote altogether. There were a few ways in which they did this. One was by charging a poll tax. If you couldn’t pay the tax, you couldn’t vote. Although, this tax was waived for the equally poor white voters. A handful of the southern states issued what was called

One of the biggest ways the reconstruction efforts failed was with giving equal rights to the black community. Although the slaves were freed it was very conditional freedom. The creation of Black codes made it seem like they were free. These codes made it possible for black families to remain intact. It also gave blacks the right to sue in court, and own property. This seems like progressive thinking at the time. The big problem with these codes is what they denied blacks. Blacks could not testify against whites. They could not own guns, or travel without permits. Although slavery had ended blacks were still being controlled. Without slaves to work in the fields the plantation owners needed workers. A lot of them would rent out their land to newly freed blacks. In exchange these poor blacks would have to give up 2/3 of their crop.3 The rest would be used to pay off their debts. This would

The American Civil War helped to save the nation by rejoining Union Confederate and as result of the Emancipation Proclamation, most African American slaves were declared freed men. However, during the American Reconstruction, the lack of political unity was still very apparent as the South saw Reconstruction as being defeated humiliatingly and thus sought vengeance through the slaves it had lose. Although many slaves did receive their freedom, Reconstruction caused an increase in the white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and laws such black codes/ Jim Crow laws/ sharecropping, which limited the rights freed slaves had. This unfortunately caused many of the freed slaves to be only marginally better off than before the Civil War

Almost immediately following the end of the Civil War, the South was in a state of political disturbance, social disorder, and economic discomposure. The Union’s destroyed southern crops, plantations, and cities, while hundreds of liberated slaves hurried to Union lines as their masters fled the oncoming Union army. Thousands of southerners starved to death, and many lost everything such as clothing, homes, land, and slaves.