The United States And The Reconstruction Era

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

After the Civil War, America was still amidst great turmoil and economic instability. During this time period, the ultimate goal for Americans was to seize the “American Dream”. This was defined by most as being able to support their family and live a comfortable life. Although some did achieve this, many faced social, political and economic hardships. Beginning with the unjust treatment of African-Americans, then the struggles of immigrants, and followed by the rise of big businesses, the challenges faced during this time of rebuilding varied among the classes.

In the time period between 1775 and 1830, African Americans start to gain more freedom in the North while the institution of slavery expanded in the South. These changes occurred due to the existence of different point of views. The North did not need slavery and acknowledge the cons of slavery while the South’s want for slavery quickly became a need.

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.

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.

As a country, America has gone through many political changes. Leaders have come and gone, all of them having different objectives and plans for the future. One period of time in which leaders sought change was 1865 which was the time period known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a time period of many different leaders, different goals and different accomplishments. Many debate whether Reconstruction was a success or failure. Success is an event which accomplishes its intended purpose, which Reconstruction did, but during this process of accomplishment, evil came about. There was many good things that came from the Reconstruction era which leads me to believe that it was a success, these accomplishments were; Reunification of the Union , more laws came about along with the protection of African Americans and the Enforcement acts, the Freedmen's Bureau was created along with an education system, and the Compromise of 1877.

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.

The Reconstruction Period I think is a problem for the African Americans back then. They were treated unfairly during this period, when it was to being them a new started and hope of change. Don’t get me wrong there were some people who were for them to e happy, but not many. So, let start at the being; where it all happened. In January of 1865, Union General William T. Sherman issued a special field order Number 15, which temporary granted each freed family 40 acres of land off the region of Georgia in the islands and coastal area. Also the Union Army donated mules to them after the war was over. In the summer of 1865 when President Andrew Johnson was in office, his first act of Reconstruction was to give back all the federal control land back to its previous owner. When the land was giving back to the owners, freed men and women could sign a labor contracts with the planters or they could leave the land they occupied this was called Freedman’s Bureau. Soon after when the land was giving back, the former Confederate state stated “Black Codes”. Black Codes would deny African Americans to legal have equality and political rights. Also it would require then to sign yearly labor contracts with the planters. When this happen, Congress made the Reconstruction Act in the 1867, when the 14th (June 13, 1866) and the 15th (February 26, 1869, ratified on February 3, 1870) Amendments. These two amendments granted African Americans the right to vote, and equality before the law and

The first roar of the Civil War ended with a last gasp for air. Where in such a war more than six hundred twenty thousand men sacrificed their lives for their own belief in the abolishment of slavery (“Civil War Facts”). “We here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (Baslor). These wise words of Abraham Lincoln cleared the way of a desolate trail of violence and pain, yet he was determined to accomplish his plans of abolishing slavery and creating equality. The Civil War, began in 1861 and ended in 1865, yet it was known as one of the bloodiest wars America has ever walked through compared to other American Wars (“Civil War Facts”). After the Civil War

The Reconstruction Era occurred between 1866 and 1877, immediately following the Civil War between the Northern and Southern states. The Reconstruction Era brought change to not only the American economy, society, and government, but significant changes to the lives of African Americans as well. Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865 impacted conditions for African Americans in the post-war period through political and social changes in the Reconstruction Era; which ranged from a new array of rights to many new opportunities in society.

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.

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.

The idea of Reconstruction was to rebuild the United States, but instead it continued to tear apart the country. The Reconstruction period was during the late 1860’s, the time just after the United States civil war, and was when they decided to repair pieces from their divide. During the civil war, the northern and southern United States fought over their major differences, especially slavery. The northern United States were on the anti-slavery side and the south on the other, but the north came out on top. With ending of the war, Reconstruction was placed. The United States attempted to unite once again with it, but it is still split among the north and south just like when it was in the civil war. This divide led to a failure in the effort of the rebuilding process of the United

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.

From 1865 to 1877, the United States underwent an era of political complexity and social turbulence known as Reconstruction (Tindell). This period of American history generated extensive implications for life of Americans (Tindell). The main goal of the Reconstruction was to rebuild a devasted South after the abolition of slavery, disruptions of the economy due to the war, and the tremendous amounts of deaths left it in near ruins (Tindell).