What Is Reconstruction A Success

The South was still extremely unhappy regarding the freedom of the slaves. The Thirteenth Amendment states, “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

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

Along with being left with nothing but wasted years, casualties, and deeper in debt, the Confederates lost their cause and this made them angry. The Ku Klux Klan offered protection and support along with what they thought was justice. “To protect the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless, from the indignities, wrongs, and outrages of the lawless, the violent, and the brutal; the relieve the injured and oppressed; to succor the suffering and unfortunate and specially the widows and orphans of the Confederate soldiers.” This support and understanding that the Ku Klux Klan offered was attractive to the poor white Southerners. The Ku Klux Klan imposed extreme fear on African American, their purpose to discourage the African American vote for the Republican party. This in turn defeated the whole purpose as to why the Fifteenth Amendment was passed. A direct quote from: Political Terrorism by the Ku Klux Klan. “Q: What are they afraid of? A: Of being killed or whipped to death. Q: What has made them afraid? A: Because men that voted radical tickets they took the spite out on the women when they could get at them.” This primary document only adds to the point that African Americans during the Reconstruction period were terrorized and pressured to do what the Confederates demanded. Although all African Americans were free and Reconstruction had taken effect, African Americans in the South were still not living in peace during

In 1865 Congress passed the thirteenth Amendment stating” Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall

The Union won!This is great for the north, however what is next for the Confederate army. With slaves becoming freedmen and the south destroyed after total war, a lot was to be done after the civil war. A solution to this was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a period in american history from 1865 to 1877 lasting twelve years (Foner). Reconstruction after the war caused many social, political, and economic changes to the newly formed union.

After the civil war there was a period from 1865 to 1877 called the reconstruction period. Which may be the reason african americans have the rights that they do today. The Reconstruction period was not all good, there were also laws that limited the rights of african americans called “jim crow laws”. Sharecropping also was developed which was practically a legal form of slavery. Over all American Reconstruction was a success due to all of the rights that african americans gained, but it didn't happen easily.

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.

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

In the Civil War in 1865, many slaves got their freedom but were still being controlled by the whites and government. Black codes were being passed by Southern states to control the labor and behavior of former slaves and African Americans. The Ku Klux Klan became a structure for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to bring the South together to be part of the Union. The success and failures of Reconstruction negatively impacted the political, social, and economic lives of newly freed African Americans in the south. It impacted them in a negative way politically because the government wasn’t fair with the newly freed African Americans. Many families were getting separated

Following the Civil War, previous slaves were granted their freedom, after the North's victory. However, the dispute of equality was not settled between the two territories trickling new challenges into a time duration known as the Reconstruction period. Many in the South were unhappy with the results postwar, and created laws and customs to maintain “slavery” or inequality any way they could. Reconstruction succeeded in an extent by transforming how people of color were viewed in society and by law, from being slaves to freedmen and finally to equal members in society.

As reconstruction begin, many whites in the South seemed to ignore the fact that Blacks were no longer slaves. The Southern states created laws called ‘Black Codes’ that restricted the rights of the freed slaves. “Black codes were laws that were passed in each of the former confederate states following the civil war that applied only to black people.” (Hine, Darlene Clark, et al. 303) The laws highlighted that blacks have no right to vote in elections. However, after the troops were sent to the South, Blacks’ right to vote and involve in public office were secured. Many whites complained about the policy, and some of them created secret organization called Ku Klux Klan. This group tried everything including extreme and inhumane violence to

After reading the primary source, it has become clearer to me that the efforts made toward helping freedmen receive civil rights during Reconstruction were ineffective. The southern states were forced against their will into Reconstruction by the north, only adding more tension to the relations between the whites and people of color. Shortly after the last of the northern troops were removed, the south’s favored party, the Democratic Elite, regained control of the southern government and began restricting the rights of the freedmen.

Reconstruction for the United States was a roller coaster of sorts, especially for the South and the newly freed slaves (henceforth Freedmen). The freeing of slaves was not an automatic and immediate action just because the South lost. Some states kept slaves in bondage until the Emancipation Proclamation (January 1, 1863). The newly freed slaves welcomed the proclamation; however, there was an amount of anxiety, fear, jubilation, and uncertainty associated with it. Technically, they were free, but in the eyes of the South, they were lost property and their freedom was begrudged; which made life tough for the new Freedmen (Gordon-Reed, 2015).

During Reconstruction, three amendments were ratified to ensure that former slaves were truly free. As a result of the North winning the war, the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in order to abolish slavery within the country. Likewise, the Fourteenth Amendment claimed that former slaves were natural citizens of the United States, while the Fifteenth Amendment gave them the right to vote. Even though African Americans were finally independent individuals, numerous southerners refused to recognize them as equals. Soon after the ratification of the three significant amendments, the southern

Perhaps the greatest outcome to the Civil War was the fact that in the end, this country stayed together and didn’t break apart to form two separate nations. Although most of the destruction took place in the South, the Northern states were able to assist with rebuilding after the war was over, Lincoln made sure that there were designs in place to return the South to normal as soon as possible following the end of the war, unfortunately he wasn’t around to make sure that it happened as planned. Because of this a lot of different opinions on how Reconstruction should proceed were brought forth, and it ended up being a long uphill battle, but nonetheless, the South was rebuilt.