During the late 1800s, because the South had been decimated by the end of the Civil War, .the Reconstruction Period was initiated to aid the South’s recovery. Although the Civil War did abolish slavery and unify the North and the South, the war not resolve racial prejudice, the South’s damage, and the African Americans’ economic instability. The Reconstruction Period was initiated in order to prevent economic instability and the structural ruin, because since slavery was abolished, and the South was completely dependent on slaves, therefore slaves could not work for the South to maintain the economy, and slaves also could not fix up the damages done to the structures done to the South during the war. By starting the Freedmen’s Bureau and passing
In the 1865, the Civil War ended offering more freedom to African Americans. The Black code, Freedman’s Bureau, and the Civil Rights Act of 1865 offered more freedoms to African American people. At the end of the Civil War, the African Americans had a lot more freedom from which they had before.
Reconstruction era, which was followed by post-civil war, was meant to unite the states back together, reconstruct properties, and most importantly, abolish slavery in the South. Although the factors such as amendments legally freed former slaves, yet
While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans
Reconstruction caused prejudice and inequality. To elaborate, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes were both in the time period of reconstruction, which caused chaos and violence throughout the Union. One of the goals of reconstruction was to repair the economy in the South, because it depended on slavery, which was now illegal, due to the thirteenth amendment. The South’s economic system now depended on Sharecropping, which caused former slaves to be in constant debt and was unjust to the black society. The reconstruction time period, was a time of dispute between the Union. Disputes were caused by disagreements between the North’s and the South’s way of life. The Reconstruction’s purpose was supposed to be a time period of forgiveness for the Union. Consequently, it led to many disagreements between the North and South. Overall, reconstruction was a time period of challenges, which led to failures, rather than a period of
The reconstruction period was a failure because African Americans, mainly males, were not treated with equality although the constitution said that the they were free and had the right to vote, be educated and had the right to liberty, life and the pursuit to happiness. Organizations, like the KKK, were created to harm freed slaves and their families. Laws were created such as the Black Codes restricting former slaves from their rights. African Americans endured a lot of violence over the years. “In Grayson, Texas, a white man and two friends murdered three former slaves because the wanted to ‘ thin the niggers out and drive them to their hole’”. They were treasted violently and like animals. They were building white supremacy. The men
Reconstruction was an attempt reconcile the country and bring it back together, however it was not the success Abraham had hoped it to be when initiated before being assassinated. The failure had many effects on African American communities in both the north on the south both negative and positive. Socially black slaves were freed but not really accepted into society. Black codes were utilized which placed pressure on African Americans about things like when to meet with friends and where they should live. Discrimination against black flourished as the Ku Klux Klan a group of people who wore robes and mask went around pretending to be the ghost of Confederate soldiers. They were had no desire for blacks to have rights and felt that they should be slaves. By attacking, burning their homes and killing blacks in the north and
Although reconstruction brought essential changes for African American slaves it ultimately failed its purpose of unifying the nation. However, in order to comprehend why reconstruction failed it is important to understand the two phases it underwent. In addition, it is also crucial to look at the different plans that were propose in order to reunify the nation and if they were successful or not.
Following the ending of the Civil War in 1865, America was in an era known as the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction lasted until 1877. Citizens were attempting to rebuild our nation following one of the deadliest war in American History. In this time, the Fourteenth Amendment and Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution were ratified. Although slaves were freed, African Americans still faced intense racial prejudice and discrimination. This led to continued to tensions between not only the north and south but also the blacks and the whites in America. According to The Unfinished Nation, the per capita income of African Americans increase from about one-quarter to about one-half of the per capita income of White citizens (365). Sadly certain
When reconstruction ended, we all could say we were united under one nation. This ensured that blacks would always be free from going back to the life of a slave; although, many people were so against reconstruction it caused a lot of hate in the south towards the blacks. The black people were given rights that were much like the rights that white people had. The southern states had new constitutions and recognized the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments’ after reconstruction ended in 1877. Education was provided to the blacks, not just the whites. Freedmen’s Bureau was created which helped the homeless people that were poor.
During the Reconstruction period, the North and the South had very different ideas on how to handle all of the new problems in America regarding the freed slaves. Though the North and the South had contradictory ideas that ranged from the basic needs of the freed slaves to establishing new state governments, the Reconstruction period strived to unify the North and the South. In the Reconstruction period, freedom was a new idea for many African Americans and they aimed to establish all of their new rights, even if they were unsure of their lives after the Civil War.
Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.
Reconstruction - the federal government plan to solve the issues formed from the end of the Civil War – can be divided into 2 parts: physically rebuilding the South and reconstructing the Southern Society. The goal of the reconstruction politically was to integrate Southern states/rebel states back into the U.S., and socially was to integrate the freed slave population to the society. However, ex-confederates of the South resisted this because of the fear of complete turnover of their lives, and to maintain the social hierarchy, where African Americans remained at the bottom by default due to their race. Several organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan were formed to resist reconstruction and preserve white supremacy. Congress responded to the resistance by establishing the Freedmen 's Bureau, whose aimed was to build public schools and universities, provide food and medical care, political equality between blacks and whites and equal access to the judicial system.
Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end. One system that was put into effect was the Reconstruction. Although, some say it was a failure, there has been some research that labels it a success.
The reconstruction was said to have brought a change. However, Newly free slaves faced many challenges, and whites in the south saw blacks as way less than they did before. Black codes were introduced as a way to give people of color freedom in a constitutional form. They were unique to southern states and they each had their own variation of them. It was a way to restrict the black labor force and freed people as much of slave status as possible. The codes stated that even though people of color have some rights, they are not entitled to the same political or social equality of white people. The code stated that if a person of color made a contract for labor /service or such thing, they would be known as servants, and the one with the contract