The reconstruction era was a major point in history riddled with turmoil. With the confederate loss, readmittance to the union was crucial for the southern states to survive. The union had dominated in war and their economy was progressing while the south was on a major decline. Due to this fact plans for reconstruction arose. There were three different plans made by congress, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Johnson. Johnson’s plan consisted of amnesty for for all except former military and civil officers of the confederacy and anyone who owned twenty thousand dollars worth of land, all confederate states had to give up the right to secede from the union, abolish slavery, and repudiate any confederate war debts. Lincoln’s plan was to give amnesty to all areas occupied by union armies, a pardon to all except high ranking confederate official, ratify the thirteenth amendment, and that ten percent of a confederate states population had to swear loyalty to the union. Finally, Congress’ plan for reconstruction was that fifty percent of the population had to swear loyalty to the union, only non-confederates could vote for the new state constitution, the Freedman’s Bureau would be instated, The south would be split into five military zones, and the thirteenth amendment had to be ratified.
The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought significant political, social, and economic changes to American society, and these effects continued into the 20th century. Post Civil War (After the Civil War – The period after the Civil War) - President Abraham Lincoln and Congress were determined to rebuild the nation. Lincoln wanted to restore the Union by readmitting the southern states that had seceded, as well as provide African Americans with more rights. Period of Conflict -
He proposed the idea of the South rejoining the Union, but that sadly failed when the drew close, right before it ended, he had no clue what to do. He then came up with a plan that gave some blacks, even if they were free or enlisted in the military, should deserve the right to vote. As a part of his reconstruction he created the Proclamation of Amnesty. The Proclamation of Amnesty helped set the ideas of Lincoln’s plan. The Proclamation of Amnesty allowed for a full pardon with the exception of high Confederate officials and military leaders.
A few days after the civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. The Reconstruction Era occurred in the period of 1865 to 1877 under the reign of President Andrew Johnson who was the predecessor of President Lincoln. Congress was not scheduled to convene until December 1865, which gave Johnson eight months to pursue his own Reconstruction policies. Under his Reconstruction policies, the former Confederate states were required to join back into the Union and heal the wounds of the nation.
After the Civil War in the United States, the country had united once again. However, the two sides had not grown accustomed to each other, and tensions could have risen if not for the attempts to move on from the recent divide. Ultimately, the Reconstruction movement may not have purged the United States of discrimination and segregation, but it helped to ease tensions among sides, and paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement in the 20th century. Even though the intent of Reconstruction indicated that former opposition would forget the past and accept the future, the plan had complications that prevented it from reaching its truest form. For example, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln prevented his vision from carrying out as intended,
Sources Analysis Freedom During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872).
Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.
24 November 2015 The Real Death of Reconstruction There is no easy way to decide who can be held accountable for the end of the Reconstruction Era. Attempts to rebuild the South ceased to exist in 1877, just over ten years after the Confederacy surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. It seemed as though everything was on the right track in 1876, the one hundred year anniversary of The United States. That was, however, until the South waged conflict against black and white citizens of The United States.
The Reconstruction for black Americans was a time for a change, it provided the once enslaved people the freedom of movement (Schultz 2014). With this freedom came wonderful things, such as the right to obtain property, the benefit of more control over their family situations, and many were able to reunite with family members. Consequently, an uncounted amount of them left the plantation life they were accustomed to where they were able to join the forces of the yeoman and working-classes in some cases. The Freedman's Bureau, established in 1865, foresaw the need for schools to be established in the South so now receiving an education became possible for black Americans (Schultz 2014). Another right they gained was voting, which was taken very
The American civil war led to the reunion of the South and the North. But, its consequences led the Republicans to take the lead of reconstructing what the war had destroyed especially in the South because it contained larger numbers of newly freed slaves. Just after the civil war, America entered into what was called as the reconstruction era. Reconstruction refers to when “the federal government established the terms on which rebellious Southern states would be integrated back into the Union” (Watts 246). As a further matter, it also meant “the process of helping the 4 million freed slaves after the civil war [to] make the transition to freedom” (DeFord and Schwarz 96).
The American Civil War that was started due to the controversy over slavery in 1861, was won by The Union supported by President Lincoln against the Confederate states. President Lincoln’s original goal during the civil war was to reunify the nation as quickly as possible and help both sides come to an understanding. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the newly formed United States’ reconstruction era began. The Reconstruction era was put into effect by the Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. The Union’s victory in the Civil War had given African Americans a new sense of hope, devastated the southern economy, and eased the history of disunity in American political life.
The Reconstruction Era occurred in 1865, it was was a period after the Civil War in which America was focused on rebuilding the broken South. In 1867, the Radical reconstruction gave former slaves a voice in government. During this era, formers slaves gained a platform in the government, with some blacks as Congressmen. However, not everyone supported the idea of Reconstruction. Less than a decade after the Reconstruction period, a small group composed of democratic ex-confederate veterans, white farmers and white southerners sympathetic to white supremacy joined forces together to form the Ku Klux Klan.
Reconstruction is the time period after the Civil War, where the country attempted to improve the Union. There were many successes, but what also comes along with success is failure. During the reconstruction many failures were present; such as the lack of racial equality and blatant racism towards blacks, a failing economy in the South, and tense relations between the North and the South. This created a very intense and challenging period of time for the Union.
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 WRITE THESIS After the end of civil war in 1865, Reconstruction era, which was controlled by President Abraham Lincoln, appeared to quickly coalesce the Northern and Southern states. reconstruction amendments, which were approved between 1865 and 1870, played a huge role on giving legal rights to blacks and former slaves. 13th amendment constitutionally abolished slavery in 1865 and followed up by that, 14th and 15th amendment admitted equal citizenship, protection, and rights of suffrage despite the one’s race or skin color. Former slaves were no longer belongings of their owners.
The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865 to 1877. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendment were created during the twelve years of rebuilding the country. All of the amendments were made to protect former slaves and their rights but on paper they did not have any rights. The reconstruction period had its successes and failures.
Abraham Lincoln’s vs Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Lincoln shared the uncommon belief that the confederate states could still be part of the union and that the cause of the rebellion was only a few within the states which lead him to begin the reconstruction in December of 1863. This resulted in plans with lenient guidelines and although they were challenged by Wade-Davis Bill, Lincoln still rejected his ideas and kept his policies in place. Lincoln also allowed land to be given the newly freed slave or homeless white by distributing the land that had been confiscated from former land owners however this fell through once Johnson took office. After Lincoln’s death when Johnson was elected many things started to turn away from giving blacks equal rights and resulted in many things such a black codes which kept newly freed slaves from having the same rights as whites. When Lincoln first acted after the civil war, he offered policies that would allow the confederate slaves to become part of the union again and would allow a pardon for those states.