Impact Of Racism On Reconstruction

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.

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.

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

Many historians, researchers, politicians, and scholars have considered reconstruction as turning point for the ratification of equality laws that would eliminate racial segregation for equally rights. However, a close follow-up of the controversial developments that occurred immediately after the end of the Civil War in 1865 indicates dissimilarity. The reconstruction era might have made a history of enabling African Americans to vote and become state legislatures, but some major political personnel consider Reconstruction as a failure, which led to non-ending political controversies, murder, and assaults indicating general failure. Robert Smalls and Wade Hampton are some of the major political people who participated in the continuity of the Reconstruction era and their actions and words prove its failure, as explored in this study. However, their consideration of black freedom contrast because Smalls demonstrates the harmful actions of

In the 1870s fights broke out, people were murdered, and the country was in chaos. It left us wondering who's to blame for the end of Reconstruction? After the Civil war slaves became freedmen but they didn’t have rights. An era called Reconstruction by historians began. Some people supported it. Carpetbaggers were northerners that went South to help Reconstruction efforts and freedmen. The Scalawags were Southern whites who supported Reconstruction. Radical Republicans were congressmen that supported African-American citizenship and punishment for former confederates. The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) didn't like the former slaves freedom or Reconstruction.The North put the army in the South to hold elections for new state governments and protect the freedmen. It seemed for a while that equal rights for the African-Americans would soon be granted. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were made. But then the South began

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.

After Reconstruction, African Americans faced many social, political, and economic issues. The years following the Reconstruction continued to create tension between African Americans and whites. In the south African Americans were still not given the same rights as whites. With this tension, came social, political, and economic issues. During this time, African Americans faced social adversity. A social problem that arose was due Jim Crow Laws. Jim Crow Laws legalized racial segregation in all public facilities in southern states, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for African Americans. These laws were legalized in the Supreme Court decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, which stated that “separate but equal” was constitutional. This

Reconstruction among the south refers to the point in time which the United States was attempting to establish a relationship between the union and the rebels. The Union had won the civil war, so the next step was to begin to mend the broken relationship between the north and the south. Though historians cannot agree on when it began, there is merit in saying that it started before the end of the Civil War. After victory, had been solidified for the Union, attention of President Lincoln turned towards reconstruction.

The Civil War may have set over 4 million slaves free, but the Reconstruction Era brought a whole new set of problems. The Reconstruction Era was the period of time after the Civil War, in which the Confederacy was supposed to rebuild itself into a new and improved country, but that didn’t happen. Former President, Abraham Lincoln, had come up with new ideas to bring together the country. Those ideas included things, such as finding aid former slaves in funding education, healthcare, and employment, but before that could happen, on April 14th, 1865, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln. The Reconstruction Era made America the way it is today by providing former Americans with the tools to use for success.

In spite of the fact that Reconstruction constrained numerous progressions on the South, it was clear by the mid 1870 's that in a general sense the South had not been changed. Although slavery was banned, Southerners still found a way to keep blacks from achieving equal opportunities, and to keep them in conditions as close to slavery as lawfully possible. Northerners, who were distracted with their own issues, started to lose their resolve to pursue

The book “Redemption; The Last Battle of The Civil War,” written by Nicholas Lemann focuses on one major politician during the reconstruction time period. Lemann illustrates the life of people in the south and the trials that the “Negros” faced. The conclusion of the civil war was supposed to be the end of racism and slavery, but white southerners continued to find ways to get around the new laws that were put into place. They created and passed “black codes” which, as the author says, “…legislated the freed slaves into a condition as close to their former one as it was possible to get without actually reinstituting slavery.”(34) The south was made up politicians that were democrats but who switched to republicans in order to obtain a vote.

The years following the Civil war brought about an enormous change to the very threads of our country. Nearly 5 days after the civil war ended, President Lincoln had been assassinated and our country was thrown into a great deal of turmoil, especially because our new president was the racist southerner, Andrew Johnson. We needed to rebuild our country from the death and destruction that had happened during the Civil War and the matter of the rights for the newly freed slaves would become a Pressing Issue in our country. Overall, the age of reconstruction was successful in bringing rights to African Americans in our country through the 14th and 15th amendments but was also a failure because of the continued hate and oppression that they would

In 1865 The North was amazingly prosperous, with a booming economy and a large amount of supporters there was no way The South could keep up. The South lay in ruins and the population dwindled with the shortage of food, shelter and clothing. The Reconstruction was necessary to help rebuild and reunite the nation, the Government at the time sought out ways to help southerners and give slaves more rights. During the Reconstruction African Americans where given freedom to vote, now making up the majority of Republican voters. Some historians group the Reconstruction and “Black Supremacy” together due to the growth of African Americans serving in office. “Sixteen African Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction—including Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce in the U.S. Senate—more than 600 in state legislatures, and hundreds more in local offices from sheriff to justice of the peace scattered across the South” says Eric Foner of Encyclopedia Britannica. The Reconstruction had many advancements that aided in the society we are today, as well as many failures.

Black politicians in Southern government were influenced to participate due to access to education and violence against former slaves. The Reconstruction period was a time of radical social and political change as former slaves, recently emancipated by President Lincoln, sought to take advantage of their newfound freedom by pursuing political positions within the new Radical Republican governments and seeking access to education for all blacks. Though they were met with violence, adversity, and injustice, educated black leaders recognized the importance of literacy to uplift their people from long lives of physical labor, and many of these leaders went on to become educators themselves before serving in the Reconstruction government.

- Almost 1,500 examinations were conducted that show a circumstance of race bigotry. According to the experiment bus drivers were two times more likely to let caucasians abroad the bus without paying then a person of color  which came out as 72 percent versus 36 percent aforetime. Furthermore, the rider