Reconstruction After Civil War

America had just finished fighting the Civil War and we were broken. Reconstruction began in 1865 and was the time of rebuilding America after the Civil War tore apart our country. People also referred to the this time as “putting back the pieces”. Abraham Lincoln was the president during this period of time. He had thought of a blueprint for the Reconstruction; which consisted of an idea known as the Ten-Percent Plan. This plan specified that any Southern state could be readmitted into the Union as soon as 10 percent of its voters swore to an oath of allegiance to the Union. Ultimately, the Reconstruction was a success because there was peace between the North and South, but also introduced new amendments to the U.S Constitution.

Slavery came to a complete end, the South lost much of its power, and President Abraham Lincoln died for his belief in the iconic words “All men were created equal.” Understanding the many effects of the end of the American Civil War can lead to a better understanding of the nation as a whole, and some of the current problems it

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).

During the Reconstruction period, between 1865 and 1877, the nation had a lot of work to do. After the Civil War, their was a huge impact left on the south. All slaves in the south were set free to help the union win the war. This did not make everyone happy. They had to learn to live and support themselves on their own.

The Reconstruction Era was the time where they tried to fix all the issues from the American Civil War. They were dealing with the issue of the Southern states wanting to rejoin the Union, the leaders, and of course what rights the freed slaves had. The northerners wanted to punish those in the South, and the southerners wanted to just keep their way of life the same. The northerners were angry because the Southern states were allowed back into the Union by Lincoln trying to bring them all back together quickly, which the Radicals were against. Then came letting the freed slaves vote and have rights. The southerners did not like this, and with the Jim Crow laws they were able to keep their “way of life” for many years to come.

After the Civil War conditions were really bad because a lot of homes and personal properties were destroyed. Because of the War the Union lost 370,000 troop members and the Confederacy lost 260,000. Total 375,000 troop members were injured. Many civilians in the South died because of access to food was infrequent. I believe Reconstruction was necessary because after four long years of war they should move on from it and reunite as one.

Imagine Being forced to work hard labor day and night for someone who treated you badly. How you you feel if you were forced into slavery and then laws changed to worse conditions? Four million African American Slaves may have gained their freedom, but the process of rebuilding brought the South significant challenges. Conflict continued between the North and the South as the whites resentment towards the South lead to violence. After the destruction of the Civil War, the United States an immense challenge of rebuilding.

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. The North and South, both having different ideas, had two different ways to meet the basic needs for food, service, and industry.

In South, torn between the economic benefits of slavery and the moral and constitutional issues raised, and white Southerners grew more and more defensive. They argued that black people were incapable of caring for themselves. They said that slavery was a benevolent institution that kept them fed, clothed, and occupied. Most Northerners did not doubt that black people being inferior to whites, but they did doubt the benevolence of slavery. The Civil War changed the future of the United States.

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 Civil War was a national devastation that had a deep impact on American society. In 1863, Lincoln proposed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring the slaves would be free, though it was limited only to the rebellious states. By careful preparation of the document, Lincoln ensured that it would offer a positive impact on the Union efforts and to redefine the purpose of the civil war. The results of the emancipation continued to have an abrupt and profound effect of equality and social justice (Roark, 402).

When the Civil War was finishing, the South was at a place where everything was a social disorder, and a horrible economic place. The Union had a war destroyed the southern crops, plantations, the cities, and many slaves were going to the Union while their chiefs to be in the Union army. The inflation became so horrible that when the war was finishing, just by buying a piece of bread cost so much money for the South. Thousands of Southern people suffered so much because they would either starve to death, lose their clothes, homes, lands, and even slaves. That is why, by 1865, Washington had a really difficult task of the Southern Reconstruction.

There was much tension in the Reconstruction. The north killed Reconstruction in the south because the government frauds took away all President

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

The Union was victorious in the American Civil War, this had altered the course of history for Americans in the residing in the North and South. The Reconstruction era had lasting effects throughout the two regions as it attempted to discuss the inequities of slavery in the South but also reunited the seceded states. Within the historical timeline, between 1865 through 1898, the differences in political, social, and economic legacies of the North and South is apparent. However, similarities are observed in the migration of oppressed groups during the development of the West. This was possible because of railroad expansion in the North and after the war, the railroad was rapidly expanding in the South and westbound.