Reconstruction was an attempt to rebuild the country after the Civil War and tried to end the hatred between the North and South. In Reconstruction, the South was getting ready to come back to the USA after the Civil War. Reconstruction was supposed rebuild the South physically, and it was supposed to change the South’s thoughts on full equality for all races. The South thought that whites should always be superior, and that full equality should never happen. The North thought that equality was what should happen. Their thoughts made them so different that they despised each other. Reconstruction was an attempt to end the hatred and differences between the two parts of the US. Reconstruction deserves a grade of D because Reconstruction did end slavery, but the South also almost went back to the way …show more content…
(Slides, 12) Freedmen had to pick cotton even though it was the last thing they wanted to do. Sharecropping was when the freedmen lived with their masters, planted on their land, and gave them some crops in return for shelter, cloths, tools, and food. Freedmen often do not have enough knowledge to earn money any other way because when they just got out of slavery they did not have an education. Former slave masters would let freedmen stay on their land for half of the crops they made. Sharecropping was when the freedmen lived with their masters, planted on their land, and gave them some crops in return for shelter, cloths, tools, and food. Sharecropping was similar to slavery because the freedman grew cotton for their masters and earned no money because they owed their masters to much for the clothes and tools they needed. Even though they were making money from their crops, they were in debt to their former masters their whole lives so the sharecroppers could never move. This decreased the grade dramatically. Also, the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws are another example of how the South went back to the way it was. Another example was the Black Codes.
Just after Reconstruction, life for African Americans began to go downhill as all of their newly gained rights became suppressed because of the new laws and systems that were put in place. Many African Americans that stayed in the South did so because they wanted to continue working in agriculture, and, therefore, had the end goal of getting their own land, which let them fall into the trap that was sharecropping. Africans Americans would rent small plots of land from a landowner, and pay their debts in the form of a portion of their crops. There was also the vagrancy law, which caused any African American that was not working and had no proof that they had a job to be arrested. This leads to the convict lease system, in which wealthy, usually Caucasian American, people rented out prisoners for labor.
As in any war, the Civil War created destruction in different parts of the countries’ structure. For instance, the Union destroyed southern crops, plantations, and entire cities. Moreover, hundreds of thousands of emancipated slaves rushed to Union lines as their masters fled the oncoming Union army (Foner). Therefore, by 1865, the government had the mission to rebuild the South; this is known as the Reconstruction period, where four major tasks has to be address: political, social, economic and infrastructure. The big question is how this process should be done.
Southerners that utilized the free work force consisted primarily of plantation owners, since the land they owned was ideal for cotton production. Due to free labor, plantation owners did not have to pay workers for cotton that was harvested, slaves were considered to be their property. This system that was developed opened a doorway for stronger trade relations with European countries, which led to Southern states heavily relying on cotton production to obtain economic wealth within their society, limiting their industrial growth. What about the North? Northern states didn’t have as much in the means of fertile land for cotton production, so families relied on each other and their community to harvest and trade crops to sustain life.
Maceo Cardinale Kwik Reconstruction Reconstruction was the twelve years after the civil war. Those twelve years were full of readjustment fixing the ruin the United States had fallen into. The problems that had the United states in disarray were how to, rebuild the South, reunite the states, and ensure the rights and protection of the newly freed African Americans. The civil war left the South in shambles, and newly freed slaves struggled to adjust to their new freedom. Most Southerners hated reconstruction and everything else about the North.
They we created a new way to enslave the blacks it was called sharecropping was a way to keep blacks working. The had been given the rite to vote but as quickly as it was given it was taken. They were left to struggle to get by as wage laborers. They had to work for someone else in the factory or on the farm.
The blacks were forced to vote for republicans, the blacks were looked at as free but not as equals in the south, the most powerful people lawyers, doctors and dentists who could make a difference were members of the Ku Klux Klan, who were against reconstruction. The southern leaders of the government only wanted white people in power, the north pulled out all its soldiers from the south, making it even more difficult for the freedmen to be free and equal. The South had a lot of violence, The KKK held responsibility for most of the violence in the south because not one person tried to stop them. The KKK is a
Sharecropping emerged because slaves that did not move away from plantations. IT was a product of the struggles of the Reconstruction and was in part was a good fit for cotton agriculture. Cotton unlike sugarcane, could be raised efficiently by small farmers. Sharecroppers’ freedom meant not only their individuals lots and cabins but also the school and churches. They could work on their own terms and establish rights to marry, read and write as they pleased, and travel in search of a better life.
Gender, race, and region clearly influence the issue of gun control. In relation to gun ownership, men are five times more likely than women to own guns (Gallup). Moreover, in a survey where participants were asked whether it is more important to support the protection of gun rights or gun control, men support gun rights at a rate of 57% while women do so at 37% (Pew Research Center). Having established that gun rights are more associated with males, there is also a differentiation between race and region. 50% of white men own guns whereas only 34% of non-white men do, and white southern men are the most likely to own a gun at 61% (Gallup).
As a result, people began moving from the farms to the cities looking for jobs. As stated in the thesis, the Southern economy was distraught. However, there were many ways, throughout time, that it continued to grow. With the absence of slavery (which was used before the Civil War), the South had to adapt to the changes and find a new method. The method of sharecropping can be used as evidence to support this.
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.
The South decided to continue to fight about the ‘Carpet-Bag’ government and resisted the North’s help when it was offered. Reconstruction slowly died when the South kept resisting the help from the North. In the South, people such as the KKK took control of the South and the North got sick of it. Southerners resisted help and decided to use an corrupt government and ideas in the South.
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.
Pertaining to the rights of African Americans a new south did not appear after the reconstruction. While they were “free” they were often treated harshly and kept in a version of economic slavery by either their former masters or other white people in power. Sharecropping and the crop-lien system often had a negative impact on both the black and white tenants keeping them in debt with the owner. Jim Crow laws, vigilantes and various means of disfranchisement became the normal way of life in the South. It was believed that white people were superior to black people and when they moved up in politics or socially they were harassed and threatened.
Reconstruction a Failure or Success? 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.
Sharecropping is when a landowner allows somebody to use their land in return for a share of the crops grown on the land. It was most common in the South after the Civil War. The freed slaves chose to be share croppers because farming was the only thing that they knew how to do. Instead of getting wages for working an owner’s land, most freed slaves preferred to rent land for a fixed payment, because they were afraid that they would still have to be told what to do. In the first years after the Civil War, most black people in rural areas of the South were left without land and forced to work as laborers on white-owned farms and plantations so they could earn a living.