Reconstruction in 1865 through 1877 was terminated by Southern men due to their lack of acceptance of African Americans in restricting their political rights, not following the North’s precedence of equality, and the assassination of many a men by their ever so popular Klan. Reformation began after the Civil War which was fought over sectional differences and heavy slavery in the South. Southerns had always been pro slavery which contributed to their low treatment of African Americans as a whole. Once the South lost the War they could no longer legally enslave African Americans, but that did not change their persona in the eyes of the rich white men. Equality was a concept for white men according to the South, especially considering that …show more content…
Their actions stretched even to white privileged Northerns. The Klansmen had no remorse, they killed men who did not agree with their opinion. Albion Tourgee writes in a letter to Carolina Republican Senator Joseph C. Abbott and shows the truth about being Republican of 1870, “John W. Stephens, State Senator from Caswell, is dead. He was foully murdered by the Ku-Klux… Another brave, honest Republican citizen has met his fate at the hands of these friends.” (Document A). From this letter you can see Tourgees clear use of the word “another” meaning that other Republican men were targeted and killed by the KKK all because they fought to have the South follow the same rules as the North. It was as though the KKK felt personally battered so they enjoyed doing to same to men that caused such emotions. Politics within the white community was not the only issue. As mentioned before African Americans did not get the political freedom that was actually granted to them not only because of their race and low standing but they were “ ‘unfitted for the proper exercise of political duties… blacks needed a period of probation and instruction’ “ (Document D). The idea of them being an unfit race who was in need of probation and instruction seemed to more closely relate to white Klansmen of the South. Their actions spoke louder than words and it seemed as though they were begging to be put in their place. African Americans were not to be punished, if anything it was the white men. They enslaved African Americans, beat, and battered them for years yet when they finally get their freedom it’s as though life will never continue to flourish. The South proved that they needed probation that was never forced upon them. They should’ve have accepted the way of equality in order to give black men what they deserved. As the South was very clear with their ways of dealing with reconstruction, which was
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Show MoreShown in Thomas Nast’s Reconstruction Era Cartoon in 1874, a member of the KKK is seen shaking hands and making deals with the politician, but it is important to note that the deal goes both ways (Doc I). Nast comments that Reconstruction and South retaliation against African Americans in worse than slavery, and that is a white northern sentiment. This cartoon displays the social changes, how the politics of the new Union have been shaped by the social preferences of the South. Again this is a revolutionary ideal because the government is in the back pocket of the KKK, and the Constitution is being skirted by the very people that are elected to uphold
Nicholas Lemann begins his book “Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War” with the 1873 Colfax, Louisiana massacre where a White League militia comprised of former Confederate soldiers killed black Republican voters. The Colfax massacre was perhaps the bloodiest event of Reconstruction. Lemann views this event as a startup of what would happen later in Mississippi if Federal troops did not defend black voters. Lemann blames Ulysses S. Grant’s Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, for not stopping the White Line activity in Louisiana and Mississippi. Grant had worked hard to stop the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1870s with Congress passing legislation and Federal troops putting down Klan activity.
Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.
The South killed Reconstruction most by their resistance against the North. Reconstruction started after the Civil war between 1865-1876. During the Civil War, the North and South battled, (The North won) and the South laid in ruins. The United States was willing to let the South back in under some conditions, and that marked the day Reconstruction started. During the Reconstruction era, the South resisted the North’s help and Reconstruction died.
To say the time period following the Civil War in the United States involved a lot of change would be a understatement. Between the years 1870 and 1900 the people of the United States lived through a period of great change. Not only did they witness technological advances that would change their daily lives, they also saw new laws and organizations formed. All of this was done in hopes of improving the country. Many of these changes came about because of the type of businesses that were formed.
Who killed Reconstruction: The North or South? Following the civil war, the south killed the reconstruction of the United States. (Reconstruction was putting the country back together after the Civil War) There are many reasons why, the south slowed down the reconstruction of the United States, the main reason was freedmen were not seen as equals to the white.
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.
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.
African Americans were not given a choice on anything and were always forced into doing whatever they were told. As time passed discrimination in the 19th century continued to be a problem in the world and there wasn’t much at that time to do about it to make it
Former slaves who “tried to vote or participate in politics [were] likely to be singled out for “punishment”” by a terrorist organization named as the Ku Klux Klan, until the Congress passed the Force Bill in 1871 that gave the federal authorities the right to arrest and pursue active members of the KKK. But, the bill appeared to be only figurative as not really much of the Klan’s members were prosecuted (Hazen
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).
Frederickson argues African Americans simply did not have the time or preparation to oppose racist forces. Using paramilitary forces, southern redeemers easily made threats to reconstruction forces as seen through the emergence of the violent Ku Klux Klan during the election of 1866. The opportunity for African Americans to gain a stance in society was short lived by the racist efforts of democrats in the south and impartial ideals from
Although many attempts were made to prioritize freedom and equality for all, these values were undermined by racist Southerners who wouldn’t accept equality. In the end, Reconstruction had failed and former slaves endured another hardship akin to slavery. However, Reconstruction still could have prospered. There are multiple events that, if they had occurred, Reconstruction would not have failed. For example, had the government continued to fund the Freedmen’s Bureau, then the South would have legislated their discriminatory laws much later, if not at all.
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.
As a result of this, racist organizations were founded to wreaked havoc on former slaves. Secret societies in the southern united states, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia used violence against the blacks. Their goal was often to keep blacks out of politics. Our textbook states, “In other states, where blacks were a majority or where the populations of the two races were almost equal, whites used outright intimidation and violence to undermine the Reconstruction regimes” (Brinkley 368). The people involved in such organizations were using violence to take away the fifteenth amendment right from the former slaves.