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Reconstruction Vs Reconstruction

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Reconstruction was the United States’ government’s project at attempting to rebuild the nation after the American Civil War. The main goal was creating a unified nation with the southern Confederate States rejoining the Union. From approximately 1863 to 1877 the nation sought several methods to successfully reconstruct the country (BOOK 447). There were multiple groups involved with the process. In hindsight, it is possible to draw commonalities between some groups and conflicts between others. There are those who wanted to move forward from the tragedies of slavery, President Lincoln, northern Republicans, and freedpeople. On the other hand, there are those who wanted to maintain a white supremacist racist south, including President Johnson …show more content…

Therefore, it would make sense that they would like their ideology of equality for African Americans to become law over the entire country. It is important to point out pro-reconstruction groups did not impose reparations, or prosecute slave owners; they simply wanted to reconcile the nation’s differences and move forward. This is evident in the desires of freedpeople. Despite the atrocities slaves suffered, they sought out means of moving forward, and did not seek revenge against southern whites. Freedpeople tried to reunite families, get married, and obtain an education. They also relied heavily on the Freedmen’s Bureau to help them buy land so they could farm for themselves, most commonly together through a process called sharecropping, since one freedperson could not afford the land on their own (BOOK 450). Their goal of living freely and finally enjoying life was aided by the help of President Lincoln and northern …show more content…

It is because of the southern racist whites’ resistance to reconstruction that the historical memory of the time is unique. Although the government sent troops in to protect blacks, they were eventually pulled out in the Compromise of 1877, which allowed Republican Hayes to win the close election in return. Without federal troops there for protection, racism kept on into the following decades, and caused for black leaders to emerge to push for their own rights later during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Had the government stuck with Reconstruction, perhaps racism would not have stayed in the south as long. Additionally, through propaganda like the movie Birth of a Nation, southern whites attempted to frame the Civil War and Reconstruction as a tragedy, which took away southern heritage and pride, and that the KKK was a good thing by restoring old ways. Also, they took the emphasis off the racial aspect, and tried to frame the war as a tragedy of being “brother vs. brother” and a loss for the entire country, and take the focus off the differing ideologies of racism and

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