The Reconstruction had also to be literal and start with the South, whose lands are devastated, and with its resulting fallen economy. After the war, the Confederacy was ravaged, its cities looted, its railroads gone and its farm fields destroyed.
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.
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. On their journey to being independent, they came across many obstacles. They were considered free, however they was not really “free.”
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. 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.
After slavery, African Americans in the south were in a time of change. Though they were free from slavery, whippings, and auctions, I believe life became difficult for them even after slavery ended. Racism began to grow increasingly, as many could not accept the fact that there was no more slavery. It became stricter when the government in the South enforced laws called Black Codes. Those laws were set to grant only certain rights to people of color. Employment for black people was unfair, as they were often paid much less than their white companions. The fourteenth amendment was created in 1868 and promised African Americans the rights of equal American citizenship. Many of the African Americans were homeless and separated from their family for years, sometimes never being able to see them again.
The Civil War left traumatized people and many destroyed cities, which led to the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction was the process of trying to rebuild the South after the Civil War. The North and South had an interesting past in the year of 1876. The election of 1876 was a very controversial election, it was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.In 1870, Hiram Revels was the first black senator. The North ended the Reconstruction because they were too busy to look after the South, they were racist to African Americans, and they removed soldiers from Southern states.
During the late 1800s, because the South had been decimated by the end of the Civil War, .the Reconstruction Period was initiated to aid the South’s recovery. Although the Civil War did abolish slavery and unify the North and the South, the war not resolve racial prejudice, the South’s damage, and the African Americans’ economic instability. The Reconstruction Period was initiated in order to prevent economic instability and the structural ruin, because since slavery was abolished, and the South was completely dependent on slaves, therefore slaves could not work for the South to maintain the economy, and slaves also could not fix up the damages done to the structures done to the South during the war. By starting the Freedmen’s Bureau and passing
Northern neglect killed reconstruction because the North was worried about the corrupt government. As president, Grant noticed frauds and scandals in government too (Doc. C). Since he was focusing on the scandals and frauds his focus on the Reconstruction split between the frauds and the Reconstruction. They also thought their government was corrupt because there were
The reconstruction period was a time of cause and effect. It was a time when in order to rebuild the strength of society economically, socially, and politically after a the loss of life and stability in the civil war. In the socratic seminar we discussed how the during the reconstruction period the goal was to ‘fix’ the south as in the eyes of the government, they were the cause of the problem.
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).
The KKK commonly known as the Ku Klux Klan was one of the biggest reasons for the failure of reconstruction. Acts like the killing of “John Stephens, State Senator from Caswell”(Document A) The KKK created lots of violent terrorist like
While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans
“Some are first-class men in our town.”(Testimony to a joint House and Senate Committee 513) They were killing people from the North and the North did not like that. The KKK did not like the North running the government, they were very angry at the North. They were making the North angry which could have started the war, so the South killed Reconstruction. The KKK also attacked Abram Colby and people were doing anything about it so they just kept doing what they were doing. They also were not happy about the Carpet Bag
There was much fear in the South also because of the KKK. The KKK would threaten people with guns out in the open (Colby 513). Large crowds of people would gather around to see the KKK threaten people. Some of the people were angry at the KKK and others liked what the KKK was doing. Everyone was afraid that the KKK might kill them or attacked them is they stood up for the people that were being threatened that they didn’t stand up for the people that were getting hurt or being threatened. Most of the KKK were first class people like doctor, and lawyers (Colby 513). Even the government didn’t try to stop the KKK because since they were first class people that had all of the power. Since the KKK were first class citizens that had all of the power the South killed Reconstruction because the KKK was in control of almost everyone in the
The north wanted to to abolish slavery they felt like it was wrong although the argument the south had was the north didn’t need to worry about slaves due to the profit they were making off factories and manufacturing. Slavery was the backbone of the South’s economy. Although, money wasn’t the only reason whites restricted blacks for equal opportunities. Enforcing Jim Crow laws and Black codes simply was a result of hate and animosity most whites in the south had towards blacks.