The Social Effects Of Radical Reconstruction In America

Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction 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

The flag of the Confederacy was also another symbol of Southern Nationalism. “The Confederate government quickly became for the South, the successor to the federal government at Washington. A flag, the “ Stars and Bars,” was adopted for the new republic after a study by a committee that concluded that keeping the United States “Stars and Stripes” would be impractical and unpatriotic.” Southerners feared that white supremacy was in danger and feared slave rebellions. This was heightened by national events like John Brown’s Raid. This unified the South against the abolition of slavery

The Civil War changed the future of the United States. The war began as a struggle to preserve the Union, but not a struggle to free the slaves, and many in the North and South felt that the conflict would decide both issues at last. Many slaves escaped to the North in the early years of the war, and several Union generals established abolitionist policies in the Southern land that they conquered. Congress passed laws permitting the seizure of slaves from the property of rebellious Southerners. On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln presented the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation.

Growing down south was a problem because Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Seminole were settled there. Americans were desperate to expand so the citizens convinced the federal government into acquiring Indian territory. In 1830, president Jackson persuaded a new piece of legislation called the "Indian Removal Act" through both houses of Congress. It gave the president

After World War II, African American efforts to secure greater civil rights increased across the United States. African American lawyers such as Thurgood Marshall had cases intended to destroy the Jim Crow system of segregation that had dominated the American South since Reconstruction. The landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education prohibited segregation in public schools. Kennedy wanted to propose new civil rights legislations primarily in poverty relief and care

Additionally, the Great Migration made a better life possible for African Americans. During and after WWI, African Americans moved north to evade the rampant racism and discrimination in the south and to seize opportunities for jobs and new land (Document G). White Americans, their oppressors, began to see African Americans as humans because of their supposedly new culture and aspirations. While they weren’t viewed as equal, it was still a start. As expected, when juxtaposing the racial climate of the 1920s and 1998, there is a great disparity.

The southern definition of public Liberty in opposition to the northern definition of Liberty transformed the political relationship between the American government and south in the aftermath of the Civil War. Reconstruction and the strict changes it brought to the southern people played a major part in forming

At the end of the Civil War between the North and South arose the Reconstruction era. This was a time period of the late 1800s where the united states, specifically the North started to attempt the rebuilding of the South. Abolitionists were eager to see the end of slavery and Lincoln attempted to end slavery. President Lincoln attempted to put in place the Emancipation Proclamation which stated all slaves in confederate states would be free. This was to weaken the southern states; except, the confederate states did not obey.

President Jackson’s decision to create a new compromised tariff was beneficial to not only South Carolina, but the whole country because they could focus on more important issues, like slavery. President Lincoln’s decision to institute a draft so that he could get more power on the side of the Union, as well as the Emancipation Proclamation, which ensured that other nations like Britain and France didn’t help on the Confederate side to win the Civil War. These issues still stick with us today, for example the idea of states ’ rights, which applied to the Nullification Crisis when South Carolina nullified the tariffs, can still be found in controversial decisions about different drugs, as well as firearms. Racism and discrimination still occasionally happen to African-Americans, which carries along the idea of how the United States has always had conflicting views about slavery and African-American rights. Presidents of the United States of America will continue to make decisions to ease the tensions in the country on controversial issues, and previous decisions will come up again, like history always

A portion of the North agreed with the south in that it should be a problem that will stay and will be dealt with in the southern states. The 3/5 compromise and the War of 1812 were two major factors that Mason speaks on that directly affected northerners and lead to more push for anti-slavery movements. A quote here supports this, “As Madison won reelection in 1812 and the war dragged on, New England Federalists increasingly argued that were it not for the added power of slave representation, the Republicans would never have been able to enact commercial restrictions or initiate the war” (51). Though rebutted later in the book by a southerner, this was a fair point. With this added slave representation came much more power for the southern states.

For African-Americans facing opposition from antagonistic whites and Jim Crow laws leaving the South made political, social, and economic sense. The South was adversely affected by the decision of African-Americans leaving the South. There are three ways in which the Southern States were affected by the Great Migration. Socially, the personal giftedness, books, arts, inventions by African Americans flourished once they left the South. Politically, blacks made a greater impact upon the political elections.

In Lincoln 's inaugural speech he said "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing Government, they can exercise their 'constitutional ' right of amending it or they are 'revolutionary ' right to dismember or overthrow it"(Abraham Lincoln 's First Inaugural Address). The 12th of April 1861, the Civil War began. There were many conflicts between the two sides. Many believe it was a fight for the rights and freedom of slaves, so what was the main cause of the Civil War was the issue of states rights and the preservation of the Union than rather than the issue of slavery.

Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. One of the goals of Reconstruction was to determine what was to be done with the four million freed slaves. Reconstruction succeeded in forming a republican government, new social legislation, and schools for African Americans. Although there was harsh, unconstitutional, and simply immoral treatment of African Americans, Reconstruction sent them on almost a century long path to equality. Before the Radical Republicans took over the government, Democrat, Andrew Johnson was President.