Was Reconstruction A Success Or Failure Essay

The year is 1865, the Civil War has concluded, slaves are now declared “free”, Lincoln is killed, and our nation continues to disband itself further and further. What was the nation’s response towards the situation? To create a program in which the U.S. would rebuild society and manage to eliminate conflicts within the government, the wealth of the nation, the relations between groups, and land. Reconstruction’s purpose was to bring the North and the South back, as one nation, but all that was accomplished were disputes, both opinionated or political, therefore; Reconstruction was unsuccess. Part of the reason behind the failure called the Reconstruction is Johnson’s focus on healing the nation rather than the justice. Another part was due

In May of 1865, Johnson created the Loyalty Oath, a document created to give the South a free hand to transition from slavery to freedom, but gave blacks no position in politics.“Former Confederates who pledged loyalty to the union received amnesty and pardon;” (14th Amendment Class Worksheet) With Andrews’ plan, it gave the slaves a false sense of reassurance, giving the south a pass on having to commit to the new life, that was supposed to be but never happened. “Some former confederate, including the highest officials in the Confederacy and those who owned more than $20,000 of property, had to apply to Johnson in person.” (14th Amendment Class Worksheet) Instead of upholding the laws that were made concrete and keep an extra eye out for the South, he rewards the south but repaying all that had been lost, with absolutely no benefit for the newly

That would that create a wall between their opinions and their actions. (Document 1: The Thirteenth Amendment) For instance that the Black Codes, these codes were created to give freedmen limits to their freedom, crazy right. “No freedmen shall be allowed to carry firearms or any kind of weapons. No freedmen shall sell or exchange any article of merchandise within the limits Opelousas without in writing from his employer.”(Document B: Black Codes) the only difference between this time period and before and during The Civil War is that instead of calling black people slaves they now refer to them as Negros, showing that there had been an improvement when the reality of it is that the only change made was the change of name. Even so that further down the line Congress had to create two more amendments to widen the freedmen’s freedom, all of which included that all those born in the United States were guaranteed rights (to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) and citizens of this nation were also given the rights to vote.( Document 2: The Fourteenth Amendment) (Document 3: The Fifteenth