Why Did The North And South Have Ruined The Reconstruction

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.

In the spring of 1868, America was focused on Congress to see if the President was going to be removed from office. Individuals were impeached and removed from office before, however, President Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached. Many have regarded Johnson as one of the worst presidents in the history of the United States because of his racism, stubbornness, disastrous Reconstruction policies, and his impeachment trial. Johnson’s impeachment would be the defining point of his presidency and his legacy. This raises the numerous questions such as why was Johnson put on trial; what made Republicans hell-bent on impeaching him; and was Andrew Johnson’s impeachment justified.

When he became president he wanted to get rid of paper money, he hated it. Think about it for a minute, if he hated paper money, why should he be on it? He made the removal act against Indians in 1832. The Cherokee felt betrayed because they fought alongside Jackson. He forced them and almost all other Indians to move west.

He lived in the north during the civil War but but yet he still didn’t agree with Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln's assassination was not justified because he freed slaves and he was a great leader. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination was unjustified because he freed slaves. In 1863 Abraham makes his final proclamation frees slaves. At the end of the war he officially ended slavery in America.

Reconstruction was a difficult time after the Civil War. Readmitting the former confederate states to the Union is call Reconstruction(History Book). Reconstruction was supposed to bring the North and South together, but that didn't happen because of southerners. Many reasons contribute to the failure of Reconstruction. The South was most responsible for the failure of Reconstruction.

In 1830, the Indian Removal Act was signed, forcing the Indians to move west of the Mississippi River. 4,000 of the 15,000 Cherokees died along the trail of tears, meaning over 25% of the Cherokees died. Although they did not want to leave their land, they had to because of President Jackson. The Indians should not have been forced off their land. President Jackson did not treat the Indians fairly, the land belonged to the Indians, and the Indians rights were being violated.

First, he forgave ex-Confederate officials and began fighting with the Republican Congress about Civil Rights. The Congress refused to accept the ex-Confederate officials and the new laws and codes they proposed in 1865. Andrew Johnson apposed and vetoed both the Civil Rights bill and the Freedman’s Bureau bill in 1866 hoping to bring the Southern States back into the union. This only created more distrust and fighting with the majority republicans in the Congress. Andrew Johnson did all these things, and his presidency ended before he expected.

I believe Reconstruction was a failure in the many ways slaves were not protected the way they should have been. Even though the slaves were now free, so many white people continued to feel this unbelievable hatred towards African Americans and found ways to segregate and dismiss them as people. Whites found ways to not allow black men to vote that were unfair. Another heavy failure was the first ever assaination of the President of the United States. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated after he left many hopeful for change.

The same year slavery was abolished, The Black Codes were created. These laws oppressed black people and restricted their freedom. Because of the poor treating of African Americans and the Black Codes, The Reconstruction period was a failure. Some people were very unhappy when slavery was abolished. Southerners were frustrated that their property would be taken from them and turned into citizens.

For a while the South had enacted black codes which replaced the slave codes. The black codes restricted the freedom of African Americans, but eventually the federal government ruled black codes unconstitutional. However, once the former Union had moved out of the South and Reconstruction was done, the former confederacy had gone back to having its own governments and leaders. This led to all the former social changes being destroyed because now the former Union wasn’t using the military to protect the rights of freedmen. This led to a new era called the Jim Crow era which started in 1877 and lasted until the 1960s when the Civil Rights movement had taken