The Civil War is arguably the darkest point in American history, as it is the only point in which thousands of Americans are being killed by their fellow countrymen. However, the period following was just as dark from a more political, social, and economic point of view. This period of time taking place from 1865-1877 is usually known as Reconstruction because the south is "reconstructing" from the damages of the war. However, many historians argue that this period of time is improperly named and should be called restoration. As this argument goes on, I would say that both terms are correct, and in fact both reconstruction and restoration are needed to describe the time period following the Civil War. The first question to answer is what …show more content…
This bureau was to provide freed slaves and white refugees with food, clothing, medical care, and education. The first three parts made the bureau a sort of welfare system. However, the primary focus was educating the freed slaves. After the law was passed, hundreds of white women from the north came down south to teach at schools dedicated for freed slaves. Nearly 200,000 freed slaves learned to read because of the Freedmen 's Bureau. All these freed slaves being taken care of in this way obviously supported reconstruction. However, not everything went as planned. This law was supposed to give freed slaves their own land. Many of the freed slaves did not achieve land, or even a new job. Many of them became sharecroppers, which is just performing their slave jobs for the old master for very little pay. This sharecropping technique barely hurt many slave owners, and this was one of the main causes of restoration. An obvious law that was passed to support reconstruction was the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act was put in place for the actual, physical reconstruction. This separated the south into five districts, each headed by a Union general. This would also require each seceded state to be readmitted to the Union by ratifying the fourteenth amendment, giving slaves their rights as citizens. The general helped lead in the rebuilding of cities and also put pressure on state officials ratify the amendment. This mostly supports the ideal of
After the Civil War, the victorious Union enacted a policy of Reconstruction in the former Confederate states. Reconstruction was aimed at creating as smooth a transition as possible for the southern states to re-enter the Union as well as enacting economic and social changes. However, several factors brought about its failure, and as a result the consequences can be seen in the race problems we still have today. In 1862, President Lincoln had appointed temporary military governors to re-establish functional governments in occupied southern states. In order for a state to be allowed to re-enter the Union, it had to meet the criteria, which was established to be that at least 10 percent of the voting population polled in 1860 must denounce the Confederacy and swear allegiance to the Union again. However this was not good enough for Congress, which at the time was dominated by Radical Republicans who fervently called for social and economic change in the south, specifically the rights of blacks. They were especially concerned with guaranteeing black civil and voting rights, and criticized Lincoln for excluding this in the original plan for Reconstruction.
In 1865, the Freedmen’s Bureau was introduced in Congess. It was formed because the government realized that it could not longer meet the needs of Southerners. It was created to look after freed slaves as well as refugees and abandoned land.
The Bureau for Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, more commonly known as the Freedmen’s Bureau, was created with the passage of the Freedmen’s Bureau Act on March 3, 1865 (United States). The bill, which was supported by Abraham Lincoln as well as Radical Republicans in Congress, faced a great deal of opposition from Southern states and passed with only a two vote majority (Dubois). The bill is intentionally vague in order to allow leniency in its implementation. The flexibility provided by refraining from outlining specific programs was intended to benefit the freedmen by allowing the program to mold and fit his needs (Colby).
Reconstruction was a time period, following the Civil War, which focused on rebuilding the nation. Reconstruction was primarily focused with readmitting the seceded states into the Union. Another major issue was the condition of the approximately 4 million freedmen.
It was 1865, black men were tasting freedom, the confederation was defeated, the south was defeated but the unchained blacks had no real freedom. "A man maybe free and yet not independent," Mississippi planter Sammuel Agnew observed in his diary (Foner 481). This same year General Sherman issued the Special Field Order 15, in attempt to provide land for the ex-slaves. There was 40 acres of land and a mule waiting for the emancipated slaves, this gave hope for an economic development among blacks' communities. The Special Field Order 15 put all the land under federal control acquired by the government during the war to use for the homestead of the blacks. Even thought the offer of land some slave fled ...
Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.
During the time of reconstruction, the 13th amendment abolished slavery. As the Nation was attempting to pick up their broken pieces and mend the brokenness of the states, former slaves were getting the opportunity to start their new, free lives. This however, created tension between the Northerners and the Southerners once again. The Southerners hated the fact that their slaves were being freed and did not belong to them anymore. The plantations were suffering without the slaves laboring and the owners were running out of solutions. This created tension between the Southern planation owners and the now freed African Americans. There were many laws throughout the North and the South that were made purposely to discriminate the African Americans.
1865 saw the creation of the freedman bureau to provide food, shelter and medical aid and land to ex- slaves. The passing of the 1866 freedman bureau act over President Johnson’s veto meant an extension of work of the bureau. It also included the right of military courts in the south to hear racial discrimination cases. Despite the fact the freedman’s bureau was poorly resourced with limited financing, it played a fundamental role in the creation of African American schools and was aided by charity workers in the north and with African Americans. In 1965 95% of black slaves were illiterate, but this number had fallen by 14% by 1870. Furthermore, there were increased opportunities for Black Americans to continue with higher education due to the development of higher education institutions0 such as Howard University and Fisk University 1866-7.
Reconstruction was intended to give African-Americans the chance for a new and better life. Many of them stayed with their old masters after being freed, while others left in search of opportunity through education as well as land ownership. However this was not exactly an easy task. There were many things standing in their way, chiefly white supremacists and the laws and restrictions they placed upon African-Americans. Beginning with the 'black codes' established by President Johnson's reconstruction plan, blacks were required to have a curfew as well as carry identification. Labor contracts established under Johnson's Reconstruction even bound the 'freedmen' to their respective plantations. A few years later, another set of laws known as the 'Jim Crow' laws directly undermined the status of blacks by placing unfair restrictions on everything from voting rights all the way to the segregation of water fountains. Besides these restrictions, the blacks had to deal with the Democratic Party whose northern wing even denounced racial equality. As a result of democratic hostility and the Republican Party's support of Black suffrage, freedmen greatly supported the Republican Party.
Once freed, African Americans believed that the rights of a citizen were granted to them. They truthfully believed this because after a brutally fought war, basic rights such as education, land, and employment were so modest, they were undeniable. Even though they were proclaimed as free, their place is society remained unaffected. The Freedmen's Bureau became one of the earlier agencies to provide support for newly freedmen. The agency offered education, advice and protection to its members. The most significant asset of the bureau was education. The literacy rate of African Americans rose about twenty percent due to the organization. Some freedmen even attended colleges to earn degrees. Many white Southerners viewed the African American attempt at education as a waste of time. They condemned the efforts of their social improvement. With much criticism by racist whites and inadequate funds, the Freedmen's Bureau concluded by 1872 injuring African American hopes of social equality.
With the end of the Civil war in 1865, the new nation of the United States now faced challenges on restoring peace within the Union. The North, having won the civil war, now faced the task to implement reconstruction of the South. They came in contact with the questions of: What should happen to the freed slaves, should the freed slaves have rights, what should be done to the Confederate leaders, and how should the South be reconstructed? There were many different ideas and views on how Reconstruction should be handled, but only one succeeded more successfully than the other. Although they bear some superficial similarities, the difference between presidential and congressional reconstruction are clear. The president believed that Confederate
The ex-slaves after the Civil War didn’t have a place to settle or money. They had no skills other than farming to procure jobs, so they couldn’t earn money. Freedmen’s Bureau provided shelter, resources, education, and taught necessary skills to get jobs (Jordan 386). Though the issue of slavery was solved, racism continues and Southerners that stayed after the war passed Black Codes which subverted the ideas of freedom including the actions of state legislatures (Hakim 19). Black Codes were a set of laws that discriminated against blacks and limited their freedom (Jordan 388).
The efforts of the Freedmen’s Bureau included provision of relief food, offering health services to the sick, allocating land for settlement to the former slaves, setting up of a judicial system, enacting an education system and enforcing labor laws that allowed the freed men to seek employment. While they were unable to help everyone, they did set precedents and have a huge impact on reconstruction.
Reconstruction has been brutally murdered! For a little over a decade after the Civil War, the victorious North launched a campaign of social, economic, and political recovery in South. Martial law was also implemented in the South. Eventually, the North hoped to admit the territory in the former Confederacy back into the United States as states. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments freed the African Americans, made them citizens, and gave them the right to vote. Despite this, Reconstruction was unfortunately cut short in 1877. The North killed Recosntruction because of racism, negligence, and distractions.
After Andrew Johnson’s veto, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act, which temporarily divided the South into five military districts and outlined how governments based on universal (male) suffrage were to be organized” (Reconstruction History.com) These laws required all southern states to ratify the 14th Amendment. The 14th amendment stated, ”All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” (Chrisman, Jerry, and Stanbery Foster III). This granted “Equal Protection” to former slaves before they could rejoin the Union. Radical Republicans thought blacks should be entitled to the same rights and opportunities as whites. Reconstruction achieved many ideal things that people did not think would happen. “Among the other achievements of Reconstruction were the South’s first state-funded public school systems, more equitable taxation legislation, laws against racial discrimination in public transport and accommodations and ambitious economic development programs (including aid to railroads and other enterprises)” (“Reconstruction” History.com). By these achievements of Reconstruction, it created a better life for many people in the