The Reasons for the Failure of Reconstruction

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The original purpose of Reconstruction was to restore the buildings and the economy of the south the best they could, but without the immoral element of slavery. But, reconstruction under the Johnson Presidency was a failure for a few reasons: 1) Convict Leasing, 2) Sharecropping, 3) the Ku Klux Klan, 4) Segregation in schools, even in the North, 5) Carpetbaggers/Scalawags, 6) misleading statistics, and 7) racism. Convict Leasing was started when lawmakers saw a loop hole in the Thirteenth Amendment, which stated that with the exception of punishment for a crime, slavery was abolished. Fourteen thousand dollars was earned in Alabama through convict leasing Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 2012). And since no efforts were made to eliminate this law, revenue was allowed to soar to one hundred and six-four thousand dollars in 1890, setting an unhealthy precedent for the rest of the south. All a person had to do was start any form of business, and they would be eligible to “lease” or “borrow” workers who had supposedly broken the law. Moreover, the “convicts” could not go on...

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