Post Civil War Reconstruction Essay

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After the civil war, America was torn, bloodied, and unsure of its future. However, in the coming decades, it experienced rapid changes that forever changed its course. While many significant events occurred in U.S. history from 1865-1929, the three with the most enduring effects were the end of reconstruction, the formation of the Knights of Labor (KOL), and World War I. Reconstruction shaped the South and the lives of African-Americans, the KOL fought for workers’ rights and advocated for subjugated groups, and WWI shocked the nation and forever changed our position in the world. In the wake of the civil war, America faced the challenge of reintegrating the Southern states into the Union through a period called reconstruction. The Southern …show more content…

In the aftermath of reconstruction, most farmers did not own their land and worked under the crop-lien system, which was described by one economist as “more wasteful and destructive than slavery was anywhere” (Shi and Tindall 595). Due to racism, violence, and poverty in the South, a group of African-Americans known as Exodusters moved West to search for a better life. Although these migrants faced tough living conditions, many shared the beliefs of a preacher who stated, “We had rather suffer and be free” than go back to the South (Shi and Tindall 606). These people joined crowds of other people moving west, including immigrants from Mexico, China, Germany, Scandinavia, and Ireland, who endured hardships such as tornadoes, droughts, and swarms of grasshoppers (Shi and Tindall 610). Industrialization played a role in this migration, because it caused people to move west to escape crowded Eastern cities. As more people moved West, however, they displaced a large population of Native Americans. American settlers infuriated Native Americans by moving into their ancestral lands, which resulted in the Indian wars during the 1860s and 1870s (Shi and Tindall 615). The Indian Peace Commission, created by the federal government, decided to move Indians onto reservations (Shi and Tindall 618). Native Americans continued to resist forced removal, but they eventually gave up. Chief Joseph, the leader of a group of Nez Perce Indians, expressed the deep sorrow of his people by stating, “I am tired of fighting..the little children are freezing to death… It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and all the broken promises” (Joseph 51). Some politicians and religious activists condemned the harsh treatment of Native Americans, but even well-intentioned Americans attempted to force Indians to

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