Reconstruction Argumentative Analysis

777 Words2 Pages

Once the Civil war had ended, President Abraham Lincoln created a plan to help rebuild the United States. This plan was known as the Reconstruction. This time was used to attempt to help the North and South recover from the war, going as far as re-admitting the southern states back into the United States. Andrew Johnson, who was selected to serve as President after Lincoln’s assassination, had a similar idea. While both Lincoln and Johnson believed the Reconstruction was a good idea, many republicans believed that the south was being treated much too kindly. Since the Republicans did not agree with the way things were being dealt with, they chose to get control of the reconstruction, moving it from the executive branch over to the legislative …show more content…

Many views were conflicting, leading to many issues in the south. Even though former slaves tried their hardest to create new lives, those given the chance to obtain positions in political areas had a harsh and callous time finding anything uncomplicated, undemanding or painless. As anticipated by the people of the era, scores of whites disagreed with the proposal that blacks should be treated as equals to white people. This thought track lead to the creation of the Ku Klux Klan; a white supremacist faction made up of people with feelings of hostility to the new ways. While many of the whites believed that they only targeted and killed the black people because of the color of their skin, it seemed that at that point in time they were still holding on to the ways they were taught and raised to believe. They believed they acted in a religious manner for their actions. While there were horrific torture and killings, the KKK more often than not, terrorized and caused hardships, lighting crosses on fire at known houses of blacks and those that supported the black …show more content…

Don’t get me wrong Mr. Bradwell, they were doing something that was absolutely in the wrong, immoral and unjustified in today’s ways but for them this was the way it should be and they held unyielding to the ways of the “Old South”. However to get back on topic, while many blacks wished to work their way up to the point of owning their own land, they were unable to do so. Instead of that, the original plantation owners came up with a system called sharecropping. This allowed the landowners or former Masters to control the fields and the African Americans. In result, the people working the fields became indentured servants. A life that held the same position as a slave with the freedom to vote or leave and hope they do not come after you for the money you now owe the landowners. Shortly the congress reacted against the Klu Klux Klan and passed laws to help battle the groups increasing strength. New laws also permitted the south to be re-taken by the Democratic Party. All too soon, political corruption started to divert the attention of the north away from helping repair issues in the

Open Document