Reconstruction Argumentative Essay

In the years after the Civil War, a period of reformation began in the United States known as the Reconstruction Era. In this transformative period, the meaning of freedom – especially freedom for African-Americans – was a major topic of discussion. More specifically, after the Civil War, the dilemma over how to extend true freedom to African-American individuals in the South then came about. However, creating a social system to fairly grant this freedom to African-Americans in the South was no easy feat because there were opposing interpretations of freedom at the time. To explain, there was a debate over the meaning behind freedom, and whether it meant simply not being enslaved, having equal rights, being able to vote, or owning property.

However, Ulysses Grant won the next presidential election and the Fifteenth Amendment was adopted, which granted black suffrage, but there were many loopholes that allowed the states to discriminate against blacks due to illiteracy or their inability to pay an expensive tax. It should be noted, though, that women were still not granted the right to vote and this led to feminists searching for their own freedom. The Reconstruction Act resulted in a great interest in politics and African-Americans began holding political offices. As a result, southern life was greatly improved; however, there were opponents of Reconstruction – like government corruption and terror groups like the Ku Klux Klan who could not accept the idea of equality for all – that made Reconstruction in the South very hard. This, along with an economic depression, contributed to the North’s wavering dedication to Reconstruction and the Democrats regained control. This resulted in even more violence against black individuals and Republicans who supported Reconstruction. Consequently, the era of Reconstruction ended and blacks lost much of their previous power when Republicans were in