Reconstruction Era Research Paper

The Reconstruction Era was a time in which truly exceptional transformations occurred. The need for change, or more specifically the need for liberty and equality, was ballooning from within the country and on the brink of bursting. Whether Americans were ready or not, it was going to happen. After four long years the Civil War finally came to an end. The United States, now completely free, was referred to as a “new nation”. Although the Emancipation Proclamation was intended to free slaves, their true freedom, equality, and liberty could not have been farther off. Abraham Lincoln was aware that his proclamation could be viewed as a temporary measure taken to outlaw slavery and instead as a war tactic. Whether or not they would be considered

They may have had their slaves taken away, but they were determined to make blacks’ new, free lives as terrible as possible. Still, African Americans exercised their newcome freedom’s in the best ways they could. They established churches and congregations for freed-blacks, away from any whites who might have been a former master. Churches and organizations brought newly freed people together, giving them strength through togetherness and in similar beliefs. The Fourteenth Amendment gave recently freed blacks actual citizenship and, supposed, equal protection. Another huge step in the right direction, this amendment only strengthened and added to the Thirteenth. Segregation was awful during this time and much violence still existed, but fortunately the Fourteenth Amendment provided legal protections to African Americans and greatly improved their status as individuals. The Fifteenth Amendment was pushed for in response the some areas in which the Fourteenth was lacking. Although African American’s right to vote would still be exploited in the future, the purpose of this third Reconstruction Amendment was to guarantee all male citizens the right to

Americans were very devoted to ameliorating the country, both socially and politically. Progressives were those who believed the U.S. was experiencing a “crisis of democracy” and that the government needed to be more transparent and accountable. They were the passionate people propelling the country forward and they would not stand for a corrupt system in which deceitful actions such as rigged votes and backroom deals took place. One progressive economist explained that attempts at achieving American ideals within the country would not have effect without first combatting inequality. Political equality is completely irrelevant and insecure without some measure of economic equality. Journalists, critics, and authors who strived to expose fraud and abuse of businesses and the corruption of politics were labeled as “Muckrakers” during this time. Their revelations have been given credit for gathering so much support that was essential for a true reform to occur. America had many severe problems and was in serious need of reforming. Progressive reformers targeted some of the most crucial problems such as unregulated industrialization, unplanned urbanization, and what was becoming an increasingly unequal distribution of wealth and power. A national political leader who was also a leading force in the Progressive Era was Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States. He created the domestic “Square Deal” program