Reconstruction In Americ The Impact Of The Second Reconstruction

1260 Words3 Pages

The United States first enters Reconstruction in 1865 after the Civil War. During the first Reconstruction of 1865, the country begins to rebuild its infrastructure. However after conducting research and creating various works, historians see the impact of the “Second Reconstruction.” Historians relate events of the first reconstruction with those of the second in order to identify the Second Reconstruction properly. Reconstruction historiography was explored by William A. Dunning and Claude G. Bowers. Both made it clear that radicalism and unscrupulous outsiders create a burden on society’s motives. These types of advances and drawbacks impacts the U.S. in how effective the country is during reconstruction era. Eric Foner writes about the …show more content…

Starting with the major racial divisions, which split society into two opposing parties. Reconstruction offers to bring high political leader roles to the black community as education is offered to more and more people. Foner states, “Divisions among whites have long been known to have shaped the course of Reconstruction.” This is a key reason why there are conflicts directly involved within the black community. The Second Reconstruction has successfully improved working opportunities for the blacks, but failed to unify both parties. However the idea of “black power and pride” was rising . This failed portion isn 't blamed on anyone one group of people, “If indeed they were active agents rather than passive victims, then blacks could not be absolved of blame for the failure of Reconstruction.” The cause of the statement is that the emphasis from slavery and free slave, the distinction wasn’t make absolutely clear during the First Reconstruction. If the idea of slavery was left behind and if any tension between whites and blacks was gone during the First Reconstruction, the country wouldn 't have to spend time revisiting the topic. In fact, the country would have the opportunity to use its time on something that would revolutionize society in the future. Foner makes a clear distinction that race wars were hugely impacted by both Reconstruction

Open Document