Was Reconstruction A Failure?

203 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Failures of reconstruction

I think that reconstruction was a failure. As it may have met some of its goals it didn't meet all and it also introduced another conflict. The main goal of Reconstruction was to re-admit the southern, Confederate states. There was three plans to re-admit the Confederacy. The Lincoln plan, the Johnson plan, and the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Reconstruction was a failure because while it may have re-admitted the Confederate States it took three plans. And at the succession of re-admitting the States afterwards the south then had more control than the north did. As that we also conspired an assassination on President Lincoln. Slavery was fought over during the civil war, the slaves weren't granted much freedom even though they were now citizens.

Show More
Related

  • Was Reconstruction Doomed To Fail

    249 Words  | 1 Pages

    Yes, Reconstruction was doomed to fail. The first reason for this was that Lincoln started a plan or policy for Reconstruction before the Civil War was over (page 792 of our assigned readings). Lincoln said that "he intended to to deal with the defeated South "with malice toward none" and "charity for all" to "achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves (Page 792 of our assigned readings)."" The first problem with this thought is that who knows how the war would play out? Yes, Lincoln believed that this proposition would help end the war, but was that a good time to begin Reconstruction? Before the war even ended? Lincoln's plan eventually angered many Radical Republicans, and that is how the Wade-Davis Bill was introduced.

    Read More

  • How the Failure of Reconstruction Impacted African Americans

    882 Words  | 2 Pages

    After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African American people, instead, it actually hurt them because the laws were not enforced, and eventually lead to the organization of white supremacy terrorist groups.

    Read More

  • Reconstruction: A Partial Success and a Partial Failure

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the Civil War ended in 1865, it was followed by an era known as Reconstruction that lasted until 1877, with the goal to rebuild the nation. Lincoln was the president at the beginning of this era, until his assassination caused his vice president, Andrew Johnson to take his place in 1865. Johnson was faced with numerous issues such as the reunification of the union and the unknown status of the ex-slaves, while compromising between the principles of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. After the Election of 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a former war hero with no political experience, became the nation’s new president, but was involved in numerous acts of corruption. Reconstruction successfully reintegrated the southern states into the Union through Lincoln and Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans, but was mostly a failure due to the continued discriminatory policies against African Americans, such as the Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and sharecropping, as well as the widespread corruption of the elite in the North and the Panic of 1873,

    Read More

  • Demise of the Second Reconstruction

    2219 Words  | 5 Pages

    Decline of the Second Reconstruction The Second Reconstruction is broadly defined as the time period in America after the passing of the Civil rights act of 1964, which brought about the necessity for an efficient transition into racial and sociopolitical equality. During the following years this was not achieved and several movements were constituted that attempted to bring this wish into reality through enthusiastic albeit unsuccessful political, social and cultural actions. The following is a chronological narrative and sociopolitical analysis of those attempts. Prelude: Nixon Administration and the Suppression of a Revolution In the late 1960’s American politics were shifting at a National level with liberalism being less supported as its politics were perceived as flawed, both by people on the left who thought that liberalism was not as effective as more radical political enterprises and by conservatives who believed that liberal politics were ostensibly crippling the American economy.

    Read More

  • Was The Reconstruction A Success Or A Failure

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    The United States had a presidential and congressional reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure, a great attempt to unify the nation. It was a failure due to the events that took place during this period. It was 1865, black men were tasting freedom, the confederation was defeated, the south was defeated, but the unchained blacks had no real freedom. " A man maybe free and yet not independent," Mississippi planter Samuel Agnew observed in his diary (Foner 481).

    Read More

  • Failure Of Reconstruction Essay

    925 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 1800s, the succeeding era following the American Civil War was sought to be a period of prosperity, privilege and freedom for those affected by the calamitous war and preceding period of oppression. This era of reconstruction made a genuine effort to; Readmit Confederate States to Union, establish and defend the rights to newly-freed African Americans, and integrate them into the United State's social, economic and political operations. However, the reality of this adverse situation was that southern, democratic radicals would institute new laws known as "Black Codes" (OI) which would set a nationwide precedent that they would go as far as they needed to maintain their confederate way of life. Other southern radicals had also created White Supremacy Organizations to combat opposing Republicans and freedmen. The severity of the situation synergized with Confederate hate established the grounds in which the efforts of Reconstruction ultimately failed.

    Read More

  • Why Did Reconstruction Fail?

    945 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reconstruction is known as the period after the Civil war. The whole country was separated in two, people didn’t know what to do, the south was completely destroyed, and there were a lot of decisions to be made by the president. It lasted four years, and there was over half a million casualties between the union (North) and the confederate states (South). The north was declared the winner of the war after General Lee surrender in the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. The causes of the war was the secession of several southern states, they argued that it was up to them and it was in their rights to decide whether they should make slavery legal or illegal in their own boundaries. But the Union had other things in mind, the union wanted to decide whether or not the states were going to have slaves. This was just to make sure the country was equal on slavery and non-slavery on both sides, but states thought the union was abusing their power and being too strict on them, and that is when they decided to secede. The first state to secede was south Carolina, then they were followed by six other states, among those states were Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. These states got together and created the confederate states of America in February 4, 1861, and the president was Jefferson Davis, they also made a government similar to the one of the U.S. Constitution.

    Read More

  • The Failure of the First and Second Reconstruction

    4645 Words  | 10 Pages

    The Failure of the First and Second Reconstruction The First and Second Reconstructions held out the great promise of rectifying racial injustices in America. The First Reconstruction, emerging out of the chaos of the Civil War, had as its goals equality for Blacks in voting, politics, and use of public facilities. The Second Reconstruction, emerging out of the booming economy of the 1950's, had as its goals, integration, the end of Jim Crow and the more amorphous goal of making America a biracial democracy where "the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave holders will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. "

    Read More

  • Success of Reconstruction

    765 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.

    Read More

  • Reconstruction: The Promises And Failure Of Reconstruction

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite all of Reconstruction’s promises and successes, the era included many failures, too. One such failure was the formation of the Ku Klux Klan and other racially prejudiced groups in the South that promoted violence towards African Americans. Another failure involved the corruption seen during Reconstruction by both the North and South. The carpetbaggers who were Northerners helped spread corruption in the Reconstruction Era by moving from their home state in the North securing a political office or position in the South to carry out the plans of the Radical Republicans. In the South, many local governments disenfranchised or created poll taxes for African American voters enabling them to vote.

    Read More

  • Was Reconstruction A Success Or Failure Essay

    1149 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most destructive failure was how the blacks were still victimized by the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, was originally founded in the Southern states after the Civil War to kill off the blacks in heinous ways. Reconstruction failed to protect former slaves. White southerners made it a point to not be able to progress by passing various laws such as the black codes. Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866. These laws had the purpose of limiting African Americans freedom, and forcing them to work under harsh conditions for low wages. Even though slaves were now free, segregation was a huge issue. The Jim Crow laws were state laws forcing the blacks and whites to be separated in the Southern United States. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th, 1865. Since Lincoln was shot, the country denied his orders during Reconstruction. Most of the Southerners felt like they were superior to the Reconstruction and felt as if they did not have to follow its orders. Another failure of Reconstruction was the poverty. Poverty was a tremendous issue in the south because many white southerners lost their land. Although the plan of Reconstruction was to succeed, I personally believe Reconstruction had more negatives than positives. The idea was in the right direction, but because of white southerners and laws passed Reconstruction

    Read More

  • Effects Of Reconstruction

    1323 Words  | 3 Pages

    On one hand the slaves were free, and on the other hand they were not given equal rights, and they were discriminated for the color of their skin tone. In other words, Reconstruction was a mixed success, which combined both positive and negative impacts. By the end of the era, the North and South were once again reunited, and all southern state legislatures had abolished slavery in their constitutions. However, it some sense, Reconstruction was a failure because blacks were not provided equal rights and opportunities. Racism and segregation did not end at all. On the other hand, there was a huge change to the country as the US was completely in a chaos stage during the civil war. Despite some obstructions, it can be concluded that the Reconstruction was somewhat beneficial for African American. As time passes, many schools and colleges were founded for blacks, and many other doors were opened to uplift their life. Overall, all these outcomes can be considered as a huge

    Read More

  • Who Killed Reconstruction

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reconstruction has been brutally murdered! For a little over a decade after the Civil War, the victorious North launched a campaign of social, economic, and political recovery in South. Martial law was also implemented in the South. Eventually, the North hoped to admit the territory in the former Confederacy back into the United States as states. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments freed the African Americans, made them citizens, and gave them the right to vote. Despite this, Reconstruction was unfortunately cut short in 1877. The North killed Recosntruction because of racism, negligence, and distractions.

    Read More

  • Civil War Reconstruction Ultimately a Failure

    1237 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Civil war was possibly the greatest tragedy that this country had ever faced. Years of constant arguing, compromises and cynical ideas about slavery pushed this so called "United Nation" into an atrocious collision between the Northern abolitionists and the Southern proslavery farmers and plantation owners. The nation suffered enormous losses economically and went into a downward spiral. The reconstruction period began with many leaders stepping up to try and fix this crippled country, but it didn't turn out like everyone hoped. Slavery was still the largest issue and the reconstruction halted because of the disagreements the people faced. After many years of working, compromising and passing laws, the task proved itself to be impossible, as the country remained to be separated. The lack of unity was present because most of the amendments, laws and rules passed during reconstruction were created to protect and ensure the rights of African Americans. However the South continued to promote slavery and "putting blacks in their place" until the 1950's.

    Read More

  • My Own Reconstruction Plan after the Civil War

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    While I think that reconstruction was not done as good as it could have, I don’t think I could have done better. It’s very difficult to reunify a union, especially one as fragile as the Unites States. I think that what was done was probably for the best, and of course it’s impossible to go back in time and change it, but if I had the option I would let it happen just as it did. After the war, we saw a huge growth in American industry, and I think to some extent it was because of the way reconstruction was handled.

    Read More

More about Was Reconstruction A Failure?

Open Document