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Success of the reconstruction period
Success of the reconstruction period
Reconstruction period short term effects
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There were both pros and cons when referring to Reconstruction for the African Americans in the South. The changes that they faced were drastic in contrast from when they were slaves, socially, economically, and politically. African Americans gained freedom, yet rarely received any respect from whites, nor did many recognize them to be free. This caused complete pandemonium in Black’s lives. Though, in retrospect reconstruction was a big step towards freedom. Without Reconstruction, our nation wouldn’t have progressed as far and we wouldn 't be where we are today regarding racism and discrimination. Reconstruction gave African American men political rights(Reconstruction, 1866-1877). It gave them the right to vote and hold office …show more content…
Slave families were sold to several different plantations often far away from each other. Children, parents, husbands, and wives. They were almost always separated. Reconstruction allowed families to stay together in their own homes (Reconstruction, 1863-1866). Before Reconstruction, when Blacks were forced to live on plantations, it was frowned upon to show any of their own culture and religion. Now they could let their cultures bloom freely without repercussion. When families were enslaved men couldn 't protect their families anymore. Masters would abuse their women slaves and do with them what they pleased. The enslaved women 's’ husbands would have n control, they felt powerless. With Reconstruction, black men can protect their families. This lets them regain and express their manhood by being the man of the house with their family. A lot of white communities in the south were not in favor of Blacks having their own homes with their families. This caused massacres like from Lucy Tibbs Testimony, “I saw them surround the houses. The fire. When the fire got very hot I saw men, women, and children break out and run to the bayou. They shot at them as fast as they could while they were running. They wounded some of them but did not kill any except that girl. When the house she was in on fire she ran out and just as she turned the corner they shot her in the mouth… Both houses were burned”(Lucy Tibbs).
Reconstruction gave potential hope and opportunity for the black population even though it failed to bring economic gains to blacks. it instead established social gains as more and blacks migrated to the south, the federal freedman bureau made education more widely available for blacks.
With the civil war coming to an end, the congressman of Illinois presented a fresh, new concept. This modern idea stated that the United States of America was a new nation and “for the first time, it had been wholly free.” Many of the white men from this time period were against the change and pursued their old way of life, which prevented the newly made amendments from going into full effect. Freedom in the south during the reconstruction era of America was very controversial. There were many different conceptions of what freedom was. It was thought to be land, others thought it had to do with money, and some even though it was not having a master/not being a slave. The definition of freedom swayed back and forth depending on whose point of
Reconstruction government made many changes. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It also helped the position of women by expanding legal rights for women.
During this time period, most of the south lived in poverty and about a 3rd were illiterate. When blacks became free, whites felt threatened of the once black slaves. Black people who worked in the mud and had nothing to their names, now trying to gain what the white man has. Due to this white southerners formed groups to attack and intimidated blacks, but the violence grow wide spread. This cased what we called the radical reconstruction.
The seed sown by the wealthy Southern plantation owner of racial disparity had germinated to later become the profoundly discriminatory society. The suppression and unjust behavior of white southern plantation owner towards black slaves had led the civil war, which transition the new era of uncertainty. The work of post-civil war does not end with the abolishment of slavery, but it only starts. The task of rebuilding the south, readmission of the confederate army to union, and providing assistance for the free people of post war, was later known as reconstruction. The work of reconstruction had not only failed to rebuild the nation as the united. But it also failed profoundly of what was the urgent needs of the post war; provide assistance
Reconstruction could be considered one of the largest projects ever undertaken. The mess that was the south, left in the ruins of a bloody war, called for drastic measures. The inquisition that begs to be asked is whether or not this venture was a success. Unfortunately the answer isn't as simple as "yes" or "no". Although many promises were broken, the much-debated goals of Reconstruction are still present in the minds of today's leaders as we continue to rebuild our country.
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.
The United States, a nation that has undergone many hard changes, politically, economically, and socially. The success of this great nation has relied on different plans and objectives set out by the leaders that have gone before us. One plan that helped shape our nation was Reconstruction. Though many consider Reconstruction to be a failure, Reconstruction helped pass laws that recognized African Americans as equals, restored the Union, and provided educational opportunities for former slaves. These initiatives are what made Reconstruction a success.
Reconstruction was a hard time were a lot of bad decision took place but some god ones were put in effect like the three amendments, the Civil Rights bill and the Tenure of Office. Is a fact that I took a lot of steps for the country to become stabilized the situation in the South, due to all the corruption that was going on during the period. Also thanks to the violence that spread around the south prevented Reconstruction from leaving the country in better conditions. But what it did was set the playground for the many civil right movements to come.
The Reconstruction was undoubtedly a failure. The political and social aim of Reconstruction was to form national unity as well as create civil rights and equality for African Americans. Even though Reconstruction laid the foundation for equal rights in the United States, it did not achieve its primary goals. In the time of Reconstruction, many African Americans still felt the effects of oppression and many were still trapped in an undesirable social and economic class. The Reconstruction was an overall fail despite the fact that it was the shaky groundwork for a fight for equality in the years to come.
I think that though it wasn’t a total success, it was at least a step in the right direction. Granted, laws that were set up weren’t followed strictly. Still, at least laws were being created to protect African American rights. I mean, they were now formally known as citizens, and were given the right to vote. Though not a huge leap, it was a major step. If that doesn’t convince you, think of it this way. Without Reconstruction and the 14th and 15th amendments, another group may have never got the courage to fight for their rights. This group is women. Many suffrage leaders would later look at this point in African American history as a hopeful sign that they, too, might someday be recognized. So, was Reconstruction a success? Yes. It was a success with
The period of Reconstruction after the Civil War was successful because it brought the Confederate states back into the Union, which is what one definition of the term Reconstruction refers to, and it helped African Americans to experience aspects of life that they had never before been allowed to. Due to the ratification of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments, former slaves were able to start new lives for themselves with legal rights to defend their actions.
The Civil war could very easily be known as one of the greatest tragedies in United States history. After the Civil War, the people of The United States had so much anger and hatred towards each other and the government that 11 Southern states seceded from the Nation and parted into two pieces. The Nation split into either the Northern abolitionist or the Southern planation farmers. The Reconstruction era was meant to be exactly how the name announces it to be. It was a time for the United States to fix the broken pieces the war had caused allowing the country to mend together and unite once again. The point of Reconstruction was to establish unity between the states and to also create and protect the civil rights of the former slaves. Although Reconstruction failed in many aspects such as the upraise in white supremacy and racism, the reconstruction era was a time the United States took a lead in the direction of race equality.
This survey paper will explore the early events of Reconstruction during and immediately after the Civil War. The topics that will be addressed in this survey paper will be the Thirteenth Amendment, the Freedmen's Bureau, the Black Code, the Fourteenth Amendment and finally some political and social achievements of Reconstruction. Reconstruction to African Americans began as a feeling of joy and triumph for their freedom which was taken away quicker than it took to receive but it just wasn't called slavery anymore.
In general, there were many changes during the Reconstruction years as blacks learned to adapted to their new struggles as free people. They went from the Southern plantations working for no pay to migrating west to making their own way. In the process, they learned to be self-independent of the whites by having building their own churches, schools and the role of black leaders starts to emerge to ignite the black race. The famous leaders such as Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois during the Reconstruction years made an impact on African American history.