Reconstruction In The South

Reconstruction in the South

This essay will describe the events that occurred following the Civil

War in a period known as Reconstruction. In the South, during this period of

time many people suffered from the great amount of property damage done to such

things as farms, factories, railroads and several other things that citizens

depended on to keep their economy strong. Some of these economic hardships

included destruction of the credit system and worthless Confederate money.

Though statistics in the South were vague the historian E.B. Long, a careful

student of war strengths suggests "perhaps 750,000 individuals would be

reasonably a close" as an estimate of Southern enrollments in the armies and

navy.

In the South Reconstruction meant rebuilding the economy, establishing

new state and local governments and establishing a new social structure between

whites and blacks. During the war Lincoln had expanded his presidency. With

his power he hoped to set up loyal governments in the Southern states that were

under Union control. Lincoln appointed new temporary governors and instructed

each to call a convention to create a new state government as soon as a group of

the state's citizen totaling 10 percent of the voters in the 1860 presidential

election had signed oaths of loyalty to the Union. Under this plan new

governments were formed in Louisiana, Tennessee and Arkansas but the Congress

refused to recognize them. Republicans in Congress did not want a quick

restoration, for the reason that it would bring Democratic representatives and

senators to Washington, and in 1864 Congress passed the Wade-Davis

Reconstruction Bill. This bill would have delayed the process of rejoining the

Union until 50 percent of the people took an oath of loyalty but Lincoln pocket

vetoed the bill. Abraham Lincoln was assassinated just as the South surrendered

in April 1865, and then Andrew Johnson inherited the problem of Reconstruction.

Johnson supported Lincoln's plan after taking office.

Enough Confederates signed these oaths to enable the immediate creation

of new governments. Johnson required that the new states ratify the 13th

Amendment freeing the slaves, abolish slavery in their own constitutions,

discard debts incurred while in rebellion, and declare secession null and void.

By the end of 1865 all of the secessionist states but Texas had rejoined the

Union. Radical Republicans in Congress thought they should control

Reconstruction and wished to punish the South for causing the Civil War. Some

of these Republicans wished to create a Southern society where blacks and whites

were equal. These Republicans opposed the Southern "Black Codes." Black Codes

were harsh local and state laws passed to control blacks in the South after the