The Period of Restoration is Shattered

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“... the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery,” W.E.B Dubois stated. (Background Essay) After the Civil War, a period, known as Reconstruction, took place and was a time of returning the Confederate States back to the U.S. During this, freed slaves, known as Freedmen, were becoming viewed more as citizens, received education, the right to vote, and even had government duties. (Background Essay) For a while, the slaves seemed to be proceeding on the path of a prosperous future. However, Reconstruction only survived from 1865 to 1877. Who’s hand did the fault of the deceased renewal of society rest in? Although the North and South both played roles in the ending of Reconstruction, I believe that the North receives the most blame.
Many of the South’s actions were a part of terminating the period of rebuilding, but the North was as much at fault as the South-if not, more. Groups such as the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) were deliberately frightening Carpetbaggers and Scalawags in the South who were supporters of freedmen and the renewal of the former government because they were highly against such desires. (Doc. A) On one occasion, the KKK even went as far as murdering a State Senator in a courthouse (Doc. A) The KKK also chose many tactics to achieve their goal of ruining Reconstruction such as torturing, threatening, hanging, and bribing Republicans and supporters of recreating a new government into electing more Democrats. (Docs. A and B) To add on, on October 29, 1869, a former slave, who was Georgia’s State Legislature, Colby, was taken by the KKK and was whipped as a punishment for being a Radical Republican supporter. (Doc. B) In addition, the Klansmen had also offered Colby $5,000 d...

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...outh’s alarming slavery issue. (Doc. C) This let the problems of slavery remain and nudge Reconstruction closer to its end. Furthermore, the North had mainly become hypocritical to the blacks’ position in society by stating they were not yet ready to be in government. (Doc. D) As that general belief spread like a virus, the North’s feeling of responsibility to help blacks and the effects of Reconstruction gradually died away. The longstanding aftermath of Reconstruction’s failure has caused for future generations of blacks to continue struggling with their mistreated roles in the nation. Those, like Martin Luther King Jr., had to keep the fight for equality going on in order to achieve their goals of sameness throughout the U.S. Even today, similar racial remarks still linger on and are being made continuously towards blacks just as they were nearly 150 years ago.

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