Conflicting Desires During The Reconstruction Era

Conflicting Desires Throughout all recorded history, humans have consistently sought power because only the strongest can survive and prosper; the weak are left to struggle with little to nothing. Neither side wishes to back down, as forfeiting such a battle will cause suffering and the loss of privilege for them and their allies. As such, no matter when and where, there is always a never-ending conflict over power and wealth. Focusing on the late 19th century United States, one can observe that this pattern of struggle persists between many parties. For example, during the periods of Reconstruction, Westward Expansion, and Industrialization, there was always an intense conflict between the powerful and the weak or the rich and the poor. Drawing

In 1865, following the Civil War, the North and the South wanted to become a single entity again and have all their people be free, but both sides had different definitions of the word “all”. For the Radical Republicans in the North, this meant all people, but for the South, it meant only wealthy white people. The former slaves, who were subjected to the South’s interpretation of universal freedom, had a different take on this altogether. One such person, Henry Adams, thought,”’If I cannot do like a white man’... ‘I am not free’” (Foner 566). These definitions were drastically different from one another, so none of the parties involved would compromise. However, Charles Summer, a Radical, declared, “’The same national authority… that destroyed slavery must see that this other pretension [racial discrimination] is not permitted to survive,’” revealing that the Radical-dominant Congress believed in the same definition of freedom as the former slaves (Foner 581). As such, they indirectly worked with one another, and in April 1866, the Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill. This was the first major step towards civil rights for African Americans, but the South was greatly angered by this, as more freedoms for former slaves meant less

The idea that the United States was destined by God to occupy the entire continent drove adventurous citizens to consciously commit atrocities against the native people. The laws and acts that the federal government passed only further encouraged this behavior. Despite this, their actions were still inappropriate. After seeing many Indian tribes crushed by the American military, including his own, Chief Joseph of the Nez Percé said to the government, “’Treat all men alike... Give them the same law... Let me be a free man – free to travel, free to stop, free to trade where I choose, free to... think and talk and act for myself’” (Foner 624). As Chief Joseph mentioned, the Native Americans simply wanted to live their own lives, free from the influence of the United States. Despite this, the United States showed no regard to the native people, as they could use the native lands to expand their own power and economy. To make matters worse, the federal government began passing laws to attack native culture as well. One such law was the Dawes Act, which was passed in 1887 to control the “tribalism” of the native people. It divided up all remaining tribal lands