The American Civil War came to a terrible and bloody end with six hundred thousand casualties and the North winning and the South losing. Southern soldiers returned from the war and found their home in ruins. Lots of people lost their homes, land, businesses, and their way of life. Many Southerners faced starvation due to the high food prices and the widespread of crop failure. The Confederate money that was used by Southerners was now useless. Numerous banks collapsed, and the merchants went bankrupt because people couldn’t pay their debts. The people of the South were penniless and broken. (“Post”) But once again America was reunited, but its economy was ruined, and was socially and politically damaged. After the Civil War, change was needed. The Civil War helped African Americans get their citizenships, rights to vote, and more importantly, their freedom. On April 11, 1865, President Lincoln introduced his plan for Reconstruction (“Cause”). The Reconstruction was meant to improve and restore America into a successful, united country while helping recently “free” African Americans in society. He warned people that the, years of the Reconstruction would be “fraught with great difficulty.” Three days later he was assassinated (“Cause”). The twelve years after the Civil War was called Reconstruction. The Reconstruction era was an opportunity of change and was an expansion of freedom for former slaves. It was a time where the North and the Republicans were attempting to fix the Southern economy, set up new governments and support the rights of freedmen. There were also many problems and resistance to the Reconstruction process. “…there were so many different views about how Reconstruction should be accomplished, and because so much... ... middle of paper ... ...Library of Congress). N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2014. "Primary Documents in American History." 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Primary Documents of American History (Virtual Programs & Services, Library of Congress). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014. Randall, J. G., and David Herbert Donald. The Civil War and Reconstruction. Lexington, MA: Heath, 1969. N. pag. Web. "Reconstruction in the South." Reconstruction in the South. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. "Southern Resistance." Reconstruction Era. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2014. SparkNotes. SparkNotes, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. The cover of Harper’s Weekly, March 14, 1874 "The Ku Klux Klan in Reconstruction North Carolina: Methods of Madness in the Struggle for Southern Dominance." Omeka RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 May 2014. Tourgee Albion, Letter on Ku Klux Klan Activities. New York Tribune, May 1870.
South resistance killed reconstruction because they had KKK. KKK is a terrorist group. In Document
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
“The best way to predict your future is to create it” (Lincoln). President states the principal of Reconstruction, where to unite the United States, there must be an authoritative action to carry it out. The Reconstruction Era (1863-1877) is a period where Lincoln sought to restore the divided nation by uniting the confederates and the union and to involve the freedmen into the American society. The main objectives were to initially restore the union, to rebuild the South and to enact progressive legislation for the rights of the freed slaves. Thus, the executive and legislature branches had enacted a series of polices to “create the future” for the United States. Although the policies tied down to the Reconstructive motive, there was controversy
After years of a cruel war that pitted brother against brother, the United States of America entered into a period of time called Reconstruction. Reconstruction was an act implemented by Congress to help rebuild the majorly devastated southern states. Another of its goals was help newly freed slaves successfully merge into life as a free people among many hostile whites.
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.
President Abraham Lincoln envisioned a conservative plan for the reconstruction of the south. Under Lincoln’s plan, as soon as ten percent of the voters in a southern state whom have voted in 1860 and had taken an oath of loyalty to the United States, they could then elect constitutional conventions. These conventions, upon adopting new state constitutions and abolishing slavery they would then be readmitted to the union. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln would change polices towards reconstruction of the south.
loyalty oath. If this happened then that state could setup a new state government. Under
Reconstruction was the period that followed the American Civil War in which attempts were made to amend the wrongs of slavery and the political, economical and social problems that were caused. When Andrew Johnson became president in 1865, he began the period of Presidential Reconstruction. He offered a pardon to all southerners, except wealthy planters and Confederate leaders by giving them full political rights and returning their property (Gilmore). He required the new state governments to abolish slavery, abandon secession and revoke the Confederate debt but other than that they were allowed to freely manage their affairs (Bartley). The southern governments responded to this by creating the black codes, which forced African Americans
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.
The Civil War marked a defining moment in United States history. Long simmering sectional tensions reached critical when eleven slaveholding states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. Political disagreement gave way to war as the Confederates insisted they had the right to leave the Union, while the loyal states refused to allow them to go. Four years of fighting claimed almost 1.5 million casualties, resulting in a Union victory. Even though the North won the war, they did a horrible job in trying to win the peace, or in other words, the Reconstruction era. Rather than eliminating slavery in the South, the Southerners had a new form of slavery, which was run by a new set of codes called "Black Codes”. With the help of President Johnson, the South continued their plantations, in essence becoming exactly what they were before the war. Overall, the South won Reconstruction because in the end they got slavery (without the name), they got an easy pass back into the Union, and things reverted back to the way they had been prior the war.
As the Civil War came to its end the Reconstruction era took its place. Reconstruction in America was the period from which previously part of the Confederacy were gotten back into the United States. This period was, above all else, people had a lot of questions and concerns about the future, they were alert to each action the government made. Politicians straggle over the development of new system for farther role and status of freed slaves in the South. The main concern was to see whether the reconstruction period would bring economic, social and political equality to African American people.
Bryant, Jonathan M. "Ku Klux Klan in the Reconstruction Era." New Georgia Encyclopedia. 09 May 2013. Web. 21 May 2014.
After the great battle of the American Civil War was fought, and the North won, a bigger battle still had to take place; reconstruction. Reconstruction after the war was not going to be easy, and it was not. What was the primary goal? What should be done to ex-confederates? Free Blacks? How should this reconstruction take place? Many of these questions were solved by the government, but how well? Reconstruction could have gone very differently, and that is what I intend to show. I will develop my own reconstruction policy for the United States after the American Civil War, dealing with several critical points, and the overall re-integration of the south into the Union. My policy is based on equality for the South and North, and making sure that a political balance and a balance of economic power was restored as much as possible.
Reconstruction was the rebuilding after the war. The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865-1877. Reconstruction was not only the physical rebuilding but also the “political, economic, and social changes” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 417). The stages of Reconstruction were the Presidential Reconstruction, Freedom and the Legacy of Slavery, Congressional Reconstruction and Black Reconstruction. Reconstruction started off as a success. It united the United States. States that succeeded from the union had made new constitutions and accepted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.
Reconstruction was a time in which the nation was healing. The South was in the process of rebuilding, while also transitioning into the new idea of free blacks and abolished slavery. Changes had to be made in order to ensure that the ideas finalized upon the conclusion of the Civil War were put forward and accepted. The ending of the war should have had a positive effect on the African Americans, however, the reality was the exact opposite. The idea of the Reconstruction Era was based, primarily, on efforts of slaves to fully claim their newly acquired rights as citizens, and to experience their freedom.