Post Civil War Reconstruction Essay

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The Destructive Outcome of Reconstruction The post Civil War era, commonly referred to as Reconstruction was the Unions attempts at rebuilding The South after approximately 4 million slaves were freed. This era was intended to be a growth period of social advancements but after the assassination of President Lincoln, things took a turn for the worst. Former Vice President Andrew Johnson rose to power and took the reigns for the reconstruction movement. Reconstruction began to not only produce inequality once again, but also was said to establish a corrupt Southern government. In turn post civil war Reconstruction derived many social, economical, and even political developments. Some of theses destructive changes included the freeing of slaves …show more content…

However, the governments method of doing so resulted in a disastrous and foreseeable future. Fredrick Douglas, a former slave articulates, “They were sent away empty handed, without money, without friends, and without a foot of land to step on. Old and young, sick and well, were turned loose to the open sky, naked to their enemies”. Essentially the government abolished slavery but gave former slaves no ability to leave their former lives. They were not able to work alongside whites and were given no compensation to start there newly freed lives. Black codes and Jim crow laws made it extremely difficult for blacks to become a part of a society and support themselves. Laws prohibiting the possession of weapons, freedom of religion, and unlawful incarceration were just a few of the ones that violated the constitutional amendments. These were directly set in to place in order to control the blacks economical state. Since they were so constricted by the laws in which barred a free lifestyle they were in the same situation as slavery before, some may argue even worse because now they were responsible for housing, and food without proper ability to support themselves …show more content…

This time after the civil war was when the nation’s laws and constitutions were altered to give former slaves basic human rights, or so it was intended to. Unfortunately, segregation and black disenfranchisement was a product of reconstruction that forever haunts our nations history. The actual ideas behind reconstruction were not at all regrettable, but more so the production of discrimination that derived from this time period, after Lincoln’s assassination. President Andrew Johnson, being considered one of the worst presidents in history, attempted to veto acts such as The Civil Rights Act of 1866, an essential law passed by congress in which everyone born in the US is granted citizenship. Although his veto was a failed attempt, Jim Crow Laws, white supremacy segregation, and violation of basic human rights, were all products of his

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