The Civil War was the bloodiest series of battles in American history. The battle of Antietam had a total of 23,000 people in one day. The war just ended and all is supposed to go to peace. Is the war really over? The Reconstruction Era was the time period after the war from 1865-1877 (Background Essay, Timeline). This era was when the federal government sent troops down to the South to fix up the damage from the war and make sure the freedmen have their freedom. This time period was when the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were ratified giving the freedmen civil rights and the right to vote (Background Essay, Paragraph 3) . The Reconstruction Era looked like it was going to be successful, but the Klu Klux Klan in the South started pushing …show more content…
The term Reconstruction meant to rebuild the South physically and also make sure that the freedmen are getting the rights they deserve. The South ended Reconstruction because of the Klu Klux Klan’s terrorism and the South’s government didn’t care enough about the Reconstruction to stop the Klu Klux Klan. The South’s resistance was assumed because of the Klu Klux Klan that thrived in the South. The Klu Klux Klan killed anybody affiliated with helping Reconstruction or continuing it. The Klu Klux Klan would bribe black legislatures to get somebody else to go in and vote for the Democratic ticket. “About two days before they whipped me they offered me $5,000 to go with them and said they would pay me $2,500 in cash if I would let another man go to legislature in my place” quoted by Abram Colby, a former slave …show more content…
The South’s government never bothered to get rid of the Klu Klux Klan. “I say to you plainly that any member of Congress who, especially from the South, does not support, advocate, and urge immediate active and thorough measures to put an end to these outrages … is a coward, a traitor, or a fool” quoted by Tourgee, who was a former Northerner and is a white judge (Doc A, Paragraph 2). The North even says that the South is just pure violence. The South just turned into a bloody mess and made the North show its Northern neglect. “Although political violence continued in the South … the tide of public opinion in the North began to turn against Reconstruction policies” quoted in The Americans (Doc C, Paragraph 1). The South’s government played a huge role in the violence in the South because most of the Republicans in the legislative were being bought. The Klu Klux Klan would pay them money to go with them. The Klu Klux Klan would pay them even more if they let somebody go in their place to the legislature. The South’s government very well became biased since probably most of the government was Democrats who were against Reconstruction. If the South wanted the reconstructing of their land so bad, they would have stopped the violence to let the North come back in safely. The South’s government didn’t do anything pretty much ending Reconstruction. The Northern neglect may
Reconstruction was a nasty period in History. Reconstruction took place after the civil war. In the civil war there was lots of devastation. Buildings and houses were being destroyed so people needed something called Reconstruction. Reconstruction was something people really needed after the civil war because they needed to rebuild a community. Some people didn't want reconstruction because they liked destruction. Then also after the civil war slavery was abolished, as well some people don't like that either. South killed Reconstruction because South resistance had KKK, and South was murdering people.
There was a new Military Reconstruction Act that was passed to make sure African Americans new rights were protected. The carpetbaggers provided aid for emancipated African Americans. In the article “ North or South: Who Killed Reconstruction?” it shows how the carpetbaggers supported emancipated African Americans by the founding of Black Churches, Public schools, and Universities were built for black children. In this case, the northern states tried to help the southern states to keep reconstruction but the KKK took hands in their own
“Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” George Santayana stated what happens if we do not learn from our past. After the Civil War the United States wanted to build itself back up. The nation was in rubble because half of the country was fighting the other. That left it in a sad and fallen state. The issue of slavery was a long debated topic. They thought they could get over this and start anew. Reconstruction means the actions or process of rebuilding what has been damaged or destroyed. Did the North or the South kill Reconstruction? That issue is still up for debate. In my opinion, the South killed Reconstruction and stopped it dead in its tracks. The South did not respect the African American’s right to vote and would terrorize
The Reconstruction was the process of trying to rebuild the South after the devastating effect of the Civil War. Some interesting facts during the Civil War were first, in 1869 the first college football game took place, second, African American universities became a reality, and last, in 1870, Hiram Revels was elected the first black Senator. In the end, Reconstruction died, but we’ve all been asking the same thing; North or South: Who killed the Reconstruction? Answering this question, I believe the North killed the Reconstruction by a lack of focus on it, the racism on African Americans, and being sick of assisting the South.
Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. "All these ex-slaves", Dr. Susan Walens commented, "and no place to put them," The ex-slaves weren't just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation in order to re-establish the South. These issues were economical, social and political. The United States had presidential and congressional reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure, a great attempt to unify the nation. It was a failure due to the events that took place during this period.
Reconstruction is known as the period after the Civil war. The whole country was separated in two, people didn’t know what to do, the south was completely destroyed, and there were a lot of decisions to be made by the president. It lasted four years, and there was over half a million casualties between the union (North) and the confederate states (South). The north was declared the winner of the war after General Lee surrender in the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. The causes of the war was the secession of several southern states, they argued that it was up to them and it was in their rights to decide whether they should make slavery legal or illegal in their own boundaries. But the Union had other things in mind, the union wanted to decide whether or not the states were going to have slaves. This was just to make sure the country was equal on slavery and non-slavery on both sides, but states thought the union was abusing their power and being too strict on them, and that is when they decided to secede. The first state to secede was south Carolina, then they were followed by six other states, among those states were Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. These states got together and created the confederate states of America in February 4, 1861, and the president was Jefferson Davis, they also made a government similar to the one of the U.S. Constitution.
The Reconstruction Era that followed the Civil War was created to represent a period of political, economical, and social reconstruction of the Northern Union and the eleven Confederate states of the South. Though the conclusion the Civil War and commencement of the Reconstruction Era represented the conclusion of slavery throughout the United States, it did not guarantee African Americans racial equality and freedom from prejudice and segregation in Southern states of the U.S. The few advancements during the Reconstruction Era, such as the establishments of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments failed to out weigh the extreme segregation caused by the early Black Codes and Jim Crow laws , gruesome violence derived from lynching
The period of rebuilding after the Civil War was termed the Era of Reconstruction. During this period the government was supposed to help build back the South and strengthen the Union. The government, however, failed to help the South complete the transition into life without slavery. The government disregarded the treatment of African Americans and allowed the South to continue to treat them badly. The government also failed to help stabilize the economy for the South, and the political situation was filled with distrust and corruption.
Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.
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.
Reconstruction, the policy that attempted to reconstruct the South after the Civil War, officially ended in 1877. This policy was developed to bring back the 11 states that left the Union and give “freedmen”- African Americans who were freed from slavery - civil rights. The failure of Reconstruction was ironical since it happened during the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It also happened during a time when everything appeared to be going smoothly for the country, with railroads being built at a rapid rate, hopes and dreams as dreamed by Thomas Jefferson were being pursued, and African Americans were gaining more freedom and equal rights (Roden). The South was responsible for its death
After the civil war in 1865 , we later come across the reconstruction act in March 1867. This divided the south into several districts, The reconstruction act lasted until 1877. After the civil war ended ,reconstruction was well organized and peaceful until there was an increasing amount of fear and violence during the time of “Reign of Terror”. This was an unfortunate time because many blacks were being abused or murdered. The Ku Klux Klan became an organization by terrorists. “Give me liberty” by Eric Foner states “hundreds of former slaves were murdered, including fifty members of a black militia unit after they had surrendered.” (pg.468) You can assume this
Reconstruction has been brutally murdered! For a little over a decade after the Civil War, the victorious North launched a campaign of social, economic, and political recovery in South. Martial law was also implemented in the South. Eventually, the North hoped to admit the territory in the former Confederacy back into the United States as states. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments freed the African Americans, made them citizens, and gave them the right to vote. Despite this, Reconstruction was unfortunately cut short in 1877. The North killed Recosntruction because of racism, negligence, and distractions.
Though Reconstruction was heavy handed on the south during its early years with the loss of slaves being a heavy economic hit and carpet baggers taking up positions of government. However, Southerners recovered rather quickly finding that to improve their situation they would just have to reclaim their previous positions in their state governments. Michael Perman in an essay about failures of Republican rule in the south write, “The defeat of the Republicans was essential, but the real objective was something larger. It was the ending of Reconstruction, a program and a regime that had been imposed on the South”. The first step to bring about the end of reconstruction was to reclaim everything the blacks and carpet baggers took. Southern Radicals began a reign of terror directed at Republicans and blacks through the rejuvenated Ku Klux Klan in 1866. Through this terror and an increasingly disinterested Republican government towards the South. Reconstruction began to fade away and eventually ended with the Compromise of 1877 which withdrew all Northern troops from the South. The Southerners despite starting the war could become readmitted to the Union under relatively lax terms, lost their slaves, but were able to force the freed blacks out of society once Reconstruction
After the South’s surrender, many Confederate soldiers manifested their fears of black resistance and empowerment into their participation in vigilante groups. In his text, A Nation Under Our Feet, Steven Hahn notes, “the Klan not only came to embody the anger and displacement of a defeated soldiery… it also may be regarded as a guerilla movement bent on continuing the struggle and avenging the consequences of the official surrender”. White vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan attracted ex-Confederate soldiers because these groups perpetuated the Lost Cause. Since its primary goal was to exert authority over black people to restore military and political hierarchy, the Ku Klux Klan epitomized the South's memory of the Civil War. The Lost Cause portrays Confederate soldiers as Southern gentlemen who were rightfully protecting their homeland and noble way of life. Following this logic, freedmen, who voted overwhelmingly Republican, threatened the 'Southern' way of life and political order that the South fought so vigilantly to protect. A fear of black empowerment persisted during Reconstruction as blacks were often characterized as too ignorant or intellectually inferior to vote. Furthermore, after slavery, blacks continued to be depicted as hazards to white communities, as well as social and political order. The Ku Klux Klan's response to this