Reconstruction Dbq

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 in 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 to ensure freedom to the former slaves. This time period was when the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were ratified, giving the former slaves 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/KKK in the South started pushing

The Klu Klux Klan killed anybody affiliated with helping Reconstruction or continuing it. For example, the KKK 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 the legislature in my place” quoted by Colby Abram, a former slave who was a legislature (Doc B, Paragraph 2). The Klu Klux Klan were very violent to people who did not come to their terms. “He was stabbed five or six times, and then hanged on a hook in the Grand Jury Room” quoted by Tourgee, who was a former Northerner and is a white judge (Doc A, Paragraph 1). Although the KKK had many enemies, they would kill the carpetbaggers, Reconstruction helpers from the North, freedmen, who were former slaves, and the Radical Republicans since they were Democrats. The Klu Klux Klan also disliked the scalawags who were white Southerners who supported Reconstruction. In other words, the KKK was very much a terrorist group like Al Qaeda since their killings were public which was shown when they hung that Senator John W. Stephens in the Grand Jury Hall (Doc A, Paragraph 1). Surprisingly the KKK were mainly first-class men like lawyers, doctors, and farmers. “Some are first-class men in our town”quoted by Colby Abram a former slave who was in

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. Although it is true that