The period of time known as Reconstruction was successful in unifying and rebuilding the United States of America after the Civil War. However there were many struggles brought about and faced during this important time. With the end of the war came the end of slavery in practical terms, but the South was desperate to preserve their way of life. Thus violence erupted and drew a dark cloud over the Reconstruction Period. Out of the Civil war came three constitutional amendments; the Thirteenth, the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments were positive steps towards racial equality in the United States. These amendments abolished slavery formally, prohibited unequal protection under the law and granted African-Americans the right to vote. In order to be readmitted into the Union, the Southern states would have to have recognized and abide by these amendments. Nonetheless, Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson was a very lenient man, who pardoned most Southern whites and felt it was up to the state to decide how they wanted blacks to be treated. As a result, Northerners were infuriated that former confederate leaders were able to gain power again and thus allowing Black Codes to be put in place. Soon President John was impeached by the new political power known as Radical Republicans, but …show more content…
This was unacceptable to the latter as they believed political positions should belong to Southern white Democrats and them only. It was during this time that The Ku Klux Klan came about to “obstruct and destroy Reconstruction government, to assassinate or intimidate black and white Republican officials, and to use violence to prevent people from voting.” (Foner,Eric.) In other words, The KKK tried “to use violence to restore a system of white supremacy that's been disrupted by the coming of Reconstruction.”
Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.
Union victory in the Civil War in 1865 may have given slaves their freedom, but the process of rebuilding the nation during the Reconstruction presented a whole new set of challenges. The Era of Reconstruction was the time after the Civil War where the nation attempted to promote justice and healing among the people. During this time there was a push for advancement of equal rights with the promotion of the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) and the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves of the North, followed by the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States; the 14th Amendment that defined citizenship for black males and the 15th Amendment that went on to guaranteed
A few days after the civil War ended, President Lincoln was assassinated and never had the chance to implement his Reconstruction plan. The Reconstruction Era occurred in the period of 1865 to 1877 under the reign of President Andrew Johnson who was the predecessor of President Lincoln. Congress was not scheduled to convene until December 1865, which gave Johnson eight months to pursue his own Reconstruction policies. Under his Reconstruction policies, the former Confederate states were required to join back into the Union and heal the wounds of the nation.
As a result of this, racist organizations were founded to wreaked havoc on former slaves. Secret societies in the southern united states, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia used violence against the blacks. Their goal was often to keep blacks out of politics. Our textbook states, “In other states, where blacks were a majority or where the populations of the two races were almost equal, whites used outright intimidation and violence to undermine the Reconstruction regimes” (Brinkley 368). The people involved in such organizations were using violence to take away the fifteenth amendment right from the former slaves.
After the Civil War, the entire United States, especially the southern states that had supported the Confederacy, were in poor condition. The country needed to rebuild itself and therefore entered a period of Reconstruction. One of the primary aspects of the Reconstruction Era was extending rights to the millions of slaves emancipated by the thirteenth amendment that were in desperate need of help. To accomplish these intentions, Congress proposed the fourteenth and fifteenth constitutional amendments aimed at giving former slaves more rights and a fair chance at being successful. These amendments were then ratified by the states, officially putting them into effect.
If you were a brave, honest Republican like John W. Stephens the KKK would find you and stab you multiple times; then hang you (Collection 5, Source 2). The Republicans never doubted that they might be the next victim of the KKK. The Reconstruction wasn't successful partly because of the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan killed many blacks and whites because they were finding for equality. By the KKK killing people it only separated the north and the south and becoming less of a population to bring together.
Maceo Cardinale Kwik Reconstruction Reconstruction was the twelve years after the civil war. Those twelve years were full of readjustment fixing the ruin the United States had fallen into. The problems that had the United states in disarray were how to, rebuild the South, reunite the states, and ensure the rights and protection of the newly freed African Americans. The civil war left the South in shambles, and newly freed slaves struggled to adjust to their new freedom. Most Southerners hated reconstruction and everything else about the North.
The Reconstruction Era of American history was plagued by many problems. One of the most important problems being the recently released from slavery Freedmen. Freedmen were in a tricky situation in which they had just been released from their owner and had nowhere to go, but the Federal Government made many successful attempts to help them out. The Government helped alleviate all the problems Freedmen had from their finances to basic needs and rights, and in doing so, made the period of reconstruction more helpful than harmful for Freedmen. The events of reconstruction were helpful to freedmen as they were not only freed from slavery, they were given rights directly from the federal government.
At the end of the Civil War between the North and South arose the Reconstruction era. This was a time period of the late 1800s where the united states, specifically the North started to attempt the rebuilding of the South. Abolitionists were eager to see the end of slavery and Lincoln attempted to end slavery. President Lincoln attempted to put in place the Emancipation Proclamation which stated all slaves in confederate states would be free. This was to weaken the southern states; except, the confederate states did not obey.
The American civil war led to the reunion of the South and the North. But, its consequences led the Republicans to take the lead of reconstructing what the war had destroyed especially in the South because it contained larger numbers of newly freed slaves. Just after the civil war, America entered into what was called as the reconstruction era. Reconstruction refers to when “the federal government established the terms on which rebellious Southern states would be integrated back into the Union” (Watts 246). As a further matter, it also meant “the process of helping the 4 million freed slaves after the civil war [to] make the transition to freedom” (DeFord and Schwarz 96).
The American Civil War that was started due to the controversy over slavery in 1861, was won by The Union supported by President Lincoln against the Confederate states. President Lincoln’s original goal during the civil war was to reunify the nation as quickly as possible and help both sides come to an understanding. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the newly formed United States’ reconstruction era began. The Reconstruction era was put into effect by the Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. The Union’s victory in the Civil War had given African Americans a new sense of hope, devastated the southern economy, and eased the history of disunity in American political life.
Reconstruction caused prejudice and inequality. To elaborate, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes were both in the time period of reconstruction, which caused chaos and violence throughout the Union. One of the goals of reconstruction was to repair the economy in the South, because it depended on slavery, which was now illegal, due to the thirteenth amendment. The South’s economic system now depended on Sharecropping, which caused former slaves to be in constant debt and was unjust to the black society. The reconstruction time period, was a time of dispute between the Union.
The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865 to 1877. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendment were created during the twelve years of rebuilding the country. All of the amendments were made to protect former slaves and their rights but on paper they did not have any rights. The reconstruction period had its successes and failures.
Reconstruction a Failure or Success? Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end.
The Civil War allowed the United States to make the changes necessary to unify the country. In addition, it began one of the most transitional periods in the United States’ history. This period, the Reconstruction, brought about many political, social, and economic changes, which were both beneficial and disagreeable. The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, the Panic of 1873, and the formation of the Ku Klux Klan are just a few examples of heavily impacting events for the United States. During the Reconstruction period there were numerous political transformations in the country.