Cause Of Reconstruction Essay

After the Civil war the world was in great chaos even the North , they may have won the war and freed the slaves but they still had to pick up the pieces and make america great again. What was the reconstruction period of america? The reconstruction of America is the period of time that had followed the Civil war. The point of the reconstruction period was to rebuild and fix america after the tragedy of the war. Both the south and the north had to rebuild and pick up the broken pieces.

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.

Reconstruction brought healing to the nation and the newly freed slaves through Congressional Reconstruction; however, it also brought destruction to them as well through Presidential Reconstruction. Reconstruction dealt with the issues of slavery and a divided Union. After the North’s victory of the Civil War, the United States issued a “reconstruction” to help amalgamate the country back to one nation, like it was before. While reconstruction was all encompassing and had many sections to it; the ex- slaves were the most influenced and impacted by it.

By the spring of 1865, the Civil War came to an end and there were many important challenging questions the nation was faced with. A few included how could the south physically and economically be rebuilt, what should be done with the newly freedmen and women, and who would direct the process of reconstruction? President Lincoln, President Johnson, and the radical republicans (congressional) each constructed a plan they believed would be best for the nation. The congressional plan best helped the nation and freedmen due to passed legislation such as the Pacific Railroad Act, Civil Rights Bill that granted American citizenship to blacks, and had goal of destroying the Black Codes, that isolated blacks from society.

The Wade-Davis Bill required 50% of voters to take the allegiance oath and safeguards to protect the freed blacks. > As the Radical Republicans took control of the Reconstruction from President Johnson, they implemented a few changes such as: Congress denying representatives from former Confederate states for their Congressional seats, passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and wrote the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. The 14th Amendment, extended citizenship rights to African Americans and guaranteed them equal protection of the laws. >

The Civil War left traumatized people and many destroyed cities, which led to the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction was the process of trying to rebuild the South after the Civil War. The North and South had an interesting past in the year of 1876. The election of 1876 was a very controversial election, it was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. In 1870, Hiram Revels was the first black senator.

The Reconstruction of the South, after the Civil War, could be viewed as a success or an utterly failure. The war itself was a major success, with slavery coming to an end. The freeing of the slaves was the high point before the South turned down the dark and winding road of Reconstruction. When Reconstruction started under President Johnson in 1865, it was not very popular with the Northern politicians. The Southern legislation had come up with different challenges to keep a strong hold on the African Americans that were still in the South.

Peter Schroeder Dr. Christopher Marshall Modern United States History 2/2/17 Writing Assignment 1: The African-American Experience with Reconstruction Reconstruction among the south refers to the point in time which the United States was attempting to establish a relationship between the union and the rebels. The Union had won the civil war, so the next step was to begin to mend the broken relationship between the north and the south. Though historians cannot agree on when it began, there is merit in saying that it started before the end of the Civil War. After victory, had been solidified for the Union, attention of President Lincoln turned towards reconstruction.

These organizations was actively shaped by the African Americans who were the active agents instead of being victims of the other’s actions (McNeil, 40). The political parties created showed results from the beginning of 1867 when the newly enfranchised blacks acquired a chance for their voices to be heard in government for the first time in the history of the Americans that led to election winning to the state legislatures in the South and even to the U. S’ Congress. The stakes of the Civil War were changed by the emancipation, and this ensured that the victory of the union meant social revolution that was in large-scale in the south (Elliott, 41). Initially, President Abraham Lincoln did not make it a priority for slavery to be abolished but it was through the efforts of the former slaves that things changed. Over the following years, Lincoln started to consider to have the devastated south back into the union and in the speech he delivered on April, he made proposals that some of the blacks to include those who were enlisted in the military and free blacks be allowed to vote as they deserved that

Reconstruction was a period of time dedicated to rebuilding the nation after the Civil War. The war ended with the South being defeated and their economy being devastated. Many Southerners struggled after the war with rebuilding their land and lives. The President and Congress had to decide the terms for which the former Confederate states would be permitted to join the Union. President Lincoln’s plan for reuniting the country was found in the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction.

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).

One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

Reconstruction is the time period after the Civil War, where the country attempted to improve the Union. There were many successes, but what also comes along with success is failure. During the reconstruction many failures were present; such as the lack of racial equality and blatant racism towards blacks, a failing economy in the South, and tense relations between the North and the South. This created a very intense and challenging period of time for the Union.

Reconstruction era, which was followed by post-civil war, was meant to unite the states back together, reconstruct properties, and most importantly, abolish slavery in the South. Although the factors such as amendments legally freed former slaves, yet WRITE THESIS After the end of civil war in 1865, Reconstruction era, which was controlled by President Abraham Lincoln, appeared to quickly coalesce the Northern and Southern states. reconstruction amendments, which were approved between 1865 and 1870, played a huge role on giving legal rights to blacks and former slaves. 13th amendment constitutionally abolished slavery in 1865 and followed up by that, 14th and 15th amendment admitted equal citizenship, protection, and rights of suffrage despite the one’s race or skin color. Former slaves were no longer belongings of their owners.

Today I am writing to you to discuss the topic of Reconstruction. I believe it should continue and here are my reasons why. First of all the 13th Amendment was ratified about a decade and it granted all of the slaves freedom. Because of this the Freedman 's Bureau was passed which helped assist slaves with their financial place, communication with family, education, etc. Also the fourteenth amendment was ratified in 1868 which granted all persons born in the US citizenship.