Reconstruction DBQ Essay “A truly united America has been created. Let’s hope that our Reconstruction bridges this condition perfectly.” Such a senatorial speech fell to be false. Instead of fulfilling Lincoln’s dream, Reconstruction turned out to be a complete failure as it divided both sides (again) and created an irreversible shift. Officially, Reconstruction is recognized to have an end, not by success, but by disaster. Unlike what is often thought amongst people, the actual death of Reconstruction was caused by both sides of America; in other words, Southern resistance and Northern neglect. At first, Southern resistance triggered the conclusion of Reconstruction through its formation of internal terrorists. This claim is supported by …show more content…
However, the most likely target to blame is the side of the South. The North actually assisted in the progression of Reconstruction by legalizing the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments - which abolished slavery, ensured that blacks were equal to whites, and prohibited suffrage based on race - creating laws to enforce the amendments through military force, establishing black churches, schools, “and universities like Howard, Fisk, Morehouse, and Hampton.” (Background Essay) Without these endeavors, higher education for blacks would have perished and the numerous contributions of African-Americans would have been erased throughout history. With all these evidences to support the North’s innocence, the South is more responsible as it actively fought against the North through the KKK, contemptible leaders, and illegal solutions, such as poll taxes to react to the South’s greatest obstacle - the 15th amendment. As the South protested relentlessly to bolster their need for a modern slave society, the North forfeited and allowed the South to regain its previous condition as they knew Reconstruction was beginning to wilt. If the South transferred their tenacity to join hands with their brothers up north, our current world wouldn’t have issues resulting from segregation. A possibility of an accepting country was offered to the South, but the South rejected it. As such, the era
The truth is both sides ruined the chances of reconstruction.They are both at fault. The south and the northerners had an equal part at failing to continue the reconstruction because from the south there was an organization; a cult called the Ku klux Klan.The kkk did not accept african americans. They were so cruel and inhumane to them the kkk would slaughter , manipulate, and even taunt them till the african americans would fear them(Doc A, B)As for the North , there was a lot of corruption due to Former President grant that committed fraud and caused the “ panic of 1873 “ which caused lots of jobs to discontinue and people to worry from it.(doc C)
During the time period of 1860 and 1877 many major changes occurred. From the beginning of the civil war to the fall of the reconstruction, the United States changed dramatically. Nearly one hundred years after the Declaration of Independence which declared all men equal, many social and constitutional alterations were necessary to protect the rights of all people, no matter their race. These social and constitutional developments that were made during 1860 to 1877 were so drastic it could be called a revolution.
There are good points supporting that the reconstruction was a success and a failure ad both sides are arguable. The point of the reconstruction was to bring the United States back together and in this the reconstruction was a success. In general, slavery died with the Civil War. There were three Constitutional amendments put in place in the years following the war to protect African American rights. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in all states and territories. The fourteenth
During reconstruction KKK were bribing voters and if that didn't work then they would threaten and sometimes even kill if their victim does not change their vote(Doc B). On top of that attention to national problems were put aside for things such as the “Panic of 1873 and the corruption of Grants administration” Doc C. This forced political figures to pay less attention to the south with in turn caused the south to run itself free from interference by the government. I'm sure that even in the 1800s people were still taught integrity yet the South's government seems to have had none.
The Reconstruction period after the Civil War was not effective. Numerous conflicts between President Johnson and Congress led to an inability to make decisions in government. Although laws were introduced by Congress to prevent slavery, Black Codes were created in the South which heavily restricted the rights of African Americans. Angry Southerners also created rebel groups in order to retaliate against the Radical Republicans. The Reconstruction was not effective as indecisiveness in government, the creation of Black Codes, and the introduction of rebel groups caused many of the problems prior to Civil War to be left unsolved.
Reconstruction was a time period of major change in the United States of America for both African Americans and White citizens. After the Civil War, the reconstruction process started out as a failure, but over the years turned into a huge success because of how African Americans were able to live normal lives. Overall, Reconstruction was a success because freedom and growth of equality for African Americans was increased greatly.
After the civil war there was an effort to reconstruct the south states and their society. But the north wanted to combine the African-Americans into the society. The south didn't really want the African-Americans they also wanted all the reconstruction to end. The south killed reconstruction because they didn't thrive for their interest in equal rights and their relentless violence towards the African-Americans and the north’s absence of sympathy to the African-Americans.
Reconstruction was an era of time in which the United States desired to reunite the nation, as soon as possible this era was first led by President Abraham Lincoln who added the thirteenth amendment which would abolish slavery, Lincoln also tried to pass The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which would help reunite with the confederate states in the south, but the radical republicans rejected that plan, Lincoln turned to negotiation with the radical’s, but after one week of passing the thirteenth amendment, President Lincoln, was assassinated, the reconstruction responsibility was given to the next president of the United States, Andrew Johnson, the second leader of reconstruction, president Johnson was an obstacle to the radical Republicans in congress that wanted to ratify the fourteenth amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 for southern states, Johnson Claimed that these laws would take away rights from white men and give it to African Americans and vetoed them, but they were overridden by congress.
Throughout American History, our country has been through many different eras, each one impacting America in its own way. One of the most influential eras in American history was the Reconstruction Era. With the Black Codes, amendment ratifications, and readmission to the Union, the Reconstruction Era impacted America greatly, with multiple successes and failures. The Reconstruction Era began in 1865 with Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Once he was assassinated, Andrew Johnson became president.
It was clear to people in the late 1800s that the Civil War caused many national problems along with problems within the union. However, the Civil War assuaged many problems for the country. For example, slavery was abolished, the supremacy of the national government had been confirmed, and secession had been proved false. Some people may believe that the main reason why the congress’ reconstruction efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed was because virtually no one in America thought blacks were equal to whites. Basically it was because people still have racial thoughts; slaves didn’t get to fully acquire the meaning and prerogatives of their rights; in other words they were uneducated.
Despite the turmoil caused during Reconstruction, there were some substantial accomplishments. The Thirteenth Amendment was the first of the “Reconstruction Amendments.” This Amendment made slavery illegal in every part of the United States. The next was the Fourteenth Amendment that made Blacks citizens and prohibited any state from interfering with the “inalienable
In 1866, Congress passed The Civil Rights Act of 1866 which allowed them to be genuine citizens and thus granted them federal protection under the law. Score for the blacks. Furthermore, the South was placed under military rule to ensure that this act was being enforced. During this tremendous time of freedom, blacks were allowed to vote and hold office – something that finally extended a voice and position in our country to their community. Meanwhile, whites were growing tired of all the nonsense. They wanted their beloved Old South back. Many refused to attend the integrated Reconstruction-era state constitutional conventions. Southern whites would use highly exaggerated and publicized incidences of “social injustices” to protect their claims of being thrown over to so-called negro domination. Any action was necessary that could help clinch their argument and overturn the Reconstruction
Reconstruction was a period of time after the Civil War (1865-1877) that was supposed to be the rebuilding of America. It was also the process used to readmit all the Confederate states back into the Union. There was controversy, however, on how to go about rebuilding the nation. Abraham Lincoln proposed a lenient plan. After he was assassinated, Andrew Johnson proposed a very similar plan. The Radical Republicans, a group of legislators that were in favor of freedmen’s rights, were opposed to both plans under “Presidential Reconstruction”. They initiated “Congressional Reconstruction”. Because of the conflicting views, there was little cooperation between the Executive and Legislative branches. This lead to many unsuccessful
The process of rebuilding America after the Civil War from 1865 to 1877, known as the Reconstruction, fell very short of its expectations because of the negative effect it had on relationships within the country. President Lincoln came up with plans for reconstruction, however, Congress believed it was too lenient. After Lincoln’s death and events following regarding Johnson, Congress dominated the government and came up with their own plan that sets the nation up for further disagreement. The plan for Reconstruction as Congress made it, was a failure because of how it divided the government, turned the races against each other, and set up freed slaves for poverty.
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.