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Dbq On Reconstruction

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Alex Martiros, Chris Devine, Luke Martiros, Olivia Eiten, Betsy Burt THREE PART ACTION PLAN Reconstruction had failed in its tasks to properly enforce rights for blacks as promised after the Civil War. If more laws were passed to control the actions of the South in order to unite the blacks and whites, then Reconstruction could have had actually been successful in reconstructing the nation. If a tax break system in mid 1865, a Sharecropping Act of 1866, and a Diversity Law in 1880 were implemented in the South, such laws and changes could have guided Reconstruction to success. 1. Creating a tax break system for white citizens who employed blacks in companies would have resulted in more economic independence for the South and blacks. …show more content…

However, a tax break would provide savings through tax deductions, tax credits, tax exemptions and other incentives. Similar to the modern day veteran and convict employment laws, which incentivize corporations to hire veterans and people out of prison, a tax break system would benefit all blacks in this way. The government could play a role in the functions of whites’ businesses by giving out rations of money to help them get on their feet again. Economically, the blacks would be receiving money, so they would be able to become more active in employment. The whites would also be given money to make their jobs more profitable. Blacks and whites would benefit economically from the tax break system because they would both be given equal amounts of money. Blacks would be given as much as money by the …show more content…

From the start, the sharecropping system was easily abused by the white landowners because they used the blacks’ lack of education and illiteracy to deduct cash advances, which because of high interest and dishonest accounting, left the cropper with very little wages. Congress should have passed the Sharecropping Act of 1866 to improve labor conditions of the sharecroppers. It would state that former slaves could only work for a maximum of 10 hours a day (about 7:00am to 5:00pm) including a one hour break. Wages (a minimum of 20 cents per hour) of blacks would be more fair and equal to the wages of whites (about 24 cents per hour). Also, any former slave who worked on a plantation as a sharecropper would be a part of a system called “The Union Benefits”, which would be like a modern day welfare system that would provide food, housing, and education. Former slaves and their families would live in a confined area of land, in what would be similar to a motel today, with up to two black families per room. Each family would receive a portion of food in the morning before work, on the one hour break (if he/she worked), and at night after work. Black children would attend classes taught by black men and women who volunteer in the facility. All of this would enable the former slaves to have a well-balanced life, something they have been denied of for years. As part of the Sharecropping Act, if whites refused to pay blacks the proper wage or if whites forced blacks to work

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