Is Reconstruction Successful? How Do I Get Started? By: Delainey Cuatt. The Reconstruction Era was a period after the Civil War when the United States brought the South back into the Union after the Civil War. Bringing the Southern states came with many unfortunate problems that gave African Americans such a hard time mainly in the South, but partially in the North also! Some of the issues like Jim Crow laws and Black Codes greatly impacted African Americans because they wanted rights that had continuously been denied to them, they eventually got them in the 13-15th Amendments, but those Jim Crow laws and Black Codes restricted those rights—this unfortunate time of Reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877. Although the period stopped, the issues …show more content…
Document I shows a picture of the White League and the KKK, two white supremacy groups that wanted to restore slavery, and in the picture, it also shows the words “The Union as it Was” and “This is a White Man’s Government”. The picture also shows a family grieving and holding their deceased child, and behind them, a schoolhouse is burning/burnt down. There is also a scene of lynching/hanging happening, and we can infer that that would be an African American. This shows that the two groups used violence to restore “the Union as it was” and enjoyed the terrorism that they enforced upon the African American community. The social disadvantages of the community are similar to the economic state of the African Americans. Economic equality was not granted to African Americans. Sharecropping was a process in which a sharecropper would come to a landowner for land and seeds, and in return, the sharecropper would give the landowner half the crops. However, the sharecroppers needed tools so they could use credit to buy those items from the landowner's store. The sharecropper would plant, harvest, and sell their crops, and since they owed a debt they gave their earnings to the landowner to pay off the debt, but the
change. The act of sharecropping and its relation to farming itself has changed, but the idea of furnishing space and tools for individuals with the intention of both parties making some sort of revenue is all over the world today. We see this in all sorts of jobs today, including fast food, law enforcement, and medicine. The economy is based off this concept and it is both a starting point for some and a maintainable source of income for others, depending on the job description. Sharecropping is also a relation to the shaping of American identity. This idea of sharecropping began to take small steps towards reconstruction; it brought African-Americans and whites together to perform the same task for the same reason to potentially earn the same share, even though they did not. Many debts and falling crop prices resulted in insufficient payments to croppers and many African-Americans saw this as slavery all over again. Becoming equal is something America has been trying to accomplish for a long time and this began a revolutionary era where people could work together in peace and be treated as a true American- unbiased of the color of skin or the language they
During the period of Reconstruction (1865-1877) in the Southern United States local government positions had been taken over by the Republican Party. Through local militants and, what can be deemed by today standards, terrorist by the mid 1870’s many of these Republican office holders had been run out of town. These local militants also used intimidation to keep blacks from voting in the south. By doing these acts the Southern Democrats soon regained control of political power in the south and would start striping away rights of the black community. Once Democrats were back in power intimidation was no longer needed to keep blacks from voting, they set up some of the first laws that were specifically deemed to restrict the civil liberties of
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.
It is commonly debated whether the Reconstruction was a success or a failure. However, I believe it was definitely a combination of the two. The major success of this period is obviously the successful reunification of the United States. Aside from this primary goal, there were other success of the Reconstruction period. Although both the northern and southern economies heavily suffered as a result of the Civil War, the Reconstruction period eventually led them to prosperity.
As Document A tells us that the KKK wanted to disrupt the implementation of Reconstruction policies by killing or threatening republican lawmakers. We know this from the letter written by Albion Tourgee who speaks about his friend John W. Stephens who was killed by the KKK. He says “ It is my mournful duty to inform you that our friend John W.Stephens, Senator from Caswell is dead... He was foully murdered by the KKK… I have every little doubt that I shall be one of the next victims”.
(Document C) The KKK also did many terrible things to African Americans who wanted to vote. KKK members would go to extreme measures to ensure that black votes would not
The Union and status of America was destroyed after the Civil War ended in 1865. A nation that was so split between views, that it brought war upon itself, had to learn to rebuild and reunite it’s people. The era of Reconstruction, from 1863 to 1877, aimed to do this. Historians often disagree with each other over whether the outcome of this era was positive or negative. Aspects to Reconstruction were both successes and failures.
Reconstruction was the time period after the Civil War which lasted from 1865-1877 in which the U.S. had to rebuild the South. African Americans were being given rights, like the Reconstruction Amendments that Southern state governments aimed to limit. The Reconstruction era came with numerous positives and negatives. Some positives included the newly acquired amendments. The amendments that were made were the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments, and the Freedman’s Bureau.
Sharecropping was to benefit both of those who could not afford land and the landowner himself. The freed African Americans were very uneducated and illiterate. Most “colored” men and women were valuable farmers. Contracts for sharecropping were
African Americans during the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction experienced two fundamental developments that attributed to a continuity and change within the country and those were the constitutional and social developments. There was only one major constitutional continuity, but many great constitutional changes. On the other hand, social continuity was scarce in the African American society while there was only one important social change. After the Civil War, life for the African American changed drastically constitutionally, but socially however, life was no different and even in some ways harder socially. The main constitutional continuity was the Civil Rights Bill which helped fuel in a great extent the continued hate from Southerners
The period from 1865 to 1921 in the United States marked an important era characterized by significant changes in race relations and diplomatic attempts. Minorities in the US, particularly African Americans, faced severe challenges in the years following the Civil War as they dealt with institutional racism, segregation, and the lingering effects of slavery. While the goal of the Reconstruction era was to grant freed slaves equal rights, it was tainted by opposition and the enforcement of laws that discriminated against them, such as the Jim Crow laws and the Black Codes. African Americans' access to social, political, and economic opportunities was severely restricted by these policies, which also served to maintain racial segregation and
Reconstruction was a time period following the Civil War that lasted from 1865 through 1877. Reconstruction was a challenging task for the United States because the government had to figure out how they would help four million slaves acquire the rights they deserved. This was such a difficult task because the North and South did not have the same views on African American rights. In hope to piece the Union back together Abraham Lincoln devised a plan that would ensure rights to the freedmen, but after Lincoln was assassinated Andrew Johnson was put in charge and had a racist opinion that did not include African Americans becoming equals. Congress’ Reconstruction efforts to ensure equal rights to the freedmen failed because of the activities
To begin, the Sharecropping System was just a legal form of slavery. (Schultz,284) Freed blacks were once again tied to land owned by white employers. Land owners shortened blacks freedom by keeping them from owning land.(Schultz,284) Knowing they did not have money, their employers provided farming equipment, housing, and food. (Schultz,284) This meant that the land owners would gain a larger share for providing them the necessities.(Schultz,284) Sharecroppers
Success of Reconstruction From 1865 to 1877 the United States was in a reconstruction era. The plan from the government was not to rebuild the south but to save the union by letting the south rejoin the U.S. Abraham Lincoln (president at the time) wanted the south to rejoin the south, but also make a plan for African Americans to be equal. Minorities began to receive help from the government, and iconic southern cities like Atlanta, Savannah, and Charleston although reluctant towards African Americans gave them separate but equal rights. From the time the war ended to now government, culture, and people have changed drastically.
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.