Interracial Democracy During The Reconstruction Era

Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War. During this period, the U.S faced many challenges such as how to reunite the North and the South and put the Civil War behind us. In addition, the nation needed to address the status of four million freed slaves by granting them citizenship, and protecting their citizenship rights. As years passed, many historians went back and forth of whether or not Congress was a success for the freedmen, or a total blowout. These pieces of evidence concludes that the Congress’ Reconstruction was unfortunately a failure for the freedmen rights.

After abolition of slavery, new challenges became present; one of them, the readmission of the Southern states was required into the Union. " The goal of Reconstruction was to readmit the South on terms that were acceptable to the North-full political and civil equality for blacks and denial of the political rights of whites who were the leaders of the secession movement" (Wormser, 2002). Easier said than done, reconstruction, in the sense originally though by President Lincoln took many years to become a reality due to a series of issues. The "Black codes" permitted, although dubious, displayed the resistance of the South, this and the lack of opportunities for blacks to owe land, as well as the obstacles they encountered to vote

The Reconstruction of the United States was an experiment in interracial democracy. The Civil War victory by the North brought to a close the establishment of slavery but, in turn, opened Pandora's box. The questions and answers pertaining to economical, political, and social equality for freedmen had yet to be addressed on a practical level. The Southern states, still bitter from defeat and economic stresses, strongly rejected the societal transformations thrust upon them. The Northern states' focal point remained on the necessary political powers by which to enact constitutional amendments, therefore empowering the federal government with the capabilities to enforce the principles of equal rights. On paper, slavery was abolished, but in reality, African-Americans were once again enslaved on a ship without the security or knowledge of what the next port held for them. The Civil War had not truly ended. It was still active under the guise of Reconstruction, but now coats and flags of many colors existed, and battles were merely fought on alternate battlefields. A war of ideas lacking in substantial practicality resulted in repetitious battles being won and loss. The motivating forces that set Reconstruction into motion were for the most part the North's quest for unification among states', and the emancipation of slaves. However, the primary objective of Reconstruction was to grant political, economical, and social opportunities for the freedmen. The

The 13th amendment abolished slavery for African Americans. The 14th amendment gave citizenship rights and equal protection of laws to African Americans. The 15th amendment gave African Americans to have the right to vote. There was a free school for colored kids where they would be able to learn and have an education. There’s a source that says that all people born in the United States are citizens of every race and color. Source 4 says, “That all persons born in the United States are declared to be citizens … slavery or involuntary servitude.” All have the same rights if someone does a crime, they get punished as same as the others, they all treated equal. Source 4 says, “... equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person … like punishment, pains, and penalties, and to none other, any law.” This just explains that everybody should be treated equal, no matter by their skin color or

The Reconstruction Era which followed the Civil War was a period marked by a severe effort to re-establish a depleted and distraught society. The war, which was aimed at confronting the national dilemma of slavery, only led to subsequent problems over emancipation and an undefined condition of freedom. Some, who had naively assumed that ending slavery would resolve the problem of racial inequality, overlooked the prejudice and unpleasant feeling towards blacks.

The Union’s victory in the Civil War in 1865 granted millions of slaves their freedom. Reconstruction is the period directly following the Civil War when the nation took strides to rebuild the country, specifically the South. After the war, there were endless questions. They wanted to know on what terms should the Confederacy be let back into the Union, and what to do with the Confederate leaders who were viewed as traitors by many in the North. Then, there was the question of what would happen to freed blacks in the South, would they now be considered equal to whites? Despite the military conflict being over, Reconstruction was in many ways still considered a war. Radical Republicans, who held sufficient power in Congress, wanted to punish the South and

Slavery was the most popular form of labor during the growth of American society. For many, this was all they knew despite being an inhumane way to live. Slavery caused physical and emotional damage to African Americans of this time. As society progressed many begin to realize how wrong this actually was. Even though there are many causes of the growing opposition to slavery in the United States from 1776 to 1852, the main reasons were a changes in social morals, political ideas, and the mass production of anti-slavery newspapers,books, and posters.

The time period in United States history that immediately followed the Civil War in which the federal government set the circumstances that would permit the rebellious southern states to be readmitted into the Union was called the Reconstruction. I think that the Reconstruction was a success because the Union got restored, the south began to rebuild their economy and infrastructure, and African Americans were granted the right to vote and citizenship. I think that the reconstruction was a success because the Union got restored. The North wanted to restore the Union because the Union got split into the Union and the Confederates during the Civil War. This happened because the southern states supported slavery while the northern states did not support slavery and wanted to abolish slavery.

African Americans lives greatly improved when the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment were added to the Constitution, legally granting them freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. African Americans also benefited from the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau and other

During the times of reconstruction, Lincoln wished to reunite the country both physically and metaphorically. By this, he intended to have certain hoops the southern states had to jump through before they could regain their statehood. However, due to his death this did not come to complete fruition. Johnson technically made the southern states do certain things before they could rejoin the union, but basically the terms could be met simply by a few individuals telling pretty lies. Also with Johnson, Black Codes were created that returned slavery to the country. Reconstruction itself was a major failure in what it actually accomplished in that time, but the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed made it possible for future civil rights

More than 4 million slaves were freed in the Confederate states because of the emancipation proclamation, but they did not have jobs, education, places to live, or a guarantee of basic civil rights. Most African-Americans were not able to become financially stable because of the countless problems they encountered while looking for jobs. By 1865, northern freedmen started establishing schools but still, countless people were uneducated. Many of the African-American encountered lots of struggles because they didn’t have civil rights. Reconstruction was an attempt to make the life of an African-American better, but in a way, it just made the life of African-American worse by creating issues like incorporating former slaves into American

African-Americans had been enslaved and treated unfairly without justice for over a long period of time, and it was time to take action. The cruel discrimination led to the Civil War, where the nation had broken apart and fought over civil rights for slaves. When the North side of the nation won the war and the slaves were freed from their owners, Congress added three amendments to the Constitution of the United States. These were called the Reconstruction Amendments, and one of which was the 15th Amendment. ( ) The Fifteenth Amendment gave African American men the right to vote. The amendment was ratified on February 3rd 1870 and was adapted into the US Constitution on March 30th 1780. The amendment states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. (American Vision 144) Not only did the amendment grant African Americans the right to vote but also granted them as equal citizens. African Americans had to face a lot of obstacles that were put in their way to keep them from voting for about a century!

The Union victory after the Civil War in 1865 may had given roughly 4 million slaves their freedom, however the process of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period introduced a new set of significant challenges. In order to reconstruct the country following the Civil War and the abolition of slavery, the federal government and Republican-controlled state governments in the southern regions made efforts to rebuild the Southern economy and advance conditions of freedom. Following the Civil War, majority of white Southerners opposed Reconstruction and the Republican Party's support of black civil and political rights. However, Reconstruction ultimately failed due to violence against African Americans, the Compromise of 1877 and the

Coming out of the civil war and reconstruction, we had three amendments pertaining to slavery passed to create equality for African Americans. The 13th amendment abolished slavery. The 14th amendment granted citizenship, due process,

Following the Civil War, the government was in the process of establishing a support system known as Reconstruction. In the reading, “What is Freedom?” Reconstruction, (1865-1877) written by Eric Foner explains how the South was in trouble. Due to the compensations that were left after the war, Reconstruction was the only hope of rebuilding the economy in the South. Along with trying to reconstruct the government situations, there were also issues that had come along that interfere with fixing the nation. The most memorable change was between different ethnicity that soon leads to slavery. Slavery was a big impact that changed people’s life dramatically. It had given the white southerners the right to control the African- American people. Overall, the Reconstruction failed its goal to give every person their equal rights.