The period from 1865 to 1877, commonly referred to as Reconstruction, saw a culmination of effects from the Civil War. During this time, America saw the freedom of slaves, blacks in office, and voting rights for all men regardless of color. However, Reconstruction was not perfect. During Andrew Johnson’s presidency, many conflicts arose between the viewpoints of Congress and Johnson regarding Reconstruction and the future of ex-slaves. Johnson’s views represented most of the democratic South’s, while the views of Congress represented the North. Economically, throughout Reconstruction, ex-slaves were essentially returned to slavery in the form of economic slavery. Politically, the debate of black’s rights persisted in the Government. Socially, …show more content…
Johnson’s economic plan for the South involved black codes and sharecropping. These policies had devastating economic effects upon the black population of the South. Freemen were essentially held in economic slavery with sharecropping and labor laws. The labor laws stated that blacks couldn’t leave their employer, and that blacks should work up ten hour days during the summer. (Doc 3) The Radical Republicans in Congress agreed that the South had gone back to its ways before the Civil War. Not only were freedmen trapped in a cycle of economic slavery, but they were sold as slaves as well. The freedmen were not really free, and therefore did not obtain the economic opportunities the Civil War was supposed to grant them. (Doc 4) The purpose of Doc 4 was to show that freedmen are not really free because they are trapped in an endless cycle of debt, and because of this, the planter class continued to hold power. This, along with the fact that ex-slaves were unable to any economic opportunity, placed Congress and Johnson in economic …show more content…
Black codes were passed to restrict the freedom of blacks and make them work in a labor based economy. Thaddeus Stevens, leader of the Radical Republicans, stated that blacks should be treated equally because they fought along with whites and payed the same taxes as whites. Stevens grew up poor and with a disability. His unique point of view supports the fact that he wants blacks to have the same opportunities that he was able to achieve, even though he grew up poor. Stevens wanted the 14th and 15th amendments passed because they would allow blacks to come closer to social equality with whites. (Doc 7) However, Johnson’s views were completely different from Stevens’, whose views represented most of the Republican Congress. Johnson supported subordinating and restricting blacks with black codes, which stated that blacks with no employment would be arrested. (Doc 2) With these black codes in place, it was clear blacks would never be equal to whites. This created further social turmoil between Congress and John’s conflicting viewpoints. The intended audience of Doc 2 can not only be seen as vagrant blacks, but also blacks who want to escape the slavery of sharecropping. This is shown by the extensive detail the law goes into and the punishments the law has for unemployed blacks, such as a large fine and
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.
The Reconstruction time period, 1865 through 1877, was a complex time for America. The southern part of the nation was in need of governmental, economical, and social repair after losing the Civil War. Radical Republicans, Democrats, and newly freed African Americans all were influential in the age of Reconstruction. Historians have struggled to put into words exactly what Reconstruction incorporates and precisely what the motives of the different groups of people were. Renowned American historian, Eric Foner, is a professor at Columbia University. He has written many books concerning the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Eric Foner’s Reconstruction theory
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
After the Civil War, the southern whites were extremely resentful and bitter. In 1865 the southern states began issuing “black codes,” which were laws made subsequent to the Civil War that had the effect of limiting the civil rights and civil liberties of blacks. This term tends to refer to the legislation passed by southern states to control the labor, migration, and other activities of newly freed slaves. When the slaves were freed, they still had
The American Civil War claimed the lives of over 700,000 people. The war was fought from 1861-1865. The results of the war were described as; a union victory, abolishment of slavery, territorial integrity preserved and the destruction and dissolution of the Confederate States. The twelve years that followed were called the Reconstruction Era, 1865-1877. The purpose of the Reconstruction Era was to restore National Unity, strengthen the government, and guarantee rights to freed slaves. The reality of reconstruction though was; violence (260,000 dead), newly freed slaves suffered the most, and Lincoln's hopes of trust and rededication to peace were lost when he was assassinated on April 15th, 1865. It is these realities of the Reconstruction Era and beyond that this paper will address and how those realities affected the newly freed slaves. Life in post-bellum America for African - Americans was violent and filled with fear because of white supremacy, lynching, and the brutal mutilations of blacks.
Meanwhile, the recently freedmen had been free (if they were in a state in rebellion) but still suffer with abuse. Even when the 13th Amendment ratified, southerners established black codes that violate and opposed the Amendment. Freedmen attempted to obtain representation, but they lacked education. “Freedmen increasingly sought representation that was accountable to them, African Americans or White allies independent of the statewide power structure.” Even when freedmen existed and made up to 40% of the population and only dominated in South Carolina and Louisiana. This meant in the rest of the South, republicans aimed to appease the majority, which were white people and used the Union League of America to control the black vote. Dissident southerners created terrorist societies like the Ku Klux Klan.” Whites perceived a frightening loss of racial control, which encouraged the wave of extralegal violence throughout the period.” The Force Acts were made to protect them, but the damage was
Because the northern military troops were taken out of the South, there was less supervision of the region. African-Americans as grateful Republicans saw the troops as protectors from the rest of the racist south. When Hayes removed the troops, it demonstrated the Republican party backing away from their commitment to racial equality. Once the troops were gone, more lynchings occurred to deal with African-Americans who violated the South’s racial code of conduct. The first few years after the Compromise, more whites than blacks were lynched (1882 - 64 whites to 49 blacks; 1885 - 110 whites to 74 blacks); however, in less than twenty years, the lynchings of blacks spiked to 113 in 1895 and 106 in 1900. African-Americans had no way to defend themselves after their defenders, the northern troops, left them essentially for dead.
With the era of American Reconstruction in America during the mid to late 1800’s came a sense of opportunity and hope for its people. America was on the move as nation, railroads being built faster than ever and the freedmen looking to find their niche in society. Although in the beginning the government provided support for these new citizens, efforts toward reconstruction faded as the years passed. Those efforts faded to a point where they were all but nonexistent, and with the unwritten Compromise of 1877, what feeble efforts that were left of reconstruction were now all but dead. Politically, reconstruction failed to provide equality by pulling Federal troops from the South, allowing former Confederate officials and slave owners
Due to the gradual elimination of African-American rights and the withdrawal of Federal troops from the South to enforce such rights, the end of Reconstruction surfaced in 1877. In the eyes of blacks, Reconstruction was a point in history where they could see their civil rights expanding before their very own eyes. On the contrary, whites were deeply disturbed at the way their once “white supremacy” government was dwindling in the rear-view mirror behind them. This fourteen year period known as Reconstruction houses the memories of temporary freedom, scandal, backdoor deals, and the unresolved social, political, and economical issues of our country.
The seventh section of these black codes allowed for the return of freed blacks to their employers if they were to quit “the service of his or her employer before the expiration of his or her term of service without good cause.” What a blacks’ term of service and what defined just cause for ending that term of service, would likely be left up to the employer, creating a system which virtually defined slavery itself. Since blacks were required to be employed, this meant that they could be held in slave-like conditions to white employers.
Reconstruction was the time between 1863 and 1877 when the U.S. focused on abolishing slavery, destroying the Confederacy, and reconstructing the nation and the Constitution and is also the general history of the post-Civil War era in the U.S. between 1865 and 1877. Under Abraham Lincoln, presidential reconstruction began in each state as soon as federal troops controlled most of the state. The usual ending date is 1877, when the Compromise of 1877 saw the collapse of the last Republican state governments in the South
Antislavery northerners pressed the federal government to realize that slavery was the basis of the southern economy and
In the South, slaves were the main form of revenue because most Southerners owned plantations that needed slaves to work in the fields to be maintained. Once the 13th and 14th amendments were passed, the Southern way of life changed and as a result it was destroyed economically and socially. Congress even decided that there would be no compensation for any lost slave property. The Southerners carry a bitter resentment towards both Northerners and the newly freed blacks. The Freedman’s Bureau was set up to help integrate blacks into society and to help them realize their freedom, but their only success was in education. Because of the bitterness now sparked between the white landowners and the freed slaves, the whites begin to try to find ways that they can still remain superior and maintain control over the black
Certain black codes pertained to whites as well. It was unlawful for a black to marry a white, or vice versa. Anyone found convicted of the crime could be sent to prison for life. Many contracts were drawn up as ‘permissions’ for certain blacks. If a freedman ever broke a work contract, he would be forced to forfeit his wages for one full year. Any civilian was permitted to capture and return freedmen who broke their contract. They were rewarded five dollars plus ten cents for every mile he was captured from his owner. However, if anyone was found attempting to persuade a black to break his contract, or give a deserting black any aid, he/she could be convicted of a misdemeanor and forced to pay a fine.
When Johnson let the South back into the Union he helped to make all the people who had died for the right to equality for all worthless. President Johnson was from the south originally. He had been a poor white living in Kentucky, and so had learned to hate the rich, white Plantation owners. But he always felt above the slaves which later influenced his decision to let the very people he had grown up hating back in to the Union. When congress passed the 13th Amendment banning slavery many of the people in the south feared what would happen to them. Johnson, who related to the poor white folk, knew that they needed someone who they could say "at least I'm better than you" about. The only way he saw to do that was by letting the South have their lands and rights back so that they could do something about their former slaves. So the pardons started rolling out of the Round Office like a printing press. The Radical Republicans weren't happy about it but at that point they couldn't stop him. The south began to return to the way it was.