Reconstruction In America

After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African

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

After the Civil War, the United States had many problems to solve. The country had to figure out how to integrate newly freed slaves into society and bring the former Confederate states back into the Union. Reconstruction was period of time after the civil war in which the United States addressed these problems. Reconstruction had two different phases: Presidential Reconstruction took place from 1865 to 1867, and Congressional Reconstruction took place from 1867 to 1877. Presidential Reconstruction began with Abraham Lincoln, who proposed the Proclamation of Amnesty and the ten percent oath plan. Lincoln was focused on leniency and forgiveness; under his plan southerners would take an oath of loyalty to the Union, and after only ten percent of a state’s voters had taken this oath, the state could be readmitted. After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson took over Reconstruction. Johnson wanted to punish landowners, but liberally handed out pardons, as he greatly enjoyed the power that he had over southerners. Under Johnson, former confederates were re-elected, and southern states discriminated blacks. Eventually, Congress took over Reconstruction. During Congressional Reconstruction, the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were passed, and the freedman’s bureau was created. Overall, the failures of Reconstruction outweighed the failures because it took a very long time for it to achieve its goals, and the South was still able to

The reconstruction era was a time that then affected America in positive facets and negative aspects as well, and still affects America today. Thanks to the reconstruction era, there are several implementations that geared the world on the path in which it is today. Had it not been for some of the laws that were set in place African Americans may have not had many of the opportunities that were presented during the reconstruction period, therefore the years of oppression and cruelty might still be present.

Government had brought the seceded Southern states back into the Union, and they ended slavery and they tried their best to protect newly emancipated the slaves. But they rebuilt the nation after a lot more four years of fighting. The reconstruction occurred in 2 phases, the Presidential Reconstruction was very lenient in order Southern states to rejoin the Union quickly, this was initiated by President Lincoln but was carried out by President Andrew Johnson. The Congressional Reconstruction was stricter and protected rights from former slaves and they kept Confederate leaders from regaining power. But, before the Civil War Lincoln proposed his 10% Plan, which was lenient and allowed the Confederate states could re-enter the Union when, 10% of their population had sworn an Oath of Loyalty and they ratified the 13th Amendment ending all slavery. But, the Radicals in Congress had rejected his plan because, it did not protect ex-slaves and didn’t keep them from regaining power, they also wanted to have 50% of the population to swear to an oath of loyalty. But, the states could come back once they ratified the 13th amendment. But, the southern passed black codes in order to keep African- Americans from getting any land, jobs, voting rights, and also protection under the law. Finally, in 1865, the Freedmen's Bureau had been established and offered assistance to former slaves and to protect their new

“The battle was done, the buglers were silent. Boneweary and bloodied, the American people, North and South, now faced the staggering challenges of peace.” After the Civil War, no one knew what to do next. The terrible conditions of the South after the war made it so no one wanted to participate in such a situation. When President Abraham Lincoln held office, he knew that the Union must be reassembled while treating the blacks respectfully which began the period of Reconstruction. Throughout this period, four presidents held office each trying to reform the poor conditions of the United States. Reconstruction ended when President Rutherford Hayes forced the Union troops to retreat from the southern states as a

Under this plan the south was divided into five districts. Excluding Tennessee because they had already been readmitted into the Union. Each of the districts were headed by a general. The main goal of the leader was to increase voter registration of blacks and to see to it that white confederates did not get back into office as they were before. The new voters would then vote on a new constitution that allowed blacks to vote. If the majority of the voters ratified the new constitution and the fourteenth amendment then the state would be eligible for readmission to the Union. These bills covered the objectives of Radical Republicans. They called for universal suffrage, made it likely that republicans would be put into office in southern states, and they set the standards for readmission. The south had to suffer the consequences of being defeated. To ensure their acts, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act which prohibited the president from removing certain officeholders without the permission of the Senate. President Johnson deliberately violated this by firing Secretary of State Edwin Stanton. President Johnson was tried for impeachment but the Senate could not convict him.

America was in disarray following the events of the Civil War. Southern economy was in shambles while congress was struggling to find a middle ground between the radical republicans and Lincoln’s lenient policies. Many Southerners faced the aftermath of uprooting their society and their way of life while thousands of newly freed slaves struggled to find a way to support themselves. The country needed a strong leader, however on the 14th of April, 1865 President Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in the Ford Theatre in Washington (Farmer). Without the man that had once held the nation together, the country now faced an enormous obstacle; reconstructing American economics, politics and social life.

Reconstruction began early in 1865 after the end of the civil war when the South was undergoing political, social and economic upheavals (Foner 15). The South embraced Union methods of total wars that led to damage to their land and crops. As a result, many people died while others were captured as slaves due to the huge drought and inflation facing their state, while their masters fled oncoming unions. From these losses, policymakers by 1865 in Washington had no other choice rather than reconstruction. Reconstruction involved several initiatives including abolishment and transformation of the Southern society, recovering the Southern Unions and most importantly the enactment of an assimilation legislation program that would aid in favoring the freed blacks into the American social and economic system. President Lincoln had pardoned reconstruction of the South long before in1863 two years before the war ended (Kennedy and Cohen 44). This was known as the ten percent plan that supported one of the initiatives. This plan allowed the Southern state to be assimilated to the union after every ten percent of the population. Later in the year 1865 president Lincoln got assassinated and Andrew Johnson succeeded him. President Johnson carried on with the ten percent plan. Both presidents shared a similar interest during their reign which was to abolish slavery before joining the union.

When Reconstruction began in 1865, the country was in desperate need of unification after the end of the Civil War. The fate of a becoming a unified country was left in the hands of Andrew Johnson after the sudden assassination of President Lincoln in April of 1865, just as Reconstruction was set to begin. President Johnson had a similar plan for Reconstruction as Lincoln, with the main goal being getting the South back into the Union without too much dispute. However, President Johnson did not have a good relationship with congress from the beginning and had different views on Civil Rights than Lincoln. Johnson would have to fight against a group called the Radical Republicans, which

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.

Reconstruction in America was a time designated towards rebuilding the South both physically and socially as well as integrating this revolutionized area back into the Union after the devastating Civil War. Through the addition of Constitutional Amendments as well as bills such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the Radical Congressional Plan was able to fuse another race, that of the southern blacks, into a previously divided nation. Furthermore, the plan of the Radicals allowed Federal power to encourage a drastic change both economically and socially in the Deep South, however, not without some drawbacks as seen from the KKK and the repression of Thaddaeus Stevens’ impressive plan for economic reforms. This desire to firmly transform the South into an accepting and stable territory is what sets the Radical Congressional Plan apart from that of

Unfortunately, Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre on April 14th, 1865, before he could put his plan to the test. After his death, several other political leaders emerged with plans in hand. These men were of the Republican Party, and they called themselves Radicals. The Radical Republicans that emerged in the political spotlight after Lincoln’s death had two main objectives to their cause. First, they were mad at the south, blaming them for the Civil War that had just ended. Ergo, they wanted to punish them and make them pay. Secondly, they wanted to help all of the near four million slaves who were now free men after the war. They felt these “men” needed protection, and it was their job to do so. There were three main Radical Republican leaders. These men were Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner, and the formally inaugurated president Andrew Johnson.

The reconstruction of America would decide how the south would rejoin the Union, what was to become of the nearly 3 million black slaves freed, how America was going to recover from such a devastating internal war. There appears to be phases that the Reconstruction Era went through, roughly three of them. The first is that of the Presidential Reconstruction, it lead to a more radical Republican party. After such we find ourselves in what was to be known as the Radical Reconstruction. A period where the blacks found their voices being heard. Finally we lead up to the end of the Reconstruction-era. It is said that the reconstruction lasted from 1865 to 1877, however it can be said that, to this very day, some reconstruction is still ongoing.

and in reality it was a demonstration of the failure to make a dependable political