Summary Of Reconstruction After Civil War

The reconstruction of the South began after the Civil War was over. It was a time when many new amendments were passed to further the progress of black people. But segregation was the end result. This shows how in Arkansas, where the book is set, racism is prevalent and it is a deciding factor in many people’s opinions, and even in Mattie’s as well. When Mattie and Yarnell are making their way down to her father they, or rather Yarnell, experience a moment of racism while on the train and a slur is yelled at Yarnell. Also he is given a command, and he is expected to follow it, which he does. This a lingering attitude left over from the Civil War, and it shows how white people still don’t see black people as equal and they expect them

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.

Before we decided on the topic of Reconstruction, we initially wanted to do the Civil War, but decided it was too broad and general. Which led us to something a lot simpler; The Battle of Gettysburg, but because it was a battle there wasn’t an actual compromise, only a conflict. That’s when we finally decided on the topic of Reconstruction after the Civil War.

The Union won!This is great for the north, however what is next for the Confederate army. With slaves becoming freedmen and the south destroyed after total war, a lot was to be done after the civil war. A solution to this was Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a period in american history from 1865 to 1877 lasting twelve years (Foner). Reconstruction after the war caused many social, political, and economic changes to the newly formed union.

The United States faced a Civil War from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865. The Civil War was caused by disagreements between the North and the South on certain social issues and state rights, because of this, the South decided it was its own country and left the Union. After the Civil War reconstruction had to take place. Reconstruction is a program made by the federal government from 1865-1877 to repair the damage caused by the Civil War and restore southern states back to the Union (Lapsansky-Werner, et al. 958). Problems associated with Reconstruction affected the South’s ability to industrialize after the Civil War in multiple ways. This affected the nation as a whole concerning factors such as economic development, infrastructure, labor and human rights.

When reading about the reconstruction era after the civil war I try to take a step back and look at their perspective and the struggles they went through. The best way to try to understand life at that time would be from the words of Houston Hartsfield Holloway, born enslaved who lived and wrote about his life at the reconstruction era "For we colored people did not know how to be free and the white people did not know how to have a free colored person about them."

After the Civil War, the United States had a lot of rebuilding to do. The war had halted the development of the country in its tracks, and many efforts had to be made to fix the economy, the physical state of the land and satisfy the needs and wants of the people. Integration of newly emancipated slaves, known as freedmen, and their safety was a question mark in the minds of many Americans, and ideas of how to fairly pull the South back into the Union were extremely varied amongst lawmakers. Compromise played a big role in keeping every side happy to prevent slipping back into war. It was prioritized that the North and South were blended back into one, united country, and many actions were taken in expediting this process.

After four years of fighting between the Union and the Confederacy in the American Civil War, it was finally decided in 1864 that the 11 southern states that seceded from the nation would be restored into the Union once again. However, the problems of reconstructing the Union were just as difficult as the war itself had been. Because most of the war was fought on Southern ground, the South had been devastated both physically and economically. Helping former slaves and making state governments loyal to the Union also presented various problems that would take years to resolve.

During reconstruction, blacks were no longer forced to work as slaves however they still needed to work to support themselves and their families. Not many blacks had skills outside of farming so most worked the lands of the wealthy white landowners but not as slaves. They had the right to do whatever they wanted and the landowners could do nothing about it. Wealthy landowners still needed work hands and blacks needed an income so former slaveholders established the sharecropping system. Land owned by a white person would be farmed by black families and they shared the crop yield. This often resulted in the white person taking more than their share and the black families struggled to support themselves. Sharecropping did little to help economic advancement for blacks and was a way the white man could prevent blacks from making enough money

America: “The land of the free, and the home of the brave” (Key 7-8). When our forefathers overcame the colonial reign of the British Empire, they formed the United States of America based on the premise of enlightened ideals promoting life, ownership of land, and liberty. But after the revolution, the country’s problems were far from solved. The country’s post-revolution issues sparked a Civil War, which was followed by a reconstruction. In some ways, the Civil War and Reconstruction helped the United States accomplish its original goals, but in many ways, that was not the case.

The abolitionist movement in the 1820s became much more significant as economical demands grew. The cotton production was at an all time high years before the Civil War, as a result, in order to make more profit from it slavery spread, as labor was necessary. Significant figures such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Truman and William Lloyd garrison were among the participant in the movement that gained great amount of followers. They were also responsible for organizing Underground Railroad, in which provided escape for slaves.

Between 1860 and 1877, the era of reconstruction in America had been ineffably prominent with societal and constitutional change. Between achievements such as the Freedmen’s Bureau of 1865, helping recently freed slaves, to the 14th amendment establishing a set equal rights, multiple advancements to the country had been created. While the dilemmas of the reconstruction period were often caused by the Northern versus Southern ideals after fighting a bloody Civil War, or tackling racial inequality, the question of constitutionality of the era’s laws were regarded as the essential piece to the time’s strife. Moreover, there was often argument if whether the federal government, morally and constitutionality, was privileged to decide on laws not explicitly stated in the Constitution. Supporters of federal government heavy ruling often debated with those in support of sovereign states, leading to deeper issues then who was creating rules. Important topics of the era like allowing state government to decide on race issues such as black suffrage, or the enforcement of the Black Codes started at the root of power. With these adverse differences in who should first hold and manifest the power of the nation, great revolutionary debates, ideals, and attacks transpired. These various constitutional and social evolutions catalyzed into a revolution regarding the state and federal power in the nation.

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

Reconstruction is the era in the United States that follows the Civil War. During this time, the federal government set the conditions that would allow the rebellion Southern states back into the Union. The victory in the Civil War has granted four million slaves their freedom. After the Civil War, the Civil Rights Act of 1866, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments help protect the freedom of African Americans. They were granted the right to vote, obtain land from former owners, develop their own employment, use public facilities, and participate in political actions. Life changed dramatically for these free slaves. Most importantly, they no longer had to work under a slave master. The first amendment that allowed this to happen was the thirteenth amendment. It stated to abolish slavery in the United States and involuntary servitude. Following this was the fourteenth amendment. It gave citizens equal rights and equal protection of the laws. This amendment applied mostly to the freed slaves. The third amendment that protected freed slaves was the fifteenth amendment. It granted blacks the right to vote. However, life still stayed the same a little for them. Whites still were very harsh toward them and look down upon them even after blacks were given the same rights as whites.

1. The war in 1862 was only more than a year old and the people in both the Union and Confederate sides didn’t anticipate it would last that long, but it is going to go on. Close to the end of the summer in this same year, the Union has made huge progress in claiming confederate lands, winning some major battles. They have put the confederacy in the defensive. They have taken over New Orleans, with even black troops major on the ground of New Orleans. They have taken Missouri and are working hard to take over the Mississippi Valley and maybe even Richmond itself. Bruce Catton puts it this way in The Civil War, “Except for guerrilla activity, Kentucky and Missouri has been swept clear of armed confederates, Western Tennessee had been reclaimed, there was a Yankee army in Cumberland Gap, another one was approaching chattanooga, and a third was sprawled out from Memphis to Corinth, preparing to splice down through Mississippi and touch hands with the Union occupation forces in Baton Rouge and New Orleans” (85) So not only that they Union had taken over regions, they are advancing as well, but they did not win the way this year for some reason. Firstly, because they did not have generals and army heads capable of taking them to victory. General Halleck, chief of the Union Armies and Pope in charge of one of the Union armies in Virginia, were major examples of this.