Dbq Reconstruction Research Paper

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 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

During the south reconstruction African Americans lived through many living crises. South Reconstruction began after the civil war ended in 1865 and continued through 1877. It was introduced by the government of the southern whites, although they did not act alone. The reconstruction goal was to abolish slavery for good, and second to recruit trustworthy governments that were loyal to the union and that respected federal authorities. However, For the freed african americans in south reconstruction had a negative impact socially, politically and economically.

After the Union’s victory in the Civil War during 1865, the era of Reconstruction began, an era in which the prospect of rebuilding the nation once again after the catastrophic effects of the war arose. During Reconstruction, African Americans were attempted to be integrated into American society, it was questioned on what terms Confederate states would be welcomed into the country, and the economy was meant to be fixed but all of this ultimately failed. Reconstruction was not successful in rebuilding the political, economical, and racial issues in the country post Civil War as there were even more racial and discriminatory issues, a damaged federal government, and an injured economy as well.

After four years the Civil War ended in 1865 the next problem was the reconstruction of the torn apart United States. It was a slow start especially for government reconstruction but had Abraham Lincoln been president instead of Andrew Johnson presidential reconstruction may have proved to be successful. Along with the reconstruction came “radical” changes to the United States as well. This flared both Southern and Northern racial attitudes causing conflict between the two once again. These problems were just the beginning of reconstruction leaving behind the historical legacy we have today.

Reconstruction was a period of time in the United States that made history immediately towards the Ccivil Wwar. A lack of political focus on the effort failed to solve the sectional wounds and elimination of the freed slaves’ newly gained civil liberties failed to bring about long-term racial integration. In order for the slaves to have gotten social and economic equality, the North would have had to have focused strongly on pushing for black equality. In other words it was a social failure because it spawned segregation in the south that we still have today. It failed economically because Reconstruction sent the former slaves back into the fields to the sharecroppers, which drove them into debt and made them become slaves again. I believe the Reconstruction was a failure because of politically, socially, and economic reasons.

Reconstruction is often thought of as something that happened in the South. But events there were part of a much broader transformation. Far beyond the ex-Confederacy, the United States embarked on an ambitious process of nation building. (A. 446) The U.S. Constitution does not address the question of how to restore rebellious states. After the Civil War, the nation had to determine whether the Confederate states, upon seceding, had legally left the Union. If so, then their reentry required action by Congress. If not — if even during secession they had retained their constitutional status — then restoring these states might be an administrative matter, best left to the president. Lack of clarity on this fundamental question made for explosive politics. In the early years of Reconstruction, the president and Congress struggled over who was in charge. Only by winning this fight did Republicans in Congress open the way for the sweeping achievements of radical Reconstruction. (A. 447) As of 1877, all of the Confederate states had drafted new constitutions, recognized the new Amendments set forth (the 13th, 14th, and 15th), and had fully pledged their loyalty to the United States government. This allowed for the settling of states’ rights vs. federalism debate that had been ongoing since the mid1790s. While Reconstruction was a success on many fronts, there

Reconstruction was forcibly imposed on the southern states by the government, with the presence of overbearing federal troops, and, as a result, racial attitudes in the south didn’t really evolve during this period. With the support of a conservative Supreme Court, black codes, voter qualifications, and other anti-progressive legislation were passed through state governments to reverse the rights that blacks had gained during Radical Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson had already provided generous pardons to virtually the entire Confederacy, so the same leadership had come into play, eventually instituting brutally racist governments. Because the North stopped enforcing Federal civil rights law in the South after 1876, the freed slaves lost all political

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.

The United States was a divided nation prior to the Civil War and even during the Era of Reconstruction. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the country desperately needed to be rebuilded which lead to the Reconstruction. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to unite the nation, but many people believe that it might have caused another war. Important amendments like the 13th, 14th, and 15th were passed during the Reconstruction that granted African Americans access to freedom, citizenship, and suffrage. Although the African Americans were freed and given some rights, the Reconstruction and lack of political authority once again created a divided nation between white and black people. The Reconstruction was

The reconstruction period was an important time in our history, its accomplishments and failures affected who we are and how we are today. The reconstruction wanted to join all the states to the union once more and rebuild the South. There’s a question as to where the goals of the reconstruction were met or where were the goals unmet? Some of the goals for the reconstruction were met, but there were also some that weren’t met. Some of the goals weren’t completely unmet but were completely accomplished either.

The Era of Reconstruction started in 1855. After the Civil war ended the South was left in shambles. Southern states were left in economic and politic distress and faced renewed social issues. The objective of Reconstruction in the South was to restore the South economically, award freed African Americans the rights to be equal citizens in the eyes of the law, and repair the breakage in the Union. Though the people worked to restore the South they were unable to get over the differences and realities needed to become whole again.

After the Civil War ended, one question was buzzing through everybody’s heads. What now? Those years after the Civil war were rough for the U.S. In 1876, it was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. For a short amount of time it seemed as though things were looking up. It was as if there was a spark of hope in what people did to try to recover from the war that did so much damage. “It seemed the United States was creating enough opportunity that all Americans could pursue their hopes for happiness”(Roden 505).But like a spark, this could only last so long. Both sides ran into problems and trials, but only one truly killed Reconstruction. Who? The South. The South killed Reconstruction because the Ku Klux Klan worked hard to kill the dream of Reconstruction that so many people had, society never did anything when African Americans were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan, and the South had a hard time following the 14th amendment.

The Reconstruction era was put into effect by Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. Reconstruction was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War. The reconstruction plan granted the means for readmitting the southern states into the Union, and tried to come up with the methods by which whites and blacks could live together in a non-slave society. America's position as a country was established on principles of freedom but those beliefs were weakened by slavery. At the end of the Civil War, many blacks felt that they were entitled to start collecting the benefits that had been denied for so many years. Being able to vote, own land and have a voice in political affairs were all goals that they believed were reachable.

After the Civil War ended in 1865, the Federal government wanted to help the now freedmen who are still living in former slave states. They decided to start the Reconstruction Era, which lasted from 1865-1877. The purpose of this Reconstruction time period was to rebuild the damage that has been left in the South from the Civil War. A group known as Radical Republicans worked to help all freedmen gain rights, but white supremacist groups interfered. Within that time period, “reactionary forces–including the Ku Klux Klan–would reverse the changes wrought by Radical Reconstruction in a violent backlash that restored white supremacy in the South” (http://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/reconstruction). The Southerners themselves continued to perpreturate violence causing the North to back away, leaving the South to end Reconstruction. Although both the North and the South were responsible for the ending of Reconstruction, the South had a bigger influence on the ending.