Essay on History: Reconstruction Era of the United States and Southern White Republicans

Submitted By myusan1993
Words: 3065
Pages: 13
Open Document
"What Is Freedom?”: Reconstruction, 1865–1877
Chapter Study Outline
Aftermath of Civil War
Casualties: 620,000 killed, 700,000 wounded
Massive destruction of Southern Infrastructure
Destruction of Southern Economy
Abolishment of slavery
Destroy the things that has value in the South
The South is lagging because of no factory production unlike the North
Charleston, SC—very damaged from the Civil War
Lincoln did not really get any votes from the South simply because his position against slavery
Reconstruction
Unpaid Labor—Are they really going to be free?
End of Reconstruction
Gov’t not going to intervene the states
Sea Island Experiment (Special Order 15)
Directed by William Tecumseh Sherman
AA was looking for economic independent; they want to grow their own things without any interventions from the others
The Northern investors paid the former slaves “Forty acres and a mule” for growing cotton, which they see cotton as a profit.
AA wants freedom and acquisition of the land, not a job on plantation , one provision of the law establishing the bureau gave it the authority to divide abandoned and confiscated land into forty acre plots for rental and eventual sales to the former slaves, BUT…
Johnson: RACIST; “Give the land back to the former slaves, you have no right to live and grow things there.”
Howard: inform the AA on Sea Island , AA don’t believe and protest
Former Slaves—Problem: Acquisition of land, eventually they have to work for somebody, usually their former owners, after Johnson said… AA women usually work as maid and men usually does farm work, get a low pay
AA: You did not improve our living even after we are freed, it’s the same as our slavery lives
Sharecropper
Compromise set up between the blacks’ desire for land and the planters’ demand for labor discipline
The whites rent a portion of the plantation to the AA and the AA have to plant things and divide the crops they have at the end of the year among the owner and themselves.
A stable resident labor force for owners
A gang labor for AA: the prospect of work without white supervision everyday
However, sharecropping becomes more and more oppressive over the years
The price of the farm products suffered a prolonged decline—economic opportunities severely limited

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865-1870)
Directed by O.O. Howard
Established schools, provide aid to the poor and the aged, settle disputes between whites and blacks and among the freed people, and secure for former slaves and white Unionists equal treatment before the courts
Less than 1000 agents even at its peak
Achievement: education and health care
Coordinated and helped to finance the activities of northern societies committed to black education; by 1867, 40% of the AA children attending school
Assumed control of hospitals established by army during the war, and expanded the system into new communities
Provided medical care and drugs to black and southern whites
Presidential Reconstruction
Lincoln’s ten percent plan- 10% of the states swear loyalty to the US and they would support the emancipation and they would get recognition by the national government
13th Amendment(1865)- outlawed the slavery
Amnesty & pardon, including return of property (except former slaves) to Southerners who took oath of allegiance to the constitution and union
Confederate leader and wealthy planters have to apply for personal pardon
Recognized reconstructed NC and set terms for 10 other former Confederate states, ratify 13th Amendment, renounce secession, repudiate Confederate debts, and hold elections for states and Congress.
By the end of 1865, all seceded states have their own government
Congressional Reconstruction
Equality for all Americans
Charles Sumner- a senator from MA
Thaddeus Stevens-a lawyer and iron manufacture who represented PA in the House of Representatives, aim: confiscate the land of disloyal planters and divide it among former slaves and northern migrants to
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on History: Reconstruction Era of the United States and Southern White Republicans

Reconstruction Era Research Paper

October 25,2016 Exam #2 Essay In Louisiana, The Reconstruction Era started in year 1862, before the Civil war ended in 1865. National Reconstruction began in 1865, after the Civil War ended. Reconstruction started as a means of federal intervention and was a system determined to return states to the Union that was proposed and promoted by Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and then Congress. Some of the objectives of the Reconstruction Era were to rebuild the South after the ravishing Civil…

Words 1885 - Pages 8

Ku Klux Klan And The Reconstruction Era

The infamous white supremacist group, the Ku Klux Klan, formed its roots in the southern states shortly after the American Civil War during the time period known as the Reconstruction Era. This Reconstruction Era was the idea of the nation working together in order to put the United States back to its previous state that it was before the war began. Abraham Lincoln’s goal was to join the nation as one now that it had officially prohibited slavery in the United States (Howard). As a secretive clan…

Words 1431 - Pages 6

Essay On Failure Of Reconstruction

To the South, Reconstruction was like rubbing salt in the wound to keep it from healing. They were humiliated by Reconstruction. One of the main causes of the war was injured Southern pride because they felt like the North were too dictating towards them. In the wake of the Civil War, white Southerners reacted in diverse ways to Reconstruction. Supporters of Emancipation and of the Union organized the Republican party in areas where it had not previously operated. Opponents of the Union and of civil…

Words 1199 - Pages 5

Unit 3/Part 2 Reconstruction

Mike Seggio December 9th, 2014 U.S. History ID's: Unit 3 // Part 2 ­ Reconstruction Scalawags: any person who behaves badly, but not amusingly mischievous rather than harmful ­ An example of a scalawag would be a white southerner who had collaborated with northern Republicans. Carpetbagger: a political candidate who seeks election in an area where they have no local connections. ­ Lincoln could be used as an example of a carpetbagger when it came to gaining votes for failed his election(s) into the senate…

Words 1167 - Pages 5

Radical Reconstruction Research Paper

War, America entered a time called the Reconstruction Era. This period brought societal chaos and transformation in the United States. Reconstruction means the rebuilding of the shattered nation (Foner 565). This essay will examine the reasons why people acted the way they did during Reconstruction, dissect how laws influenced people’s actions, why Radical Reconstruction started, and what happened with three important amendments. We'll also see how Reconstruction still affects America today. The motivations…

Words 803 - Pages 4

Reconstruction America's Unfinished Revolution Summary

Eric Foner’s book, “A Short History of Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution” traces the failure and expected fulfillment of the ending of the Civil War. The period starts in 1863 in which Lincoln generates the Emancipation Proclamation of former Confederate Territories now under the Union Army’s control. The end point is the 1877 Compromise of President Hayes ending the United States Army’s occupation of four southern states negotiated with Democrats. This in turn allowed for the control…

Words 848 - Pages 4

32733171 HIS202 300 Joseph Eulo Reconstruction Paper DUE FEB 3 2010

The Reconstruction Era Must be submitted no later than Februaruy 3, 2010 Reconstruction appeared to be a program to aid in the assimilation of the freed blacks into the American social and economic system. The Radical Republicans in Congress had a different goal. Read Chapter 16 and write an essay describing the plans of Presidents Lincoln and Johnson and how they differed from the plans of Congress. Put special emphasis on the impact of the 14th Amendment and what it attempted to reverse.…

Words 4005 - Pages 17

Essay about Disastrous Reconstruction

Would the disastrous Reconstruction era have taken a different course? What would have happened had Abraham Lincoln not been assassinated? Every time I lecture on Lincoln, the Civil War, or Reconstruction, someone in the audience is sure to pose this question — one, of course, perfectly natural to ask but equally impossible to answer. This has not, however, deterred historians from speculating about this "counterfactual" problem. The answer to the question depends in part on one's opinion…

Words 1954 - Pages 8

Comparison Of Charles Beard And Mary Beard: The Second American Revolution

Charles Beard and Mary Beard called the Civil War and Reconstruction, “The Second American Revolution”. Beard was specific that the Civil War produced a shift in class power in Washington. “A revolution”, says Beard “is where one class ousts another one from power”. This is the typical definition of a revolution as the planter class (The South) ran the government before the war and were then ousted by what Beard calls the “Northern Bourgeoisie” (The Northern industrial class). Beard believes this…

Words 3225 - Pages 13

United State Vs Cruikshank Case Study

Safia Southey United State vs. Cruikshank: The Case that Ended Reconstruction Following the Civil War, the political and legal status of freed black Americans seemed to be improving. This time was called the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877), during which the previously enslaved people were finally emancipated and being provided with new opportunities and legal rights. In several southern states such as Louisiana, African-Americans made up a majority of the population, which allowed them to gain…

Words 2512 - Pages 11