Essay on Southern Reconstruction

Submitted By overlordjay
Words: 699
Pages: 3
Open Document
After the Civil War the land and people of the South were devastated. The farms that had not been burned to the ground from Sherman's March or sold to Northern businesses and friends of the Governors had no one to work them. The slave labour was freed and some farmers were in too deep of debt to hire workers. Infrastructures such as bridges, railroads, mills, and major cities were destroyed. The southern Democrats had no representation in Congress and were ruled by Radical Republicans bent on revenge. Reconstruction was needed to rebuild the hurt society and ruined land damaged by war.

The Reconstruction Plan had good intentions. The African-Americans received rights and were freed through the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. In the Fourteenth Amendment the states were denied the right to deprive anyone of life, liberty, and justice. Congress was given the power to enforce the amendments, a state would receive a smaller representation if African-Americans were denied the right to vote, and anyone born into the US was a citizen. The Fifteenth Amendment gave African-Americans the right to vote. The Freedmen's Bureau of 1865 gave poverty-stricken African-Americans and some Whites, food, shelter, education, healthcare, and employment contracts. Other successes were public works projects, a funded public school system, and women were allowed to hold property and own property.

Although there were successes the failures of the Plan were great. Congress and President Jackson clashed severely on how to treat the South after the Civil War. Johnson was from Tennessee and felt that the South should be dealt with more kindly. He gave out over 13000 Pardons and wanted to restore Confederate leaders back into their places of power. Congress was not pleased with his ideas and wanted a more harsh punishment for the South. Congress overrode many of Johnson's vetoes and passed Reconstruction Acts. The Radical Republicans, who held the most seats in Congress, greatly despised Johnson and went so far as to impeach him for violating the Tenure of Office Act. President Johnson was impeached but was not convicted.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African-Americans citizenship and outlawed the Black Codes. However, it was mostly ignored by the South and the North did little to enforce it. Southern Whites rejected equality by segregating the schools, creating poll taxes and literacy tests so only wealthy educated whites could vote, made the Grandfather Clause which made it possible to bypass the poll tax and literacy test if their Grandfather voted before 1867. Nathan Bedford Forrest started a social group in 1866 named the Ku Klux Klan. It was mainly just a secret group by Confederate veterans. As the club grew in numbers and spread across the south like
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Southern Reconstruction

Southern Reconstruction Essay

American history ch4sec3 Southern Reconstruction -With the end of the civil war there can new problems: -Where were all the men returning from the war going to work? -How was the south rebuilt? -What would be the relationship with freed blacks be in the south? -How to convert factories that had been making war materials into peace time production? -How would southern states be re admitted back into the union? -How to protect the rights of freed blacks in the south? President Lincoln's…

Words 1385 - Pages 6

Southern Reconstruction And The Progressive Era

Between Southern Reconstruction and the start of the Progressive Era, American agriculture experienced great changes. Agriculture had been a prolific part of the United States' economy before the Industrial revolution. The Industrial Revolution certainly had an effect on American agriculture, but it still continued to evolve. Further development of agriculture was affected by government policies, developing technologies and a changing economy for farmers. As industrialization surged after the Reconstruction…

Words 359 - Pages 2

Nike: Southern United States and Reconstruction Essay

Reconstruction Essay Even thought the south did a lot of things to help kill Reconstruction, This doesn’t mean the North didn’t do anything, actually I believe that the Northern’s neglect was a greater problem. As is seen in Document C “Problems and Scandals in the North”. Northern voters grew indifferent to events in the south, they began to turn their backs and focus on other issues. The tide of public opinion began to turn against Reconstruction polices. As we learn in Document D. In 1976…

Words 386 - Pages 2

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

"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…

Words 3065 - Pages 13

Why Was Reconstruction Possible For The Confederate States?

concluded, Northern politicians were busy making Reconstruction plans for the Confederate States. Reconstruction—the process by which seceded states were to re-enter back into the Union—was a difficult process for the United States for two reasons. Firstly, civil rights had to be secured for the emancipated slaves, against Southern protest; and secondly, the Union needed to be reunited as quickly as possible, with as little “punishment” to the Southern states as possible. Abraham Lincoln and Andrew…

Words 774 - Pages 4

Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction And Radical Or Congressional Reconstruction

there were two major plans for reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction and Radical or Congressional Reconstruction. In 1865 President Andrew Johnson announced his plans for reconstruction in the South, which became known as Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1867). Johnson believed that the government had no right to determine voting eligibility or other issues at the state level. Johnson restored property that was given to free slaves to its prewar owners. Southern states were given free reign…

Words 390 - Pages 2

History 106 Essay example

demanded inclusion in southern politics (wanted to vote) White southerners hoped for “economic revival” ^ desired a “return to tradition” (white supremacy) Accepting Responsibility – Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) 1. Labor disputes 2. “Forty Acres and a Mule” provision 3. Freedmen’s Schools (Provided education for white and black southerners) Reestablishing Control – Sharecropping Seeds of Change (Process/Period of Reconstruction) Who had the Authority…

Words 377 - Pages 2

Civil War Reconstruction Research Paper

consolidating the southern states back into the Union, a process known to historians as Reconstruction. With the goal in mind of creating a Republican presence in the south based on a Free Labor ideology, the Republican Party was only moderately successful, and their eventual failure resulted in a Democratic south as well as southern traditions, such as white supremacy, being retained. Nearing Union victory, President Abraham Lincoln proposed a solution to reincorporate the southern states back into…

Words 2026 - Pages 9

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

Civil War Reconstruction Research Paper

million slaves their freedom, but the process of rebuilding the South during the Reconstruction period (1865-1877) introduced a new set of issues and the white people in the south despised of it. Under the administration of President Andrew Johnson in 1865 and 1866, new southern state legislatures passed restrictive “black codes” to control the labor and behavior of former slaves in the south. Much of the Southern United States was destroyed during the Civil war. Farms and plantations were burned…

Words 657 - Pages 3