The Civil War: Reconstruction

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

There were many purposes to creating these laws. The creator of the laws Jim crow was a “racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states,”around the middle

A revolution is a dramatic and sudden change in an organization in the social order that is replaced by a new, more favorable system. When Historian Eric Foner called the Reconstruction period “America’s Second Revolution”, his characterization was correct. Reconstruction can be viewed as a revolution because the previous social order, slavery, was replaced suddenly by a more favorable one, freedom for African-Americans. There was a long period of politicization for incorporating free African-Americans into white society. Reconstruction also revolutionized the preconceived notion that the states had autonomous power.

The period after the Civil War was a very difficult time in the United States' history. This time was known as the Reconstruction period and it was a very controversial time. There were many issues that had to be addressed such as what to do with the free blacks in the south and how states would be readmitted to the Union. This era saw the rise of the Radical Republicans. The government was going through changes, southerners were going through changes, and blacks were going through changes. Whites in the south were left without people to work their plantations. Slavery was indeed a very important topic during this time. Many of the reconstruction plans that were proposed required states to prohibit slavery in order to be readmitted to

As the civil war was ending many people could see that the odds of the north winning increased dramatically however many people can argue this idea based on the several events that took place during the second phase of the civil war. Carl Schurz concluded, “The Civil War was a revolution, but half accomplished.”(Roark et al 434) Reconstruction started before the civil war ended until 1877, when people of the United States tried figuring out how to put the country back together. Many people had different ideas on how the reconstruction should be handled as a result conflict began between different political groups, between groups in the south, between north and south, and between congress and senate groups. The dramatic transformation of southern states took place during the reconstruction that proved their victory was the organization and formation of government, being reunited in the union, and acquiring constitutional and legal status of African Americans.

In 1865, Louisiana created “Black Codes”, a set of rules that controlled the lifestyle of African Americans. It sounded very similar to slavery, going to extremes such as that every African American had to be of regular service to a white person. The historical significance of these codes is that although they were soon demolished with the passing of the Fourteenth Amendment, Jim Crow laws were soon established after(Document 6). All the states and territories of the

They also criminalized other exercises of constitutional rights that were granted to white citizens. In South Carolina, Black Codes restricted black people from having any job other than a farmer or a servant, tying them down to a life of servitude. Some Virginian Black Codes prohibited blacks from riding in the same train cars as whites. The Black Codes were state and municipal methods of perpetuating segregation and discrimination against black people. The

Reconstruction was a time of great pain and endless questions for the United States of America. What was going to happen to the newly freed slaves? How would they be treated? Would the United States ever be one cohesive country? Many of these questions are still unanswered in today's society, but reconstruction was in place to try to rebuild the US after the devastation of the Civil war. The reconstruction era lasted from 1865-1877. During this time the United States military was stationed in the South, so that everything would run smoothly and hopefully allow for readmission of the once confederate states, back into the Union as one.

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.

Reconstruction is the rebuilding of a country after a largely impacted war. The US reconstructed their country after the damage of the Civil War. This lasted 12 long years. Reconstruction was not only physically rebuilding buildings, it was altering the government, the beliefs of the people, food, shelter, and homes, and much more.

Black Codes were laws that put restrictions on the rights of blacks. Most whites in the South were not willing to suddenly accept the freed slaves as equals or as full citizens. The laws usually said blacks could not vote in elections. Some required the freedmen to sign work contracts with farm owners which gained them little to no income. Many freed slaves remained on their plantations and worked as sharecroppers. In this system land owners, would allow a freed slave to work the land and give a portion of the harvest to the landowner. The portion was usually quite high and it was difficult for the freeman to save enough to sell on his own. So basically, even though the slaves on “paper” were “freed” they were still socially assaulted and not seen as equals. Economic freedom wasn’t a thing either. Sharecropping and tenant farming was called “economic slavery” because it was still a system where freedmen were acting like servants to

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.

Based on the supplementary readings, I believe that the Civil War and Reconstruction failed to produce equality and freedom to the former slaves in America. Although these events are a major development in the process of liberating African Americans from slavery and dehumanization, many obstacles still exist in which the black community suffered from discrimination and lack of basic rights as a black man in the late 1800s. For example, black soldiers were recruited into the Civil War due to shortage of manpower and “receive the sum of ten dollars per month…[while]..the regiment would...be allowed the three”(Gooding, "We Feel as Though Our Country Spurned Us"). This shows prejudice to the African Americans despite their efforts. Even though

The time of the Reconstruction saw one of the biggest stalemate in American history where the Union was at its youngest and most fragile state. At this time, the American Civil war had just ended and there was the prevailing threat of the continuation of slavery. Lincoln’s approach was lenient, where he expected that whatever Southern states that accepted to end slavery with at least 10% of their male population was going to be part of the confederation and help in rebuilding, while hostile states would be rejected. There were others, however, who were not as enthusiastic as himself in this pursuit and preferred to complicate the situation. This paper looks at the rightness or wrongness of the stance that Lincoln took and its effect on the reconstruction process.

The Civil War left a country divided not only by property lines and borders but by beliefs as well. Not just religious beliefs, moral beliefs also. It left both sides, north and south struggling, trying to figure out what their next move towards reuniting the divided America was going to be. The period following the end of the Civil War would become known as the “Reconstruction Era.” An era that raised just as many questions as it did answers. A reconstruction of America that seems to carry on many decades later.