Racism’s Impact on Reconstruction While the issue of slavery evidently contributed to the divide that resulted in the American Civil War, it is debated whether prevailing ideals of racism caused the failure of the era following the war known as Reconstruction. With the abolishment of slavery, many of the southern states had to reassemble the social, economic, and political systems instilled in their societies. The Reconstruction Era was originally led by a radical republican government that pushed to raise taxes, establish coalition governments, and deprive former confederates of superiority they might have once held. However, during this time common views were obtained that the South could recover independently and that African Americans …show more content…
While there were exceptions of individuals fighting for more than equality by law for African Americans, such as John D. Baldwin who argued “a question concerning human rights” (Frederickson 379), there were racist ideals held that transcended political parties and regional affiliations alike. Radical democrats sought the most resistance with political leaders such as Representative James Brooks who preached in opposition to integration by claiming “the negro is not the equal of the white man, much less his master” (Frederickson 379). Arguments of black inferiority became based upon the false ethnology presented by Josiah Nott that physically and mentally ranked the black race below other races. Even radical republicans became contradictory in their views claiming African Americans were different due to their inability to conquer and dominate like white people had; insinuating that white domination could not be challenged. Although there was a period following the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and 1868 in which former slaves were granted citizenship, their involvement in politics became rendered by the lack of education previously provided to slaves and inability of “withstanding the economic, political, and paramilitary opposition of the white majority” (Frederickson 382). Frederickson argues African Americans simply did not have the time or preparation to oppose racist forces. Using paramilitary forces, southern redeemers easily made threats to reconstruction forces as seen through the emergence of the violent Ku Klux Klan during the election of 1866. The opportunity for African Americans to gain a stance in society was short lived by the racist efforts of democrats in the south and impartial ideals from
Although slavery was declared over after the passing of the thirteenth amendment, African Americans were not being treated with the respect or equality they deserved. Socially, politically and economically, African American people were not being given equal opportunities as white people. They had certain laws directed at them, which held them back from being equal to their white peers. They also had certain requirements, making it difficult for many African Americans to participate in the opportunity to vote for government leaders. Although they were freed from slavery, there was still a long way to go for equality through America’s reconstruction plan.
In the 1870s fights broke out, people were murdered, and the country was in chaos. It left us wondering who's to blame for the end of Reconstruction? After the Civil war slaves became freedmen but they didn’t have rights. An era called Reconstruction by historians began. Some people supported it.
Reconstruction- created race conflict in all aspects of American society Both in the North and South The Gilded Age- separation of the classes began to emerge wealthy elite rose above the working class and artificially suppressing worker wages Social Darwinism and Herbert Spencer- the application of Darwin’s theory of evolution to socioeconomics by Spencer created a sense that lower classes were “unfit” Survival of the fittest World War I- following the disillusionment of WWI, a fear of outsiders rose Harding: “Return to Normalcy”
As a result of this, racist organizations were founded to wreaked havoc on former slaves. Secret societies in the southern united states, such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camellia used violence against the blacks. Their goal was often to keep blacks out of politics. Our textbook states, “In other states, where blacks were a majority or where the populations of the two races were almost equal, whites used outright intimidation and violence to undermine the Reconstruction regimes” (Brinkley 368). The people involved in such organizations were using violence to take away the fifteenth amendment right from the former slaves.
After the Civil War, the United States tried to mend the relationship between the Union and Confederacy through the institution of reconstruction under Johnson. President Johnson established minimal requirements that created much controversy between the Congressmen supporting that supported the Union during the war. Ultimately, Johnson acted in protecting poor whites since there was now an abundant supply of cheap labor with slavery no longer being enacted. Slowly with the reintegration of the South, there were state laws created to repress African Americans since they were now the population that was in the majority in comparison to whites. The population grew due to freed African Americans in the South, whites saw that the racially-structured
In 1865 The North was amazingly prosperous, with a booming economy and a large amount of supporters there was no way The South could keep up. The South lay in ruins and the population dwindled with the shortage of food, shelter and clothing. The Reconstruction was necessary to help rebuild and reunite the nation, the Government at the time sought out ways to help southerners and give slaves more rights. During the Reconstruction African Americans where given freedom to vote, now making up the majority of Republican voters. Some historians group the Reconstruction and “Black Supremacy” together due to the growth of African Americans serving in office.
Black politicians in Southern government were influenced to participate due to access to education and violence against former slaves. The Reconstruction period was a time of radical social and political change as former slaves, recently emancipated by President Lincoln, sought to take advantage of their newfound freedom by pursuing political positions within the new Radical Republican governments and seeking access to education for all blacks. Though they were met with violence, adversity, and injustice, educated black leaders recognized the importance of literacy to uplift their people from long lives of physical labor, and many of these leaders went on to become educators themselves before serving in the Reconstruction government. Aggressive
After Reconstruction, African Americans faced many social, political, and economic issues. The years following the Reconstruction continued to create tension between African Americans and whites. In the south African Americans were still not given the same rights as whites. With this tension, came social, political, and economic issues. During this time, African Americans faced social adversity.
At the end of civil war in the united states in the nineteenth century, American slaves were free, but not from discrimination. The country had expanded its territory to the west that allowed some people to relocate rather than just staying in south alone. Those who remained in the south faced various hardships whereas those who moved to the west experienced vast challenges. When the Congress passed the civil rights bill in 1866 followed by Reconstruction in the following year, it implied that the former slaves acquired equal status with the whites. In the south, the hope for racial equality among the blacks and immigrant communities was contested, more so by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), which used fear and terror to promote white supremacy.
In spite of the fact that Reconstruction constrained numerous progressions on the South, it was clear by the mid 1870 's that in a general sense the South had not been changed. Although slavery was banned, Southerners still found a way to keep blacks from achieving equal opportunities, and to keep them in conditions as close to slavery as lawfully possible. Northerners, who were distracted with their own issues, started to lose their resolve to pursue
The years following the Civil war brought about an enormous change to the very threads of our country. Nearly 5 days after the civil war ended, President Lincoln had been assassinated and our country was thrown into a great deal of turmoil, especially because our new president was the racist southerner, Andrew Johnson. We needed to rebuild our country from the death and destruction that had happened during the Civil War and the matter of the rights for the newly freed slaves would become a Pressing Issue in our country. Overall, the age of reconstruction was successful in bringing rights to African Americans in our country through the 14th and 15th amendments but was also a failure because of the continued hate and oppression that they would
It is because of the southern racist whites’ resistance to reconstruction that the historical memory of the time is unique. Although the government sent troops in to protect blacks, they were eventually pulled out in the Compromise of 1877, which allowed Republican Hayes to win the close election in return. Without federal troops there for protection, racism kept on into the following decades, and caused for black leaders to emerge to push for their own rights later during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Had the government stuck with Reconstruction, perhaps racism would not have stayed in the south as long. Additionally, through propaganda like the movie Birth of a Nation, southern whites attempted to frame the Civil War and Reconstruction as a tragedy, which took away southern heritage and pride, and that the KKK was a good thing by restoring old ways.
But, when these officials were elected to Congress, they passed the “black codes” and thus the relations between the president and legislators became worst (Schriefer, Sivell and Arch R1). These so called “Black Codes” were “a series of laws to deprive blacks of their constitutional rights” that they were enacted mainly by Deep South legislatures. Black Codes differ from a state to another but they were stricter in the Deep South as they were sometimes irrationally austere. (Hazen 30) Furthermore, with the emergence of organizations such as the Red Shirts and the White League with the rise of the Conservative White Democrats’ power, efforts to prevent Black Americans from voting were escalating (Watts 247), even if the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S constitution that gave the Blacks the right to vote had been ratified in 1870.
Reconstruction caused prejudice and inequality. To elaborate, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes were both in the time period of reconstruction, which caused chaos and violence throughout the Union. One of the goals of reconstruction was to repair the economy in the South, because it depended on slavery, which was now illegal, due to the thirteenth amendment. The South’s economic system now depended on Sharecropping, which caused former slaves to be in constant debt and was unjust to the black society. The reconstruction time period, was a time of dispute between the Union.
The reconstruction period was a failure because African Americans, mainly males, were not treated with equality although the constitution said that the they were free and had the right to vote, be educated and had the right to liberty, life and the pursuit to happiness. Organizations, like the KKK, were created to harm freed slaves and their families. Laws were created such as the Black Codes restricting former slaves from their rights. African Americans endured a lot of violence over the years. “In Grayson, Texas, a white man and two friends murdered three former slaves because the wanted to ‘ thin the niggers out and drive them to their hole’”.