How Did African Americans Led Reconstruction

The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction brought significant political, social, and economic changes to American society, and these effects continued into the 20th century. Post Civil War (After the Civil War – The period after the Civil War) - President Abraham Lincoln and Congress were determined to rebuild the nation. Lincoln wanted to restore the Union by readmitting the southern states that had seceded, as well as provide African Americans with more rights. Period of Conflict -

__ states decide on the issue of slavery ___ California admitted as a free state; slave trade abolished in Washington, D.C.; Utah and New Mexico were created ___ repealed the Missouri Compromise and gave the new states on Nebraska and Kansas the right to use popular sovereignty ___ unsuccessfully John Brown tried to create a slave revolt in Virginia ___ a series of debates over issues such as slavery and new territories in 1858 ___ new political party formed as a result of the Kansas-Nebraska Act and an opposition to slavery ___ antislavery and proslavery supporters who tried to established homes in this new state and used violence to try and gain control ___ required that Northern states follow run that captured runaway slaves be returned their

There were major issues in national politics. In 1865 President Abraham Lincon is assassinated and Andrew Johnson now becomes president. Then 13th Amendment is ratified, and its forbids slavery. But that really didn 't change the slavery issue and Black codes were enacted in the south to limit former slaves to become self-sufficient.

If Lincoln weren’t assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, then reconstruct would have been different. Andrew Jackson, the former Vice President now president, passed the black code. The black code granted some right such as marriage and owning property. Although, he didn’t protect all there rights. Some states created a law that abolished the full civil rights of an African American.

a) Many questions arose once the Civil war over such as what to do with the south, as well as the African Americans who had been freed b) The South was ruined as everything there was destroyed a) Even with the emancipation proclamation, many African Americans were put back into slavery i) Eventually the Southerners were forced to let the African Americans go b) Lots of blacks now moved on to find jobs, or to find their families a) Freedmen's Bureau was created so that the African American could be provided with the basic necessities, as well as learn to read and write i) This was created by Oliver O Howard t a) After Lincoln died, Andrew Johnson became the president i)

African Americans weren’t actually free during Reconstruction because they were initially not accorded the full rights of citizenship under the constitution, they were forced into submission by violence and intimidation, and were abridged the rights they had later gained by Black Codes. Despite the fact that African Americans were liberated from slavery, during the early years of Reconstruction, they were not equal citizens under the law. Even though blacks had fought loyally for the union, they were initially denied the right to vote (Doc a). The President of the United States, President Johnson, regarded black suffrage as something to radical that would “change the entire structure and character of the State governments,” (Doc b).

How did Reconstruction change life for African Americans? Before Reconstruction, every African’s life was different. Some Africans worked on plantations, which meant they worked from sunrise to sunset, six days a week. They would even get food that wasn’t capable of being eaten. The plantation slaves lived in small shakes that had a dirt floor and little to no furniture.

With reconstruction there were many doors opened for African Americans. They were able to be free, and to become a citizen, and male slaves over the age of 21 were able to vote. Also there was education for children and some adults, and there were marriages for former slaves. In the image drawn by A. R. Waud, he displays a male African American voting for the first time. This image shows how constitutionally this was groundbreaking for the former slaves.

The blacks were forced to vote for republicans, the blacks were looked at as free but not as equals in the south, the most powerful people lawyers, doctors and dentists who could make a difference were members of the Ku Klux Klan, who were against reconstruction. The southern leaders of the government only wanted white people in power, the north pulled out all its soldiers from the south, making it even more difficult for the freedmen to be free and equal. The South had a lot of violence, The KKK held responsibility for most of the violence in the south because not one person tried to stop them. The KKK is a

Peter Schroeder Dr. Christopher Marshall Modern United States History 2/2/17 Writing Assignment 1: The African-American Experience with Reconstruction Reconstruction among the south refers to the point in time which the United States was attempting to establish a relationship between the union and the rebels. The Union had won the civil war, so the next step was to begin to mend the broken relationship between the north and the south. Though historians cannot agree on when it began, there is merit in saying that it started before the end of the Civil War. After victory, had been solidified for the Union, attention of President Lincoln turned towards reconstruction.

The Reconstruction was important to American history because it gave all different types of people their rights. The fourteenth amendment, The Dawes act and The Homestead Act all have things in common. All of these acts involve something to do with race and or forcing people out of their homes or land. The fourteenth Amendment gave men of color “equal” rights to white men.

The Reconstruction of the United States After the war, there were many things going on in the Unites States. The south had lost the value of their land and the cotton, their main source of money. The taxes went up due to new public schools and the need to rebuild cities that were destroyed in the south. During this time the civil rights amendments were passed as well. However, some people still wanted control over the former slaves.

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’”.

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

This including the electing of Abraham Lincoln made the southern states feel like they were going to lose control of the political choices in the southern territories, which would have lead to them not having control over their area in general (American Civil War History). These events are all effects where the underlying problem was the conflict of slavery that was between the north and south states. Showing how much of a factor it was during the civil war era. Making it one of the largest causes of why the civil war broke