Reconstruction in the South caused a lot of controversy, and it faced many obstacles. The South was being integrated back into the union, and many people on both sides tried to obstruct Reconstruction because they did not like it, or because it did not align with their beliefs. The radicals of the North wanted citizenship and voting rights for all African Americans, while southerners believed that this went against their traditional values. The republicans were able to obtain power, with the help from former slaves and abolitionists. The republicans, once in power, passed the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. The mixture of military controlled southern governments that allowed African Americans to vote, and loyal unionists in the North, …show more content…
They were treated poorly, especially with the introduction of the Klu Klux Klan, which included many people who killed and assaulted innocent African Americans. People with the white supremacy mindset would not allow African Americans to enjoy the rights given to them in the Civil Rights bill and the fourteenth amendment, and they were forced to live in fear. This is shown in a petition written by African Americans in Georgia, who requested federal protection as the 1867 election approached. They wrote, “Men have been knocked down and unmercifully beaten and yet the authorities do not notice it at all. We would open a school here, but are almost afraid to do so, not knowing that we have any protection for life or limb” (Document E). This shows the fear people had of doing things that seem normal. They also wrote, “We wish to do right, obey the Laws and live in peace and quietude but when we are assailed at the midnight hour, our lives threatened and the Laws fail to protect or assist us we can but defend ourselves, let the consequences be what they may. Yet we wish to avoid all such collisions” (Document E). Radical republicans and African Americans in the South hoped the federal government would continue to assist them in allowing them to practice their
Once former confederates had their right to vote brought back, they tried hard to win public office and if they did they would try and undo most of the social and economic reforms. Their efforts were in attempt to undo Reconstruction and restore the “Old South”. Some efforts under the Democratic Leadership were successful, and government spending was cut and many Reconstruction programs were hurt or
The north side aiming to abolish slavery as it’s a cruel treatment and it gave the United States a bad name world-wide. On the other hand, the south wished to keep slavery a thing and fought for ownership of “property”. Once the 1860 Elections came up can the final four candidates were revealed, doubts were made. Southerners did not like Abraham Lincoln as he was the favorite to win the election.
When the union won the civil war in 1865 it gave millions slaves their freedom but there was a bigger process in rebuilding the south. As Andrew Johnson in 1865 new southern state leaders passed “Blacks Codes” to control the behavior of former slaves and blacks. Many people in the north were very upset about these codes. since the North was very upset with this indecent that happened. It wore away their supporter known as the presidential reconstruction and led to victories of the radical parts of the republican party.
Also, many southerners during the election were unhappy with Lincoln and wanted change. But the political powers of government were very focused on slavery. The South wanted control over the federal government so they had the power to regulate slavery. This drew a growing divide within the nation. The South relied on slave labor and was less industrialization, favored low tariffs, and opposed direct taxation.
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.
The Civil War was a conflict fought between the Confederacy and the Union after the Confederacy succeeded from the Union because of new laws that were abolishing slavery. After the Civil war, America was severely unorganized and in need of reconstruction. Reconstruction was a series of attempts by the United States government to reconstruct society in the Southern states by adding laws that protected the rights of freedmen. As a result of the Union's victory in the war, the Confederacy was forced to rejoin and abide by its rules. The union began implementing civil rights amendments such as the right to freedom, the right to citizenship, and the right to vote for formerly enslaved African Americans to ensure equal rights and promote equality.
The African American were given “equality” but were separated from the whites because of their race being seen as less important in the eyes of the rest of society. The Jim Crow laws were segregations against African-Americans that were enforced by states or laws, they mainly exist in the South during 1877 and 1950’s .The Jim Crow laws had a major effect on the lives of African American as it separated them from the whites creating two different societies. Whites usually didn’t like to interact with the “inferior” race. So the African Americans were “.....not allowed certain privileges of the white people.
Opponents of this progress, however, soon rallied against the former slaves' freedom and found ways to oppress the rights of blacks. The failure of Reconstruction was based on the Republicans divisions between the moderates and radicals on the severity of Reconstruction policies and its commitment to Black enfranchisement in the South to maintain power within the federal government allowed the development of a two-party platform which led to the reestablishment of ex-Southern leaders in the South. The opposition by President Jackson also hindered the ability for Reconstruction initially to enforce its agenda in the South. Within a decade, the emergence of the Democratic party defeated the Republicans in the newly established governments and reestablish political power for themselves by fighting the adoption of new constitutions at the polls “through calculated abstention aimed at delegitimizing the process, and, in some places, with extralegal violence and intimidation.” Reconstruction fell apart in 1873 when northern Republicans abandoned it for new political issues and facing a power struggle with Democrats, “they stood behind
And allowed African Americans the right to vote, yet, denied the southern political leaders the right to vote. In addition, congressional reconstruction demands the south to agree to follow the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments of the constitution, before joining the Union. William Dunning and Eric Foner’s are two historians who interpreted the causes of congressional
To prevent organized resistance, Congress disbanded southern militia units and prohibited new ones from being raised without its approval. Southerners did not give up their war for white supremacy and home rule. The north’s obvious desires for peace and its growing indifference to the fate of southern Republicans encouraged Democrats to act boldly. Democrats planned race riots and battled Republican militia prior to elections, in time to keep Republicans from the polls but too late for Washington to send regulars to police the voting. What occurred was not indiscriminate Klan-style violence, but a calculated insurgence as the last unredeemed states fell to
As a white man walks around with a shot gun. This picture exhibits the discrimination, pressure and hatred that was felt among the black community. During this period scientists had a theory that blacks did not know how to be free. They believed that they were a criminal race and there was lack social structure because blacks were incompetent. Therefore, the presents of a gun were deemed necessary to keep order in the work place.
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.
One of reasons the confederacy failed was because the U.S. Congress, with Lincoln’s support, proposed the 13th amendment which would abolish slavery in America. Although the confederate peace delegation was unwilling to accept a future without slavery, the radical and moderate Republicans designed a way to takeover the reconstruction program. The Radical Republicans wanted full citizenship rights for African Americans and wanted to implement harsh reconstruction policies toward the south. The radical republican views made up the majority of the Congress and helped to pass the 14th amendment which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens, and protected freedmen from presidential vetoes, southern state legislatures, and federal court decisions. In 1869, Congress passed the fifteenth amendment stating that no citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
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.
African Americans were mistreated because of their skin color and because they didn’t follow Christianity. In 1808, bringing slaves became illegal and by the 1850 most northern states outlawed slavery.