Why Did Reconstruction Fail

Why Does Reconstruction Fail? Reconstruction is rebuilding something that was damaged or harmed. The Civil War was a major point where reconstruction was required because slaves were freed, houses and farms in the South were destroyed, and many factories were damaged. The North and the South had to rebuild the country with only a limited amount of money. Reconstruction fails often because there are always people with different points of view and perspectives.

The Reconstruction was unsuccessfull because of some important reasons. First, the South was still aracist part of the United States because they created the Jim Crow Laws, what means that the people who lived and administratedthe South were not intelligent. The second example is that Abraham Lincoln, who started and incentivated the Reconstruction, was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, so it made the Reconstruction process to be less efective. Finally, the last problem was the Solid South, it is a name that the South recieved because it was a solid white, solid racist and solid Democrat, what means that they were not able to support black people. Concluding, all of these examples shows why the Reconstruction was unsuccessfull

Although, the North is often portrayed as the “good guys” when it comes to the fall of Reconstruction but in actuality they were equally as guilty as the south was. According to Document C In the 1870s, the people of the north were beginning to grow indifferent to the events happening in the south because their focus shifted to the scandals going on around them, such as the Panic of 1873.The government at this time in the North was ran by “carpetbaggers” or a political candidate who sought election in an area they had no local connections to. The North began to grow tired of this type of government and they also began to become tired of fighting against discrimination in the south because of this. Increased anger about government corruption lead to less interest in Reconstruction. Racism still existed in the North and contributed to the fall as well, for example many people believed that people of color were unfit to be government officials.

“The slave went free: stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back into slavery.” This quote by Web Dubois refers to a period in American history called reconstruction in which the South was rebuilt and remitted into the union after the civil war. During this time African Americans gained many rights including citizenship and suffrage. However, many of those rights were lost after the compromise of 1877 brought an end to reconstruction. The south was solely responsible for killing reconstruction through its use of intimidation tactics by scalawags and carpetbaggers, the purposeful reversal of reconstruction policies, and the refusal to work together.

Many historians disagree over the success of the Reconstruction of the United States following The Civil War. There are various factors to take into consideration while trying to determine if the Reconstruction was successful. People have argued over this topic for over a century, all coming to different conclusions. William A. Dunning offers the main opposition of the Reconstruction but men like W.E.B. Du Bois continue to argue how Reconstruction was successful. Historians all have a different views of the true success of the Reconstruction.

Schools became places of segregation as well as other public places. The efforts of reconstruction to improve the south economically also failed to achieve any major goals. Newly freed African Americans came to find that they would not receive the land that was once promised to them, and instead would be forced to find a job in an economy still heavily focused on racial superiority. Due to the failures in attempts to restore the economy, and retaliations such as the black codes and groups such as the KKK, who fought against African American equality, the reconstruction era

“... the slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back toward slavery” (Dubois 505). “1876 was an exciting year for America” ( Background Essay 505). 1876 was the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The first college football game happened a couple year before and a year later in 1877 a easter egg hunt was on the White house lawn. It looked like there would be enough opportunities that every American could pursue their hopes, but it was the election of 1876 that would crush the dreams for millions of black Americans in the South.

The Failures of the Reconstruction Amendments The Reconstruction Era was a period of time after the Civil War in which the U.S. Government took measures to “reconstruct” the South by readmitting the former Confederate States into the Union. During this period of time, the Radical Republicans, those who supported Congress’s active role of reconstruction in the South, in Congress passed amendments to help the newly freed slaves adjust to their new lives. Two of these amendments included the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which granted them the right to vote. However, these amendments were not entirely successful in “freeing” the slaves. Although, some improvements were made, the Thirteenth and Fifteenth

The Reconstruction Era of American history was plagued by many problems. One of the most important problems being the recently released from slavery Freedmen. Freedmen were in a tricky situation in which they had just been released from their owner and had nowhere to go, but the Federal Government made many successful attempts to help them out. The Government helped alleviate all the problems Freedmen had from their finances to basic needs and rights, and in doing so, made the period of reconstruction more helpful than harmful for Freedmen. The events of reconstruction were helpful to freedmen as they were not only freed from slavery, they were given rights directly from the federal government.

Although many attempts were made to prioritize freedom and equality for all, these values were undermined by racist Southerners who wouldn’t accept equality. In the end, Reconstruction had failed and former slaves endured another hardship akin to slavery. However, Reconstruction still could have prospered. There are multiple events that, if they had occurred, Reconstruction would not have failed. For example, had the government continued to fund the Freedmen’s Bureau, then the South would have legislated their discriminatory laws much later, if not at all.

Reconstruction is the time period after the Civil War, where the country attempted to improve the Union. There were many successes, but what also comes along with success is failure. During the reconstruction many failures were present; such as the lack of racial equality and blatant racism towards blacks, a failing economy in the South, and tense relations between the North and the South. This created a very intense and challenging period of time for the Union.

They wanted to keep the former slaves down even after they were freed. To add more fuel to the fire, another reason why reconstruction is a failure is because of the information that we can find in document G. Abram Colby a former slave who was elected to the Georgia

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’”.

Many historians claimed that Reconstruction was a failure. Despite the efforts of American Americans many Radical Republicans, Reconstruction ended without any real progress in the battle against racial discrimination. Federal and state governments failed to secure the rights guaranteed to former slaves by constitutional amendments. Although radical republicans wanted to help the former slaves, they made several serious mistakes. First, they assumed that extending certain civil rights to freed persons would enable them to protect themselves through participation in government, especially in lawmaking.

Reconstruction a Failure or Success? Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end.