Reconstruction Dbq

The resulting outcome of Reconstruction has been labeled as both a success and a failure. At the end of the four-year Civil War, and nearly 250 years of slavery, President Lincoln’s intentions were to unify a shattered nation. Thus, began the Reconstruction era. Reconstruction succeeded in the installation of the 13th Amendment outlawing slavery, the 14th Amendment defining citizenship and protecting all Americans under the law and extending suffrage to all men in the 15th Amendment. The Freedman’s Bureau and Civil Rights Act also sought to help African Americans to participate equally in government, in society and in the economy. Black men were elected to political office in every level of government and all Southern states drafted new constitutions and ratified Reconstruction amendments.

At the end of the Civil War slavery was outlawed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and the blacks was finally free. In the South there was a sense of anger and shame in losing the war. The Reconstruction era was put into effect by Congress in 1866 and lasted until 1877. Reconstruction was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War. The reconstruction plan granted the means for readmitting the southern states into the Union, and tried to come up with the methods by which whites and blacks could live together in a non-slave society. However during reconstruction the United States government took actions to protect freedman and with each action the south countered with actions that would try to eradicate the laws put in place by the winning northern forces for example, the infamous Jim Crow Laws. The law segregated the whites and the blacks, thus can be commonly heard as “separate is not equal.” The Reconstruction was still seen as a success towards the United States as a whole in many ways as it unified the nations.

Reconstruction was one of the most important periods in American history. It was a period right after the Civil War lasting from approximately from 1863 to 1877. During this time, the leaders of the country and the congress struggled with a challenge of bringing the South back into the Union politically, economically and socially. One of the key challenges they faced was how to reunite the nation and what to do with the thirteen rebellious states that broke off from the Union and joined the Confederacy. Another challenge the government was dealing with was what to do with four million former slaves who now needed housing, food, work, education along with basic civil rights such as voting and government participation. In my opinion reconstruction was more successful in bringing back the South economically and politically. Social reconstruction on the other hand, was almost an impossible task due to lack of commitment to insure equal rights for African Americans. In this essay I will examine successes and failures of presidential, congressional, and social reconstructions.

After four years of gruesome fighting, the Civil War ended, leaving the South, confederate territory, in ruins and defeat. The North’s advantage over the South was industrialization and this led to their victory over the South. In order to move on from the war reconstruction is essential. However, this became a major controversy on how much power the South should have and the creation of methods to enforce the new laws with the abolishment of slavery. The North struggles with strategies to improve the South without restarting the Civil War. Also there was difficulty incorporating the former slaves into everyday society without confederate backlash. The failure of the reconstruction was because of the actions that were took by the presidents between 1865 and 1877. Republican President Ulysses S. Grant influenced the failure of

The causes of America's Civil War (1861-1865) are very simple, slavery and states rights, although the order of the causes are sometimes debated. Union soldiers and leaders did everything in their power to keep the Union intact. In doing so the soldiers pretty much decimated the south, many people lost their property, which, at that time was were a lot of people made their money. Although land was lost and the south had to physically reconstruct after the Civil War, the south also had to reconstruct its society. The south had to somehow integrate the African slaves into its society. The era that followed the Civil War, now referred to as the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877), was not overly successful at revolutionizing the lives of African Americans due to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), African Americans struggled to gain basic rights, although the right to vote was given to the African Americans during the Reconstruction Era.

During the reconstruction era, the women’s right was shaped. As explained in chapter 6 reconstruction period was a term that was use to describe the history after the civil war. America was in the process of building its nation back up from the war, which included the writing of the amendment, constitution and the rights for African American and women. In addition, the word reconstruction can also covers the period in U.S history, when the U.S economy was completely constituted on industrial capitalism. Even though the slave trade may have ended, there came to be a matter of workers being paid little for their hard labor. Yes, the U.S economy was building but it was not being shared equally. In fact, the gap between the rich and poor was so huge that it created tension between workers and owners. After slavery was eliminated, society could no longer ignore the division in class. It was during this time women started to reconstruct their lives as well. In 1865 up until 1866, women’s right activist called for the suffrage to be joined with African American and women.

Lincoln was the person who came up with the Reconstruction plan. As the leader of this newly reunited nation, Lincoln sought a very specific plan for reconstructing the South and solving all the issues they are facing. Lincoln’s ultimate goals were to reunify the states and ensure equality for all, including freed slaves. After all the rearrangement, all freedmen are allowed to vote, freedmen are now can be educated, and the South is known as a state that holds the most slavery, but now the South has changed into the state filled with impressive varieties. Lincoln was very passion about freed slaves and made every citizens in United State, especially the South has equal treating to everyone including voting.

The Reconstruction of the south was to rebuild the infrastructure the economical system of the South and rebuild white and black social system. The Reconstruction of the Confederacy from (1865-1877) was first by Abraham Lincoln until his assassination and then by President Johnson. The textbook stated (Such accounts add another dimension to the usual narrative of the Reconstruction era (1865–1877). The period witnessed the liberal readmission of southern states to the Union as proposed by Lincoln and his successor, Andrew Johnson. But when the readmitted states restricted the rights of former slaves, a furious Republican Congress “reconstructed” the South by empowering former slaves—and their Republican allies.

Wanted the rebuild relations with the south and believed the faster this happened the quicker the country could heal. Lincoln was assassinated , only days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender and didn’t have the chance to carry out his plans and vision for reconstruction. Lincolns plans for Reconstruction were taken over by his vice president, Johnson, who became president after Lincoln’s death and applied the reconstruction policies. President Johnson believed the sooner relationship between the north and south could be mended the sooner the country could move forward and grow. Radical republicans managed to gain extensive votes in the fall election.

Reconstruction was an achievement in that it reestablished the United States as a unified country. By 1877, the majority of the previous Confederate states had drafted new constitutions, recognized the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, and pledged loyalty to the U.S. government. Reconstruction additionally at last settled the states' rights versus federalism debate that had been an issue since the 1790s.

The Southern states were readmitted and officially part of the Union, but they were culturally and politically isolated from the North. They only ratified the 14th amendment while under bayonet rule, demonstrating how the South’s deep-rooted racism would perpetuate discrimination and subjugating blacks to ensure a labor force. Even 12 years after the Civil War ended, ex-Confederates still believed their cause for fighting was just and denied the end of slavery. Democratic supporters used the phrase “their government” instead of “our government” when referring to the officials seated in Washington. After the Republicans left and blacks were prohibited from voting, the Democrats formed a “solid south” under which they exercised complete control and furthered the regional divide between the two major political

The twelve years after the Civil War, known as Reconstruction, proved to be a difficult time for America. Although new amendments were created that gave African Americans more rights in society, the Southern Democrats shackled the full potential of the Reconstruction era by restricting blacks’ freedom, voting rights, and economic independence.

After the devastation of the Civil War there were many different opinions about how the United States was to become one nation again. Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War when former Confederate states were brought back into the Union. During this time period, the South was hostile because they were upset about the emancipation of slaves, the major decline in its economy, and the destruction of its territory. There were also now freed African Americans trying to integrate into a society which they had known only as slaves. The major objectives for this period of Reconstruction were to bring freed people into the Union, repay the South for the damage caused by the Civil War, and to reunite the Union. The failure of Reconstruction was a result of limitations to changes in the Constitution, lack of opportunities for freed African Americans, and the use of print media to continue stereotypes and portray biases against others.

Reconstruction was a time where the south had the opportunity to rebuild after the civil war. Most of the southern states of the united states was destroyed during the civil war. The union victory of the civil war may have given about 4 million slaves their freedom, but while the process of the south rebuilding of reconstruction began, it introduced new significant challenges and effects. The Reconstruction era was from January 1, 1863 to March 31, 1877(about 14 years and a half).

Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. "All these ex-slaves", Dr. Susan Walens commented, "and no place to put them," The ex-slaves weren't just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation in order to re-establish the South. These issues were economical, social and political. The United States had presidential and congressional reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure, a great attempt to unify the nation. It was a failure due to the events that took place during this period.