Reconstruction Failed For African Americans

After a war that claimed the lives of more men than that of all other wars combined, much of the country was left in ruins, literally and figuratively. Dozens of towns in the South had been burned to the ground. Meanwhile, the relations between the North and South had crumbled to pieces. Something needed to be done so that the country could once again be the United States of America, not the Divided States of America. The years from 1865 to 1877 were a time of rebuilding – the broken communities and the broken relations. This time period was known as Reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure on the basis that the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments that were passed should have given protection and freedom to the African

W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington were two very influential leaders in the black community during the late 19th century, early 20th century. However, they both had different views on improvement of social and economic standing for blacks. Booker T. Washington, an ex-slave, put into practice his educational ideas at Tuskegee, which opened in 1881. Washington stressed patience, manual training, and hard work. He believed that blacks should go to school, learn skills, and work their way up the ladder. Washington also urged blacks to accept racial discrimination for the time being, and once they worked their way up, they would gain the respect of whites and be fully accepted as citizens. W.E.B. Du Bois on the other hand, wanted a more

During the 19th and 20th century African Americans faced Discrimination in the United States. Three African Americans took roles of leadership and began trying to uplift the lives of blacks in society. Those who took control of this movement were Booker T. Washington, Marcus Garvey and W.E.B Dubois. These activists wanted the same result and implemented different techniques to follow their similar hopes for blacks in America. Each of these leaders has allowed America to develop in extensive ways for several years and those yet to come. Alternate pathways were taken by each leader to resolve the overall issue of racism. These issues include things such as not having the right to vote,own property and prevent lynchings. This paper will argue that had Garvey's theory of the new negro and Dubois’ ideas of education been implemented, racism in America would have been reduced because the allocation of education would allow for their to become a new negro. The application of Marcus Garvey's theory including thoughts of W.E.B Dubois’ on racism would have brought white power to an end.

The 13th amendment abolished slavery and freed millions of African Americans. This was supposed to improve their lives and give them a new beginning. However, more than 30 years after the abolishment, their situation has not improved. Their right to vote was revoked in many southern states during the early 1890s. Less than 40% of black children were enrolled in schools in Georgia by 1880. Between 1880 and 1918, over 2400 African Americans were hanged. Africans had the lowest paying jobs and very few owned land. Jim Crow laws were established in many southern states to legalize segregation. Their situation was disastrous and wasn’t improving. Four respected spokespersons presented their ideas to fix this racial inequality crisis. The four courageous people who offered their alternatives were Ida B Wells, Booker T. Washington, Henry Turner and W.E.B Du Bois.

I feel that the Reconstruction failed to give African Americans equal rights. They were not able to vote in any public event and without that ability they had no voice to attain what they desired. Additionally, the Reconstruction lacked a clear structure to help African Americans develop any means to earn a living on their own. Many turned to sharecropping as a means to survive, which gain them no true independence. The African American had to continue to rely on the white southerners or large groups of one another to earn a living and it some cases just survive. The Reconstruction failed to provide a steady direction for African Americans and it did not protect them from abuse the white southerners could enact similar to slavery. For these

Reconstruction did not help African Americans move closer to the American Dream. Even though there were positives, there were also negatives. Due to Reconstruction, hate groups started, there was not any safety for African Americans, and the Black Codes or Jim Crow laws. One of the most infamous hate groups to rise was the Klu Klux Klan. KKK for short. African Americans were terrorized by this group. They are responsible for many hangings, burnings, and other horrors that were inflicted upon African Americans. Also, there was not any safety from the groups. It was not like being in the center of a city was going to help. There are unfortunately many pictures of African Americans being hanged in very populated areas. Also, there was the rise of Black Codes(Jim Crow laws). It is like how the saying goes, out of the frying pan and into the fire. Some of the codes, but not limited to, was the Grandfather clause, which basically said that if your grandfather could not vote, you cannot vote. There were also many other ways that African Americans were restricted from voting. There was poll tax, and unfair evaluations of voting tests. This also included segregation of schools (separate but equal). There was even a law forbidding a white person from marrying a black person. However, even though all of these horrific things came because the end of slavery,

Following the Civil War in the 1860s, African Americans were freed and given suffrage. However, following events such as Plessy v. Ferguson and the end of Reconstruction, much of what they gained was taken from them. African American leaders tried to earn them back in a number of different ways, but with similar goals in mind. Although African American leaders from the 1890s to the 1920s and from the 1950s to the 1960s had different strategies such as the Talented Tenth compared the March on Washington, both time period’s leader sought the same goals, namely suffrage and the end of segregation therefore, they are significantly different in strategy and majorly similar in goals.

For decades, Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) was the major African-American spokesman in the eyes of white America. Born a slave in Virginia, Washington was educated at Hampton Institute, Norfolk, Virginia. He began to work at the Tuskegee Institute in 1881 and built it into a center of learning and industrial and agricultural training. A handsome man and a forceful speaker, Washington was skilled at politics. Powerful and influential in both the black and white communities, Washington was a confidential advisor to presidents. For years, presidential political appointments of African-Americans were cleared through him. He was funded by Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, dined at the White House

In 1865, the United States government implemented what was known as Reconstruction. Its’ purpose was to remove slavery from the south, and give African-American’s the freedom in which they deserved. However, the freedom that they deserved was not the freedom that they received. With documents like The Black Codes restricting them from numerous privileges that white people had and the terroristic organization known as the Klu Klux Klan attacking and killing them, African-American’s were still being oppressed by their government as well as their fellow man. Slavery may have been abolished, but African-American’s were not yet given the freedom and rights that their white counterparts took for granted.

During reconstruction the United States was divided on social issues, presidential campaigns were won and loss on these issues during this period. The struggle for development of African Americans and how they initiated change in political, economic, educational, and social conditions to shape their future and that of the United States. (Dixon, 2000) The South’s attempts to recover from the Civil war included determining what to do with newly freed slaves and finding labor to replace them. The task of elevating the Negro from slave to citizen was the most enormous one which had ever confronted the country. Local governments implemented mechanisms of discrimination to combat citizenship

With new found freedom came new found problems as education, work, shelter were all lacking in creating a healthy introduction into society for the slaves. In fact, the transition failed miserably and it would take a long time for african americans to see the socialization necessary for them to thrive in society. The failure of the reconstruction era led to the segregation in later years when the south basically began to do whatever they want. The lack of sufficient footing into society with no wealth, education, land, or other advantages to cope with the sudden drop into society african americans would struggle. The reconstruction era would end in 1876 but about a decade shy of a century later the civil rights movement revived the movement

There has been much debate over Booker T. Washington and the effectiveness of his work at Tuskegee Institute. Some believe that he was a pioneer for black education in a time when few had the opportunity. Others believe that his conformity to the white ideal of what a black man should be hindered his ability to create real social change for his race. In his autobiography, Up From Slavery, Washington maps out his life from its humble beginnings as a slave up through the success of his school, Tuskegee Institute. He is quick to drop names of the important white businessmen and prominent citizens to ensure their support for his school. However, he is also quick to push his students to be productive members of their society. Through

Dubois’ summary of the Reconstruction Era is an extensive agreeable extent of black Americans finding freedom then being entrapped again. In 1865 all slaves in the USA were formally freed due to the help of President Lincoln who issued the Emancipation Proclamation stating that black Americans could no longer be owned as property and were free to leave their masters. In result, this secured them a better life and provided them with basic human rights. Despite the black americans conquering and winning the freedom of owning land, being economically stable and wining the right to vote - some of these successes were short lived. For example, white people were still superior than the blacks despite their new found freedom, they fought to keep positions

Washington went to school at Tuskegee Institute; it is a historically black college in Alabama. He spoke on the lynching that was going on in his speech “Atlanta Compromise”. He really was recognized from that speech. Booker T. mastered the nuances of the political arena in the late 19th century, which enabled him to manipulate the media, raise money, strategize, network, pressure, reward friends and distribute funds while punishing those who opposed his plans for uplifting blacks. He was trying to end disenfranchisement. People never knew but he worked in salt furnaces and coal mines to earn money for school. He went to Hampton Institute and Wayland Seminary but did not stay long. He went all over sharing his knowledge with others. Some people criticized how he did things. Booker was generally perceived as a supporter of education for freedmen and their descendants in the post-Reconstruction. He felt that support from whites would help segregation in the long run. He believed that by providing needed skills to society, black would play their part, leading to acceptance by white Americans. Everything that he knew about history and everything that is going on was brought to him by his own knowledge. He taught himself majority of the things he knew. He then created many different funds to support those who needed it and other foundations that could benefit in any way

One of the biggest ways the reconstruction efforts failed was with giving equal rights to the black community. Although the slaves were freed it was very conditional freedom. The creation of Black codes made it seem like they were free. These codes made it possible for black families to remain intact. It also gave blacks the right to sue in court, and own property. This seems like progressive thinking at the time. The big problem with these codes is what they denied blacks. Blacks could not testify against whites. They could not own guns, or travel without permits. Although slavery had ended blacks were still being controlled. Without slaves to work in the fields the plantation owners needed workers. A lot of them would rent out their land to newly freed blacks. In exchange these poor blacks would have to give up 2/3 of their crop.3 The rest would be used to pay off their debts. This would