...The American Reconstruction occurred between the years of 1865-1877, when the American government tried to reunite and build the country back up again. As the Civil War ended, the South was in ruin and many of the large plantations were destroyed and no longer had their free labor. The economy and wealth in the South had been destroyed. The government now had to face the great task of rebuilding the South, uniting the North and the South into one cohesive unit and integrating into society the African-Americans, who had been enslaved for so many years. These were not small tasks to accomplish and while there was hope, the reconstruction era failed to achieve these goals. There are two main reasons why these goals were not met. The first was that President Lincoln had shown great leadership during this time and held much promise, but was assassinated before he could complete his job. The second was that although it once looked promising, there were not enough measures put into place to integrate and equalize the former slaves. Although the reconstruction era began to rebuild after the Civil War, it was not able to achieve all of its goals. It took many years after the era to finally unite the States and have...
Words: 840 - Pages: 4
...After the Civil War, America entered in to The Reconstruction Era. The Reconstruction was meant to integrate the newly freed slaves. Help them become full member of American society. But Reconstruction mostly failed in both economic and social equality. The time of Reconstruction would turn from a time of hope and joy to a time of blood and fear. There were many reasons the economy for former slaves failed to meet expectation. The war cost a lot of money. The war also caused damaged and in some cases destroyed the land in the south. After the war there was no money to help the people or repair damage done to the south. The white men lost their help (slaves) and had very little money to pay wages. The black man had labor but no money or land. So that’s where sharecropping came into play. According to Out of Many “Sharecropping represented a compromise between planters and former slaves”. There was three different ways to sharecrop. 1) Crop lien system – workers extend credit for seed & other supplies by the land owner. 2) Rent Labor System – former slave rent their lands but keep all of their crop. 3) Wage system – workers got a fixed wage and none of the crop....
Words: 599 - Pages: 3
...* 1. Some historians argue that Radical Reconstruction was not radical enough. After studying the events of the late 19th century, defend whether or not you agree with this position. What are the long-term implications? * * From what I have learned from this class already this week is that the Radical Reconstruction was not as radical as it should have been. If President Lincoln would have lived longer after the Civil War the Reconstruction of the south Might have been handled better due to the fact that Lincoln could have handed it better than those that succeed him. With the intent of the Radical Reconstruction being to change the culture and in essence make the southern culture more like that of the culture of the north. The constant bickering between the different branches of our government at that time did not make the reconstruction as successful as it could have been. If the government would have used the same force in the enforcement of their laws as was done during the Civil War. The Reconstruction if it would have been true radical could have affected the south in two different ways one being a second uprising from the south which could have separated the United States permanently. Or the other way it could have gone as a situation where the entire country was under martial law and military control. The country could have easily fell into two different countries with the amount of differences that were had between the north and south, although it if would...
Words: 661 - Pages: 3
...Reconstruction and the West The post-Civil War South has been called the “New South.” In what ways did it succeed in reinventing itself? In what ways did it fail? The south’s reconstruction failed for many reasons in my opinion. First off many states rejected the 13th Amendment. Furthermore, many of the southern states had no intentions of giving Blacks any type of true freedoms. Many states tried to make the African Americans as property-less as possible. They were not given the right to be on a jury. The second problem was the president and congress was not seeing “eye to eye” on how the reconstruction should be conducted. Many states were electing prominent military leaders along with political leaders from the war. Johnson knew this of course but buckled under the pressure because he wanted to hurry up and get reconstruction completed. The moderate republicans wanted the same things as the radical republicans but did not want to give the southern blacks too much power. They thought that giving the blacks in the south the power to vote that it would give an unfair advantage to the south. However, many moderate republicans did think that the south was too hard on their black populations and wanted some form of regulation. As a moderate republican they did not want to clash with the president or have a social revolution in the south. That is why the in 1865 the congress revamped the Freedmen’s Bureau to give emergency food and care. The south’s...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
...Unit I: Essay Exam: Reconstruction & Rise of Industry US History Since 1877 Professor Valdenia Winn February 14, 2013 According to Dictionary.com, radical means: 1. Of or going to the root or origin; fundamental: a radical difference. 2. Thoroughgoing or extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms. Historians identified Congressional Reconstruction as “radical” because of how the South tried to elude the Thirteenth Amendment. Because of these extreme circumstances the federal government had to intervene, which at that point made it radical to most historians. The root of the problem was slavery and the problem solver was the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibited slavery. The Fourteenth Amendment established national citizenship for persons born or naturalized in the United States. It also prohibited the states from depriving citizens of their civil rights or equal protection under the law as well as reduced state representation in the House of Representatives by the percentage of adult male citizens denied the vote. The Fifteenth Amendment forbade states to deny citizens the right to vote on the grounds of race, color, or “previous condition of servitude”. Another problem solver was the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau, which was there to aid former slaves get on their feet and supervise “all relief and educational activities relating to refugees and...
Words: 963 - Pages: 4
...Reconstruction and the West Jennifer Bryan HIS /165 December 9, 2015 Dr. J. Randall III Reconstruction and the West The post-Civil War South has been called the “New South”. In what ways did it succeed in reinventing itself? In what ways did it fail? After the civil war the south was devastated, having most of the war fought on its soil the entire infrastructure was wiped out and nearly 23% of its men had been killed in the war. Something drastic needed to happen to deal with the humanitarian crises that was freed slaves with nowhere to go and no background. During this time newly freedmen tried to purchase land if they could and the number of black churches grew. Their new found freedom was expressed in many ways; some bought guns, while others owned dogs, some sought to get married and enjoyed the ability to move and look for family members they had not seen since brought over from Africa. While congress fought back and forth about a reconstruction plan that was either too lenient or too oppressive the south started to rebuild. Eventually, though the south fell in line with the Military Reconstruction Act and were allowed back into the union and back into the political spectrum. Politics aside, while the North had managed to free the slaves they failed to give them the life they had envisioned for them. “1) they did not redistribute lad to freed slaves; 2) they did not provide black people with guaranteed access to education: 3) they did not forbid racial segregation;...
Words: 355 - Pages: 2
...Reconstruction and the West HIS/120 Reconstruction * The post-Civil War South has been called the “New South.” In what ways did it succeed in reinventing itself? In what ways did it fail? After the war ended as many as four million slaves were freed. The south had freed slaves and now had a war torn area that needed rebuilding and restructuring. For the next few decades the focus was on creating a railroad expansion and fixing the farm lands. New textile, iron, and steel industries came to be with great success. Farming was a big part of the south and many freed slaves continued to contribute on farm lands for meager wages. The issue with the reconstruction was the newness of the world around everyone. Many white southern slave owners continued with their unfair and brutal treatment of former slaves. With no one around really setting down the new laws many people just did as they pleased. Many people, white and black became homeless and starved to death because there was no system in place to help. Abraham Lincoln was on the right path to fixing the issues the south had after the war. However after his assassination, Johnson took over and pretty much ignored all of Lincolns plans. This was the unraveling of the original reconstruction plan. Johnson had no concern for the freed slaves and their circumstances. This was the unsuccessful part of the reconstruction that seemed to majorly overshadow the small successes. Though the majority of plans for helping the south...
Words: 679 - Pages: 3
...The Reconstruction Period History 105 Class Marty Montgomery The Reconstruction period remains the most significant period in American history. The things that seized my mind the most was the liberty given to slaves and African Americans and the opportunity to vote since they did not have any of these opportunities before this time. While they were uncontrolled, existence was still mainly problematic for blacks’ around America principally in the southern states. It would take many years before life enhanced for the former confined African-Americans in the United States of America. According to Gao (1989), the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 abolished slavery; most slaves desired to unite with family members missing due to the slave trade. Freed African-Americans wanted to establish their own churches and schools, many schools for African-Americans opened in the southern states. Slave marriages had no legal standing at all after emancipation thousands of freed African-Americans registered their unions before the army, Freedman’s Bureau, and local governments. People in the South were trying to figure out a new system of labor to replace the one that was abolished by slavery ending, many of them wanted to reestablish the stronghold they had during slavery. Former slaves thought they should have a claim to land after the many years of excruciating labor they contributed during their enslavement. Only a small percentage of free African-Americans would succeed in purchasing land...
Words: 726 - Pages: 3
...The Reconstruction Period History 105 Class Marty Montgomery The Reconstruction period remains the most significant period in American history. The things that seized my mind the most was the liberty given to slaves and African Americans and the opportunity to vote since they did not have any of these opportunities before this time. While they were uncontrolled, existence was still mainly problematic for blacks’ around America principally in the southern states. It would take many years before life enhanced for the former confined African-Americans in the United States of America. According to Gao (1989), the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865 abolished slavery; most slaves desired to unite with family members missing due to the slave trade. Freed African-Americans wanted to establish their own churches and schools, many schools for African-Americans opened in the southern states. Slave marriages had no legal standing at all after emancipation thousands of freed African-Americans registered their unions before the army, Freedman’s Bureau, and local governments. People in the South were trying to figure out a new system of labor to replace the one that was abolished by slavery ending, many of them wanted to reestablish the stronghold they had during slavery. Former slaves thought they should have a claim to land after the many years of excruciating labor they contributed during their enslavement. Only a small percentage of free African-Americans would succeed in purchasing land...
Words: 726 - Pages: 3
...Also in this source, the author addressed the schemes organized by General Oliver O. Howard, that cause a great deal of hardship for the Bureau, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. The source helps me understand the lack of experienced and sympathy on the part of some Bureau men and hostile southern white population. It takes into account the role of President Andrew Johnson a hostile and racist President post-civil war. The source interprets the Bureau as a unconstitutional organization that did not protect rights of the freedman, help build relations between white southerners and freedman assist in organizing schools, set up an operating bank or the social and political welfare of...
Words: 1664 - Pages: 7
...the case, prior to World War two the Japanese and United States’ relationship was very tumultuous. Admiral Perry took a very exploitive stance toward establishing foreign relations with the island nation and it left a lasting impression upon the Japanese. World War II brought saw the ultimate conflict between the two nations which left Japan devastated from both the aftermath of brutal fighting in the Pacific and the use of the atomic bomb on their homeland. How did Japan rebound from such a crippling defeat in the Second World War and how is it that we now enjoy such close ties, especially being from two opposing cultural styles? The United States took a front and center seat to Japan’s reconstruction after the war and it is a combination of both our help and the Japanese people’s remarkable character that facilitated such a miraculous rebirth; also forever tying our two nations together in the bonds of cooperation. “It’s resurgence was due to a legacy of past accomplishments, an indomitable determination to succeed in the quest for modernity, prodigious amounts of hard work, generally shrewd planning, and occasional injections of unanticipated stimulation, or what economists prefer to think of as exogenous events”(McClain 2002). Japan’s post war miracle recovery was the direct result of combined American/Japanese efforts to rebuild the nation and the nature of the Japanese people’s remarkable character to forge ahead with great determination. There was a great...
Words: 2273 - Pages: 10
...The reconstruction period after the Civil War was difficult for everyone. However, the hardships that African American people faced during this time were more challenging. Through reading chapters from my text book and doing further research on this topic, I was able to gain better knowledge and information on the transformation of the south and freed slaves after the war was concluded. The people were set in their habitual thinking patterns and it was hard for most to accept the major changes at hand. Some people just refused to change altogether and made it very uncomfortable for freed people to live in peace. Because slavery and inequality had been the lifestyle of Americans for so long, the new free fate of African Americans made ex-Confederates...
Words: 2019 - Pages: 9
...course I find more and more reasons for wanting to be a wonderful teacher. Also as I began this lesson I was completely confused on what philosophy had to do with teaching. After reading and completing the philosophical assessment I have a better understanding to what kind of teacher I can become. I scored a 9 on the section of Perennialism. I believe that children can learn better through hands on experiments. Not just in the science world but in every subject that you study in school. Reading and studying about an important historical event and then comparing on how it reflects a situation that the student might encounter today would help students understand the lesson much more. An important part of growing up is learning how to solve problems. A teacher may not always know the students home life. The student may not have people to teach them the important life lessons that everyone needs to succeed in the world. So if you can teach an educational lesson and a life lesson at the same time, that’s absolutely wonderful. While everyone agrees, we all go to school to learn, there are many different ways of teaching. This section is on essentialism in the classroom. Essentialists believe that school is for teaching the essentials of life. Reading, writing, math and to a certain extent, science and social science. Even though, yes, these are very important subjects to learn but people survive every day without some or all of this basic knowledge. I scored a 9...
Words: 789 - Pages: 4
...in America Determining the overall importance of the Homestead Strike in the American Civil Labor Movement requires the investigation to examine the reasons for which the common laborer moved towards unionism and, later, full-fledged strikes. The overarching structure of American capitalist society which grew significantly in the Progressive era which extended from post reconstruction into the early 20th century and consisted of the laborers of which was the most significant portion of the population; and the management which included a very select, miniscule percentage of the population. During this period agrarian work declined and did not have a large effect on the Labor Movement and the corresponding events...
Words: 1567 - Pages: 7
...Reconstruction and the West HIS/120 The South After the Civil War, the South was pulverized. It had to make huge adjustment to become sufficient again, this was going to take time and allot of money. It succeeded in compositionally and financially to reinvent itself. In about 35 years after the damage was done it succeeded with steel. Southern iron business grew, especially with supplying the Railroads advancements. he Southern economy was engendered and prospered, in spite of the way that it could never thoroughly equal the North in advancements or wages. Without further ado that there were assuredly 4 million liberated slaves living in the South and a monstrous people of poor white people, there was a great deal of terrible work and business visionaries misused authenticity. What kept the South from a robust Industrial change was the frailty of the White men to work adjacent the liberated slaves. State of psyche at the liberated slaves had not transmuted and was disintegrating. Dull Southerners were proscribed from working in current vocations and simply a little rate of White Southerners were utilized in these vocations, thusly advancement couldn't transpire. The South commenced on the right course and for a period of time it looked akin to the Incipient South had climbed yet hate towards the Black Southerners was the mechanical change rout with The South still unequivocally depending after cultivating as the economy stabilizer. Clearly, the Incipient South was...
Words: 734 - Pages: 3
