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Reconstruction and the West

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Reconstruction and the West

After the Civil War in the south, the south met many new challenges. The south needed to reinvent its economic, political and cultural environment. In November 1868 Ulysses S. Grant was elected president. Grant would not have won the election without the votes of former slaves who were given the right to vote post- Civil War. Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments to protect the rights of all people if born a naturalized citizen to have equal protection of the laws, and the freedom to vote regardless of race in the United States. Congress Reconstruction plan dramatically changed politics in the south (Reconstruction, 2013). Congress provided many programs, such as social services for the people of the south. They opened hospitals, schools, and assisted with the railroad expansion, allowing Blacks to take part in these government programs. The government also improved the lights and telephones systems also the sewer systems. Many industrial jobs became available in the south. Textile, iron, steel, southern coal, oil, and timber industry are just some of the industrial jobs created for the south to assist with reconstruction efforts. The government created new programs in the south the only problem was they wanted the rich to pay for them by implementing new rules. Many landowners did not agree with the new Constitutional guidelines set for the southern region. The landowners did not want to pay higher taxes to support the schools, hospitals, and other government programs introduced by Congress. This created a backlash by the landowners of the south; the Klu Klux Klan was formed to

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...and Efficient Maintenance of Low Cost Rural Roads. London: Department for International Development. German Technical Cooperation, (1991). Financing Road Maintenance in West Africa. Eschborn: German Technical Cooperation. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, (1991). Intermediate Means of Transport in - Sub-Saharan Africa Its Potential for Improving Rural Travel and Transport. Washington, DC.: The World Bank. Kodero, K. (2005). PRO-POOR TRANSPORT POLICY Meeting the Challenge in Zimbabwe. Transpolicy, 1. Metschies, G. and Rausch, E. (2000). Financing road maintenance in West Africa. 1st ed. Eschborn: GTZ. Okoko, E. (2011). RURAL TRANSPORTATION AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: THE INSTANCE OF AKWAPIM SOUTH DISTRICT IN GHANA. International Journal of Economic Development Research and Investment, 2(3), pp.10-24. Oruonye, E. (2014). An Assessment of the Impact of Road Construction on Land Use Pattern in Urban Centres in Nigeria, A Case Study of Jalingo LGA, Taraba State Nigeria. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(10), p.82. Porter, G. (2012). Reflections on a century of road transport developments in West Africa and their (gendered) impacts on the rural poor. EchoGeo, (20). STRATEGIC REVIEW SSATP. (2001). Annex Report. NETHERLANDS ECONOMIC INSTITUTE. The International Bank for Reconstruction and...

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