...CHAPTER 22: THE ORDEAL OF RECONSTRUCTION The Problems of Peace Know: Reconstruction 1. "Dismal indeed was the picture presented by the war-wracked South when the rattle of musketry faded." Explain. Not only had an age perished, but a civilization had collapsed, economically and socially. Cities were reduced to rubble, there was no economic life; banks and businesses collapsed. The transportation system had broken down completely. Agriculture was hopelessly crippled. The planter aristocrats were humbled. Southerners were resentful and in denial. Freedmen Define Freedom Know: Exodusters, American Methodist Episcopal Church, American Missionary Association 2. How did African-Americans respond to emancipation in the decade following the war? Many southerners resisted this so they killed many slaves, etc. Some slaves were loyal to their master and resisted the liberating Union armies, other slaves' pent up bitterness burst forth violently on the day of liberation. Many newly emancipated slaves joined union troops in pillaging and some slaves got revenge. When the masters were forced to tell their slaves that they were free, some slaves were suspicious but later they celebrated. Emancipated slaves took on journeys to test their freedom, find lost family, look for jobs, etc. The Freedmen's Bureau Know: Freedmen's Bureau, General Oliver O. Howard 3. Assess the effectiveness of the Freedmen's Bureau. It taught ~ 200,000 blacks how to read and many former slaves...
Words: 1415 - Pages: 6
...Devin Sheridan The South After The Civil War The Union victory in the civil war lead to economic decay, social disorder, and political turmoil. Reconstruction was the time period from 1865-1877 which sought to rebuild the south, and with reconstruction brought all new challenges. The unions total war tactics destroyed southern plantations, cities, and factories. Economically, the south post-civil war had a hard time importing and making money off of its main cash crop, cotton. Inflation was also an issue due to the decrease in worth of currency in the south. Socially, emancipated slave’s sought work and validation for the rights they deserved. Politically, the confederate government gave no power to the states and federal government, so it...
Words: 1236 - Pages: 5
...social mobility in the U.S. Once the Civil War had come to a close in May 1865, the terms of the Emancipation Proclamation finally revealed themselves fully to all Americans. Southern society, particularly the economy, was annihilated after slaves, the main source of labor in the South, had been relinquished from their duties on Southern plantations. This destruction of the South brought about the question of how the...
Words: 1059 - Pages: 5
...the bloodiest war in the American history, the Civil war. Prior to the Civil war, the American politics were sectionally divided between the Northern Republicans and the Southern Democrats. The political culture was almost saturated as both sections had realized that the numerous compromises would only provoke questions and dissimilarities between them, with the largely interfered question of slavery and suffrage. The Missouri Compromise of 1820 had been implemented as a nationwide direction towards admitting states with reference the 36° 30´ latitude line, either as a free-state (above line) or as a slave state (below the line). Despite of the temporary success of the compromise of 1820, it was repealed by the Stephen A. Douglas in 1854 in his Kansas-Nebraska Act. Likewise, the Compromise of 1850, created by the Great Compromiser, Henry Clay, was an effort to preserve the Union by settling the issue of slavery in the newly acquired territories from the Mexican-American War. Although it assured a temporary peaceful settlement between the sections, it failed to give birth to the Civil war and the rise in sectionalism. Although all these compromises had served their desired intents, politically as well as socially, in turn, they only played a catalyst role in increasing the tensions between the Northerners and Southerners. Thereafter, the period of Reconstruction was booming, as the Republicans were given a tough job of readmitting the forfeited South. The Republicans in the Congress...
Words: 2988 - Pages: 12
...Reconstruction Era was a rebuilding period in American history following the Civil War. After winning the war in 1865, the Union states began the exhausting process of reconstructing the United States, as well as each side's belief system. The two main goals of this era in American history was to ensure basic civil rights to former slaves, as well as reunite the North and the South to form one Union again. However, with each side having it's own agenda, accomplishing those goals proved to be quite a task. During the Reconstruction Era, several factions of American politics formed within the Republican and Democratic parties. The most noted include the Radical Republicans, Southern Conservatives, and the Southern Freedmen. Radical Republicans demanded extreme policies be put in place for Confederate states, and stressed the civil rights and liberties of former slaves. Although their agenda compared well to Lincoln's, the Radicals wanted to make re-entry into the Union a difficult one for the Confederate states. Another faction formed, the Southern Conservatives, believed the south would rise again to its former economic status, and wanted little to no rights for African-Americans. The last faction, the Southern Freedmen, saw the greatest success for ensuring the basic civil rights to former slaves. Made up of former slaves and supported by whites who believed African-Americans should have equal rights and civil liberties, the Freedman's Bureau, initiated by Abraham Lincoln, helped...
Words: 774 - Pages: 4
...African Americans after the Civil War simply desired freedom and equality. However, the definition of freedom varied between people and they began to question freedom spread throughout society. To the African Americans, freedom was when people, regardless of race, were not bound to another man but had the ability to work for themselves while receiving the benefits of their labor. They should be entitled to owning land and using it for their own purposes. Being free from the punishments that came with being a slave played a major role in shaping their definition. The person must have the opportunity for education without restriction along with the ability to establish churches and schools. The right to vote was also an important part of...
Words: 721 - Pages: 3
...Assuming the role of a Radical Republican Senator including arguing the Radical Republicans position of Reconstruction requires examining the highlights of Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction views for the Union, which include developing an oath under which Caucasian southerners would have to accept upon regaining personal civil including political rights furthermore all property excluding slaves would be given back to the owners. Confederate hierarchies including individuals whose property was worth a specific amount of money were discounted from taking the oath in which these individuals had to apply for an independent pardon. Under Johnson’s plan states had draft new congress including the election of state officials including congress for recognition of new state government and martial law retracted from the state. Ex-confederates influenced Andrew Johnson by methods of threatening his life, which made Johnson conform to ex-confederate influences by writing pardon after pardon while in the public spotlight Andrew Johnson’s proclaim to Reconstruction was complete. Deriving from Johnson’s absurd claim were few followers representing Moderate Republicans who conformed to Johnson while possessing some views similar to Radical Republicans who openly opposed Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction methods. Radical Republicans idea of Reconstruction centralized on making a mirror copy of the North out of the South while Moderate Republicans hold no regard for social revolution or equality...
Words: 725 - Pages: 3
...The end of the Civil War presented a unique crossroads for the war torn United States. How would the North and South reunite? At the helm, there was a moderate politician and a reflective thinker – President Abraham Lincoln. One of the greatest statesmen of all time, Lincoln advocated a lenient stance, envisioning a “restoration” whereby the southern states would pledge allegiance and reenter the Union under the Constitution. Lincoln proved to be a great negotiator and worked successfully during the war to join opposing sides to unite behind the Emancipation Proclamation and passage of the 13th Amendment. Lincoln appealed to the common man and was revered by many of his era. One of his greatest admirers was poet Walt Whitman who penned his famous poem “Captain, My Captain” as a tribute to Lincoln and, according to Reynolds in Lincoln and Whitman, called Lincoln “the greatest, best, most characteristic,...
Words: 1831 - Pages: 8
...The Radical Reconstruction period from1868 to1877 provided suffrage to the African American community in tremendous ways. This Reconstruction period provided new prospects for the African American community for example, voting, labor, ownership of property, education and restoration of family life. In addition, to providing many opportunities the Radical Reconstruction made it very challenging for African American’s to take advantage of their “freedom”. In this paper my aim is to prove that African American women were relentless individuals, who controlled voting in southern African American communities through the use of their counterparts. Furthermore, African American women overcame the challenges that came along with the opportunities’ that were given during the reconstruction period, they utilized many strategies particularly violent ones. Elsa Barkley Brown article The Labor of Politics, substantially supports my argument. Brown provides numerous testimonies and examples of how African American women manipulated the vote through African American men. Throughout the article Brown uses African American women to emphasize her argument that ex-slaves developed their politics differently from their white Republicans allies. After the Civil War African American’s reconceptualizatize their role to vote in politics and one may wonder how can a group of people who have been recently emancipated do such a thing? Well Brown argues that the Black Richmonders, operated in two different...
Words: 1029 - Pages: 5
...The American Civil War, simply know as the Civil War throughout the United States was fought from 1861 to 1865. It was a fight between the north and the south, formally referred to as the Confederacy and the Union. The origin of the war revolved around the pressing issue of slavery, especially the expansion of slavery into the western territories. In 1865, after four years of bloodshed that left over 600,000 Confederate and Union soldiers dead, the Confederacy collapsed and much of the south’s infrastructure had been destroyed. The Civil War had come to an end. Slavery was abolished and the difficult process of restoring national unity and guaranteeing civil rights to the freed slaves began. This period is noted in history as the Reconstruction Era. Working towards a progressive tomorrow, the American Civil War marked the start of a dramatic shift in America’s thinking. At the start of the Reconstruction Era (post Civil War), the South was left torn apart. Roads and houses needed to be rebuilt and the people needed assistance. From 1863 to 1865, presidents Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln took adequate steps designed solely for the purpose of bringing the South back to a level of economic stability. Radical Republicans consisted of American politicians within the Republican Party. They supported the rights of African Americans to vote, hold political office, and have the same economic and legal freedoms and opportunities as the whites. During the whole of the Reconstruction...
Words: 2180 - Pages: 9
...SPANISH CIVIL WAR – WEAKNESS & COLLAPSE Introduction: The second republic was formed after the dictatorship under Primo de Rivera (1923) and the abdication of the King. The republican leftist government was established in 1931. It inherited the poor economy courtesy of the Great Depression, so naturally unemployment rates were high and wages were low. Ideological differences between various political groups were in existence due to the radicalized time, however not to the extent as in most other European nations at the time as Spain was not as heavily involved in or impacted by WWI. On top of this, Spain had been rife with regional, economic, and social conflict for decades. These factors, although minor in the context of the causes of the Spanish civil war, were important secondary factors that worked in tandem to exacerbate the internal political conflict that preceded civil war. The primary cause for the weakness of the Second Republic was its divisive constitution (Decemeber 1931). The constitution played a large role in weakening the government because it exacerbated the existing divisions within the nation and appealed only to a minority. It was perceived as elitist and angered multiple political and social factions, polarizing Spanish politics. This polarization of factions brought on the collapse of the Republic. Argument #1: The leftist government failed to mature due to the lack of popular and political support for the constitution of 1931 and its constituencies...
Words: 1903 - Pages: 8
...control the work labor and behavior of former slaves and other blacks. During this time of the Radical Reconstruction, which had started in 1867, the newly liberated black people gained a voice for the very first time in American history, winning the election to southern state legislatures and even to the U.S. Congress. In less than a ten-year mark, however, conservative forces–including the KKK–would reverse the changes by Radical Reconstruction with a violent repercussion that had restored white supremacy in the South. Lynchings in the United States were raised after the American Civil War in the late 1800s, following the emancipation of slaves; they declined after 1930 but were recorded into the 1960s. After...
Words: 756 - Pages: 4
...Reconstruction * Radical Republicans plan for vigorous plan, transformed south * Johnson and Congressional republicans clashed * 13th amendament- outlawd slavery * Forced to accept emancipation reconstituted state governments adopted a series of new laws called Black codes-restrictions on black freedom * Freedmen’s Bureau served as the only check on exploitative labor agreements. * Johnson denounced the Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights act, but was overridden. * Partisan politics played a large role in shaping the nature of reconstruction * Bloody Shirt- a patriotic appeal to reward republicans for steering the country through the Civil war * Fighting between radicals and president empowered congress to act decisively when the pres. Woud not. Progressive movement * Roosevelt-square deal. Business was run by trust * Suing Northern Securities railroad trust ( was a monopoly) * Sherman anti-trust * Meat inspection act * Pure food and drug act * No preservative could be used in medicine or food * Leveling business playing field * Vibrant, visible, peoples choice * Reform and regulation * Hand picked his successor- taft * Taft was timid and uncomrotable * Was a lawyer * Wilson Second Industrial Revolution * Manufacturing, transportation and communication technologies * Agriculture/ trade-> focus on manufacturing ( industrialization) * Development of American economy ...
Words: 312 - Pages: 2
...In this essay you will learn about the civil war, reconstruction, the progressive era, the great depression, and the civil rights era. Also the American Anti-Slavery and Civil rights Timeline, 1854-1896 during the civil war era. Identify and describe two examples of the U.S. Authority Expansion between the beginning of the U.S. Civil War and the end of the Civil War Era? (1) The twelve years following the Civil War carried consequences for the nation’s future. Reconstruction helped set the pattern for future race relations and defined the federal government’s role in promoting equality. This section describes President Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plan to readmit the confederate states to the Union as well as the more stringent Congressional plan; it also describes the power struggle between President Andrew Johnson and congress, including the vote over the president’s impeachment. This section also identifies the groups that ruled the southern state governments from 1866-1877 and explains why Reconstruction ended in 1877. (2) Immediately following the war, all-white Southern legislatures passed black code which denied blacks the right purchase or rent land. These efforts to force former slaves to work on plantations led Congressional Republicans to seize control of Reconstruction from President Andrew Johnson, deny representatives from the former Confederate states their Congressional seats, and pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and draft the 14th Amendment...
Words: 857 - Pages: 4
...On April 14, 1865, a Confederate sympathizer known as John Wilkes Booth, entered the Ford’s Theater with the intent of killing the sixteenth president, Abraham Lincoln. Hoping to create chaos within the United States government, Booth and his co-conspirators fatally shot the president and stabbed Rathbone, a young army officer. American rejoicing over the end of the Civil War came to end as news spread of Lincoln’s assassination. With Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan created, Andrew Johnson now took on the role of president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln’s assassination created animosity between Johnson and Congress and an unhappy white population, all whilst paved the way for blacks to vote. Following Lincoln’s assassination, animosity was brewing between Johnson and Congress. Johnson intended to carry out Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction. His views reflected his steadfast Unionism and his firm belief in states’ rights. In the beginning of his presidency, Johnson wished to have Southern states return to the Union. He granted immunity to former...
Words: 633 - Pages: 3
