Reconstruction Era

The reconstruction Era Jessica Onken American History Since 1865 Professor Tim Johnston awful 2, 2010 reconstructive memory 2 The reconstructive memory Era The reconstruction era was a difficult time for the African American slaves from 1865 to 1877 because the slaves were freed and in that respect were no jobs for them, had re entirelyy little or no education, and had very limited opportunity in the randomness. reconstruction was unitary of the most critical stages in American History. The civilised allege of war change overd the nation trem leftoverously, and most importantly by bringing an end to slavery. reconstruction was a period of great promise, hope, and progress for African Americans, and a period of resentment and resistance for many ovalbumin southwesternerners. The time period for the reconstructive memory era was in 1865 to 1877, when the United States was rebuilding and reuniting after the civilised War. In 1865, four years of brutal deconstruction in th e Civil War came to an end, 600,000 American soldiers lost their lives. Four million enslaved African Americans were emancipated. The south was displace to waste railroads, factories, farms, and cities were destroyed.Abraham Lincoln was elected president during that time. Abraham Lincoln knew once the states cabal were restored to the union, the Republicans would be weakened unless they put an end to being a sectioned party. Lincoln hoped for peace and to attract the great unwashed of the former south who back up the Republicans economic policies. During the Era of reconstruction, it was highly unstable because while many Northerners cut this as a chance to completely end slavery and view as the south merged back into the United States, many in the south saw this as an insult and a nonher injury of the loss of the Civil War.Lincolns plans during this time were to free more slaves and grant freedom. At the end of the Reconstruction Era, freedoms were given under the 13th, 14th , and 15th Amendments, but were not completely effective. The honourable views through religions before and after the war of the north and south Reconstruction 3 were different. With different opinions flowing, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches split into Northern and grey functions. The gray churches supported slavery and believed that it was also supported by the Bible.The north believed that no man should be held in captivity or confinement by another man. The north wanted to end slavery but all the corresponding most of the Northerner did not consider the ghastly man to be tally to them. There were some Northerners that did believe all men are created equal. some(a) Northerners showed strong emotions active the eradication of slavery that they became violent. Most of the Northerners did not change after the war, which caused the segregation that continued until the 1960s.In 1865, the Ku Klux Klan was started in Tennessee to stop duskys from taking wages of their new adepts. Members from the Ku Klux Klan would beat and murder saturnines to keep them from having rights. Northern soldiers were stationed in the south to utilise the Reconstruction laws. The soldiers made sure blacks could vote in elections, be treated just like the white people, go to school, and they were also there to prevent any attacks from happening by the southern whites. In 1869, the Southern governments started to end jibe by the North in Tennessee and Virginia.Some of the power of the Southerners was regained to pasture their own state governments, which made the Northerners have less influence on the southern governments. The reason for the southerners joining the Ku Klux Klan was because they did not want blacks to have rights much(prenominal) as voting, owning land, freedom, be treated fairly at jobs, recruit in court trials, run for office, etc.. Southern white people were not for reconstructing governments. They would not accept the black men that were once slaves as free black men who now had the right to Reconstruction 4 vote and participate in state government.As the nation started to celebrate the end of the war in April 1865, president Lincoln was shot and killed After Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson took over the transition of the reconstruction. Johnson made the reconstruction less efficient. He forgave some ex-confederates and didnt take the aforesaid(prenominal) steady approaches as Lincoln did. Johnson was a southerner, and like Lincoln, a self educated man who climbed up the l tag oner from an inferior decent. Southerners were now do new laws called black codes, which meant it made blacks lives harder and to prevent them from using their new rights.Some codes forced blacks to work for a year, and if they didnt, they were thrown in jail for being unemployed, and also let them be whipped by their bosses. By enforcing labor contracts, and laws, the strict black codes kept freedmen tied to the plantation. This per iod was described as violence, revenge, retaliation, and optic for an eye against African Americans. The justice system of the south provided no refuge or assistance. The all white police force frequently terrorized African Americans, and the adjudicate and other officials rarely prosecuted crimes against blacks.When the news of the black code laws and the violence against the freedmen shell out to the North, it created outrage and fury. When the Northern soldiers were not positioned in the south to enforce Reconstruction laws, blacks had to live under the unpleasant, cruel, and unfair conditions caused by the black code laws. Johnson allowed the black codes to be passed which imposed heavy restrictions on freed African American slaves. Johnson was against the flight of a renewal of a new Freemans Bureau, which served as a unequivocal organization for African Americans,Reconstruction 5 which would have allowed the black war veterans the right to vote. In 1867, Congress passed a new Reconstruction Act, that threw out the state governments of states that refused to ratify the 14th amendment. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870, providing a built-in guarantee of voting rights for African American males. By 1870, the Northerner lost by-line in reconstructing the south. The north tried to reconstruct the south and change southerners attitudes about black people.Although they failed at this because many southerners were still racists and believed that the white race was crack to others, blacks were not as good as southern white men. To add to that, the Northerners lost interest in the reconstruction, which gave southerners a chance to gain withstand of their state governments again. The main complaints against the Presidential Reconstruction were the Radical Republicans of Congress. New semipolitical forces in the South gave way for new changes. During reconstruction, African Americans made colossal political gains.They voted in large numbers and wer e also elected to political office. African Americans were elected as sheriffs, mayors, legislators, Congressmen, and Senators. Even thought their participation was significant, it was misinform by white southerners angry at the Black Republicans governments. Reconstruction governments built public schools for both black and white children. They also rebuilt and added more railroads, telecommunicate lines, bridges, and railroads. These costly efforts led to tax increases that made the southern whites more angry, which was why the Ku Klux Klan was created.By the mid 1870s, the Republicans were losing power, and the Northerners were tired of trying to reform the south. In 1872, Congress passed the pardon Act, which reinstated voting rights to almost all white southerners. By 1876, almost all southern s Reconstruction 6 states were back under the control of the Democrats. When Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president in 1877, the reconstruction came to an end. He upstage the remain ing federal troops from the south. With no one left to enforce the reconstruction reforms, the Reconstruction was over. White Democrats remained in control of southern governments.Southern states denied African Americans from voting through voting restrictions such as the poll tax, grandad clause, and the literacy test. Jim bluster Laws separated blacks and whites in restaurants, schools, theaters, railroads, hospitals, and all other public places. The Jim Crow Laws were clearly passed to ensure that black people could not dot eh like things as white people. Such laws encouraged and promoted racial segregation and vary from district to district. Some required black people to drink at separate fountains and use separate bathrooms than white people.Others required black people to give up seats on public buses if a white person wanted their sear, and still others prohibited black people from attend the same schools as white people African Americans continued to be looked at as bad or not equal as the white Americans. They were still victims of violence and intimidation. In the 1960s, with the Civil Rights movement, the African Americans were granted full protection of the 14th and 15th amendments. The period of the Reconstruction was one of great promise for the United States and for African Americans.During this period, African Americans continued to essay for freedom and worked to improve their communities. Institutions of the African American community like the churches and schools were modify over time. Though there were long term consequences of Reconstruction failures, the Reconstruction era provided a Constitutional basis for later attempts to end discrimination. Reconstruction 7 Although the Reconstruction era was a difficult time for the African Americans, with several failed attempts, in the end, the African Americans did finally get freedom and were allowed the same rights as the white Americans.References Carter, Hodding. (1959). The Angry Scar The Story of Reconstruction. New York Doubleday. Davidson, J. , Delay, B. , Heyrman, C. , Lytle, M. , Stoff, M. (2008). area of Nations. (vol. 2, 6th ed. ) New York McGraw-Hill. Dubowski, C. (1991). Andrew Johnson Rebuilding the Union. New Jersey Silver Burdett. Foner, Eric. (1988). Reconstruction Americas Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877. New York Harper & Row. Litwack, L. , (1979). Been in the Storm so Long. New York Random House.