Reconstruction and the Post-War South Essay - 1845 Words

African-Americans as a matter of our highest law were in fact no more citizens than cattle. -- Ira Glasser, Legacy of Racial Subjugation, 2014 The end of the Civil War left many questions for both the North and the South. The federal government was faced with the responsibility of rebuilding the South and reuniting the country politically, economically, and culturally. At the war’s end, the country was left to grapple with 200,000 deaths and over a million casualties, more than any other war for the United States, either past or since[1]. The turbulence of the era left the countryside and the economy of the South in ruins. Plantation owners, the antebellum economic lords who ruled with an iron fist, were financially devastated†¦show more content†¦Reconstruction politics centered on the issue of how to readmit the seceding states back into the Union and on what terms this reunification should be done. There was a struggle between the policies of the Radical Republicans in Congress who wanted to harshly punish the South and the views of President Lincoln who favored a more lenient process of Southern rein tegration. The President, wary to alienate Southern support for his programs, was willing to overlook certain divisive issues (such as black suffrage) and focus on reconciliation. Lincoln introduced his plan, known as the â€Å"Ten Percent Plan,† as early as December 1863. The plan offered a pardon to any ex-Confederate who took an oath of allegiance to the Union and accepted the Emancipation Proclamation, and it allowed any state to create a new constitution and resume full participation in the Union once ten percent of the state’s residents had sworn allegiance to the Union. Lincoln’s plan did not require states to ensure voting rights for blacks, and many therefore construed the plan as too forgiving. The radicals in Lincoln’s own Republican Party opposed the President’s plan and pushed through Congress their own, stricter Reconstruction plan, the Wade-Davis Act, in July 1864. Lincoln, however, left the bill unsigned and let it die, leavin g the President and Congress effectively deadlocked over Reconstruction. Congress did succeed in passing some more radicalShow MoreRelatedHow Did The Radical Republican s Rise For The Failure Of The Post Civil War Reconstruction?1619 Words   |  7 Pagesthe failure of the post-civil war reconstruction? The time between 1863, when Lincoln passed the ten percent act, until the year 1877, when reconstruction was officially ended, will be evaluated with information provided by the sources. The investigation will specifically look to how the Lincoln assassination allowed for the rise in the Radical Republican Party from 1866 to 1868 and the party’s effect on reconstruction acts leading to the failure of the post-civil war reconstruction era. Eric Foner’sRead MoreOrigin Of And Role Played By Manifest Destiny1323 Words   |  6 Pages The Homeland Act fueled the drive for displacement of Indians. Task 2: Triumphs and Failures of the Reconstruction Era Reconstruction is the term used to refer to the period between 1862 and 1877, during which America attempted to bring sanity from the terrific socio-political and economic changes created by the breakaway calls and Civil War. Given the complexity of the post-Civil War issues it is understandable that the period is shrouded in controversy. While some historians typify the periodRead MoreReview: the Continuing Evolution of Reconstruction History by Eric Foner961 Words   |  4 Pagespolitics, and economic change during Reconstruction.† The article essentially encompasses the meaning of three different views of reconstruction: traditional, revisionist, and post-revisionist. 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It follows through to see young Lizzy escape from slavery on the live Oaks plantation in South Carolina in 1864. After the Civil War, the family is given is plot of land they refer to as the â€Å"Glory Field†, which represents hope for the family duringRead MoreAfrican Americans and Southern Racism During Reconstruction1501 Words   |  7 Pages1 Introduction At the end of the Civil War, America faced the difficult task of uniting not only two separated territories of the United States, but also two races long separated by racism and culture. Devastated and embittered by the damage of the war, the South had a long way to go in order to achieve true equality between the former slave owners and former slaves. The majority of the South remained set in racist behavior, finding post-Civil War legal loopholes to diminish African AmericanRead More Three Plans For Reconstruction Essay1043 Words   |  5 PagesPlans for Reconstruction The American Civil War, lasting from 1861-1865, was the most severe military conflict the country had seen; it involved the United States of America (the Union), and eleven secessionist Southern states (the Confederate States of America). The war was the upshot of decades worth of political, social, and economic conflict between the agricultural South, which produced mainly cash crops such as cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane, and the industrial North. The South depended onRead MoreReconstruction and the Myth of the Lost Cause1511 Words   |  7 Pagesthe Civil war, the Union was reestablished in racism. Reconstruction was the constitutional effort (13th, 14th, 15th amendment) of the north to force the south to treat the freed slaves as citizens. Reconstruction failed miserably. It is one of the least glorious parts of American history. Some nationalists like to think that there are no badly edifying chapters of America, and decide to forget about it. The civil war was one of the big t hree events along with the Revolution and World War Two. EverybodyRead MoreWhy Did Reconstruction Fail870 Words   |  4 PagesWhy did Reconstruction fail? Reconstruction in the United States is historically known as the time in America, shortly after the Civil War, in which the United States attempted to readdress the inequalities, especially of slavery and many other economic, social and politically issues including the poor relationship between the North and the South of America. These problems were highly significant in America, and a variety of groups in government tried to resolve these problems, but this only led