Effects Of The Reconstruction Era

Improved Essays
Mario Moran
Title: Why was the Reconstruction era a failure and does its effects still last today?
Investigation
Reconstruction is known as the time after the Civil War when America needed to untie and rebuild itself. The reconstruction period lasted from 1863-1877 but some of its effects are still seen in today’s society. These effects show how the reconstruction was a failure instead of a success, especially in the aspects of economic and social value. One of the main investigations will be about how racism back in the 1800’s can still be found today. Which is one reason why Reconstruction was a failure. The reason Reconstruction arose was to combine a formerly slave population along with a rebellious one. This proved to be difficult
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Andrew Johnson wanted to make things the way they were before so he made important government positions be filled with only white men. Stevens wanted to impeach Johnson and so to oppose him he created a group of radical republicans. Stevens had the Freedman’s bureau to assist him however. This bureau sought to help former slaves to achieve an education to help better them in society by building more schools for them. Johnson however did not let this happen because he knew it would hurt his plans so he vetoed the bill and the bureau never was achieved. Because the Freedman’s bureau was not achieved, black men could not receive an education or own any land because of it. This helped Johnson because now black people had to resort to working in plantations mainly owned by whites. The difference was that here they were not slaves. They had jobs but they still were not payed much and usually just received some of the crops as payment. “The family itself, rather than a white owner or overseer, now decided where and when black women and children would work.” The Radical Republicans were upset at how Johnson was making the South just like it was before, basically ridding of all the work that the civil war did. In response to this they made the Civil Rights Bill. The bill explained how all people born in the U.S. regardless of race are equal. Andrew Johnson …show more content…
Grant. Grant was a supporter of the Radical Republicans and he helped increase the civil rights of blacks. This did not stop the southern states from fighting however. Many of them passed black codes which violated the civil rights of blacks. Black codes would say things like “No negro shall be permitted to preach, exhort, or otherwise declaim to congregations of colored people, without a special permission in writingfrom the president of the police jury.” This is clearly a violation of civil rights for blacks. Soon after another attempt to help black people have more power was the 15th Amendment. The amendment allowed men to vote regardless of race. In the south this did not do much because blacks couldn’t vote because they were attacked by terrorist organizations such as the KKK. The government attempted to help out blacks by passing laws such as the Civil Rights Bill or the 15th Amendment, but he population in the south always found a way to stop it such as black codes or

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