Describe and analyze Reconstruction. Did Reconstruction have any successes?
The end of civil war in the United States of America brought about many problems, in particular for the South. Some of the problems were political, economic decay and social disorder. The war destroyed the plantations and crops thus causing many to starve to death while others became homeless. The reconstruction became the only hope for the people. Radical reconstruction began in 1867, which enabled the freed black men to have a voice in the government. Before the civil war, the Southern state had enacted laws that suppressed all African American. This fact angered many people from the North who were seeking to end slavery. Therefore, during the reconstruction era, the black people wanted their voices to be heard.
The restoration process began with small plans that were put forward by President Lincoln as well as President Johnson. The two president’s main aim was to combine the confederacy with the unions (Flanagan). This fact was called the presidential reconstruction. The Republicans were put into office to ensure that the freed people’s rights were protected as well as to make sure that America was united. The civil rights act was passed and the southern state began to follow the rule. The Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act that would ensure that the federal authorities could be able to protect the freed citizens. However, even with the introduction of such laws the African Americans were not able to be fully protected. During the reconstruction era, the Haitian revolution was occurring. In this revolution, the enslaved individuals were seeking freedom and fighting for their rights. The struggle for rights and freedom threatened the livelihood of the white people. This fact brought about the concept of the white supremacy.
In the era of reconstruction, the African Americans were able to form organizations and churches. This event occurred because they were fighting for equality of all people in America especially in the fields of education, social and economic. They also wanted to prove to people that they were not inferior to the white people. However, white supremacy continued to reign in the society (Flanagan).
The reconstruction was claimed to have failed because of reported cases of bribery and corruption that was taking place in the government. This could be observed from the railroad promoters, stock market investors, land contractors, business speculators who were trying to gain favors from the leaders who had been elected. However, many changes occurred in the South because schools were increased for both whites and black people as well as hospitals. The other important aspect of the reconstruction was that the South and the North were reunited. Since 1790s there had been issues between the rights vs federalism. This problem was able to be solved and constitution was drafted, which recognized the thirteenth, fourteenth and the fifteenth amendments (Flanagan).
Why the reconstruction was incomplete?
The reconstruction can be viewed to be incomplete because many things that were implemented were not taken into account or followed. The primary purposes for the reconstruction era were to unite the South and the North as well as to end slavery in America (Flanagan). However, when it came to the rights of the African Americans, many white people did not follow the constitutions. The blacks were separated from the whites in public places. The country which was mostly ruled by white people were able to enact laws that would separate African Americans with the white Americans. Before the civil war, the people from the South wanted to continue doing slavery. Many African American slaves from the North had been released. President Lincoln wanted all black people to be freed. It can also be observed that this was the wish of most Republican Party members at that time. The people from the south felt intimidated by this fact and therefore, revolted. However, after the war, the people from the South were the ones who suffered the most because the source of income which is plantations were destroyed. Therefore, the reconstruction was meant to implement the rights and liberties of the black people and also to rebuild the south.
When the restoration began, it was showing progress because the Congress was able to amend the constitution in order to help protect the rights of the African Americans. Nonetheless, as the reconstruction was progressing many negative things began to emerge such as corruption and bribery. This fact caused many to question the decisions made by the elected leaders. In the South, life for African Americans had not changed because the white people continued to discriminate against them. The reason or the continued racial discriminations is stemmed from the fact that majority of the population were white people including the leaders. Therefore, no matter how the government tried to implement the thirteenth, fourteenth and the fifteenth amendment the South had no intentions of following it. It can be observed that the laws were enacted to protect African-Americans; however, the government did not adequately enforce the laws. This mater made it easy for the people in the South not to follow the order (Flanagan).
Work cited
Flanagan, Timothy. Reconstruction: A Primary Source History of the Struggle to Unite the North and South after Civil War. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group Inc, 2005. Print
