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The Civil War was between the North and South of the United States. The civil war has been categorized among the goriest wars ever experienced on American grounds. The primary reason for the civil war was the age-old dispute regarding black people enslavement. The commencing of the civil war was a result of the adamant differences among the Slave and Free states concerning the government’s power to ban slavery in territories that were not yet stated. The ordeal that ignited the war occurred in Charleston Bay at Fort Sumter on 12th April 1861. The war lasted for four years and later ended on 10th May 1865. In the history of America, the era of Reconstruction persisted from 1863 to 1877. It was an important period in America’s history of civil rights.
Throughout the Civil war, a large proportion of the South of the United States was damaged. Reconstruction refers to the renovation of the Southern United States due to the Civil War. Reconstruction carried on from 1865 to 1877.
The Reconstruction was purposefully aimed at aiding the South in joining the Union once more.
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During the Reconstruction, federal troops inhabited the South’s majority with the intention of enforcing laws as well as curbing any uprisings that may occur. This paper will examine the effects of the Reconstruction of the American South after the Civil War and determine why the Reconstruction was a failure. During the Reconstruction, three plans were established so as to make it possible. Firstly, there was Lincoln’s plan then Johnson’s plan and finally, a Radical Republican plan was set up.
Lincoln’s plan was alternatively referred to be the 10% plan. The plan itself was quite simple and is considered to be the blueprint for the Reconstruction of the South. Abraham Lincoln presented pardons to whichever Confederate who chose to pledge their loyalty to the Constitution and Union. When the sum of people who swore allegiance totaled to 10% of the number of voters who took part in the 1860 election then the Union could readmit the Southern state. The voters were allowed to select delegates who would draw up amended state constitutions while setting up newfangled state governments.
Besides the high ranking army officers and Confederate administration officials, all other southerners were to be issued full pardons. President Lincoln assured southerners that their private property would be protected, their slaves not included. A majority of the moderate Congress Republicans supported Lincoln’s pitch for Reconstruction due to them wanting the war to end quickly. The Ten-percent plan was in many ways a political tactic as it was a Reconstruction plan. President Lincoln desired the war to end quickly. Lincoln dreaded that a prolonged war would result in the loss of public support and the North as well as the South would fail to be united if the conflict would not come to a quick end. Lincoln’s fears were vindicated especially during late 1863 when a multitude of Democrats clamored purposefully intended for a ceasefire plus peaceful resolution. President Lincoln’s plan proved to be lenient and seemed to be an effort to lure the South to submit. Lincoln appeared to favor the state's self-Reconstruction aided by Washington. In an effort to appeal to less fortunate whites, Lincoln gave pardons to all Confederates, and to petition prior plantation proprietors and southern nobles, Lincoln promised to safeguard private property.
Additionally, Lincoln did not desire to penalize southerners or rearrange the southern society which was contrary to Radical Republicans. Lincoln’s deeds show that he wished for Reconstruction to take a short span of time whereby secessionist states were able to draft novel constitutions as quickly as possible thus the United States could go back to its prior existence. Radical Republicans were in opposition to Lincoln’s plan because they deemed it to not provide equal domestic rights for the slaves who were freed. The Radical Republicans also believed that Lincoln’s Reconstruction plans were not severe enough due to the South being guilty of commencing the war, as was their perspective, and thus needed to be punished for that. Lincoln’s plans remain to be seen as speculations for a quick reunification because in 1865 he was assassinated and as a result, his plans for Reconstruction were cut short. The assassination of President Lincoln during the eve of the Civil War’s end by John Wilkes Booth was considered to be the first step in an otherwise bigger conspiracy.
The purpose of the assassination was to resuscitate the Confederate cause via the elimination of the three most vital United States government officials. President Johnson in 1865 executed a Reconstruction plan which allowed the white South to control its conversion from slavery to freedom while offering no political roles for black people in the south. The purpose of Johnson’s plan was to change the South’s political control from ancient planter gentry to the minor farmers as well as artisans. The plan promised to achieve an uprising in the Southern society. In 1865, Johnson put his plan into motion while Congress was in adjournment as of April to December. Johnson’s plan differed from Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan because Johnson’s plan also advocated for leniency towards the Southern whites and was almost indifferent to the brand new black population comprising of freedmen.
However, Congress Republicans championed for the African-Americans to be endowed with full rights inclusive of voting rights. The manner in which Johnson’s government conducted itself turned a majority of the North against the policies from the president. The Civil War ended without the nation having an established Reconstruction policy. President Johnson issued all Southern whites with pardons except leaders of the Confederation as well as wealthy planters. Though most of exceptions were later given individual pardons and given the mandate to establish new governments. Black people were not allowed to partake in the procedure. Orders were also issued by Johnson to return all the land that was possessed by the government to the prewar owners. At the inception, a majority of the Northerners thought Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction deserved the opportunity to flourish. The development followed by the governments of the South State underneath Presidential Reconstruction, however, converted a majority of the North against the policy of President Johnson. The ancient Southern elite members including numerous individuals who were in servitude of either the army or government of the confederation assumed their prior positions of power.
The new laws approved the Black Codes, strictly restraining the prior slaves’ legal privileges and economic alternatives with the intention of compelling them back to the estates to be dependent laborers. A number of states restricted the variety of occupations available for black people. No state allowed any black person to exercise the right to vote or even receive the educational public funds. The clear incapability of the Southern white leaders to consent to the actuality of liberation undermined Northern backing for Johnson’s plans. Though Johnson owned five slaves prior to the Civil War, he acknowledged himself as the state champion of the “honest yeomen” as well as an enemy of large farmers who he considered to be a “bloated, corrupted aristocracy”. Johnson sturdily encouraged public education as well as the provision of free land to Western settlers. Andrew Johnson was an enthusiastic supporter of state rights and a sturdy Union protector. Johnson was the sole Senator from a withdrawing state to maintain his political post in 1861. When the forces of the Union inhabited Tennessee, Lincoln appointed him to be military governor. Johnson was elected as vice president in 1864. Johnson later succeeded to president after Abraham Lincoln’s demise.
Johnson was lacking in providing the nation with rational leadership or dealing with congress effectively. Johnson was prevented from addressing the issue of black stresses for civil privileges because of racism and inflexibility on a personal level rendering him incapable of compromising with Congress. The alienation of most Republicans was as a result of Johnson vetoing Reconstruction legislation as well as opposing the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1868, Johnson came close to being ejected from office via impeachment and was acquitted on account of one vote. President Andrew Johnson was taken back to the Senate in 1875 but perished five months after resuming office. Radical republicans alleged that black people were eligible to similar political opportunities as well as rights enjoyed by the whites. The Radical Republicans also thought that the leaders of the Confederation ought to be penalized for the roles they played during the Civil War. Pennsylvania representative Thaddeus Stevens, as well as Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner, heartily opposed President Johnson’s tolerant policies. A prodigious political fight was about to occur. The American people have been suspicious for a long while that the federal regime was playing a huge role in state affairs.
However, the Radicals figured that odd times demanded direct involvement in affairs of the state as well as laws aimed at protecting the liberated black people. The Radicals’ notion was based on their conviction that the black community should be given an opportunity to contest in the free-labor economy. The activist congress in 1866 also presented a bill for the extension of the lifespan of the Freedmen’s Bureau plus commenced to graft a Civil Rights Bill. Andrew Johnson opposed this motion. President Johnson banned the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill appealing that the bill would puff up the government’s size. Johnson barred the Civil Rights Bill turning down the ability of the black people to wield similar rights of person and property as the white people. The racism portrayed by President Johnson was appalling to the moderate republicans. The Republicans opted to join forces with the Radicals to reverse Johnson’s veto on the Civil Rights Act. This was a highlight in history since no other major legislation piece has ever been overturned.
The Radicals yearned for the Civil Rights Act to lead to the setting up of a vigorous state judiciary with law courts that enforce rights. Congress later shifted its efforts to make changes to the Constitution. In 1867, Congress permitted the Fourteenth Amendment that outlawed “states from abridging equality before the law”. The Amendment’s second part was providing a reduction of the representatives of state where suffrage was repudiated. Republicans offered Southerners to the option of either accepting black empowerment or suffer the loss of congressional representation. The third clause restricted ex-confederates occupying national or state office positions. Encouraged by the Fourteenth Amendment work as well as local political triumphs in the elections of 1866, the Republicans moved on to make known the 1867 Act of Reconstruction. The act detached the right of the “leading rebels” to vote or seek office. The Southern Unionists that is; the southerners who aided the Union in the war, turned into the new leadership of the South.
The Act of Reconstruction also separated the Southerners into military regions of five-under commanders sanctioned to employ the army to safeguard black citizens as well as property. The initial two years of the Congressional Reconstruction led to the South states redraft their constitutions as well as the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification. The Congress appeared to be in absolute control. The one thing that obstructed the movement was Andrew Johnson himself. The leaders of the Radicals put in motion an unusual preparation in the constitution so as to remove the impediment that is; Presidential impeachment. It was spring in 1868 when President Johnson came to be the first ever president to undergo an impeachment. The House of Representatives which was densely populated by republicans brought forward 11 impeachment articles against Andrew Johnson.
The majority of the insiders had knowledge that Congress was searching for whichever possible justification to purge themselves of the stubborn President. The term impeachment means the procedure outlined in the constitution designed for trial as well as eviction from administration of any official of the federation indicted due to misconduct. The House of Representatives charge officials with impeachment articles. “Treason, Bribery, or Other High Crimes and Misdemeanors” are referred to be impeachable offenses. Once an official receives charges from the House of Representatives, the case is taken in front of the senate for an arraignment. In 1867, the Reconstruction Act which was put into effect by Edwin Stanton, who was the Secretary of War, was passed. The Act was opposed by Johnson who tried to get rid of Stanton, directly violating the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson’s removal of Stanton related to nine of the impeachment articles. Two others charged Johnson with disgracing congress. Johnson, in his favor, simply argued that his removal from office could only be justified by a clear breach of the law.
However, seldom are things simple when it comes to politics. This is because there are many other factors that have to be considered. At the time, there was lacking a Vice President and the person who was to assume the presidency was Benjamin Wade. Benjamin Wade was not popular with businessmen plus moderates for being a radical, and together with legal squabbling, Johnson’s supporters gave assurance of acceptance of the Radical’s Southern policies. In May of 1868, 35 Senators, a number that was lacking one vote needed for two-thirds majority, voted to reprimand. Andrew Johnson had been found not guilty by seven Republican Senators who had skipped party lines plus this enabled him to serve out his term. 130 years passed before there was another Presidential impeachment, this time of Bill Clinton. Most of the Southerners could hardly recognize currently the world they were now living in. Tables had turned on the wealthy whites. They were accustomed to living luxurious estate lives as well as having political influence but now they found themselves being not allowed to vote and holding any positions in office. Their estates were in a mess with poor white farmers finding themselves in competition with blacks for jobs and land. Reconstruction presented an extraordinary window of hope for the freed slave.
Owning of land and voting was now possible for those conceived into slavery. Some Southern blacks were allowed to travel on trains with whites and eat in their restaurants. Schools, orphanages, and public relief projects started emerging all over the South and were aimed at bettering the lives of blacks. The fact African-Americans could now hold office was the most now spectacular of all progress being made. Blacks were now holding sheriff and judge positions, being elected into school panels as well as city committees. From 1867-1877, Congress had sixteen seats being held by blacks. In 1870, the first black Senator, Hiram Revels, was in power. However, it did not come as a surprise that, the more effects changed, the more they remained similar. Blacks were underprivileged economically. Many of their skills involved work done in the plantations. By the early 1870s, the poor depended mostly on sharecropping to earn a living. As was expected, many whites were not in support of the alterations that were occurring. Their levies were steep and the economy stagnated. Exploitation became the order of the day.
There was also an upsurge of the Klu Klux Klan alongside Knights of the White Camelia as well as White Brotherhood who born out a marriage of fear and hatred. The supremacy groups were intended on controlling the blacks via intimidation and violence. Clearly, slavery had ended but the tussle for equality was just beginning. In conclusion, the Civil War of America well-kept the Union as well as liberated the slaves. On the other hand, as Reconstruction was ongoing the absence of political emphasis effort-wise failed to resolve the sectional injuries as well as the abolition of the liberated slaves’ newly gained civil freedoms failed to bring about long-standing racial amalgamation. When the war concluded, the Union wanted to fruitfully restore Southerners into the nation on the same footing, resuscitate their economy as well as reconstruct their exhausted landscape. Nonetheless, divisions in the government’s federation over Reconstruction led to the letdown of accomplishing these objectives. President Lincoln’s plan presented a lenient manner for Southerners to return to the Union. Nevertheless, shortly after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, Andrew Johnson, a prior slave owner-occupied the office of the presidency and began initiating his own Reconstruction plan.
Though Johnson’s plan worked at first, the prior Confederates ultimately maneuvered their way back into the régime as well as being elected to the Congress of America. Congress which was dominated by Republicans denied the Southerners to seat. Additionally, the Republican Party itself became divided. Conservatives as well as moderates craved for the Southerners to be willingly admitted back into the Congress and Union. The same Republicans desired that the additional reforms be made to what Andrew Johnson was offering. During the same period, Radical Republicans demanded far-reaching revolution desiring to “remake the South in the image of the North”. The pressures between the party of Republicans and the outwardly South inclined head of state resulted in slight advancement as well as Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial. The North’s failure to efficiently reconstruct the South as well as restoration into the Union in the course of Reconstruction is apparent after the period of time.
The other issue plaguing Reconstruction was the assimilation of the slaves who were freed in which they experienced difficulties. Moreover, the upsurge in groups of white supremacists such as the Klu Klux Klan alongside Black Codes intimidated liberated slaves and curbed their civil freedoms. All these incidents portray the unsuccessful nature of Reconstruction of the Civil War.
Andrews, Kenneth T. Freedom is a constant struggle: The Mississippi civil rights movement and its legacy. University of Chicago Press, 2018. Carter, Dan T. When the War Was Over: The Failure of Self-Reconstruction in the South, 1865--1867. LSU Press, 1985. Du Bois, William Edward Burghardt. Black Reconstruction in America: Toward a history of the part which black folk played in the attempt to reconstruct democracy in America, 1860-1880. Routledge, 2017. Foner, Eric. A short history of reconstruction. Blackstone Audio, 2017. Graff, Gilda. "Post Civil War African American History: Brief Periods of Triumph, and Then Despair." Journal of psychohistory 43, no. 4 (2016). McDermott, John J. "Reconstruction and post-civil war reconciliation." Military Review 89, no. 1 (2009): 67. Randall, James Garfield, and David Donald. The civil war and reconstruction. Pickle Partners Publishing, 2016. RONALD, E. NEUMANN. "War and the Art of Governance: Consolidating Combat Success into Political Victory." (2017): 170-174. URTON, VERNON B. "Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861ą1877." A Companion to 19th-Century America (2001): 47. White, John. Reconstruction after the American Civil War. Longman, 1977.
Reconstruction of The American South. (2020, Sep 06). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/reconstruction-of-the-american-south-essay
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