The History and Goal of the United States Reconstruction

The United States reconstruction occurred between 1865 and 1877, Reconstruction referred to as the period in United States history immediately following the civil war. The whole point of reconstruction was to repair the damages in the southern states and bring them back to the union. Its goal was to readmit the south on terms that were acceptable to the north. Throughout the entire war, President Abraham Lincoln felt that reconstruction was his responsibility Lincoln longed for a lenient reconstruction he hoped to attract the south and he insisted that southern states accept federal policies on slavery.

So, he came up with something known as the “10 Percent Plant” The 10 Percent Plan made it specific that a southern state could be readmitted to the union only if ten percent of its voters swore an oath of allegiance to the union. To appeal to poorer whites, President Lincoln offered to pardon all confederates to appeal to former plantation owners and southern aristocrats, he pledged to protect private property.

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Lincoln did not want to punish the south or reorganize southern society, but he simply wanted reconstruction to be a short process. His plans for reconstruction were cut short by his assassination in 1865. Although Abraham Lincoln tried his best to keep it simple, there were many republicans who felt reconstruction was not harsh enough. They believed the south needed to be punished for causing the war these people were known as the Radical Republicans, the Radical Republicans hoped to control the reconstruction process, transform the south, and guarantee civil liberties for formal slaves.

They believed it was the duty of congress to set the terms under which states would regain their rights in the union. The Republicans were determined to readmit southern states, but only after slavery had been ended, black rights were protected, and the power of the planter class was destroyed.

Congress passed the Electoral Count Act in 1877 in order to establish a special committee to recount the votes in a fair and balanced way. The committee contained fifteen men from the House, Senate, and Supreme Court, the democrats were very outraged at first but they soon realized that the whole situation gave them the perfect opportunity to strike a bargain in order to achieve their goals as politicians. A result of this was known as The Compromise of 1877 This is where Democrats agreed to let Hayes become President in exchange for a withdrawal of federal troops from the south. As a result, Republicans agreed and Hayes ordered troops to vacate South Carolina and Louisiana. Reconstruction slowly came to an end, the northerners were tired of certain efforts and had become less interested in the south In addition, the Supreme Court struck down Radical Republican Legislation and issued rulings that had a horrible effect on civil liberties. Finally, the Compromise of 1877 and the removal of federal troops from the south signaled the end of the Reconstruction Era.