The Reconstruction Period - Essay Example

Introduction The founding fathers of the American nation envisaged a great empire for the Americans. Americans believed that their Manifest Destiny which was to spread civilization to the whole world hence the Westward expansion that was experienced in the early nineteenth century. However, this also brought with it divisions in the nation regarding the issue of slavery. The Northerners were anti-slavery expansion to the west while the Southerners were pro-slavery. These divisions culminated into the dreaded Civil War from 1861-1865 with the Northerners fighting to keep the union intact while the Southerners were fighting for state rights and the right to property of which they considered slaves as personal property. In the end, the Union won over the confederate south and the Reconstruction period began in earnest its goal being reconciling the union and racial equality. However, this goal was not achieved as the Jim Crow laws with the blessings of the Supreme Court reversed all the Reconstruction efforts and legalised segregation. The focus of this paper will be to discuss Reconstruction and its backlash. The first Reconstruction efforts were Presidential Reconstruction led by the then president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a moderate Republican hence he was not very harsh on the rebels but sought to reconciliation between North and South. He thus made an amnesty proclamation in 1863 that granted pardon to all those who took an oath to support the constitution of United States and the union of state. However, those confederates who aided the rebellion especially the army were to be exempted from amnesty. He declared that “the restoration of Rebel states to the Union must rest upon the principle of civil and political equality of both races” (Franklin 24). This was appealing to the ears of the Republicans who were for black rights and also the African Americans as they thought they would gain citizenship. However, this was not to be as the freedmen were excluded from taking oath, voting or holding office. The aim of Lincoln was restoration of the union and not much about the black rights. Although he had freed them from slavery through the emancipation proclamation of 1863 and abolishment through the Thirteenth Amendment, they were far from enjoying any rights. One major achievement of this period was the establishment of the Freedmen Bureau to protect African American rights and settle racial disputes as well as distributing the confiscated land to freedmen (Franklin 25).The Bureau also offered free schools for all races and aid to the destitute. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 due to his anti-slavery stand and was succeeded by Andrew Johnson. Just like his predecessor Johnson was more concerned with restoration of the Union though the Republicans and Blacks alike were very hopeful that he would deliver them. This is because although he was a former slave owner, he had a strong dislike for the wealthy planter class. However, his dislike for blacks proved to be much more than that of the planters as he believed they were landless and rightless individuals who had no business in Reconstruction (Mooney 98). His presidency was a relief to the Southerners as he was moderate on them. He set easy conditions for them to join the union like taking oath of allegiance and made an amnesty proclamation to pardon those who took oath and restore rights of property to them. He also returned the land which had been confiscated from confederates to them in 1865. The Blacks felt were better off in slavery than as free men without land as land was the mainstay of the economy especially the South and enabled owners to have the platform for enjoying social rights. Johnson was a strong advocate of state rights hence he devoted much of his time in office to strengthen states. He enabled the states to establish own constitutions and elect representatives to the constitution convention. During his time, Johnson required the states to grant black suffrage and enact laws to protect freedmen. This was a relief for Blacks but the only fault was that he did not make it mandatory for these states to do. As such, the states established own laws which discriminated against the blacks and denied them most of their rights. Southern states also passed Black codes which further limited black rights by dictating to them working conditions while prohibiting vagrancy (Mooney 100). The Radical Republicans who wanted full rights for blacks were angered by Johnson’s Reconstruction plan and used the 1866 elections to gain control of the Congress thereby the beginning of Congressional Reconstruction. Congressional Reconstruction was driven by the Radical Republicans. Their first task was to extend the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau which had been neglected by Johnson. They then passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 giving all Americans equal protection under the law (Mooney 100). These included rights to sue, give evidence in court, buy, sell, inherit and right to hold property. This was a step forward towards achieving civil and political rights for blacks as well as citizenship. The Act overturned the Black Codes and also set the foundation for the enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US constitution (1868) and other legislations. The Amendment stated that “all persons born or naturalized in the U.S and subject to the jurisdiction thereof are citizens of U.S and of state wherein they reside” (Mooney 102). This gave the Blacks legal protection under the law although it did not guarantee the right to vote. The amendment was followed by the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 which required states to ratify the Amendment for them to be allowed to join the union. States were also put under federal military authority and grouped into five districts. The blacks were also allowed to vote in constitution conventions unlike before where they were not considered. Former high confederates were not allowed to hold office or vote. Black suffrage was key to Reconstruction during this period. Due to these Acts, by 1868 most blacks could vote, hold office and be educated. The only problem with these efforts was failure to give blacks land which they so much cherished. Instead, land reforms were initiated and a new system called sharecropping emerged. Under this system, blacks were given tools and equipments and seeds to plant and in return give a proportion of their harvest to landowners (Mooney 104). This system was associated with credit system and debt peonage which were disadvantageous to blacks as they made them immobile; they could not get employment elsewhere. The Reconstruction Acts were followed by the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870. It stated that “the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the US or by any state on account race, colour, or previous condition of servitude” (Foner 272). The act thus abolished racial restriction on voting thus granting blacks suffrage. However, it did not guarantee the right to vote as Southern states still limited this right on bases of literacy tests and poll taxes. Furthermore, terror groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Red shirts, White League and Redeemers made sure the blacks did not exercise this right. Through intimidation and threats, blacks and Republicans were denied voting in the South. Not even the Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871 had any effect as still blacks could not enjoy their rights. The economic depression of 1873 and the compromised elections of 1877 ended Reconstruction efforts for good. The Northerners had lost interest in Reconstruction as the high taxes were not favourable to them. Besides, Republicans were accused of corruption hence lost support of electorates. The 1877 elections ended in a compromise whereby Rutherford B. Hayes was given presidency and in return to cede control over Southern states. Hayes thus removed his troops from the south giving Democrats full control of their states. This spelt doom for blacks as they had no protection even after achieving more rights under the Civil Rights Act of 1875. This was worsened by passing of the Jim Crows laws in 1883 which made the Act unconstitutional and the Supreme court decision Plessy v Ferguson (Mooney 110).This initiated the doctrine of “separate but not equal” meaning separating facilities for whites and blacks did not mean denying them rights provided they had facilities only that they were different from those of whites. This strengthened segregation and controlled race relations for decades until 1960s when Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed. As such, Reconstruction received backlash from both sides of the divide and also the blacks as it did not achieve the intended consequences for Northerners and blacks and was unfavourable for Southerners. It was a failure. Conclusion The Civil War of 1861-1865 ended up in the Reconstruction efforts to restore the South. It s aim was to restore the Union and also racial equality. Many efforts were initiated such as the Civil Rights Act 1866 and 1875, The Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US constitution, and the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. These were meant to offer conditions for reconciliation between the North and South and also grant black suffrage among other rights. However, they were met with a lot of resistance from the South with terror groups such as Ku Klux Klan denying blacks opportunity to exercise their rights and the black codes which denied the blacks rights. Some Northerners were also against the high taxes to fund black protection. Even the blacks were unhappy since they were not given land hence they remained worse off than before slavery. The efforts ended in reconciling Northerners and Southerners but racial equality was not achieved especially due to Jim Crow laws making segregation official. Works Cited Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2002. Franklin, John Hope. Reconstruction after the Civil War. 2ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Mooney, Matthew. The Growth of American Civilization. 2013 Read More