Was The Reconstruction A Success Or A Failure Essay

Discuss Whether Reconstruction Was a Success or a Failure. Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. All these ex-slaves, Dr. Susan Walens commented, and no place to put them, The ex-slaves werent just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation†¦show more content†¦This was working alright until President Johnson, who had preceded Lincoln, order all the land under federal control to be given back to whom they were taken from (Foner). This is a big setback for reconstruction and freed slaves. The Freedmen Bureau was the federal institution in control of those terrains given to blacks and now they had to take it back. Under the administration of O. O. Howard the bureau functions were to establish schools, provide aide to the poor and aged, settle disputes between whites and blacks and among freedpeople, and secure for former slave and white Unionist equal treatment before court, (Foner 483). The Bureau did not have enough agents to put in action the task appointed to it in the south. The Freedmen Bureau was dissolved after five years living the black man on its own. Something that President Johnson did to start the period of Reconstruction was to pardon all Confederates soldiers if they plead loyalty and alliance to the Union. No one was held accountable for what happened, one man was murder. Also he demanded that the states in the south abolish slavery and change their constitution in order to be accepted into the United States. Those were Andrew Johnson terms for Reconstructions. Not very efficient because it leaves all these defeated soldiers, filled with anger and violence in the streets. Then Congress tried to pass the Civil Rights bill and the 14th amendment whichShow MoreRelatedThe Reconstruction Era Was A Success1490 Words   |  6 PagesThe Reconstruction Era was a Success Shortly after the Civil War ended in 1867, President Abraham Lincoln’s new objective was to unify the union and the confederate states into what was formerly known as the United States of America. This time period is known as the Reconstruction Era, starting with the surrender of Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in 1865 and ending with the implementation of the Compromise of 1877. The Reconstruction Era was a time period full of political, economicRead MoreReconstruction : The Failure Of Reconstruction From The Civil War1213 Words   |  5 PagesWar America entered period called â€Å"Reconstruction† to help mend America. 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