Reconstruction
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- Category: History: American
- Date Submitted: 09/08/2015 05:01 AM
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Reconstruction Essay
After the end of the Civil War, the period of Reconstruction took place in the southern regions of the United States. This war, with an approximately of 1.5 million casualties, was the largest human catastrophe America had ever faced. As the Confederates gradually lost the war, there remained great hostility among the nation that was resolved from 1865 to 1877; the Union was slowly accepting confederate states into one nation after the secession. During these 12 years, under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, three new amendments were ratified that gave African Americans political, economical, and social equality. These three post-civil war amendments were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth. These amendments abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and implemented racial equality for African Americans; however, only one of the three amendments accomplished its goal of extending these rights. The 13th amendment was efficacious in banning slavery in the southern states, but the 14th and 15th amendments were futile since their true purpose were prohibited in the Jim Crow Era in the South.
The first Reconstruction amendment, the Thirteenth Amendment, successfully implemented that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States” (Vile). Starting in December 6, 1865, Amendment 13 was in full effect, abolishing slavery and officially making slavery illegal in the United States. The amendment made it possible for former slaves to pursue a new life that had opportunities that never had under the rule of a slave-owner. Document B describes that, “Wives and daughters sharply reduced their labor in the fields and instead devoted more time to home and childcare” (Document B). This quote conveys how the African-Americans who were once orphans had gathered family and started a new life filled with responsibilities that was completely different from their slave life. The freedmen were successful in...
After the end of the Civil War, the period of Reconstruction took place in the southern regions of the United States. This war, with an approximately of 1.5 million casualties, was the largest human catastrophe America had ever faced. As the Confederates gradually lost the war, there remained great hostility among the nation that was resolved from 1865 to 1877; the Union was slowly accepting confederate states into one nation after the secession. During these 12 years, under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, three new amendments were ratified that gave African Americans political, economical, and social equality. These three post-civil war amendments were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth. These amendments abolished slavery, granted citizenship, and implemented racial equality for African Americans; however, only one of the three amendments accomplished its goal of extending these rights. The 13th amendment was efficacious in banning slavery in the southern states, but the 14th and 15th amendments were futile since their true purpose were prohibited in the Jim Crow Era in the South.
The first Reconstruction amendment, the Thirteenth Amendment, successfully implemented that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude… shall exist within the United States” (Vile). Starting in December 6, 1865, Amendment 13 was in full effect, abolishing slavery and officially making slavery illegal in the United States. The amendment made it possible for former slaves to pursue a new life that had opportunities that never had under the rule of a slave-owner. Document B describes that, “Wives and daughters sharply reduced their labor in the fields and instead devoted more time to home and childcare” (Document B). This quote conveys how the African-Americans who were once orphans had gathered family and started a new life filled with responsibilities that was completely different from their slave life. The freedmen were successful in...