Your entry on this blog assignment is due Tuesday January 13th at the beginning of the class period.
Using the picture above as a guide: describe what you believe to be the biggest challenge for the USA during the Reconstruction Era. There are several possibilities: please decide based on your own ideas and feelings.
I believe that the biggest challenge for the USA during the Reconstruction Era was the number of uneducated blacks. The Emancipation Proclamation was only the first step to actually freeing the blacks from their racist society. By this time in the US, blacks had been enslaved for centuries, and knew nothing outside of their life as a slave. Children were brought up and taught that they were not equal, and that they did not belong in regular society. So, when the Proclamation was declared, it left millions of blacks without anywhere to go, because at least when they were slaves, they were guaranteed shelter and meals. Without any prior education, it was impossible for any of them to find jobs elsewhere. This issue is not only important because it was pertinent to the process of ending racist society, but there were now 3.1 million, uneducated people that had to be integrated into society while at the same time the South had to be rebuilding infrastructure and fixing their economy. The main reason that I believe this was the most challenging part of the reconstruction era is because it would take centuries for the blacks to catch up with white society.
ReplyDeleteBrooks Hamilton
I think the biggest challenge for the U.S. during the Reconstruction Era was integrating the newly freed slaves into society. Three and a half million former slaves were homeless, without money, and without an education. 30% of them died from disease. Even though the Freedmen’s Bureau was created to “assist Refugees, Freemen, and the abandoned lands,” there was still the social issue in which the blacks were stuck. Slave codes changed into Black codes within the Southern states, in which the blacks were discriminated against, even though the codes went against the Constitution. To try and counter these Black codes, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were instituted. These amendments gave blacks citizenship, the right to vote, and freedom from slavery. However, the South did not acknowledge these laws and continued to discriminate against blacks. Governments of the Southern states even created literacy tests and poll tax to keep blacks from voting. All of this discrimination turned the South into a Jim Crow Society, where there was total segregation between races. Because of this, I believe assimilating blacks into society was the largest challenge during the Reconstruction Era.
ReplyDeleteKate Klimaszewski
The South was being forced ignorance as the blacks have been slaves their entire lives. Now that they were free, they did not have an education or money. In fact, 30% of the freedmen died of disease. However, General Oliver Otis Howard got Congress to pass the Freedmen’s Bureau to assist “Refugees, Freemen, and the Abandoned Lands.” This gave them acres, food, and help. To fix the racist problem, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution (1865) was passed. This said all blacks should be free. However, they were still not allowed into white-only bars, trains, and other public places. In response to Black Codes, the 14th Amendment was passed. This said that no state was allowed to “make or enforce laws that deprived the blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” However this Amendment was not enforced and the racism continued. Since neither the 13th or 14th Amendment was being listened to, the 15th Amendment was passed. This said that every citizen of the Unites States was allowed to vote. However, the south made literacy tests designed so that the blacks would not pass and made a poll tax that not many blacks could afford. Also, they introduced the Grandfather Clause. This said if your grandfather could vote then you could vote. This kept the white people voting so the black people couldn’t. Sharecropping also begun. Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land. However, if the blacks could not pay their debts, they had to stay on the plantation. This was basically slavery but under a different name. Although the Constitution made it look like racism was getting better, separate but equal facilities were considered constitutional and the white race still felt superior to the blacks.
ReplyDelete-Ali Duryea
In my opinion, the largest problem for the United States during the Reconstruction Era was assimilating the recently freed blacks into the Southern societies of the country. Black Codes and amendments to the Constitution gave blacks more freedoms including citizenship and the right to vote, but as expected, the South did not follow these codes whatsoever. The South avoided these new laws by brutally mistreating the blacks, and creating a completely segregated society. This new society, which came to be known as the Jim Crow society, actually became legal when the Plessy v. Ferguson court case established it as Constitutional. Literacy tests were put in place to make it so blacks were not able to vote, and there were public hangings of blacks in the streets. Although the blacks were nearly equal legally, they were completely segregated and inferior socially. This was the biggest problem for the United States government because they had to integrate these newly freed 3.5 million blacks into a brutally racist South that was not willing to accept these new laws. For all of these reasons, the most challenging aspect of the Reconstruction Era for the United States was integrating the newly freed blacks into Southern societies.
ReplyDeleteRawson Clough
I believe that the biggest challenge for the US during reconstruction was the fact that racism was so deeply imbedded in the minds of whites. White supremacy was a firm belief by white Americans at the time. It was preached in Church only creating brainwashed Americans. From the day people were born in the South, there was the idea that slavery and white supremacy was acceptable. People would dehumanize the Africans Americans creating a Jim Crow society. A Jim Crow society means total discrimination against non-whites. Groups like the KKK were created only making the discrimination worse. Because of all the hate against blacks, it was very hard for them to advance in society. As a result of the discrimination hardly any African American was educated. Therefor they couldn't get a well paying job. This completely hindered the reconstruction effort. Sharecropping was then put to use in the South. It gave the blacks a chance to survive and get some source of income and food. The catch with sharecropping was that the white land owners would purposefully keep the blacks in debt making them unable to leave. Sharecropping is just another name for legal slavery. This easily set back the effort to rebuild a hurt country. To rebuild the country you must change the minds of racist people. If you change the minds of religious and political leaders you will change the minds of the general population. Only then will you be able to really change the country and stop discrimination.
ReplyDelete-Hunter Borwick
Considering the picture and learning about the Reconstruction Era, I believe the biggest challenge during this time period was the Jim Crow Society. After the slaves became free, having white supremacy being preached was not beneficial to the main plan after the Civil War. The South made it very hard for newly freed men to adapt into society. It is almost seen that the North won the battles, but the South won the “war”. The segregations of the two races made it extremely difficult. The literacy test, poll taxes and Grandfather Clause didn’t make it easy for newly freed men and women to feel apart of a society. Many former slaves were unable to pass the literacy test because they were uneducated; that did not help us get any farther in the US plan to reconstruct. It is almost as if the 15th Amendment was disregarded. When the Jim Crow Society was validated by the highest power in government, it was only hurting the United States. "Separation while being 'equal' is impossible” (Mr. Gulotta). Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1896 made the Reconstruction Era more difficult. Ultimately, I think the segregation of blacks and whites during the Reconstruction Era was the biggest challenge to help make the United States move forward in a positive direction.
ReplyDelete-Hanna Derrig
I believe the hardest obstacle for the south to overcome during reconstruction was
ReplyDeletethe placement of liberated slaves. Now that these people where free, where were
they to go? As seen in the image provided by Mr. Gulotta, we seen little black
children sitting on a pillar in ruins of some building. This shows that these people
really had no were to go. As a result of these refugees in their own country, blacks
could not get jobs because the south was still racist and they where not educated. In
the first years of their freedom of the 3.5 freed slaves, 30% died of disease and
starvation. The death of these 1.4 million blacks was at the hands of the society that
they had been freed into. Since after the war a majority of the South was still
destroyed and the racist southerners would not let the newly freed men leave, they
had nowhere to go but the streets. I believe Lincoln before his death or Johnson
while president had come up with a solution for the people the North had just
fought to free the death of those 1.4 million blacks could have been prevented. I
believe a solution to this would have been to turn all the land taken from the
confederates after the war into start up camps or societies where these people could
go and get themselves on there feet to be able to go and live in another area of the
country and thrive properly.
- Emma Weinstein
I believe the biggest challenge the U.S. had to deal with during the Reconstruction Era was the economic and social conditions the south was in at the time. Economically, much of the south had been destroyed and demolished during the war, and as the south believed that their debt from this war should be paid by the U.S. government. While, people in the north, along with the government, wanted not part in repaying or help repaying the south's war debt, which left many southerners with destroyed land, very unhappy. The forced ignorance the south had over everything made southerners, who still did not agree with the north's terms, believe they could not be held accountable for anything that had happen during the war. This made it very hard to get the south in agreement over a certain issue that they knew nothing about. Lastly, due to the Emancipation Proclamation, there were over 3 million newly freed african americans with absolutely nothing. They were uneducated, poor, and still discriminated against by southerners. These men had no where to go and had no idea what their plan for the future was as they had been slaves all their lives. Just about a third of these men died of disease because they had no knowledge on prevention, and no hospital in the south would be willing to help them. Even though the 13th amendment ended slavery, it did not end discrimination against blacks. Blacks were still not allowed into white bars or certain white-only areas, and even though they did have the right to vote, the southerners created tactics, like literacy tests, to prevent blacks from voting. With complete segregation of blacks, the south formed into a Jim Crow Society, which was total segregation of Races. I believe the social and economic conditions in the south was the biggest problem to the U.S. because as these conditions were terrible, it was very hard for the U.S. government to help the south when they still did not cooperate with the North, and lived a different lifestyle from northerners.
ReplyDelete- Cam Robinson
The biggest challenge for the USA during the Reconstruction Era was the freed slaves. The former slaves were now able to be free, but they had no where to go. Not only that, but they were not educated enough to survive on their own. The U.S. needed to find a way to get African Americans involved in society. Unfortunately it wasn't easy. With the Jim Crow Society environment, blacks couldn't get the chance to succeed. Also, since they needed money and food to survive, they were forced to become sharecroppers, which then forced them to be in debt, and have to keep working to pay off everything they needed to start. This system just gave the south back slaves under a new title. Blacks were not able to become independent since they needed to depend on the whites, and anyone who tried to stand up for them were being killed. It's hard to reconstruct the U.S. when a percentage of it's population couldn't be involved.
ReplyDelete-India Coard
In the turbulent years following the conclusion of the Civil War, the white population in the South struggled with life after slavery. Especially in plantations, where slave labour yielded much of the profit. I believe that the transition that Southern plantation owners faced is potentially one of the most difficult challenges of the post Civil Ward era. Since the majority of the Southern economy depended on cotton production, the sudden lack of workforce hindered the economy significantly. However, black men and women could hardly find work, so they eventually found labor working as sharecroppers on plantations. The federal government decided not to redistribute land after the war, so many former slaves were without homes. They then decided to live on white plantations. It was not until many years later that the South was able to succeed without the slave labor that it had depended on for so many years.
ReplyDelete-Henry Thomas
The reconstruction era was an incredibly tumultuous time for America’s political, social and economic worlds. This was a period of unprecedented change for the time as well as cumbersome challenges. There was conflict between Lincoln’s moderate Republican government- specifically regarding the terms for the South after the war- and the radical republicans who saw the need for more extreme change. There was much conflict over the 10% plan of the moderate Republicans versus the Wade-Davis Bill of the radical Republicans. The South faced major challenges in reconstructing their infrastructure which had been completely destroyed in the war. Farms, businesses and transport were detrimentally affected, 2/5ths of the South’s livestock was killed and the total damages cost the South $3.3 billion. In addition to this, they lost a major source of income which was the slave trade, as well as the traditional lucrative slave-filled plantation method of making of living. In my opinion however, I believe that the greatest challenge the US faced during the reconstruction era was the integration of freed black slaves into society. Although these ex-slaves were no longer the property of any one man, they were a long ways away from being completely free. The south was left with over 3.5 million ex-slaves after many had died or fled during the war. This entire race had not known anything other than slavery for their entire life, so after they were freed and released into society, the white people of the South forced ignorance upon them. Having just been freed from a lifetime of slavery and not knowing any type of standard for equal treatment, the ex-slaves believed that the white people were treating them benevolently when in reality they were being treated with vicious racism and inequality. 30% of freed slaves die of disease and starvation in one year. There were some attempts to aid the ex-slaves in the integration process such as General Oliver Otis Howard's “Freedmen's Bureau” which aimed to give the land which had been confiscated from CSA officials to the ex-slaves, but this method did not succeed. Eventually a Jim Crow society was created, which is a term for an incredibly racist society filled with arbitrary restrictions and violence against what is considered to be the “subordinate race”. “Jim Crow Laws” or “Black Codes” (formerly “Slave Codes”) were passed enforcing this mindset- among these laws were: “A black male could not offer his hand to a white male because it implied being socially equal. Obviously, a black male could not offer his hand or any other part of his body to a white woman, because he risked being accused of rape.” and “Whites did not use courtesy titles of respect when referring to blacks, for example, Mr., Mrs., Miss., Sir, or Ma'am. Instead, blacks were called by their first names. Blacks had to use courtesy titles when referring to whites, and were not allowed to call them by their first names”. The white-supremacist terrorist group known as the Ku Klux Klan or more colloquially “The KKK” also rose to power during the reconstruction era. This organization targeted black people in the South and would violently maim or even kill their victims.
ReplyDeletepart 1
Although the government in the North disagreed with the Jim Crow society, they did not possess the will necessary to actually make a change in the South. It took 3 amendments to the Constitution (13th, 14th and 15th) to afford black people the right to freedom from slavery, citizen rights, and the right to vote. The 15th amendment accomplished what the 14th should have and the 14th amendment accomplished what the 13th amendment should have accomplished. It was an incredibly cumbersome and paradoxical task for the federal government to find a solution to this issue and even 125 years later in 1995 black people were still facing obstacles in the south to vote. Once the 15th amendment was passed in 1870 and the south could no longer legally or constitutionally deny black people the right to vote, they made it near impossible. The southern government implemented certain prerequisites for their voters, such as passing a “literacy test” (which was designed to be inevitably failed) and a poll tax which required voters to pay a large sum of money. However, the “Grandfather Clause” allowed those whose grandfather was able to vote are exempt from the literacy test and the poll tax. The only people in the South who fulfilled the necessary requirements for the Grandfather Clause where whites and the southern government had easily prevented blacks from voting. During the integration period ex-slaves also faced a lot of difficulty finding a source of income that still preserved their freedom. The sharecropping concept locked the black sharecroppers into an insurmountable debt to the white landowners while only receiving 10% of the profit the crops from their portion of the land. The widespread and common use of sharecropping was almost identical to slavery. The Jim Crow Society implemented a total segregation of the races not just in the south but also in the north. In the north however, it was caused by the corruption of city officials. In addition impoverished people (ex-slaves) had to live in the same poor area while richer white people would all live in the same area, resulting in automatic segregation. In the south however, the Jim Crow Society was created based solely on racism. White supremacy was preached for by ministers and other religious officials. They told their listeners that it was god’s will that white people are supreme over black people. Whereas the Radical vs. Moderate Republican conflict was solved, the terms for the unvictorious South were decided, and southern infrastructure was eventually rebuilt and restored, the issue of inequality between the races is one that has been an ongoing problem since the Reconstruction Era and will be an issue tomorrow. For this reason, I believe that the integration of ex-slaves into society and the struggle to afford them the equality that every race on earth deserves was the biggest challenge for the USA during the Reconstruction Era.
Delete-Caroline Skinner
The greatest challenge for the United States in the construction era was the death of the union’s leader, Abraham Lincoln. Although some of his ideas for rebuilding, such as the ten percent plan remained, his replacement Andrew Jackson was too stubborn and unable to control congress. A radical republican party then took over majority, and frustrated with the lack of cooperation imposed by President Jackson. Without Lincoln’s forgiveness, congress stripped hundreds of southerners of their civil rights and passed laws to strengthen black society. Such drastic limitations on some of the most powerful southerners, such as confederate leaders, led to the creation of a Jim Crow Society that hindered blacks both economically, politically and violated their rights as human beings. Without Lincoln being in charge, and enforcing the importance of the south and north uniting under one flag and one set of federal law, the south disintegrated. White groups such as the Klu Klux Klan, held control over the south and the north was tired of fighting a war they were already supposed to have won. Without President Lincoln’s ability to forgive the south and put the nations people best interest first, the south went hungry, their homes were destroyed and blacks were scared. The reconstruction of the south was predominately a failure and “although the north won the battle, the south won the war” (Gulotta).
ReplyDeleteJamie Ernst
The greatest challenge and difficulty for the USA during the Reconstruction Era is how to change the way Southern people think about black people. Yes Lincoln and other great people worked very hard to free the slaves. They accomplished something very important and difficult. However, freeing the slaves and winning the Civil war does not change how Southerners think of black peoples and how they treat black people. It is like taking a stolen wallet from a theft or catching a theft. If the theft’s mind was not changed or educated, theft will stay the way they are without changing, they will keep stealing. So no matter how many battles the Union won, how many laws they passed to keep slaves free, southerners are still going to be racist and treat black people badly. This is why black people still treated unequally and inhumanly until 1960. The South can come up with all kinds of rules and tricks to keep their slaves, if they are not educated. What the union should have done back then is to educate the teenagers and youths in the South. By changing the future, we can make sure the unequally will end when the teenagers grow up and take over the country.
ReplyDeleteJ. Tao
I believe the biggest struggle in the Reconstruction Period for the United States was trying to integrate the newly freed slaves into society. These people were finally free after such a long life of being mistreated and abused. But were they really free? Sure, white people didn’t own them anymore, but that didn’t stop the staggeringly harsh racism and abuse. Once the slaves were free, they didn’t have anywhere to go. Nowhere to live, no skills other than what they had to do as a slave, most were illiterate, and they didn’t have any money. All of these challenges combined with the terrible racism they endured even after the war was over made for a hard life for the freedmen. Not to mention the horrible black codes and segregation. To the white people in the south, giving the blacks rights seemed crazy, which created even more tension between the North and the South. Even with the Freedman’s Bureau, which assisted the freedmen to get food, acres, and help when they needed it, the freedmen and the whites in the south collided over everything. This Jim Crow society was detrimental to the Reconstruction Period. Even with the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which allowed for blacks to be citizens, be able to vote, and to have complete freedom from slavery, the South found ways around them with the Black Codes, the Grandfather Clause, literacy tests, and poll taxes. This harsh racism and discrimination in the south was what kept the United States from reconstructing fully after the war.
ReplyDelete-Sophia Peluso
The greatest challenge that the United States faced during the Reconstruction Era was acknowledging the African American race as actual citizens of the US. Although the Civil War was fought to rid of slavery throughout the country, it was difficult for a nation that had slavery for over 200 years to see African Americans as anything but slaves. Tons of Southerners still refused to change the way they thought and treated the black society. The United States was able to come up with two new amendments, the 13th and 14th amendments in which slavery shall not exist in the US and that anyone born or naturalized is a United States citizen. They also made the 10% Plan (Lincoln), the Wade-Davis Bill, and the Freedmen's Bureau in attempt to get white people to treat African Americans equally and fairly. This may have been the goal but in return, the United States instead were shown negligence to these new plans and amendments and given the formation of a racist group called the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK would go on to terrorize tons of blacks and deceive the minds of many white Americans into believing their white supremacy goals. All this would pave the way for a struggling Reconstruction Era due to lack of people acknowledging that blacks are indeed citizens of the United States of America from the beginning
ReplyDelete- Harrison Yaste.
I believe that the biggest struggle during the reconstruction era was the loss of the US president and leader Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was one of the most influential people of all time and although his policies still remained he didn't. His policies were good ideas that had lots of potential however with Lincoln gone they were not able to be carried out as effectively. Especially when Andrew Johnson came into office he was too stubborn to carry these policies out. Without the fantastic leadership of Abraham Lincoln who knows what could of been. He could of been able to solve the civil rights problem before it escalated into the conflict that it is today. If Lincoln was not assassinated the United States would of benign a much better state a lot faster due to his leadership and effective actions. However, Lincoln was assassinated and he was not able to carry his policies out like the 10 percent plan and this left a huge whole in the heart of the Union. Without the influence of Lincoln this allowed white supremest groups to flourish. While these groups flourished they made the lives of many ex-slaves miserable and were able to deprive them of many rights. This led to a disadvantage to most blacks living in the south because they were not treated equal and were not able to better themselves leading to a segregated south for 100 years.
ReplyDeletejim streett
I think that the biggest struggle in reconstructing the United States after the civil war was the struggle the newly freed slaves faced. There were many factors that contributed to the struggle newly freed slaves had to go through in an attempt to assimilate into society. The rebuilding period lasted mainly from 1865 to 1877. Reconstruction took so long due to the stuborness of many Southerners who refused to change their views on blacks, as well as the death of president Abraham Lincoln. Perhaps if Lincoln hadn't died, reconstruction could have been a much shorter and much smoother process. Other factors contributing to this struggle were Lincoln's 10 % plan and how congress wouldn't pass it. This refusal made it impossible to get anything done, and when Lincoln died no one was willing to make a reasonable compromise and get things done. Later on, the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were all hopeful for blacks, however it was the ignorance and stuborness of the Southerners that got in the way of these amendments really working. The Southerners refused to obey the law and the Northerners often neglected to enforce them. Additionally, newly freed slaves struggled with finding jobs and there was really no one trying to help them. Most of them had no education and no money, and therefore no hope of finding a job. These issues all contributed to the immense struggle for the newly freed slaves trying to find jobs and integrate into society.
ReplyDelete-Annie Hubbard
I think the biggest challenge for the United States during the reconstruction period was the slaves that were now free blacks. This to me was the biggest challenge because although they were technically free they still had a tough life. Free, well what is freedom to them at this point. Think of it like being teleported to another country and just having to start from literally where ever you currently stand. This would be a task that would not be easy for all these knew free blacks in the United States. The Jim Crow society made it almost impossible for the blacks to have any chance for success in america. They could not get jobs and also had trouble because of the fact that they needed food money and shelter so they had to become sharecroppers. In addition, although they were free, people in the south are not happy about this and do not treat them well because of the fact that there cotton industry which made them a lot of money has now practically been diminished. Also along with the racialism, they had to deal with radical groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. These were radical groups that would lynch blacks. One thing to be understood which is very important is that at this time even when the law says slaves are free, and you cant do this, and cant do that, these laws during this time period were never enforced well at all, so lynching of black people after freedom was common. Even if there was a case that was clearly against a white person, the judge would push it through usually. This is why the newly freed slaves were a major problem for the united states during this period. The idea of being free was good for blacks but with society the way it was and Lincoln now assassinated, they essentially had no place to go. When you take everything into consideration i believe it is a plausible argument to make that the biggest challenge during the reconstruction era was how to let the free slaves be comfortable in life, and essentially what to do with in order to give them a life of peacefulness.
ReplyDelete-Brandon Malarney
I believe that the biggest challenge faced during the Reconstruction Era was the integration of freed blacks and white citizens after the Civil War. Having not known anything any other way to live besides being a slave, former slaves were forced into an ignorant lifestyle. They were uneducated, and left without jobs. Over thirty perfect of them pass away from disease and one point one million die of starvation. Not only were jobs scarce, but there were hardly any offered to the newly freedmen. Because of this, many poor blacks flocked to plantations becoming sharecroppers. This idea of sharecropping, formed in the South, reinstated the issue of slavery. Plantation owners gave a black family land, a home, and all the essentials needed to get started, locking these former slaves into having to pay off an absurd amount of debt. Laws prohibited the former slaves from leaving their plantation had they been in debt. They were stuck, just like they were stuck while they were slaves. General Oliver Otis Howards, “freedom Bureau” was an attempt made to offer aid to these former slaves. The idea was to take all the land that was confiscated from the former CSA officials and to be given to the ex-slaves. The method behind this was that if the former slaves were given land, then they could live off of it, feed themselves and eventually become an asset to the South’s economy. This plan failed to succeed. Several amendments were made to the Constitution, the 13th, the 14th and the 15th. The 13th Amendment established in 1865 stated that vagrancy laws were no longer legal. The government is portraying in this amendment that blacks are now freedman, making them as equal as whites. This amendment should have ended all debate on equality, however it led to the construction of the 14th amendment. The 14th amendment said that If you were born within the United States, you were not only a citizen in the U.S. but in the state you were present in. When the 15th amendment was passed, blacks were legally no longer denied the right to vote. Literacy Tests, Poll taxes and the Grandfather Clause set by the southern government caused an major problem for black voters. This Jim Crow Society established leads to many grueling years of segregation amongst African Americans. Although the North had won the Civil War, it seemed as if the South had really won since they were getting everything they wanted.
ReplyDelete-Emily Walsh
The greatest obstacle for the U.S during the reconstruction age was reinforcing the freedom and equality we had promised to the blacks after the war. We had fought the war and won, saying we would give blacks their rights. We had written the 13th, 14th and 15th amendment. After we had done all of these changes, we believed we were done and all blacks would be equal to whites. We just sat there and waited expecting everything to work out. However, it had not been as easy as we thought, there were no real results until much later. The 13th, 14th and 15th amendments had not had as great of an impact as we thought it would. The south found a way around the amendments by interpreting the amendments incorrectly, allowing them to take advantage of the blacks rights once again, just like before the war. The south continued to discriminate against them. The governments of southern states used literacy tests and poll tax to prevent the blacks from voting. I think that once we had won the war, we stopped and didn’t reinforce the equality and freedom of the blacks. As a result, think carrying out the support for blacks rights after the war was the biggest challenge throughout the reconstruction era.
ReplyDelete- Sophie Roberts
The main problem for the United States during the reconstruction period was the racism that remained in the South even after the 13th Amendment. Without a solid education, former slaves found it extremely hard to find jobs especially in a South, a place that was still hateful towards blacks. Though slavery no longer existed in America, racism drove some extremists to create white supremacy groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the Knights of the White Camelia. This heightened tensions in the south between whites and blacks and made it hard for blacks to vote even after the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were ratified. Due to the blacks inability to get jobs in a deeply racist south, almost a third of freed slaves died from disease and from lack of shelter. The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by General Oliver Otis Howard to assist blacks in the post-slavery period. However, racist political cartoons made the general American public doubt the bureau, and by the time the bureau came to pass, it was ignored by many. Also, Jim Crow Societies created total segregation of whites and blacks in the south. The two races couldn’t marry, go to school together, or even drink from the same water fountain as one another. Though organizations such as the NAACP were created around the time of reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement would not gain massive national support until later in the 20th Century. Racism in America still remains today as a result of such a broken nation being unable to settle its differences.
ReplyDelete- Jack Gustavson
I think the biggest struggle during the Reconstruction Era was trying to get the blacks to be accepted by everyone as citizens of the United States.Once the north won the Civil War, the blacks were made by law free from slavery, but were they actually free is the question. Once set free, there were 3.5 million blacks roaming around with no education or job or any money what so ever. This lead to 30% of the blacks dying from disease. In the south, southerners still would not accept blacks within them even though the north won the war. This then lead to the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment to be passed. These were passed to help the blacks be treated fair in the south and to get the southerners to accept the blacks. The southerners do not follow these Amendments so the blacks keep getting treated with disrespect but the United States does not care enough to enforce it fully. They pass the Amendments but when southerners do not follow them, the southern people should be arrested or disciplined but are not at all. Even though the south lost the war, because of the US not enforcing the Amendments onto the southerners more, the south has technically won the war because blacks are still not seen and treated as citizens of the United States.
ReplyDelete-Cody Lucey
I think that the biggest problem the United States faced during the Reconstruction era was the newly freed black African Americans throughout the United States. The African Americans were now given more constitutional rights such as citizenship, the right to vote, and freedom. The problem was that many of these blacks had no homes or money and many of them in the south were still hated. White supremacy was a very big problem as the KKK formed and many other radical groups that were against the blacks. Many people tried to help the newly freed black slaves by creating the 13th 14th and 15th amendments. Unfortunately many people, specifically southerners, ignored these amendments. Another struggle for the blacks was that most of them had no education, no money, and no place to live and start their own lives. After being mistreated and abused as slaves for many years they were now considered free, but they certainly were not free in the south. The terrible racism did not stop in the south for a very long time. The horrible and harsh racism and discrimination throughout the south was a very big reason that the United States struggled to reconstruct after the war.
ReplyDeleteBarclay
I believe that the greatest for the United States of America during the reconstruction Era was the lack of a strong, respected leader who would do anything in their power to unify the country once again. Although his plans were viewed by some as “too nice” towards the southern states, Abraham Lincoln was the only person who could have saved America during this time period. The Radical Republican party felt that Lincoln’s 10% plan was not harsh enough on the southern states; however, Lincoln was only trying to ease the tension between the north and south. Lincoln throughout his whole presidency to bring the country together, and had he not been killed it is very likely he would have found a compromise that could have made all sides happy during the reconstruction era. When Lincoln was assassinated, his successor, Andrew Johnson, was not nearly qualified to fill his shoes. Andrew Johnson was very stubborn, and felt the south should pay for what they did. He could not make decisions with the intent to please both sides. Although slavery was abolished after the war, the southern states were very unhappy with the northern states. In order to make the south rejoin the union peacefully they needed to compromise. Johnson was not willing to make compromises that did not please him. If Lincoln had stayed president I feel strongly that the history of racism and segregation in America would be changed greatly. If Lincoln could have found a way to make all sides happy, there might have never been a civil rights movement in the mid 1900’s and racism in the south could have been gone by now.
ReplyDeleteSam Merrill
The biggest challenge for the United States during the reconstruction era was Lincoln’s assassination. After the civil war, there were two main plans for reconstruction. Lincoln’s plan was that states can re-enter the union if 10% of the eligible voters take oath. On the other hand, radical republicans who were the most powerful voices in the congress,disagreed with Lincoln and wanted 50% of voters to take oath. The south was not ready at this point, and they weren't on board with those laws. Lincoln’s goal was to rebuild the union no matter what it takes while the radicals wanted to punish the south. After Lincoln’s death, President Jackson, stubborn and arrogant, took the office. Things changed and Jackson’s lack to negotiate with the south even pushed them further. The disagreement between the congress and Jackson caused him to be powerless because the majority of the congress was against him so they could aver ride the laws he pass which they did.
ReplyDeleteMaria Ahmed
During the reconstruction era the United States faced many challenges. One of which was the lack of education and resources given prior to the release of the slaves in the South. Without a place to live, a job, or money it was extremely difficult for African Americans to survive after they were freed. Around 1.2 million people who were released died shortly after due to disease. The south not only lost the war but millions of workers as well, destroying their plantation- based economy. Throughout the South the infrastructure was in incredible need. In efforts to fix these problems, the Freedmen’s Bureau was established to assist, “Refugees, Freemen, and the Abandoned Lands.” This provided food, housing and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance to everyone. However racism was still a big issue. Even after passing the 13th amendment it was hard to break out of the Jim Crow society. Then in response to black codes the 14th amendment was passed stating “… No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Sadly the 14 amendment was lightly enforced, ongoing the racism. Our country struggled a lot to reconstruct during this time because of the white supremacy as well as all of the radical groups hating towards the black population. Despite the other amendments and laws passed to promote equality, to this day the United States still struggles with racism.
ReplyDeleteIone Bartlett
I think that the biggest challenge for the USA during the reconstruction era is the adjustment of the blacks in society. The blacks were used to being on a plantation with a single job, which was picking cotton and that was life. Its hard to take something out of an environment and just assume they will fend for themselves and survive like the rest of the people. Especially because of the way the south was bombed and the infrastructure devastation of the south did not only damage the blacks, but everyone else as well. The difference was that the blacks had nothing to lose, so without jobs or way to maintain for a family about 3.5 million% of the freedman died of disease. This is a huge thing to happen in the USA, which shows that without trying to find jobs, or try to make jobs for blacks that are not somewhat close to slavery would really benefit the economic status of the US and assists reconstruction throughout the US.
ReplyDelete- Terryl Wilson
After looking at this picture you can see that the Unites States was practically in ruins and the government had to do everything in their power to restore it to the way it was before the war. President Abraham Lincoln had a plan to reunite our country and try to recondition it to pre-war times. Lincoln’s 10% plan if he had the chance to complete it the way he saw fit, perhaps the post-war America would be a better more productive society. Also since Lincoln had just vetoed the Wade-Davis bill and congress would not pass the 10% plan they were at a perfect place to make a compromise. However due to the assassination of Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth the country could never reunite like we would have after under Lincoln because of his death. Also since Andrew Johnson who took over after Lincoln was shot had a different personality that was more stubborn and less likely to compromise, therefore leading the country to a completely different place. This was the biggest struggle for reuniting America and the death of Lincoln led to civil rights incidents for several years to come.
ReplyDelete-Lane Mayher
I believe that the toughest challenge that the United States faced during the period of Reconstruction was the reintegration of blacks into American society as humans rather than slaves. After the civil war, there obviously was going to be destroyed cities and towns, as well as a major problem trying to get the southern states back into the union's government. However, these things can always be fixed through hard work, compromise, money, and time. They are physical and political things that can be replaced very easily. However, racism towards the black population was something deeply rooted within the minds of thousands of people in the South. To fix this, Lincoln would need to first have the Southern states rejoin the Union, which would have been done fast and easily with his forgiving 10% Plan; however, any hopes of getting rid of Southern racism was destroyed after Booth's assassination on Lincoln. Without Lincoln, the radical republicans and Johnson constantly took misdirections in the reconstruction period, leading to the Jim Crow Society of the south.
ReplyDelete-Kevin Xu
During the end of the Civil War, the Emancipation Proclamation was passed. Passed by President Abraham Lincoln, this Proclamation freed all the slaves in the United States. When the war ended, the south was in shambles. All aspects of southern economics were in trouble and on top of this, they had 3.3 billion dollars of damage in the war. Although the South needed reconstruction, I believe the greatest issue for the United States was finding equality for the black people. After the war, the southerns were not particularly happy about losing their right to own slaves. Now, they had to live with them side by side. In a society with racism so deeply rooted in its past, this was a potential disaster. 3 million freed slaves were now living in a racist society with nowhere to go. In fact, not much changed. The former slaves were still oppressed. They were still treated like slaves when they had to no choice but to work as sharecroppers for mostly previous slave owners. As share croppers, they became in debt to the owner of the land, legally forcing them to continue work. The north was working hard to bring equality and justice for the blacks in the south. First, the Freedman's Bureau was passed. This was set up to help people heavily affected by the war to find work. This was the US Government's first attempt to address the issue of the south. Unfortunately, many former slaves had to rely heavily on the unjust system of sharecropping. The next attempt to address the issue of assimilation for blacks was the Civil Rights Bill, which allowed the federal government to intervene with state affairs in order to protect the rights of citizens. At the time, Johnson was in president. He vetoed every one of these bills. Thankfully, these bills were all later passed along with 3 amendments to the constitution. The government passed the 13th amendment, ending slavery; The fourteenth amendment, which gave all rights and privileges to all citizens of the United States; and the 15th, which gave the right to vote to all citizens. Sadly, the south still remained an unjust, racist society that oppressed black people.
ReplyDelete-Ben Wolf
I believe that there were a few issues during the Reconstruction time period and that it was difficult to regain strength with a broken nation. Lincoln’s leadership and role in government had the United States in good hands. After the death of lincoln;Johnson came into power and was unable to manage the government and Congress. He was too stubborn and single minded which only hindered his performance as President. On top of the conflicts within the government; the south was faced with the wars aftermath. All slaves had been freed, railroads were destroyed, collapsed property values, and finally agricultural difficulties. Although they had been released into society as free with equal rights. There was still major issues with segregation (bathrooms, water fountains, schools, restaurants) which only inhibited and didn't grant total freedom. The creation of black codes or slave codes had been created and these codes highlighted that society was still not equal. I believe that to be the most drastic issue during the Reconstruction era. The KKK rose to power and had targeted the blacks with racial slurs, jokes, and furthermore violence. It was not until 1995 did equality in the south become actually official.
ReplyDelete-Taylor Wray
The most undeniable challenge that the United States faced during the reconstruction era was the death of President Abraham Lincoln. Even though a few of his ideas like the ten percent plan for rebuilding his country remained, the person who took control of the country did not have the same effect as he had. Andrew Jackson was far too stubborn to be able to control congress. While Lincoln was president, congress passed laws to strengthen black culture, and stripped hundreds of traitors from the South of their rights. These types of laws and regulations led to the idea known as the Jim Crow Society. This society limited blacks politically, economically, and socially. Without Lincoln to calm everyone down, this society soared in popularity throughout the south. This would lead to white supremacy groups such as the KKK and Knights of the White Camelia, which basically held control over the south through pure fear and terror. People respected Lincoln and would have listened to his word. If he was still around, he would have put an end to the white power movement and we would never have had to deal with hundreds of years of prejudice against blacks. Andrew Jackson’s word did not mean anything to anyone after people attempted to impeach him for corruption. Because people would not listen to Andrew Jackson’s word, the South would now have heavy control of the United States destiny.
ReplyDelete-Hunter Reynolds
I think the biggest challenge for the United States during the reconstruction period following the civil war was attempting to integrate the newly freed slaves into American society. It was nearly impossible for these slaves to fit into society. Most of them had no education and no money, and therefore there was no hope for them to find jobs. In addition to this, the southerners refused to accept these newly freed slaves. Racism was so embedded in their minds that many people weren’t willing to help the blacks no matter what. Even when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed, southerners wouldn’t follow them and the North wouldn’t enforce them, which just led to an even bigger struggle for these freedmen. This segregation and divide throughout the years of reconstruction made it an extremely rough and drawn out process.
ReplyDelete-Lexi Merison
I believe that the biggest challenge of the USA during the Reconstruction Era was the issue of racism that still existed in the U.S. Although at the end of the civil war the black slaves were given freedom, it does not mean they were able to use it. After the Civil War, out of 3.5 million of the slaves who were freed died of sicknesses. They did not have any place to find shelter either because after the war was over many buildings and structures were wrecked. Although many slaves were emancipated, many people had difficulty accepting them into society. There were racist hate groups formed against them making it impossible for them to fit in. After that the 13, 14, and 15 amendments were created and added to the U.S. Constitution. Although these amendments were in favor of the blacks, even then nothing changed for the black race because the people in the south refused to adhere to these laws. The north part of the United States won the Civil War, but in my opinion it was the southerners because the war was supposed to end slavery once and for all and then they dismiss the amendments giving blacks equal rights.
ReplyDelete- Annie Love