Essay: The Reconstruction era (1865 – 1877)

As a nation, America has faced some troublesome times through her life span. As history goes on, people never forget about the Reconstruction era. Reconstruction was refers to the efforts made in the United State between 1865 and 1877. As the saying goes, ¨All good things must come to an end¨ which is exactly the case. The reputation Reconstruction has is labeled both a success and a failure.
Reconstruction succeeded in a few ways. The most obvious and most important would be how it attempted to lead the nation back together. During the Civil War America was split in half. Meaning, one side was for slavery while the other was not. The Union states being the Northern states of America were not for slavery at all. Whereas the Confederacy, Southern States, were indeed for the enslavement of the blacks. Another reason the Reconstruction succeed was because it gave the blacks the freedom they had been waiting for. Not only did the freedom come along with Reconstruction, so did the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment come to play. The thirteenth amendment was formalized in 1865, which demolished slavery. The thirteenth states, ¨Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their justification. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.¨ (Primary Documents In American History)  Meaning, unless someone commits a crime slavery cannot exist anywhere. The fourteenth amendment was ratified on July 9th, 1868 that granted citizenship to anyone born in the United States, which included the slaves. This amendment was probably the most important, which started the most problems. Before the fourteenth amendment slaves could not become citizens and their rights were extremely limited. The citizenship clause allows all people born in the United States to become citizens. Although this was established by the Civil Rights of 1866, the amendment made it permanent and in full effect. Once a person has American citizenship, under no circumstance can it be taken away from them. So many southerners who were pro-slavery disagreed that the African Americans should become US citizens. The fifteenth amendment gave the blacks the right to vote. The amendment prohibits the federal and state government from denying an American citizen the right to vote, based on their color or personal beliefs. This amendment was crucial to Reconstruction because any American could not be denied the right to vote just because he was a former slave. This amendment also allowed African Americans the chance to be elected into office. Of course the Confederacy, (pro-slavery) was strongly against even the smallest idea of the blacks having any rights. Along with these amendment the Civil Rights Act was established. All of these were created to get the blacks up on their feet as free individuals. Not only are all these still intact today, but indeed ways the Reconstruction succeeded.
Despite those achievements, Reconstruction also went downhill when having to face challenges. One of the most destructive failure was how the blacks were still victimized by the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, was originally founded in the Southern states after the Civil War to kill off the blacks in heinous ways. Reconstruction failed to protect former slaves. White southerners made it a point to not be able to progress by passing various laws such as the black codes. Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866. These laws had the purpose of limiting African Americans freedom, and forcing them to work under harsh conditions for low wages. Even though slaves were now free, segregation was a huge issue. The Jim Crow laws were state laws forcing the blacks and whites to be separated in the Southern United States. President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated on April 14th, 1865. Since Lincoln was shot, the country denied his orders during Reconstruction. Most of the Southerners felt like they were superior to the Reconstruction and felt as if they did not have to follow its orders.  Another failure of Reconstruction was the poverty. Poverty was a tremendous issue in the south because many white southerners lost their land. Although the plan of Reconstruction was to succeed, I personally believe Reconstruction had more negatives than positives. The idea was in the right direction, but because of white southerners and laws passed Reconstruction backfired.
Even though there was indeed both positives and negatives of Reconstruction the impact it still has on even today’s society is noticeable. The legacy of Reconstruction adjusted the lives of the white southerns. Even more so changed the lives of the slaves who had been recently freed. Society during this time period changed dramatically to adapt to the new rules such as the amendments and the Emancipation Proclamation. Reconstruction was supposed to be the solution for the racial issues and rebuild America, however it took a toll for the worse. Despite the laws passed, white southerners still made it their mission to make life terrible for the former slaves. African Americans still had to battle to be considered equal. Because of the Black Codes and Jim Crows Law the blacks became tired of their mistreat. As a result, they started movements for their civil rights. African Americans felt as if the new laws passed enforcing them into segregation violated their rights. Most of the African Americans still felt like they were slaves. One of the most famous court case then came into action. Plessy vs Ferguson. This case ruled that segregation was fine as long as the facilities were all equal.  Many African Americans refused to be treated as an unequal and boycotted the laws. Even the smallest rebuttal made a huge impact. For instance Rosa Parks. She refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white southern. To the whites, Rosa was breaking a law. She was then arrested and as a result the African Americans boycotted the buses. The repairing of America´s issues were left in the hands of the people, and in fact are still an issue today. Even today there are many cases of racism. There will always be an issue of race in the workplace, school, and the outside world until everyone can realize we are equal.
In conclusion, although Reconstruction was not a complete success, it was a step in the right direction. Even though the laws that were set were not entirely obeyed. However at least the laws were placed in order to help the former slaves and allow them some rights. Without Reconstruction and the newly placed amendments as stated before, the world today would be so much different. There are still racial problems today, but imagine how bad they would be without the Reconstruction. I would consider Reconstruction a success even through the hardships it went through.