Essay: The Reconstruction Movement

From 1865 until 1877, the Reconstruction Movement took place with the primary idea being to fight for equal rights for black people. Despite the end of the civil war, discrimination against blacks continued. They still endured the awful racism effects of the civil war with those in the south suffering the most. When the time came, blacks began the fight for equality with some of them taking up leadership roles. They went out and tried to get jobs meant for the higher class as well. Today, I am going to go out to the public office and find a spot to work there. Undoubtedly, to get change done, we need to be in the room where it happens. The civil war was supposed to guarantee our freedom, but it feels like nothing has changed. We are still getting the same treatment as we did before the war. President Johnson is releasing the Black codes which were made to control our behavior. They want to restrict our freedom. Thankfully, over the north, they used their voices, and now the presidential reconstruction has begun. Anyway, hopefully, I get a placement in the public office, from where I can work my way up.
This is a period of putting pieces back together as America tries to become a single full country once more. Evidently, this is quite a challenging task as we still hold the memories of massive casualties in our mind which sometimes harden into anger and even hatred. The south is practically non-existent both economically and politically, and we are in search of a way back in. Among us is a population of about four million people who were formerly slaves and thus do not have any idea how to make ends meet on their own. Their freeing came as a result of the Thirteenth Amendment that occurred in 1865 abolishing slavery (Baker et al. 77). The passing of the Vagrancy Act of 1866 is also an issue of significant concern since it allows the punishment of all persons who appear to be homeless or unemployed which is quite unfair. As such, the problems in front of us are weighty, and evidently, something has to be done politically. We welcome all leaders who share the same ideology to bring out their reconstruction plan, and after careful examination, we will decide on which to follow. We appreciate the fact that Abraham Lincoln has been one of the first people to present their plan and it is clear that this provides a blueprint for our reconstruction movement (Ojeda 63).
Lincoln’s plan is open and transparent. It states that after meeting specific criteria, we could return to the union. As a requirement, for us to rejoin the union, we have to have at least ten percent of voters agree with the slave emancipation and swear allegiance to the union (Baker et al. 123). Sadly enough, the assassination of Honest Abe came before his reconstruction plan was executed. However, after his death, we have had other political leaders emerge with convincing plans in hand. A majority of these men are from the Republican Party, and they like referring to themselves as “Radicals.” The Radicals who have appeared after the death of Lincoln have maintained that two primary objectives drive their cause. First, they are angry with the South, blaming the people for the occurrence of the Civil War that has just come to an end. Secondly, the Radicals are interested in helping all the slaves who are now free men after the war (Zinn and Arnove 196). In their view, the freed slaves need protection, and it is the work of the Radicals to do so. The Radical Republican leaders include Andrew Johnson, Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens (Dickerson 88). Stevens is very political and is a member of the House of Representatives. He always has his main concern as the economic opportunity that the slaves have. He firmly believes that they too should be empowered to make a living rather than having them depend on the whites as was the case in their entire lives. The same thoughts are held by Sumner, a senator who has been in the front line in the fight for political rights of the African Americans including their citizenship. According to Sumner, all men should be treated equally, and this is an aspect that should be incorporated into the constitution (Zinn and Arnove 194).