Cause Of Reconstruction
In the desolate aftermath of the horrific Civil War, the government of the Union now grappled with a formidable foe: reuniting the United States of America. First, the executive branch, initially Lincoln and primarily Johnson, attempted to reconstruct the South, but Johnson, a Democrat from Tennessee, had too few punitive intentions for the South in the eyes of the Radical Republicans in Congress. In the elections of 1866, the Republicans won supermajorities in both houses of Congress and became unstoppable. While Johnson adopted the role of Lincoln, that of the staunch unionist, Republicans wished to forcibly reform the South. Congress organized the South into military districts, granting sole command to itself. Johnson tried to rebuke this,
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However, the situation for blacks in the South did not seem to improve, and many argue that Reconstruction, in the sense that it was reformation of the South, did not end until the 1960s or even that Reconstruction has not ended yet. The destitution of freedmen in the South stems largely from two causes and manifests itself most certainly in the act of sharecropping. As mentioned, one reason that free blacks remained on the bottom of the social ladder in the South was racism, but another factor that kept blacks oppressed was their initial poverty and poor standing that left them indebted to their former masters. Poor former slaves with little income would work land given to them after the Civil War, but until their crop could be harvested and sold for profit, they needed supplies. Only the country store in the nearest town could provide a loan that would allow the farmer to live until his debt could be paid. However, the store keepers tended to increase prices over time in order to keep the farmer indebted. Because one was not allowed to move when they had outstanding debt involving their land, the farmer, a former slave, stayed rooted to their land, similarly to how they were tied to a master in slavery. Even after Robert Elliott fought so tenaciously for the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the civil rights of freedmen in the South were still being infringed upon, with no hope of legislation that could stop the
However, the situation for blacks in the South did not seem to improve, and many argue that Reconstruction, in the sense that it was reformation of the South, did not end until the 1960s or even that Reconstruction has not ended yet. The destitution of freedmen in the South stems largely from two causes and manifests itself most certainly in the act of sharecropping. As mentioned, one reason that free blacks remained on the bottom of the social ladder in the South was racism, but another factor that kept blacks oppressed was their initial poverty and poor standing that left them indebted to their former masters. Poor former slaves with little income would work land given to them after the Civil War, but until their crop could be harvested and sold for profit, they needed supplies. Only the country store in the nearest town could provide a loan that would allow the farmer to live until his debt could be paid. However, the store keepers tended to increase prices over time in order to keep the farmer indebted. Because one was not allowed to move when they had outstanding debt involving their land, the farmer, a former slave, stayed rooted to their land, similarly to how they were tied to a master in slavery. Even after Robert Elliott fought so tenaciously for the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the civil rights of freedmen in the South were still being infringed upon, with no hope of legislation that could stop the