Preview

Essay On Reconstruction A Success

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
600 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay On Reconstruction A Success
After the gruesome civil war that divided a nation, the southern United States had a very difficult time recovering. Things were different. Slavery was made illegal, and the new political climate was a huge victory for the oppressed minority, the slaves. However, slave owners in the south were very unhappy with the outcome of the war, and as a whole the south’s struggle to recover after the Civil War is known as the “Reconstruction”. A large majority of this reconstruction was based on rebuilding infrastructure in the south that was damaged or destroyed by Union soldiers during the war. It is important to note that the Reconstruction had a variety of aspects: Social, Political, Economic, and Cultural in reform. The Reconstruction consisted …show more content…
I think success in general, is not the absence of failure, but the ability to understand failure and overcome it, so that you can truly succeed. If you look at the United States now, and specifically the south, it is a much better place to reside than it was in the 1800s, especially for African Americans. I think the south is better off politically, economically, socially, and culturally. I’ve asked myself what I would have done to make the Reconstruction more effective, and to be honest, I’m not sure I have an answer. Regarding the Reconstruction, it truly comes down to the facts: good or bad, positive or negative, just or unjust, the facts, speak for themselves. Asking an entire region which relied on slavery and segregation for so long, to make such drastic change toward the equality of man, after losing a war over it, and expecting things to go 100% positively would just be a dream. There was going to be resistance and a general lack of acceptance among people along the way, but what matters truly is the outcome today. History isn't always fairytales and happiness, it paints an objective picture of our past, whether or not politically correct, which accurately depicts how society and humanity, used to function. We should always keep that in mind when looking at society’s problems. There will be resistance to changing society and making it better, but history has it

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Reconstruction was the period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War, lasting from 1865 to 1877. It was to repair the North and the South politically, economically and socially. After the Civil War, the South’s economy was completely ruined and needed help from the Union government; which they were trying to stay way from. The Reconstruction can be evaluated both as a success and a failure. Its successes were the restoration of the eleven confederate states back to the union, giving African-Americans (ex-slaves) their freedom and rights and providing aid to the freed slaves and poor whites. Its failures were the Anti-African Americans groups such as the KKK, the Black Codes, not protecting the rights of the freedmen and the southern corruption. Although African-Americans were freed and gained their rights because of 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, and the ex-eleven confederate states came back to the union, the Reconstruction was more of a failure than a success.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    At the end of the American Civil War, most of the factories, farms, and cities in the South had been devastated. In a process known as the Reconstruction, the federal government began to rebuild the war-torn South. The government also sought to restore the relationship of the South with the Union.…

    • 3995 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the Civil War, the southern soldiers were going back to devastated cities, destroyed railroads, and many cities were burned to the ground as a result of Sherman’s march from sea to sea. After the Civil War occurred, the slaves were given freedom from their owners, and slavery was banned. That attempt at reconstruction was not a complete fail, but it took a little bit of time for America to give social and economic equality to slaves. There were many attempts made by several different presidents, but not all seemed to work due to the South’s stubbornness. The failure of reconstruction later did not bring social and economic equality to former slaves in the south because of things like the Jim Crow laws and the South’s strong disproval of the outcome of the war.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “Reconstruction is the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War” . This period lasted from 1865-1877 and was mostly evident in the southern states. This was an important time in the history of the United States because it started a discrimination that turned fellow citizens against each other based on their appearances. This went directly against the Constitution which stated, “All Men are Created Equal” which is ironic because the Civil War was started because each side believed they were more constitutional, and the end result was the opposite of constitutional. In the long run, Reconstruction helped black people move closer to accomplishing to the American Dream. But short term,…

    • 1249 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Civil War and the period of Reconstruction in the mid-1800s brought about great social, political, and economic changes to American society. The regional tensions that developed over issues of slavery in the early 19th Century continued following the bloodiest war in American history, complicating efforts to heal and redefine the status of African Americans. With the Union's victory, the Reconstruction Era aimed to address the challenges of bringing the Confederate states back into the United States, establishing civil rights for freed slaves, and rebuilding the Southern economy and society. Although many argue that the lives of African Americans had improved due to educational gains, however in southern states/communities southerners tried…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reconstruction was the best that could have been expected under the circumstances due to the damage from the Civil War, a politically inept president, and the issue over freedmen’s rights. To begin, the Civil War left the country destroyed, both physically and emotionally. Physically, the Civil War left the South destroyed after the Civil War. Farms and plantations were destroyed, harming the economy, and many southerners were dead, which impacted families who no longer had a source of income.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Reconstruction was primarily to reunite the country and to construct a southern society not based on slavery. Since many dilemmas were left after the Civil War, the federal government tried to repair them.(Schultz,2014,275) Although the Reconstruction, era had quite the number of accomplishments, in my opinion, I strongly agree it was a grad failure.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Once the Civil War ended people suffered from many problems. The war caused many problems in which they needed Reconstruction. Reconstruction was used to fix all the problems that were caused by the Civil War. During Reconstruction, which occurred from 1865 to 1877 many people’s lives were impacted during this era, especially African Americans because everyone was having to deal with the issues such as political, economic, and social. The political viewpoint was that the African Americans should be given rights, the social viewpoint was to let African Americans to have a normal life while the economic viewpoint was that African Americans shouldn’t be allowed to connect with the government.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reconstruction Dbq Essay

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Reconstruction was a success in the terms of the abolishment of slavery; however, beyond 1877, the events that took place during the reconstruction did little to put the racial animosity at rest and did little for mending the hypocrisy of the nation.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The period of the Civil War and Reconstruction, lasting from 1860-1877, the nation underwent a multitude of powerful changes, physically and emotionally. A school of thought today exists that, “The North won the war, bur the South won reconstruction.” What does this mean exactly? When the Union defeated the Confederacy, Northerners, freemen, and existing slaves imagined a political and social revolution in which their dreams of abolition and government power would manifest itself. However, the civil rights movement within the constitution, specifically the additions of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, brought to life the desires of the Union, but in the South such hostility and racism still existed that there was…

    • 858 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reconstruction Dbq

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Following the culmination of the Civil War, issues regarding the restoration of seceded states to the Union, the emancipation of slaves, and the overall re-development of political institutions in the nation prevailed. The idea of Reconstruction was proposed to political officials in late 1865, when the effects of the tumultuous Civil War were at its most devastating. The various enactments of the period were deemed void and not actively enforced. Democratic and Republican political parties refused to meet resolutions, imperative to the reconstruction of the nation’s governmental structure. The economy was in an absolute distress, and emancipated blacks faced considerable amounts of opposition. Social, economic, and political policies instituted during the Reconstruction Era are deemed failures due to the burden of racial segregation, economic distress, party discrepancies, and the lack of effective enforcement.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reconstruction dbq

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The years 1865 to 1877 mark a period of reconstruction in which the country’s main focus was to heal the nation and bring the Confederate states back into the Union. Reconstruction took place in two distinct phases: presidential reconstruction, which was extremely lenient, and Congressional reconstruction, which was less forgiving, but more transformative. Presidential reconstruction had very limited success because President Andrew Johnson was swayed by Southern praise and became something of an obstructionist to the Republican Party and all of its proposals. However, in an effort to discredit the Republican Party, he only made a fool of himself, (famously known as Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle”) and helped the Republican Party win 2/3rds of the seats in Congress, which gave them the majority to easily override Johnson’s vetoes. As a result, the Republicans could aid African Americans and put into place the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which was much more successful than Johnson’s presidential reconstruction. In fact, Congress’ efforts were so effective that the South felt the need fight Republican dominance. For example, bulldozing, using physical violence as a means to discourage black men from voting, was extremely successful. In short, though reconstruction (especially presidential reconstruction), did have its limitations and was not a complete success, it was a step in the right direction.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After the American Civil War more than just a divided nation needed to be reunited. The states of the Confederacy had been broken. The destruction of their economy was total. From the insolvency of their currency, to the decimation of so much of the white male population to the sudden loss of billions of dollars of property in the form of freedom for nearly 4 million African slaves. What is more is the ex-slaves faced what seemed like insurmountable odds in trying to find loved ones and make a start in a prostate region without any real economic means or many skills that would assist them in this effort. The Southern white population would surely fight them at every step, so any improvement beyond their sudden freedom would depend largely on the benevolence of Northern lawmakers and charitable acts from liberal whites from Northern states heading south to assist them in this massive undertaking. The results of these efforts are mixed and in the end had no lasting impact, but the period of Reconstruction showed promise, but in the end failed due to a lack of political will and interest in the plight of the former slave in the South.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the states continued in their malicious ways, The Freedmen and Abandoned Lands was created to help slaves with health, education, and abandoned land. In March 3, 1865, Congress passed the act that will establish the Bureau of Refugees. But before approval it was driven by the Department of War and viewed by General Otis Howard given the position by the former president Lincoln. Congress lead legislation, Civil Rights Act of 1866, although this was applied to the Nation states kept on record and continued the black codes and second class citizenship was given to slaves. The Civil Rights Act drew numbers, civil rights such as rights to make contrast sell property and receive identical treatment. The Fourteenth Amendment was approved by Congress…

    • 495 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Across the South, the implementation of Reconstruction policies was achieved in multiple ways. While not always a success, Reconstruction had a definitive impact on the social, cultural economic and financial issues in states throughout the South. It is not clear whether or not Reconstruction was more beneficial to the country or harmful, but it is true, without a doubt, that it had an enormous impact on the Southern states. Both Gilles Vandal and Horace Bond in their articles discuss the impact that Reconstruction had on the southern states of Louisiana and Alabama, respectively. Both authors view Reconstruction through the same lenses of social and economic impact, but they approach the issues from different directions. It is important…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays