The Failure of Reconstruction
The Failure of Reconstruction
In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation gave freedom to all of the blacks. However, the road to freedom for the blacks was still going to be a long one and would not start until after the end of the Civil War. The Reconstruction definitely failed in bringing social and economic equality to the blacks because of; the failure of the Freedman's Bureau, the blacks were kept from voting, and they were treated unfairly.
To start with, the Freedman's Bureau failed. At the beginning, the Bureau was allotted a certain amount of money by Congress to help the blacks. The blacks had been slaves for so long that they just did not know what to do now, since they had received their freedom. At first, the goal of the Bureau was to give each black family between forty and sixty acres, some food, clothing, and an education. However the money that they had been given soon ran out and when it was taken back to President Johnson, he refused to give them more money. Therefore, the Freedman's Bureau was only able to educate about 250,000 of the over four million blacks. That gave a small number of blacks a head start on the others and that head start would be noticeable for years and years to come. Because of the illiteracy of the blacks, they had a hard time finding jobs and holding government positions. If the Bureau had been given more money, it might have been a big help to the backs, but as it was, it did not help very much and the majority of the blacks were still illiterate.
Another failure of Reconstruction was that most of the blacks were kept from voting. The blacks in the south had a real hard time trying to vote. The whites just would not let them. The national government finally said that if they were not going to let the blacks vote, then some of their representation in Congress would be taken away. This made the whites change their ways and find more sly ways of preventing the blacks from voting. There were three main ways they stopped the
In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation gave freedom to all of the blacks. However, the road to freedom for the blacks was still going to be a long one and would not start until after the end of the Civil War. The Reconstruction definitely failed in bringing social and economic equality to the blacks because of; the failure of the Freedman's Bureau, the blacks were kept from voting, and they were treated unfairly.
To start with, the Freedman's Bureau failed. At the beginning, the Bureau was allotted a certain amount of money by Congress to help the blacks. The blacks had been slaves for so long that they just did not know what to do now, since they had received their freedom. At first, the goal of the Bureau was to give each black family between forty and sixty acres, some food, clothing, and an education. However the money that they had been given soon ran out and when it was taken back to President Johnson, he refused to give them more money. Therefore, the Freedman's Bureau was only able to educate about 250,000 of the over four million blacks. That gave a small number of blacks a head start on the others and that head start would be noticeable for years and years to come. Because of the illiteracy of the blacks, they had a hard time finding jobs and holding government positions. If the Bureau had been given more money, it might have been a big help to the backs, but as it was, it did not help very much and the majority of the blacks were still illiterate.
Another failure of Reconstruction was that most of the blacks were kept from voting. The blacks in the south had a real hard time trying to vote. The whites just would not let them. The national government finally said that if they were not going to let the blacks vote, then some of their representation in Congress would be taken away. This made the whites change their ways and find more sly ways of preventing the blacks from voting. There were three main ways they stopped the