Reconstruction

Reconstruction after the American Civil War
By: Alec Decker

The period after the Civil War, 1865 - 1877, was called the Reconstruction period. Abraham Lincoln started planning for the reconstruction of the South during the Civil War while Union soldiers occupied huge areas of the South. He wanted to bring the Nation back together as quick as he can without many complications. In December 1863 he proposed one of his plans to his Reconstruction which required the States to prohibit slavery. In January 1865, Congress proposed this amendment to the Constitution which would prohibit slavery in the United States. On December 18, 1865, Congress formally formed the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery giving them citizenship. The Civil War came to an end on April 9, 1865. President Lincoln was assassinated less than a week later. Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's Vice President, continued Lincoln's policies after Lincoln was killed. Andrew Johnson announced his own plans for Reconstruction in May 1865, which included a vow of loyalty that the Southern states were required to take before they could become part of the nation that the Thirteenth Amendment will be followed. Black codes were adopted by Midwestern States to control the migration of the free African-American’s to the Midwest. Unethical black codes were adopted by Southern States after the Civil War to keep a new format of laws that represented the old laws. Mississippi was the first state to put the new laws that formed the full civil rights of African-Americans. "An Act to Confer Civil Rights on Freedmen, and for Other Purposes," this code was passed in 1865, but it found itself very misleading. Other states quickly adopted their own versions of the code; most of these made up codes represented the old version of slavery such as forced labor only for the blacks as punishment for the tiniest crime or act.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands act was organized to provide assistance to the former slaves, including health services, educational services, and abandoned land services. Congress passed an act on March 3, 1865 to form this program. The program was controlled by the Department of War and was directed by General Oliver Otis Howard who was appointed the position on May 13, 1865 by President Lincoln.
The racial differences became a huge part in the Reconstruction of America. The North was a slave free colony and the South was a slave colony. President Lincoln knew the only way the two colonies could be one if slavery was out of the picture. He also was a slave free advocate; he put these laws into place in hopes to Unit the South and North, to give blacks equal rights to; own/sell land, receive health services, and to receive an education.
The Reconstruction era was after the Civil War. The purpose of the Reconstruction was to reform the South and the North and become one Nation. Slavery was a great part of the Reconstruction but there was much more events that took place. The North worked on being united with the South building railroads, canals and trying to find an equal agreement on how to run a government.
I feel that the Reconstruction had some positive and negative reactions. The positives of the Reconstruction and President Lincoln’s plans were the African Americans gained the right to be citizens, vote, sell/own lands and receive an education. Abraham Lincoln also had rail roads and canals set up for the trade industries. There were many more positive outcomes of the Lincoln administration Reconstruction plans. Some of the negative are the Ku Klux Klan, the extensive amount of money the North spent, and a few others.