Social Changes During Reconstruction
Reconstruction was a period of time after the Civil War when the government set conditions for the South to join the Union. Many changes came from this; some good, some bad. Some of these changes include new white supremacy groups being formed, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the introduction of sharecropping. One of the social changes that came with Reconstruction was new white supremacy groups being formed. White supremacy groups were formed to enlist fear onto mainly Blacks. One example of this is the Ku Klux Klan (or KKK). The KKK was a very violent group that went to extreme measures to enlist fear. To make things worse, they were a legal group, meaning they wouldn’t be punished for their actions by the government. They lynched
people and showed no mercy and was a very negative thing that came with Reconstruction. On political change was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln was killed, he was shot in the back of the head while watching a play. The whole country didn’t know how to react when their president was assassinated. Since Lincoln was killed, a group called the Radical Republicans was able to push Congress to pass laws that were extremely unfair towards the South. This was obviously not what Abraham Lincoln had planned for Reconstruction. One of the economic changes that came with Reconstruction was sharecropping. This was a way to have something like slavery but have it not actually be called slavery. People had to sign a contract that said they had to pay/work off their debt. This was very hard because the people working gained very little money, and on top of that they had to pay for their own necessities (food, tools for their work, and toiletries). The owner got a percentage (usually large) of the crops and profit of the crops the sharecropper harvests. For the most part, Reconstruction was a failure. The only thing that Reconstruction really succeeded in doing was giving Southern States statehood in the Union. Reconstruction led to the formation of new white supremacy groups, like the KKK, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the introduction of sharecropping. All of which were not what the Union originally wanted to happen.
people and showed no mercy and was a very negative thing that came with Reconstruction. On political change was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. When Lincoln was killed, he was shot in the back of the head while watching a play. The whole country didn’t know how to react when their president was assassinated. Since Lincoln was killed, a group called the Radical Republicans was able to push Congress to pass laws that were extremely unfair towards the South. This was obviously not what Abraham Lincoln had planned for Reconstruction. One of the economic changes that came with Reconstruction was sharecropping. This was a way to have something like slavery but have it not actually be called slavery. People had to sign a contract that said they had to pay/work off their debt. This was very hard because the people working gained very little money, and on top of that they had to pay for their own necessities (food, tools for their work, and toiletries). The owner got a percentage (usually large) of the crops and profit of the crops the sharecropper harvests. For the most part, Reconstruction was a failure. The only thing that Reconstruction really succeeded in doing was giving Southern States statehood in the Union. Reconstruction led to the formation of new white supremacy groups, like the KKK, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the introduction of sharecropping. All of which were not what the Union originally wanted to happen.