Was reconstruction a failure?
Many people have asked me about my opinion on whether or not reconstruction was a failure. I feel as though reconstruction was a failure. There are several reasons why I feel this way. First of all, it was a failure due to the opinion on race. Second of all, reconstruction was thought of as a bad idea. Lastly, reconstruction for equality was a failure.
As stated above, it was a failure due to the opinion on race. I say this because for example, racism played in a big part of the Plessy vs. Ferguson case. What happened was that On June 7, 1892, homer Plessy boarded a car of the East Louisiana Railroad that was designated for use by white patrons only, as mandated by state law. Although Plessy was born a free person and was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, under a Louisiana law enacted in 1890, he was classified as Black, and thus required to sit in the "colored" car. When, in an act of planned disobedience, Plessy refused to leave the white car and move to the colored car, he was arrested and jailed. Another thing is that, radical republican governments were unable or unwilling to enact land reform or to provide former slaves with the economic resources needed to break the cycle of poverty.
Like I had said before, reconstruction was thought of as a bad idea. This is stated because many people thought of the reconstruction plan as a bad idea, thats when the “black codes” came in. The black codes were nothing but a form of disguised slavery. Although they gave blacks the right to own land, and go to court; they still weren't aloud to serve on a jury or aloud to vote. "black codes" just made it easier for the people of the south to continue with their poor treatment towards blacks. As a result, "Black codes" did nothing but for the south but put them in further segregation.
Lastly, reconstruction for equality was a failure. Southern whites rejected all forms of equality and the blacks wanted