Why Was The Country So Divided By Reconstruction?

1- Why was the country so divided by Reconstruction? Several incidents were in action at the time of the reconstruction. The initial plan, lead by the President Lincoln ensisted that each state would have to change their constitution in order to enter once again into the union. Also, ten percent of able voters from each state had to pledge allegiance to the union. Reactions from this movement to once again have the states unionized was frowned upon by the Republicans, who thought it was too weak a sentence for the disobeying southerners. Not only were the Republicans upset with the southerners, but congress passed the Freedman's Bureau so that congress enstated to give newly freed African Americans food and land. Johnson would later take this away, having the lands returned to the original owners. This action probably upset the
With Lincoln's passing, Johnson ran with Lincoln's ten percent plan. (Tindall, Kindle Page 544) In 1866 a Civil Rights act was enstated and granted the free black members of society new rights. (Tindall, Kindle Page 549)Following the Civil Rights Act, "The Fourteenth Amendment went far beyond the Civil Rights Act by establishing a constitutional guarantee of basic citizenship for all Americans, including African Americans." (Tindall, Kindle Page 549) Making a longer story short, the issues revolving around teh reconstruction were bound to have hiccups in that the south had just lost the war, been defeated and still gripped to their beleifs strongly. Introducing the southern states back into the union through pledging allegiances and changing their constitutions was hard to swallow for them. The prominent issues between the Radical Republicans and the President Johnson were means for splitting the country in a time of rebuidling. (Tindall, Kindle Page 549) These could have been some of the many issues that split the country in time of