Civil_War_Reconstruction

Success and Failure of Reconstruction America had just endured the bloodiest war of its history. The American Civil War ended and the country had many problems to fix. Following the blood bath president Abraham Lincoln had many choices to make about how to fix our broken country. Due to his assassination his plan was never able to flower. With the sound of John Wilkes Booths deadly gunshot it sent the country backwards. It began an arduous process of piecing together a wounded nation, everyone had an opinion and no one knew which one was right. Reconstruction began and it was not easy but our country survived and grew together. During the time of reconstruction there many highs and some very low lows. Republicans of this time period were looking to get out reconstruction by giving blacks and freed slave’s equal rights, the right to vote, education and the opportunity to earn money. I feel Abraham Lincoln would have accomplished some of these goals if he did not get assassinated. The Republican Party was split on how the country should be brought back up. Radicals wanted to punish the South for war crimes, while Lincoln and his vice president Andrew Johnson had a gentler lenient plan. The last words spoken by John Wilkes Booth was, “Now, by God! I'll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make." Lincoln was giving a speech on black voting rights. Some people who felt the same way as Booth did in the country did not like the idea of equal opportunities for blacks because it was the most controversial idea of radical reconstruction. People who were angry about the way the country was going expressed themselves with violence. Groups such as the Klu-Klux Klan sprang up all over the south and began terrorizing the black population. With Johnson now the acting president, he had some enemies. Even though he was a Southern Democrat, most of the Southern Democrats did not like him. They felt like he was a traitor to the cause because of his actions before the civil war. He won there confidence back with his actions in office. He made new enemies in the Radical Republicans. His fight with the Radical Republicans got so bad that he was almost impeached. On the record the reason for his impeachment was that he violated the Tenure of Office Act, but off the record congress disagreed with his plans for reconstruction. He was impeached by the House but the Senate was a few votes from getting him out of office. Johnson did a good job winning back friends in the South, he pardoned all who take an oath of allegiance, as he tried to build back each southern state. Once 10% of the male population took the oath the country could be allowed back into the Union. He left the issue of black suffrage up to the states, which was his downfall with the Radical Republicans. The Radical Republicans felt that the Southern Men should be punished and that the rights of freed slaves should be protected. The southern states began to pass legislation known as the “Black Codes”. These codes kept the blacks from gaining equal rights. Johnson vetoed the original Civil Rights Act of 1866, but it passed anyways and this was the Radical Republicans rebuttal for the Black Codes. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 said that it would give freed black men full legal equality. Johnson again vetoed another act of legislature put up by the Radical Republicans. This legislature was the Reconstruction act of 1867 which would divide the South into 5 military districts. This upset many of the white southerners. This action led to race riots. Another part of the Act said that all states must ratify the 14th amendment. This Amendment was extremely important because it reduced the representation in Congress of states that did not grant Blacks protection and rights. It also tried to guarantee equal rights to the Blacks. This was one of the high points for the Radical Republicans, not many states wanted to lose power in the House of Representatives. Johnson failed by not being more proactive and letting states pass Black Codes. Johnson and his administration failed at helping out the economic needs of black Americans. His failures led to many supporting the Radical Republicans. The Radical Republican high points of Reconstruction were passing the 14th and 15th amendments. Reconstruction was working but it was going slow. Over the next few years blacks and former slaves began holding offices in the government. From the death of Lincoln to the almost near impeachment of Johnson, Reconstruction of the South was in full force. There were many highs and many lows. This was a brittle time period in our nation’s history. It worked slowly but it worked. The Radical Republicans were extremely progressive. While making many Southerners angry they accomplished major goals. The only low for the Radical Republicans was being to aggressive. The low for Johnson was being to passive and angering the Radical Republicans. This situation was handled well but it would have been different if Lincoln did not die, Lincoln would of maybe had the civil rights movement of the 60’s back when he was in office. Blacks overcame many problems over the years but they worked through the racism to make our country better.