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Reconstruction: Successes and Failures
Reconstruction after the Civil War was a mixed bag of successes and failures. If its primary aim was reintegration of the South into the US, it could be said to be a success. The problem with Reconstruction is that the architects of Reconstruction were themselves divided about how it should proceed. The Radicals wanted vengeance, whereas Lincoln (before he was murdered) called for forgiveness. The US government under Johnson was torn between trying to implement Lincolns vision and trying to appease the very vocal Radicals more or less calling for blood. On top of all this were very real social concerns, like voting rights, equality, and Jim Crow laws (the Black Codes).
Although the Reconstruction succeeded in abolishing slavery through the 13th Amendment, it did not do much to establish actual civil rights for blacks. Indeed, racist Black Codes and sharecropper agreements (which basically kept all the negatives of slavery in place by restricting blacks in terms of what they could do on their own) essentially meant that the spirit of inequality and oppression remained entrenched in the South. The Union countenanced it all by permitting it to go on, moreover. This was one of the biggest failures of Reconstruction (Carte, 1985).
Still, it should be observed that one of the biggest successes...…federal government's retreat from active intervention in the South left a hole where problems quickly took root.
In conclusion, the Reconstruction era was a mixed bag of significant achievements and profound failures. While it succeeded in abolishing slavery and initiating civil rights legislation, it failed to fundamentally transform Southern society or provide lasting protections for African Americans. The era serves as a testament to the complexities and challenges of attempting to rebuild a nation divided by war and racial inequality.
Works Cited
Carter, D. T. (1985).When the War Was Over: The Failure of Self-Reconstruction in the South,
1865--1867. LSU Press.
Olds, V. (1963). The Freedmen's Bureau: A nineteenth-century federal welfare agency.Social
Casework,44(5), 247-254.
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