Reconstruction Period After the Civil

¶ … Reconstruction period after the Civil War, how were the western farmers and northern workers getting on with their lives?

While Reconstruction was occurring on a legislative level to provide for equality and integration for African-Americans, the livelihoods of the American populace was dramatically shifting. Western farmers experienced a tremendous change in their lives as a result of emancipation. The biggest difference was in the migratory nature of slavery; most African-American utilized the freedom of the reconstruction to make "alterations in location, employer or surrounding that could make an enormous difference to individuals or families" (pg. 454). In context, that meant mass migrations towards the lands of the west and away from traditional slavery areas within the South. In the period following the reconstruction, movement towards the west became an even greater allure as there was more freedom and opportunity for African-Americans and White farmers alike. Since the majority of the west was already dominated by white claimants, a system of share cropping developed. In essence "black families worked for part of the crop while living on the landowner's property" (457). This system became akin to slavery as the abuses of landowners lead to indebtedness on the part of many African-American families. Western farmers relied on the migration of African-American labor to expand their farms and to increase agricultural pursuits in many different divestitures. As a result of mass migration, agriculture boomed in the Midwestern United States as well as the southern belt from Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding regions. In the Reconstruction period, African-American migration fueled greater expansion of agriculture into the west.

For northern workers, the post-civil war era meant a boom in industrialization. While the demands of war made the northern industries dependent on war manufacturing and production, in the post war era, they depended upon the needs of Southern states as they began their own process of industrialization. In the wake of the war, "confederates learned how vital industry was, and many postwar southerners were eager to build up the manufacturing capacity of their region" (450). As the south developed their own unifying railways, production frontiers, factories, and other industrial zones, the north was busy supplying the basic materials needed for such industrializing. As a result, the "facelift" affect Southern economic development also sparked a growth within Northern manufacturing and industrialization. As a result of the boom in vital development areas such as railroads, transportation equipment and overall manufacturing, many new industries arose from the Reconstruction period. The government, also intent upon creating strong economic growth to close the gap between the South and North, created many economic incentives to allow for greater industrialization across the entire eastern United States. Just as farmers and African-Americans began a mass migration to the west, the North intensified its investment in different industrial sectors and used the war time boom in combination with supplying the south as a vehicle to launch themselves into the industrial era. As a result, northern workers benefited from the Reconstruction period, as there were more jobs available and general conditions increased as the competition for labor intensified. However, the working population was also constantly increasing as well, freed blacks from the south also migrated to the cities in search of employment. In combination with the rising immigrant population, labor intensive jobs were far more competitive during this era. Since both industry as well as labor supply increased, the overall economic conditions of the northern workers did not suffer in the Reconstruction period.

Q2. What alternatives that black leaders presented on the later 19th century would

You support, and which would you reject?

Black Freedman proved to a great resource for the Union during the Civil War, as a result, black leaders expected to be given due consideration during the Reconstruction era and afterwards for their contributions. One of the policies that black leaders fought for was the granting of land to blacks following the Civil War. Freedman saw "land represented as their chance to farm for themselves, to have an independent life. It represented compensation for generation of travail and bondage" (438). Although this demand has strong logical backing in that once freed, black farmers should have equal legal status as white, the reality of the situation did not support such a reformation. The general feeling of race within the northern landscape was very mixed, despite the fight for emancipation; Northerners still saw themselves as the superiors of the black population. Therefore, black leaders were not able to gain strong land-rights for African-American throughout the west. However, the government did relent to giving out equitable land rights to African-Americans during the mass-migration to the West; this was one of the impetus that spawned the greater push for African-Americans to go to the American plains.

One of the most important victories of the black leaders during Reconstruction was the promotion of African-American education. Blacks "hungered for the knowledge in books that had been permitted only to white" (454). Black leaders fought for the established of the Freedman Bureau which helped to found over four thousands schools during the Reconstruction period. The government agreed to fund these efforts as a show of good will towards the African-American population. Education became one of the greatest boons to the freed blacks in the South as they were able to educate themselves and thus level the playing field for greater pushes towards representation within the government and winning within the American system. Black leaders and their white allies realized the importance of education, especially at the higher education level. They realized this dream by convincing congress to grant chartering and funding to several exclusive African-American colleges. Thus, even during the Reconstruction era, leaders of the African-American movement were educated enough to hold their own within the political arena. Education was one of the most successful alternatives that black leaders presented during the 19th century. It also proves to be one of the longest lasting policies of achievement during this era, as its enduring consequence was a strong knowledge populace that could stand up for future generations of African-Americans.