Reconstruction Slavery Cast a Shadow

Reconstruction

Slavery cast a shadow on American history that led to Civil War and the ensuing crisis of Reconstruction. Far from clearly demarcating two distinct periods, the Civil War brought to the surface many of the ugliest features of American culture including the inhumane treatment of African-Americans and the denial of the rights of women. The Civil War ended slavery on paper but for nearly a century blacks, especially those living in the South, suffered from rampant persecution and deplorable economic, social, and political oppression. Conditions for African-Americans after the ratification of the 13th Amendment were only marginally better than they were during the antebellum years. Had the Radical Republicans been more popular or more successful in their endeavors, Southern states may have been kept under a more watchful eye, unable to spawn quasi-governments and quasi-military groups like the Ku Klux Klan. Reconstruction has been called the darkest hour of American history for several reasons, not the least of which was the rise of intense racial antagonism. The Reconstruction era also bore witness to the first impeachment of an American president, denoting the rising mistrust in the American government. Moreover, Reconstruction signaled failure: the failure of the federal government to adequately assert itself over issues related to liberty, freedom, and human rights; the failure of Americans to reach a cohesive and unified culture; the failure to seamlessly shift from a plantation-based economy dependent on slavery to one that permitted the rise of African-American entrepreneurship; and the failure to welcome women into the political, social, and economic foray.

Although slavery was officially abolished via the Thirteenth Amendment, the former Confederacy pressed Washington for both leniency and political power. For the most part, the South succeeded in its vocal cries. During the war, Abraham Lincoln assumed a moderate stance toward the Southern states, eager to end the bloody fight. The President neglected to actively recruit African-Americans into the Union Army and opposed the liberation of slaves in the new territories, fearful of further antagonizing the vehement Confederacy.

Lincoln's veto of the Wade-Davis bill further split Washington along political lines. Radical Republicans like Benjamin Wade and Henry Davis had hoped to install temporary governors throughout the South to ensure obedience with federal law and also proposed that a majority of voters swear an oath to the Union. The Wade-Davis Bill, supported by Radical Republicans, was nevertheless struck down by Lincoln. Before his assassination, Lincoln had failed to offer the nation a realistic Reconstruction Plan that took into account the rights of former slaves. Lincoln instead skirted the issue of civil rights in the hopes of gaining support from more moderate Confederates. The President's successes during the war and his integral role in the abolition of slavery were therefore partially overshadowed during the Reconstruction era.

Lincoln's assassination allowed Johnson to assert his political views more effectively than he did as Vice President. As President, Johnson not only continued Lincoln's leniency toward the South, he built on it by expressing open sympathy for former Confederate leaders and slaveholders. Rather than punish the Southerners for secession, Johnson and his political supporters sided with them, and opposed human rights-oriented legislation including the Civil Rights Bill, the 14th Amendment, and the Reconstruction Acts. Johnson, a Democrat who hailed from Southern stock, stood in stark contrast to the Radical Republicans in Congress. Infighting in Washington grew particularly vehement during the early years of Reconstruction because of the enormous differences in perspective offered by the Democrats and the Radical Republicans. Unfortunately, infighting within the Republican Party prevented the Radical Republicans from successfully implementing their own Reconstruction policies. A split within the Republican Party was most notably brought to light during the impeachment trial of President Johnson, when several Republicans voted for Johnson's acquittal.

Radical Republicans' views differed from the mainstream party line, which held views similar to those held by their former figurehead Abraham Lincoln. Unlike the more moderate stream of Republicans, the Radical Republicans favored equal rights for African-Americans and foresaw the potential disaster of neglecting to care for the needs of liberated slaves. The Reconstruction policies championed by Radical Republicans included the 14th Amendment, which offered African-Americans full citizen status and subsequently granted former slaves equal protection under the law. Opposed to the 13th Amendment, most former Confederates could not stomach the 14th. Moreover, some Radical Republicans suggested the confiscation of all Southern plantations, to divide land among former slaves, one of the most radical of all the Republican Reconstruction ideas ("Radical Republicans").

Southern states expressed vehement opposition to the Fourteenth Amendment. Their refusal to ratify the 14th Amendment proved not only an affront to civil rights but also to the Union. As a result of their stubborn dismissal of the constitutional amendment, Radical Republicans in Congress successfully enacted the Reconstruction Acts. The Reconstruction Acts, which divided the former Confederacy into five militarized zones controlled by the federal government, further antagonized Southern leaders who had resented Washington's political pressure before the Civil War. Southerners clung to slavery partly on principle, to assert independence from the federal government. The Reconstruction Acts were therefore viewed as a direct insult to the rights of the states to govern themselves.