Successful or Not?

02/16/2011

Was Reconstruction successful?
(Read what others wrote and respond to this question. Consider any social, political or economic changes that occured.)

Comments

02/18/2011 12:40

!!! Reconstruction was successful. This is true because it had put the south in a better condition than it was after the Civil war. Although the south was more racist there economy had been fixed and the freedmen got there civil rights. Another reason reconstruction was successful was because the union army was taken out. During reconstruction there were bills passed such as the freedmens bureau. And these are the reasons reconstruction was successful. !!!

02/18/2011 12:42

!!! Reconstruction was not successful. This is because the south has become in a condition where it is better because it stopped slavery but created segragation. This also created a new form of slavery known as share cropping.The Economy was fixed but the south made jim crow laws which seperated the colors from the whites.This is why reconstruction was not successful. !!!

02/18/2011 12:43

!!! ZC, Recconstruction was not succesful. The reason is becasue after the Civil War even though slavery was over according to the Emancipation Proclamtion, the southerns had another form of slavery called black codes which was a hidden slavery. These las were made to control the freedmen. another reason is the KKK were bascially there to scare and frighten the blacks from having a say in government. The army were taking out of the south which means the freedmen have no protection in the south. Overal, Reconstruction was not successful because the republican party split and there was going to be another Civil War if the southerns did not get their way.!!!

02/18/2011 12:45

!!! Reconstruction was successful because even though Priscilla was right and there were black codes, the Jim crow laws stated that all was separate but equal. The Souths economy did increase with production of factories and slavery did end so the main idea of reconstruction was accomplished. But this was not enough for the south because the k.k.k. and the white league are still fighting against blacks even today. !!!

02/18/2011 12:46

!!! Reconstruction was partly successful, there were a few ways to try and help the south recover, those plans were the 10% plan,Johnson's plan, an the radicals plan. what happened
was...slavery ended and some slaves were open to education.The 14th 15th and 16th amendments were established which banned slavery,allowed anyone born in the United States to become a citizen, and the 15th amendment stated that men could vote, white,black,or freedmen.I disagree though,Zack that taking the troops out of the south was good. The only reason why is because the United states almost went into a second Civil War over the issue with Tilden not becoming president. Mainly social issues were the problem. The slaves were freed but there wasn't any jobs, and no one allowed them to/ they didn't have enough money to start any businesses or own any land. Thus sharecropping came along where certain workers took care and planted on certain parts of the farm and they earned money from selling crops. Sadly it was mostly cotton being sold so prices would continuously go down. The freedman's bureau partly helped with this and setting up schools but then the KKK, and white league etc. were formed. They mainly targeted poor whites, freedmen, and the teachers from the north who came down south to help(carpetbaggers)The leagues and Klans used strategies like lynching and torching.During reconstruction, Andrew Johnson was president. President Johnson was one vote away from impeachment because he violated the Tenure of Office Act which prohibited the president from removing government officials. including members from his own cabinet, without the senate's approval.The deciding vote (Edmund Ross) pleaded him non guilty. Another fact that proves reconstruction was unsuccessful is/was the Jim Crow Laws and the Black Codes. The Black Codes targeted freedmen and poor whites and tried to diminish their rights, they allowed plantation owners to exploit African American workers and allowed officials to arrest and fine jobless freedmen. The Jim Crow laws were around for ninety-nine years and required African Americans and whites to be separated in almost every public place. These are the main reasons/ events that caused me to argue that reconstruction in the south was partly successful, maybe more non successful, but I say partly. !!!

02/18/2011 12:48

!!! JT you make no sense what so ever you said Reconstruction was successfull and that the KKK's are still fighting against the African-Americans. The whole point of Reconstruction was to protect the African-Americans from the KKK and the White League plus the Civil War ended slavery but there was still rascism in the South and more of it after the Civil War. So I think you are wrong. Jim Crow Law Stated That The Afrcian-Americans were seperate but equal which created segregration. Now segregation bascially kept the Whites And African Americans seperate. The Africa-Americans were brought up to feel bad about themselves and think that the Whites were better then them and what part of that makes them "equal" to the Whites. Which proves that reconstruction basically made everything worse even though slavery was illegal accroding to the 13th amendment

02/18/2011 12:49

You all put up excellent points but your forgetting one crucial detail the fact that the south’s economy was fixed so greatly that they had an economy to almost match the north’s. Yes the black codes kept African Americas from getting some of their rights but in some places African Americans held places in state government. Reconstruction was all about fixing the south’s economy and getting all of the states back in the union. During reconstruction The Jim crow laws were established witch stated that separate but equal was completely legal. Although i disagree with this statement that there should be segregation but it made the African Americans have more rights even though some states didn’t follow the separate but equal it was still established. SD during reconstruction there was a large jump in cash crop production just in between 1880 and 1890 there was a large jump in cash crops such as corn, rice, and cotton. The government also found the black codes unconstitutional. If you look souly on the fact of the black codes and slavery than yes your right in the fact that it was unsuccessful but if you look at how the economy and politics were fixed I believe it supports my thesis in saying that the reconstruction period was a very successful time frame.

02/18/2011 12:50

13th, 14th, and 15th*

02/18/2011 12:54

Agreed ZC, but was there more negatives or positives.?

02/18/2011 12:56

Reconstruction was not successful because even though it ended slavery it created more racism and segregation. The point of reconstruction was to END SLAVERY which it did but it created a new kind of slavery. The freedman had just been out of slavery so they had no money to buy a house clothes and land so they can get more money. The south made black codes which stated that any black that was living on the streets or did not have a job would go to jail and would work all day long. That helped the whites have free labor once again. Share cropping took place when the plantation owners needed workers to work on their plantation. The freedman were available for cheep pay. They would only get a small portion of the crop that they harvested. If they broke a shovel it would come out of their pay which cut their money short. Most share croppers didn't get a lot of money. The freedmen Bauer made school for poor whites and African Americans. These schools were small only a few teachers and usually over 1,000 students. The freedman didn't have a good education like the whites did. When whites and African Americans finally got to go to school together they were segregated. The Whites had nice blubbers while the African Americans had old crappy blubbers. They were suppose to be separated but equal. They were no where near equal what ever the whites had the African Americans had it so much worse. There was also a group called the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan they were racialist they hated African Americans. They frighted the African Americans, and the whites who came to the south to help the African Americans who needed and education aka carpetbaggers. The KKK would ride at night on horses wearing white sheets riding around their houses and burning houses. Sometime the KKK would lynch the African Americans. The KKK got shut down and was illegal, but so many people was so mean that they secretly kept the group open. Eventually the whites made a poll tax and a literacy test. The poll tax is a tax that you have to pay in order to vote for state government and things like that. So many African Americans did not get to take part in the voting every year that everyone else could. The whites didn't think it was enough because some blacks could still vote because they had the money to pay the tax. The whites made another law called the literacy test. This test made sure that the blacks could not vote. If you could pay the tax then you would have to take a literacy test it was based upon reading and writing. If you did not pass it you could not vote. None of the African Americans could vote because they had no money to pay for the tax and they did not pass the literacy test. When the voting for the president the south came up with a bill it stated that if Tilden becomes president of the united states than there would be another civil war. The bill was called Tilden or blood, once the election was over and they found out that Tilden would become the president of the united states the south said that if Tilden stays president that the troops in the south would have to come out of the south. Which made all of the young African Americans who went to school be beaten up and discriminated and all of the African Americans would be lynched again and killed and attached and the whites in the south would take over the south government. They would make the KKK back in business and separated schools and everything else all over again. Therefore reconstruction was not successful because it was to end slavery which it did but the south government made a new kind of slavery. Making everything worse for the African Americans economic, social, and political wise.

02/18/2011 12:57

When i said burning houses i meant burning crosses

02/18/2011 12:58

Micaela!!!!! Thats more then me(:

02/18/2011 18:16

Mainly reconstructionwas not sucessful. Reconstruction was supposed to give the freedmen new rights but instead the kkk come in and scare the blacks and the government does nothing about it and to further problems the election of 1876 takes the troops out of the south and return the democrats to power in all government in the south also the jim crow laws segregate the nation so after the civil war ends the country isn't unified it even more split than when the civil war began.

02/18/2011 22:16

ZC I know the south's economy got a huge diffrence after reconstruction but reconstruction was to end slavery which ovbiously wad not compeletly solved. Although the reason of reconstruction was to get south's economy better which it did but it was also to end slavery. You were right about the economy part but it asks is reconstruction was successful. It wasnt asking if most of reconstrucion was successful. JT yes the main idea of reconstruction was successful but there was still parts that was not. The Jim Crow laws stated that African Americans are seperated but equal. While they were seperated but no where near equal. Therefor reconstruction was not successful.

03/02/2011 21:44

ZC if the only point of reconstruction was to help the souths economony tha n yes it would be successful. The point of reconstruction was to help the souths economy but also to free the african americans, and to have equal rights. JT you were right about the economy just like ZC but the jim crow laws exisited so to makes reconstruction unsuccessful.

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