Process Of Reconstruction

Reconstruction simply means to rebuild something that had already been. So the term reconstruction, when referring to American history, means rebuilding the Union, or bringing southern states back into the Union. Changes in the constitution, Freedman 's bureau, and more power being given to the federal government are three changes that resulted from this process of bringing southern states back into the Union. Immediately following the surrender of Robert E Lee, the idea of freeing slaves became priority in bringing the southern states back into the Union. The first of these steps was to change the constitution. Before although slavery was not mentioned by name the constitution promoted the rights of slave owners. President Lincoln and Congress believed making a plan to free all the slaves was a first step in uniting the Union again. The 13th amendment was the first to be added, this simply abolished slavery but did not control how slaves would be freed or what rights newly freed slaves would have. These newly freed slaves needed employment and places to live, Lincoln had intended to go about abolishing slavery much more slowly, however after his assassination Congress desired to punish the south and was able to push forward some laws with this in mind. These things caused southerners to have …show more content…
To address this issue of refugees Congress created the Freedman 's Bureau an agency of social uplift. This was the first time the US government gave assistance to needy. So a part of reconstruction was to give the freed former slaves a hand up. The Freedman 's Bureau provided food and medical services, built schools and even some colleges. The Bureau also negotiated employment contracts between freedmen and former masters. Part of what Congress had done to punish the former slave owners was to confiscate some of their lands. The Freedmen 's Bureau also managed these confiscated