The Pros And Cons Of Radical Reconstruction

Radical Republicans believed that blacks were entitled to live in equality amongst their white neighbors. The Republicans set forth new rules and policies that would ensure blacks the same political rights as white men after the Civil War. Between 1865-1870 three constitutional amendments, also called the Reconstruction Amendments, were passed. They guaranteed blacks freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote. These new policies, that seem so basic within our current environment, were radical by the standards of the day. They were particularly unacceptable to the white supremacists who believed they were superior to other races. The white supremacists believed that whites should have complete control of politics, economics, and all other aspects of life. They were alarmed that blacks, if given equal rights, would take on positions of power and supplant the white monopoly of power. After the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan took on the mission of restoring white supremacy to the south and reversing the policies of Radical Reconstruction. On December 24, 1865, a group of six young Confederate officers formed a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee. They had just returned home from the war and were filled with disappointment. They called themselves the Ku …show more content…
The KKK took the South by storm. They started as a silly social club, riding into town on horses and scaring black and republican residents. As the Klan gained members, it become more violent and serious. The foolish pranks escalated into murders and purposeful intimidation. They politically, physically, and emotionally terrorized the people of south. Their efforts were designed to take back the control they lost during the Civil War. Within their twisted moral code, they felt justified to take extreme measures to pursue their mission of restoring white