Once the brutal and devastating Civil War was over General Robert E Lee surrendered at Appomattox and he made a statement begging the South to stop fighting and move peacefully into reconstruction. Some southerners obeyed Lee’s request while other acted like the war never ended making the transition into reconstruction arduous. However, the federal government did not help anything by having a difficult time deciding on how to deal with the South. Once the Radical Republicans finally took control of Congress a strict and harsh reconstruction began that southern democrats adamantly spoke out and rebelled against. Reconstruction was quickly becoming a challenging task for congress, but the republicans held tight to their beliefs and visions for
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Unfortunately, their idea of how things used to be would never come back; they were getting ready to go through a change that would completely alter their way of life. First of all, the South was “…horrified to be back under federal control, ruled by former enemies” it was their biggest nightmare but when Andrew Johnson was in office they were able to easily float their way back to their former way of life (“Challenge” 1). Once Congressional Reconstruction overthrew President Johnson’s reconstruction plan reality began to sink in which only made the south hate the North even more and caused them once again to rebel. The South used everything in their power to stop Congressional Reconstruction, but nothing worked until the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. Starting in Tennessee the Ku Klux Klan’s original purpose was to bring southern democrats back to power, once they succeeded the Klan stopped in Tennessee but continued in other areas of the south. After many long years Reconstruction had finally come to an end because of the Ku Klux Klan’s action and a new wave of Republicans that did not want to continue reconstruction in the south. The infamous time in history had ended, but the changes that were made, such as the addition of Civil Rights, lasted
Unfortunately, their idea of how things used to be would never come back; they were getting ready to go through a change that would completely alter their way of life. First of all, the South was “…horrified to be back under federal control, ruled by former enemies” it was their biggest nightmare but when Andrew Johnson was in office they were able to easily float their way back to their former way of life (“Challenge” 1). Once Congressional Reconstruction overthrew President Johnson’s reconstruction plan reality began to sink in which only made the south hate the North even more and caused them once again to rebel. The South used everything in their power to stop Congressional Reconstruction, but nothing worked until the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. Starting in Tennessee the Ku Klux Klan’s original purpose was to bring southern democrats back to power, once they succeeded the Klan stopped in Tennessee but continued in other areas of the south. After many long years Reconstruction had finally come to an end because of the Ku Klux Klan’s action and a new wave of Republicans that did not want to continue reconstruction in the south. The infamous time in history had ended, but the changes that were made, such as the addition of Civil Rights, lasted