Reconstruction Era Failure

The Reconstruction Period was a time in America after the Civil War that brought much prosperity. During this period in America the Union was reunited, the North and South grew economically, the Freedman’s Bureau was developed to help those in need, and education was provided for all. However, with prosperity there are always failures and the reconstruction period is no different. The Reconstruction period failed tremendously and ended up having long-term negative consequences for people of color and the entire nation. Racism became a larger issue than ever and has since embedded itself in American culture through the Black Codes, Fourteenth Amendment, and the Ku Klux Klan. When Andrew Johnson was elected vice president under Abraham Lincoln …show more content…
Johnson felt compelled to create a national party dedicated to and devoted to the Union . With that being said, he allowed white Southerners to hold onto as much as they could of the “old order.” With the allowance of this, Black Codes were passed and enforced, which were laws that were all about restricting African American’s freedom. These codes prevented African American’s from renting property, owning firearms, and placed many of their children in the hands of their former owners in apprenticeships . Examples of Black Codes from North Carolina are as follows: “Any person of color convicted by due course of law of an assault with an attempt to commit rape upon the body of a white female, …show more content…
The entire South was split into five military districts where each district was responsible for writing a new constitution giving voting rights to all men, disregarding their ethnicity or whether they were enslaved . They were also to make the Fourteenth Amendment official, which made any person who was born in America, besides American Indian, to be a citizen with rights to due process of law. Many Black men voted and tried to obtain political positions throughout the south. Although Blacks were finally given the rights to vote like the Whites, racism occurred as well. Anyone who was white and joined black voters in the Republican Party were chastised and called a traitor to his race. Nicknames that arose with these traitors were scalawag if you were from the South and carpetbagger if you were from the North. The people who were called scalawags were seen as people with no character and were willing to sell their culture and heritage just to get a spot in the political office. Those who were called carpetbagger’s actually received political positions but were seen as people who carried everything they owned in a cheap carpet bag; all which exploited the ignorance of black voters for their own greed