Reconstruction Era Research Paper

I thought that the reconstruction era pertained most to me and so that is the reason I have chosen it as my topic.The reconstruction era was a time where the states of the North and the South had to walk on a thin line. Reason behind this is that the Civil war had just ended and anything that could push them into fighting needed to be avoided. That being said, it was a lot harder said than done. The reconstruction process would take much longer than a few years. Though the thirteenth amendment abolished slavery, it didn 't stop many of the plantation owners of the South from keeping their workers. As far as it concerned them, they still owned them, and they weren 't going to let them go so easily. One of the first statements in the documentary …show more content…
It says "a white population, which had numbered more than 590,000 in 1860, depleted by some 40,000 Georgians who had been killed or permanently dispersed by the conflict. The state 's black population, principally more than 460,000 newly freed slaves, confronted a new world with hope and uncertainty." Analyzing this statement I see that it was very accurate of him saying this. There would have been a new hope of a better world, especially for the newly freed slaves. Going from a world of captivity to having your freedom would bring new hope, but the uncertainty was there. A lot of the whites depended on the African Americans and there was no way that they were going free them easily. The slaves would have had an uncertainty of whether or not they would receive their freedom as well as all the rights of a normal citizen. They had the right to feel uncertain. President Andrew Johnson let the confederate states join the union without any cost, causing the states to go back to a Pre Civil war like government . Many of the southern citizens pointed many ex confederate soldiers to run their state government. Black codes were enforced which were harsh government laws against blacks. The laws were used to regulate the lives of colored people making it difficult for them to obtain …show more content…
Having the black codes made it hard for them to do anything but work on a farm. What made it even harder was the fact that they could not voice their opinions for fear of being attacked by the Ku Klux Klan. Those who were African American in the republican political office were in even more danger. It wasn 't just the African Americans that were targeted by the Ku Klux Klan. Also upon further review of this article I found it interesting how the Ku Klux Klan was formed to suppress the republican party. They were not just formed to combat the colored government officials, but to combat anyone who stood for the republican