The Reconstruction Era The late 1860s and the early 1870s was an exciting time for Americans. The Civil War had already ended and reconstruction plans were being made, and by 1869, the first college football game had occurred. In 1870 Hiram Revels was elected as the first black Senator and in 1877 the first Easter egg hunt was held on the White House lawn (Roden 507). However, not everything was so jovial. Innocent Americans were being cruelly murdered. A Southern terrorist group called the Ku-Klux Klan (KKK) were trying to put an end to Reconstruction efforts by foully killing anyone who supported Reconstruction. However, if the North had stepped in to stop the violence, then Reconstruction policies could’ve survived. The North was responsible
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The Civil War had been over for about 10 years and the United States had officially been a country for 100 years. Homesteaders and ranchers started moving west of the Mississippi River and railroads were being built at an incredible rate. At the end of the Civil War, the policy of Reconstruction was created in the hopes of reconnecting the eleven Southern states to the Union and welcoming the newly freed slaves. In the first steps of Reconstruction, the US Congress removed the confederate state governments and put federal soldiers in the South. For a time, the dream of Reconstruction seemed like it might come true. The 13th Amendment ended slavery and the 14th Amendment gave black Americans citizenship and civil rights. Then, a Military Reconstruction Act was passed to ensure African Americans new rights were protected. Schools, churches, and universities were built to educate the freed African Americans. Then, the 15th Amendment was approved making it illegal to deny a person the right to vote based on race. The country finally seemed to be at peace, but then the election of 1876 occurred. The candidates were Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) and Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat). This was one of the most controversial presidential elections at that time. To avoid a crisis and possibly another Civil War, the Compromise of 1876 was created. It granted Hayes the Presidency if Hayes promised to remove federal soldiers from the South. The removal of the soldiers almost guaranteed that all-white government would reclaim the South and that the Reconstruction Era would end (Roden
The Civil War had been over for about 10 years and the United States had officially been a country for 100 years. Homesteaders and ranchers started moving west of the Mississippi River and railroads were being built at an incredible rate. At the end of the Civil War, the policy of Reconstruction was created in the hopes of reconnecting the eleven Southern states to the Union and welcoming the newly freed slaves. In the first steps of Reconstruction, the US Congress removed the confederate state governments and put federal soldiers in the South. For a time, the dream of Reconstruction seemed like it might come true. The 13th Amendment ended slavery and the 14th Amendment gave black Americans citizenship and civil rights. Then, a Military Reconstruction Act was passed to ensure African Americans new rights were protected. Schools, churches, and universities were built to educate the freed African Americans. Then, the 15th Amendment was approved making it illegal to deny a person the right to vote based on race. The country finally seemed to be at peace, but then the election of 1876 occurred. The candidates were Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) and Samuel J. Tilden (Democrat). This was one of the most controversial presidential elections at that time. To avoid a crisis and possibly another Civil War, the Compromise of 1876 was created. It granted Hayes the Presidency if Hayes promised to remove federal soldiers from the South. The removal of the soldiers almost guaranteed that all-white government would reclaim the South and that the Reconstruction Era would end (Roden