The account of Reconstruction to be a failure to bring social and economic equality of opportunity to the former slaves was due to the way Congress transformed the South, biracial state governments, and the end of Reconstruction being staggered.
The South was transformed by Congress with the reconstruction of state governments and societies. President Abraham Lincoln setup reconstructed governments in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana during the war as the states came under control of the US Army. Lincoln gave land to former slaves in South Carolina as an experiment. The new president, Andrew Johnson, declared the war goals of national unity, and the end of slavery achieved. But Republicans in Congress refused to accept these terms, in turn they rejected new members of Congress. Johnson severed his ties with the Republicans after vetoing two key bills that supported the Freedman’s Bureau and provided federal civil rights to former slaves. The 1866 Congressional elections turned on the issue of Reconstruction. Therefore, the Republicans had a sweeping victory in the North which provided the Radical Republicans (anti-slavery, distrusted ex-confederates, and emphasized civil rights for former slaves) with …show more content…
Army intervention in the South ceased due to the Compromise 1877, and Republican control collapsed in the last three state governments in the South. The white Southerners, going by the Redemption, started the period of white-dominated state legislatures being enacted, like the Jim Crow laws. This disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites through a combination of constitutional amendments and electoral laws. Subsequently, this series of events led to the system of white supremacy and second-class citizenship for blacks. This led to state and local laws enforcing racial segregation, more commonly known as the Jim Crow
The South was transformed by Congress with the reconstruction of state governments and societies. President Abraham Lincoln setup reconstructed governments in Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana during the war as the states came under control of the US Army. Lincoln gave land to former slaves in South Carolina as an experiment. The new president, Andrew Johnson, declared the war goals of national unity, and the end of slavery achieved. But Republicans in Congress refused to accept these terms, in turn they rejected new members of Congress. Johnson severed his ties with the Republicans after vetoing two key bills that supported the Freedman’s Bureau and provided federal civil rights to former slaves. The 1866 Congressional elections turned on the issue of Reconstruction. Therefore, the Republicans had a sweeping victory in the North which provided the Radical Republicans (anti-slavery, distrusted ex-confederates, and emphasized civil rights for former slaves) with …show more content…
Army intervention in the South ceased due to the Compromise 1877, and Republican control collapsed in the last three state governments in the South. The white Southerners, going by the Redemption, started the period of white-dominated state legislatures being enacted, like the Jim Crow laws. This disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites through a combination of constitutional amendments and electoral laws. Subsequently, this series of events led to the system of white supremacy and second-class citizenship for blacks. This led to state and local laws enforcing racial segregation, more commonly known as the Jim Crow