The Ratification Of The 13th Essays

The ratification of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments raised the hopes of the newly-freed slaves of North America. Slaves, abolitionists and Radical Republicans believed this would be the beginning of justice and equality for all Americans. The Freedmen’s Bureau reunited ex-slaves with their families and provided education, raising their hopes further. Their hopes, however; were soon dashed by the reality of Reconstruction. They were subject to long-term discrimination and segregation by angry southerners, threatened by their freedom. Black Codes, later, Jim Crow Laws were introduced in Southern states to supress African-Americans and denied them the right to vote, serve on a jury and marry a white person. Southern stakeholders, left defeated and devastated by the war believed they would have to pay dearly for losing the Civil War. However; soon after Johnson was elected President he pardoned many of the Southern delegates and slowly let them back into power. By 1877, Southern states were back in power and had essentially won the war of Reconstruction. The hopes of slaves, Northerners, abolitionists and Radical Republicans were high at the end of the Civil War but failed to deliver, whereas the Southern stakeholder’s hopes grew during Reconstruction and brought them what they wanted.

The Southern stakeholders were left in financial ruin after the end of the Civil War and their hopes were seemingly dashed. They had lost the Civil War and their agricultural based industries…