After the destructive Civil War subsided in 1865, the nation entered a an “Era of Reconstruction”; as the south was conquered, the central concern of the union immediately shifted to reconstructing the postwar south. The restoration of former Confederate officers proposed by president Johnson became controversial, and new policies dealing with newly freed slaves raised issues especially in the south. By describing the Reconstruction as a “splendid failure”, historian Du Bois had realized the complexity of the event; it had definitely failed fully achieving its goal, while it did bring the blacks a degree of social equality for a period of time and built the foundation for future equality by ensuring their legal protection. This being said,
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As they realized, without the right to own land, they were still bound to service for the whites. Sharecropping and tenant farming was common in the relatively rural south; under this system, the blacks found themselves desperate with their debt increasing every year, for they were unable to pay the landowners with the little profit they make. The whites surely understood the situation, and apparently took advantage of it. Beside the land, the whites sought various ways to pin down the African Americans. Right after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, for instance, the uncooperative south sought to preserve slavery as nearly as possible. In order to do this, “black codes” were passed by the new southern legislatures to restrict the freedom of the former slaves, giving the blacks the name “free Negro” for they were considered to be distinct from the superior white generations. In addition, the Amendment probably went further than the it intended to in some places. Although a large majority of African Americans were not permitted to vote, the first vote by a black man was nevertheless cast in 1867 (Doc.G). The possibility of blacks taking control of the political affairs …show more content…
In the postwar campaign, the Constitution became a major weapon used by the Radical Republicans to push forward their plan of Southern Reconstruction. The conflict centered around the interpretation of the Constitution emerged early in 1860, when South Carolina declared that “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, and reserved to the states”(Doc. A), which supported their idea of states’ rights over the federal government, thus justifying the southern intransigence by “Constitutional Right”. “That bad sentiment”, observed John Sherman in 1863, “has elevated state authority above national authority”( Doc. B), which would be an instrument used by people who lack a sense of nationality to overthrow the government. The denial of the southern beliefs intensified the anti-Reconstruction sentiment in the south, forcing the Radical Republicans to use the Constitution to achieve their goals. In 1865, Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy insisted that they should “get rid of slavery by constitutional means”( Doc. D); his wish would soon come true. In president Johnson’s plan or Reconstruction, in order for the former Confederate states to be readmitted by the union, the ratification of the 13th Amendment was required, which abolished slavery and any other involuntary
As they realized, without the right to own land, they were still bound to service for the whites. Sharecropping and tenant farming was common in the relatively rural south; under this system, the blacks found themselves desperate with their debt increasing every year, for they were unable to pay the landowners with the little profit they make. The whites surely understood the situation, and apparently took advantage of it. Beside the land, the whites sought various ways to pin down the African Americans. Right after the ratification of the 13th Amendment, for instance, the uncooperative south sought to preserve slavery as nearly as possible. In order to do this, “black codes” were passed by the new southern legislatures to restrict the freedom of the former slaves, giving the blacks the name “free Negro” for they were considered to be distinct from the superior white generations. In addition, the Amendment probably went further than the it intended to in some places. Although a large majority of African Americans were not permitted to vote, the first vote by a black man was nevertheless cast in 1867 (Doc.G). The possibility of blacks taking control of the political affairs …show more content…
In the postwar campaign, the Constitution became a major weapon used by the Radical Republicans to push forward their plan of Southern Reconstruction. The conflict centered around the interpretation of the Constitution emerged early in 1860, when South Carolina declared that “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, and reserved to the states”(Doc. A), which supported their idea of states’ rights over the federal government, thus justifying the southern intransigence by “Constitutional Right”. “That bad sentiment”, observed John Sherman in 1863, “has elevated state authority above national authority”( Doc. B), which would be an instrument used by people who lack a sense of nationality to overthrow the government. The denial of the southern beliefs intensified the anti-Reconstruction sentiment in the south, forcing the Radical Republicans to use the Constitution to achieve their goals. In 1865, Gideon Welles, Lincoln’s Secretary of the Navy insisted that they should “get rid of slavery by constitutional means”( Doc. D); his wish would soon come true. In president Johnson’s plan or Reconstruction, in order for the former Confederate states to be readmitted by the union, the ratification of the 13th Amendment was required, which abolished slavery and any other involuntary