Reconstruction

Paper Summary:

This paper describes the goals and methods of reconstruction of the southern states after the American Civil War. It states that reconstruction tried to achieve a certain degree of racial egalitarianism of the blacks with two vital amendments to the constitution: The 14th and 15th amendments. The paper describes the counter productivity with the government's clemency towards the southern states, which introduced black codes to suppress the African-American population. The author states that reconstruction achieved much regardless of its obvious weaknesses: schools were built to educate blacks and the poor whites, roads were constructed and the shield given to life and property were certainly key achievements of the government.

Table of Contents
Introduction
Reconstruction and its Weaknesses
Attitude of white Southerners
Compromise of 1877
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"Even after the liberation declaration proclamation, two more years of war, service by African American troops, and the overwhelm of the confederacy, the nation was still unprepared to deal with the question of full citizenship for its newly at liberty black population. The reconstruction implemented by Congress, which lasted from 1866 to 1877, was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War, providing the means for at restructure the southern states. After the Civil War, providing the means for readmitting them into the union, and defining the means by which whites and blacks could live jointly in a no slave society. The South, however, saw reconstruction as a humiliating, even unforgiving burden and did not welcome it."

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