Reconstruction
Evaluate the gains made by the blacks during Reconstruction
Reconstruction was during the period of 1865 to 1877, where attempts were made to solve the injustices of slavery and its political, social and economic legacy and solving the problems that would arise because of the readmission of the eleven states into the Union and has been long portrayed by many historians as a time when vindictive Radical Republicans fastened black supremacy upon the defeated confederacy. Some gains were made by the blacks during this time; slavery was abolished in the South, The Freedman’s Bureau was established which helped to gain small rights and privileges such as schools for the blacks, the blacks also gained the right to vote with the Fourteenth Amendment, there was some advancement in political office of the blacks, and they also gained wages and temporary land.
The first thing gained by the blacks at the beginning of reconstruction was the abolition of slavery in the South. According to Maldwyn A. Jones in Limits to liberty, Lincoln began the process of Reconstruction during the Civil War. In December 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation outlining a general Reconstruction plan. All confederates, except for high civil and military leaders, would be granted amnesty once they had taken an oath of loyalty to the Union. As soon as the ten per cent of the electorate of any state had taken the oath, and accepted the abolition of slavery, they might form a state government which the President would recognise. In other words, in order for state governments to be recognised they had to swear an oath to the Union and abolish slavery. News of emancipation left the blacks exultant and hopeful. Freedom meant many things. It meant reuniting separated families, the end of punishment by the lash, the ability to move around, the opportunity to establish school, churches, and social clubs, and not least, the chance to engage in politics. The abolition of slavery was the first gain for the
Reconstruction was during the period of 1865 to 1877, where attempts were made to solve the injustices of slavery and its political, social and economic legacy and solving the problems that would arise because of the readmission of the eleven states into the Union and has been long portrayed by many historians as a time when vindictive Radical Republicans fastened black supremacy upon the defeated confederacy. Some gains were made by the blacks during this time; slavery was abolished in the South, The Freedman’s Bureau was established which helped to gain small rights and privileges such as schools for the blacks, the blacks also gained the right to vote with the Fourteenth Amendment, there was some advancement in political office of the blacks, and they also gained wages and temporary land.
The first thing gained by the blacks at the beginning of reconstruction was the abolition of slavery in the South. According to Maldwyn A. Jones in Limits to liberty, Lincoln began the process of Reconstruction during the Civil War. In December 1863, Lincoln issued a proclamation outlining a general Reconstruction plan. All confederates, except for high civil and military leaders, would be granted amnesty once they had taken an oath of loyalty to the Union. As soon as the ten per cent of the electorate of any state had taken the oath, and accepted the abolition of slavery, they might form a state government which the President would recognise. In other words, in order for state governments to be recognised they had to swear an oath to the Union and abolish slavery. News of emancipation left the blacks exultant and hopeful. Freedom meant many things. It meant reuniting separated families, the end of punishment by the lash, the ability to move around, the opportunity to establish school, churches, and social clubs, and not least, the chance to engage in politics. The abolition of slavery was the first gain for the
Cited: Brinkley, Alan. American History a survey. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. David Herbert Donald, James. G. Randall, Jean H Baker, Michael Fitzgibbon Holt. The Civil War and Reconstruction. New York: Norton 2001, 1961. Foner, Eric. A short History of Reconstruction, 1863-1877. New York: Harper and Row, 1990. Franklin, John Hope. Reconstruction: after the Civil War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1961. James A. Henretta, David Brody, Lynn Dumenil. America a concise history. New York: Library of Congress, 1999. Jones, Maldwyn A. The Limits of Liberty American History 1607-1980. New York: Oxford University Press, 1983. Lynch, John Roy. The Facts of Reconstruction. New York: Arno Press, 1968. Robert A. Divine, T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, R. Hal Williams. America Past and Present. New York: Addison Wesley Educational Publishers Inc. 1999