Successes and failures of reconstruction
Successes and failures of reconstruction After the civil war the south was in ruins. Since the north used the total war tactic the south was destroyed. Homes and infrastructure were destroyed, agriculture was blown up and destroyed, and disease was spreading everywhere, causing people to die from hunger, disease, and poverty. Post – civil war in the south for the African Americans were especially bad. Being that most African Americans were refugees, homeless, or separated from family due to slavery, were lost, not knowing what to do next. As you can tell, the south was a complete mess after the civil war. The south at this time did not have the resources they needed to reconstruct the infrastructure (bridges, buildings, and roads) and land by themselves, they needed serious help from the north. The need for reconstruction was outrageous, they needed to make this an organized reconstruction so it wasn’t complete chaos from start to finish. Reconstruction was necessary in order to making to politically bring the south back onto the union and make them states again. Also, reconstruction was necessary to make African Americans equal citizens. In many ways reconstruction of the south was successful. A lot of those successes included; African Americans elected into political office, 13th, 14th and 15th amendments, new state constitutions, state and local legislation, and federal legislation. Reconstruction led to the end of slavery and protection for all citizens, including African-Americans. Along with these successes, by 1870 all 11 Confederate states had been re-admitted into the United States. Reconstruction also stressed the need of education for African Americans. Before reconstruction took place it was illegal to teach slaves to read and write. Thankfully to the Freedman’s Bureau a school was created for African Americans. The end of slavery impacted African Americans greatly, allowing black families to reunite, marriages to be legally recognized, and black