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America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains

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America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains

The Reconstruction Era was the time period from 1865-1877 after the Civil War ended. The South was severely damaged from the war. Farms, railroads and bridges were destroyed and The South had tremendous hurdles to overcome to get back on track. The North entered a time where politicians took the opportunity to pass laws that southerners in Congress had resisted before. Businesses started to boom and take shape. The Reconstruction Era was the time period where the government attempts to resolve the issues resulting from the end of the Civil War.
One turning point was The Freedman’s Bureau was established by Congress in 1865 to build schools, food and medical care to needy southern black and white people and to ensure equal access to the judicial system for southerners both black and white. It also urged former slave owners and former slaves to work as employers and employees rather than master and slaves.
The Bureau was managed by Union Army General Oliver O. Howard, in which the historical black college Howard University is named after. The biggest achievement by the bureau was in education. Before the Civil War, there were no state-supported public education which still in effect today. The ex-slaves long to learn to read and write, and this was a major priority for the bureau and by 1870 more than 1,000 schools had be established.
The Freedman’s Bureau was only suppose last for a year, but Congress renewed its charter bill extended its life indefinitely and greatly increasing its powers but it was vetoed by President Andrew Johnson because he saw it as unconstitutional. Another turning point was the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed in 1868 that extended the guarantees of the Constitution and Bill of Rights to all persons born in the United States, including African Americans and former slaves; it

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