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Reconstruction Success

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Reconstruction in post –Civil war America, is perhaps one of the most educational periods in American history. As the first attempt at interracial democracy, it is natural for it to be deemed as a success or a failure. However, this decision is rather controversial. Success can be defined as the accomplishment of a person or people’s aim or purpose. The aim of reconstruction was to reunite the nation after the Civil war. In doing so, it would also aim to forge a fair system of labor that would replace slavery entirely as well as grant newly freed slaves rights with which they could seek to forge the equality of all citizens regardless of race. While it is clear that Reconstruction did not accomplish all it had set out to do, it did house several …show more content…
In reality, these writings held their effect for far too short a time period. For example, the 15th Amendment led to a massive participation in voting blacks. Biracial democratic governments began to form in select states of the South. “2,000 blacks held public office from the Justice of the Peace to the Senate. African Americans voted in proportions of nearly 90% of those eligible (Clark-Pujara, 11/17).” These victories led to the creation of two powerful white supremacist organizations which directly hindered the progress of reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Council would ultimately lead the North to abandon its commitment to protect the newly founded rights of former …show more content…
Defining success as the accomplishment of a person or people’s aim or purpose, we can view how each temporary success through the course of Reconstruction would lead to a devastating failure to satisfy the requirements of this definition by its end. Special Field Order Number 15 did offer former slaves land and their desired freedom, but was abruptly abolished by Johnson’s actions less than a year later. As a result of Johnson’s actions, the re-appearance of white supremacy in the south led to sharecropping which mimicked conditions that Reconstruction had aimed to rid. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendment, as well as the two Civil Rights acts paved the way for black political involvement and equality. The alarming violence and racism encapsulated by the formation of several white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and the White Citizens Council quickly led to black people official’s abandonment of their positions as well as the abandonment of the North’s commitment to protect the black’s rights. Success can be seen temporarily in each scenario, but is quickly trumped by a backlash of racism, which in each case lead to its ultimate

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