It period where we rebuild and unite the

It doesn’t matter what developed country you live in one day you rights will be denied in diverse ways and you will have no voice to speak up for your equality. The period after the Civil War, 1865-1877, was called Reconstruction.

America has gone through many political changes. At that time presidents have come, and all of them have different ideas. Reconstruction was the period where we rebuild and unite the country after Civil war. Abraham Lincoln was the president during reconstruction he wanted to heal the nation quickly because he wants to end the war and hold the nation together. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued his Emancipation Proclamation.

Emancipation Proclamation helped north win, also he wants to free slaves in the Confederacy. Lincoln’s plan was not to punish southerners but Lincoln Reconstruction plan angered a minority of Radicals Republicans in Congress because they want to punish south for starting the war. Radical Republicans were against this plan because they wanted to keep Republicans in power. This plan made southerners angry because south had to nullify that they wanted to secede. Southerners felt that their states rights were being taken away. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, so Andrew Johnson took over and decide that the southern states needed to abolish slavery in their state before being readmitted to the Union. But Later on, Johnson was impeached because the power struggles and Republicans opposed Johnson policies. The successes or promises of Reconstruction didn’t secure the rights for former slaves.

In 1865 the Thirteenth Amendment was passed which was to abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment granted blacks citizenship, the Fifteenth Amendment gave black men the right to vote. African Americans were given the rights after reconstruction but their rights are denied at the same time by whites. Reconstruction failed to assure the full rights of citizens and equality to freed slaves.             African Americans have to face a lot of challenges because they want to get equally treated as whites. Reconstruction failed to persuade the full rights of citizens to freed slaves.

Everytime African American get a right as a citizen white always came up with something and deny it. For Example, in Document (14th Amendment, U. S. Constitution) it states “….

…All persons born …. in the United States … are citizens of the United States … No state shall … deprive any person of life or property… nor deny to any person… the equal protection of the laws.” This Emphasizes that the 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal civil rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after the Civil war. Also, it forbids states not to restrict basic rights of citizens.

Whites denied 14th Amendment by passing Black Codes which denied equal rights and restricted the rights of formerly enslaved people. The problem for African American was how to respond to a white society that for the most part did not want to treat black people as equals. At that time African Americans had no role in society because they had no status and no voice to speak up for their equality.

For instance, in Document (Louisiana Democratic Convention) it states “ We hold this to be a Government of White people, made and to continue for the exclusive benefit of White Race, and ….. That the people of African descent cannot be considered as citizens of the united states.” This illustrates that Reconstruction just gave slaves a name as “ citizens” but in the view of whites blacks was still the slaves who shouldn’t get equality because they are not from the same race.

Whites treated African Americans as animals. Even though African Americans got a right to be a citizen but still they didn’t get treated enough to provide basic necessities for their families. Also, one law that was passed by southerners was sharecropping which kept formerly enslaved economically dependent and it was a cycle of poverty which also denied African American rights.

During Reconstruction, the black codes passed by southern states were attempts to deny equal rights to African Americans.               Others might argue that Reconstruction live up to its promises and it gave African American all the rights because now they got a right to be a citizen and vote. For Example, in Document (ushistory. org) “ African American was holding political office. Blacks were becoming sheriffs and judges.

” However, Reconstruction failed to assure the full rights of citizens and equality to freed slaves. According to the Document (opposition to Reconstruction) ” While KKK, members tried to conceal their identities when they struck, Southern Democrats openly used violence ….. Democrats rioted and attacked Republicans leaders and prominent African Americans. Their terrorist campaign frightened the African American majority away from the polls.” This illustrates that if the KKK campaign sees any African American voting or participating in government the klan would kill them so they frightened other Africans Americans not to participate in government and speak up for their equality. KKK terrorized and murdered Africans.

It doesn’t matter if Whites gave jobs to African American because even though they have jobs but they don’t get respect from a white person because whites still hate African Americans. At that time African Americans were never treated fairly because white was considered most significant in government. In 15th Amendment, African Americans got a right to vote but white southerners felt indignant because they don’t want Africans Americans to participate in the government and come me up with the idea to control whites. By preventing African Americans from voting they came up with a Literary test, Grandfather clause, and poll tax because they know Africans Americans are not educated. There are many ways Whites denied African Americans equal rights after Reconstruction.            There is numerous failure of Reconstruction because Reconstruction didn’t live up to its promises. One of the huge supreme court cases during 1896 was Plessy v.

Ferguson. During that supreme court rule that 1871 Enforcement Act is unconstitutional. For Example, in Document (Plessy v. Ferguson) it states, ” Plessey deliberately sat in the white section and identified himself as black. He was arrested …….. Plessey lawyer argued that the Separate Car Act violated the thirteenth and fourteenth amendment to the constitution.

” This Emphasizes, that it doesn’t matter if the Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendment if you are black you will get arrested and punished. But the Plessy decision set the precedent that “ separate” facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they are “ equal.” So, later on, everything was separated equally but the material to build stuff was different because to whites African American is still considered a slave. According to the document (Plessy v. Ferguson) it states, “ Separate but equal” was quickly extended to cover many areas of public life, such as restaurants, theaters, restrooms, and public schools.

” This illustrates that this doctrine was spread all over to public but still it was separate and unequal. The separate facilities were inherently unequal because many public areas for Africans Americans built unequally. Southern states passed many laws to discriminate laws that severely restricted Africans Americans’ lives.           In the Conclusion, Former slaves try to improve their lives and became involved in Congress but there were almost as many black citizens as whites in citizens in the south. Reconstruction plan was a failure because in reality Africans Americans never achieved equality in their life as a citizen.

In a view of a white African American was still seen as animals and slaves. It didn’t change anything there was still a conflict between African American and a white. African Americans didn’t know how to respond to a white people that for the most part did not want to treat black people as equals. Reconstruction failed to assure the full rights of citizens to the freed slaves. It shouldn’t matter what race we are from we all are humans so we all should get treated equally.