Reconstruction Acts example essay topic

Of the many trials and tribulations that occurred during reconstruction we are faced with determining whether it was a success or a failure. Many good things and bad things happened as a result of reconstruction... Although some setbacks and tragedies did happen as with any project of this size would. The entire effort overall was successful. Although it did not accomplished what it was set in place to do. The act changed the course of history for the better.

As this project started there was much conflict as what to do with the south. The President's ideas and Congresses ideas of how to solve the problems in the south differed greatly. President Johnson was vetoing everything that congress wanted to pass. His reasoning for this was that he thought congress was being too harsh on the south. In turn congress thought the President was not being harsh enough. Congress told the southern states that they must ratify the fourteenth amendment to gain admittance back into the union.

So reluctantly the south eventually gained admittance but not without finding loopholes first. Some states as they ratified the amendment made laws and clauses that still prevented blacks from voting such as black codes and grandfather clauses. These laws and codes were totally legal. The way they worked is that literacy tests were given at the polls before you could vote. Or the grandfather clause that stated if your grandfather could vote so could you. All of these problems proved to be a detrimental setback in the processes of reconstruction.

Despite all of these loopholes many good things came from reconstruction. It led the way for the civil rights movement. It also promoted equal rights and the right for everyone to be free. Free labor was a result of these acts.

Without reconstruction where would the south be today? Most likely poor, unequal rights, and most likely bad economic problems. As a direct result of reconstruction industrialization emerged in the south. Less raw materials were sent north and they were used in the south. Former slaves and poor whites started working in factories earning wages instead of working on plantations. Blacks started to be voted into office.

If reconstruction never happened this situation would never have come about. Reconstruction not only changed things in the south they also changed things in the north. Feminists movements started coming about in the north. They started asking why freed slaves could vote but women still could not.

Many new questions arose and reconstruction was the cause. Although the reconstruction acts failed in many ways they were reconciled by the fact that it opened doors to many new ideas. It tested the laws, practices, and even our very beliefs in the United States of America. It broke into the time when industrialism really exploded onto the scene. Civil rights emerged to help make this country equal and just. Feminism emerged as well to help in this equal rights fight.

As with every fight this one was not easy but was overcome and became one of the most important turning points in American history.