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While appearing to be some type of “Mosses” to the newly freed slaves, his intent was to appease and empower the Southern farmers and institute a real and equitable democracy in the South. Radical Republicans pushed him to include black suffrage. However, he was a strict constitutionalists who believed he had no power as president to unilaterally extend citizenship and suffrage. Although a firm nationalist, he also had a solid respect for states’ rights. His goal was for states to assume their full rights as soon as possible. Secondly there was a reconstruction going on in Congress as well.
Congressional Republicans moved to the political left. Congress did not recognize southern representatives in DCE. 1865. Both houses formed a joint committee on Reconstruction to investigate whether any southern states deserved representation. Moderates wanted to solve a political problem, but Radicals wanted a social revolution. However, congress did decide to extend the rights and powers of the Freedman’s Bureau, largely in response to the white South’s stubbornness and insubordination. With the election of Grant, Radical Republicans finally had an ally in the White House.
In March of 1 870, the final Reconstruction amendment was ratified. The Fifteenth Amendment stated that no American could be denied the right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. ” Elections in the South in 1870 were regulated by federal troops stationed there. In these elections, thousands of Southern blacks voted for the first time; predictably, many Southern whites did not vote in these elections and viewed the entire process with disgust. In he 1870 elections, nearly 630 blacks were elected as representatives in Southern state legislatures.
Sixteen blacks were elected to Congress, one to the United States Senate, and a black, P. B. S. Poinciana, was elected governor of Louisiana. It would be impossible to overstate the resentment with which many Southern whites viewed the entire Reconstruction process. Reconstruction was oftentimes blamed on carpetbaggers, who were Northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction period, or on scalawags, a Southern term for white Southern Republicans (education. Mom, 2013). Amidst these developments, public schools systems were implemented.
Also, the establishment implemented anti-discrimination measures, strengthened rights of agricultural workers and Infrastructure improved. With these turning points, the impact on American’s current society, economy, politics, and culture can be analyzed in many different ways. One could say that without the institution of programs such as The Freedman’s Bureau, Blacks would have not had the opportunity to receive education until the late ass’s or beyond. I believe that without the ratification f the Fifteenth Amendment, black population would not have stood a chance and it would be a black person’s hell in today’s society.
Without the Reconstruction Period, the economy would have rebounded by some type of measure. The U. S did have contributions to the infrastructure through others in the North. Surely the South would have made some adjusting somehow. In an article published in American History Journal, Eric r-owner wrote that Lincoln assassination actually made little difference to the course of Reconstruction. Lincoln, these historians believed, had long been at odds with he Radical Republicans, who would have treated him much as they did Andrew Johnson had Lincoln refused to go along with their plans.
They would have forced their own plan of Reconstruction through Congress. Overridden any vetoes, and tried to remove Lincoln from office through impeachment, just as they attempted with Johnson in 1868. Mr.. Fonder goes on to State that it is impossible to imagine Lincoln, had he lived, becoming so alienated from Congress, the Republican Party, and the northern public as to be impeached and almost removed from office. Nor does it seem likely that he would have enunciated a policy and then stuck to it in the face of self-evident failure.
Lincoln had grown enormously during the Civil War, and his ideas would undoubtedly have continued to evolve during Reconstruction. Even if, like Johnson, he had set in motion the establishment of all- the South in 1865, he undoubtedly would have listened carefully to complaints about the Black Codes and been willing to heed the outcry in the North for further guarantees of the rights of former slaves. (Fonder E, 2009) Many southerners saw Reconstruction as an attempt by the north to punish the south, rather than n attempt to rebuild the nation.
This period was marked by intense bitterness and anger. Regional and racial pressure remained powerful. The UK Klux Klan came into full force, terrorizing blacks by tactics such as night riding. Poll taxes forced an unreasonable fee on blacks at the voting booth. During Reconstruction, the northern economy experienced a tremendous industrial boom, while the South struggled through Reconstruction. Immigrants began pouring into northern cities and provided a cheap labor source for Northern Industry. The south remained primarily agricultural.
Industrialization had both negative effects and positive effects on city life. While big businesses thrived, the gap between the rich and poor grew larger day by day. Progressive reformers sought to close this gap and bring together the nation. Industrialization was very beneficial to American business owners. Following the civil war, industries transformed into modern powerhouses. Big business owners who seized power in these industries became even bigger. New inventions led to new thriving industries. Iron, for example, was replaced with ultra-strong steel.
Andrew Carnegie built the biggest steel business in the world. One main reason why steel was in such demand was due to the expansion of railroads. Before steel, railroads ran on weak iron, which would crack and brake. By 1900, Carnegie Steel earned a whopping $40 million a year. Carnegie believed that big businesses such as this actually improved the overall wellbeing of the nation- rich and poor. The Black Codes were laws in the United States passed after the Civil War with the effect of limiting the civil rights and civil liberties of blacks.
Even though scarification laws against blacks existed in both Northern and Southern states from the early 19th century, the term “Black Codes” is used most often to refer to legislation passed by Southern states at the end of the Civil War to control the labor and movement of newly-freed slaves. The Supreme Court set the stage for Jim Crow laws by several of its decisions. The Court held that the Civil Rights Act of 1 875 was unconstitutional and ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment did not prohibit individuals and private organizations from discriminating on the basis of race.