Reconstruction

Reconstruction Reconstruction was the attempt to resolve the issues of the American Civil War, to defeat the Confederacy and end all of slavery in the U.S states. This time period extended from1863 to 1877, the time of Abraham Lincoln & Andrew Johnson, our 16th and 17th presidents. Their goal was to simply reunite the country.

In this time period, the U.S was divided into two sections, the North and the South. The North believed that slavery was to be demolished. The acts of slavery were acts of cruelness and discrimination. The North wanted the South to return to the “Union” (A.K.A, the North)

On the contrary, the South was doing it’s best to sustain their beliefs and bluntly ignore the Northerners request. Although many of the Southerners disagreed with their own beliefs, they continued to protest against The North, only to defend and praise the South.

Abraham Lincoln was the first president during this time period. He himself was a Northerner, who was determined to abolish slavery. Although the Radical Republicans critiqued that Lincoln was taking too long to abolish slavery, he soon completed their requests. In 1863, the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, containing two requests, to declare the freedom of all slaves in any state of the Confederate States of America, but it did not return power to the Union.

The Emancipation Proclamation promoted the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment. The Thirteenth Amendment was issued in 1865, which made the abolishment of slavery official, and it still does today, although Kentucky and Colorado did free themselves from this amendment for some time; they now allow absolutely no slavery.

Although this amendment was issued, many worried that it was going to cause more conflict. The Radical Republicans, despite the push the put on Lincoln, worried if this could cause another war.

The same year this amendment was issued, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln occurred. He was shot at the Ford Theatre in Washington D.C. After his assassination, a new president took his place.

Andrew Johnson who had previously had been the governor of Tennessee quickly became the new president of the Confederate States. He still had to lead the country out of slavery, despite the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment.

Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans were quickly opposed by the Radical Republicans after the passing and issuing of the Thirteenth Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation.

Johnson did his best to organize and uniform any other situation due to these two documents. After Johnson’s rule ended, The Radical Republicans gained power in 1866 and began the Constitutional Reconstruction, which emphasized civil rights and voting rights for all the freed men.

A Republican coalition of Freedmen, Carpetbaggers and Southern Unionists controlled most of the southern states. In the Redemption, 1873-77, white Southerners (who call themselves “Redeemers”) defeated the Republicans and took control of each southern state, marking the end of Reconstruction.

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