Impact of Reconstruction Era as a Period after Civil War Essay Example

south and created great tension. The Southern Americans feared that black slaves will start liberating for their rights and freedoms. In 1854, Kansas Nebraska Act was passed by the U.S congress (Hyman 84). This act opened up all new territories to slavery. It asserted the rule of popular sovereignty more than the congressional edict. In the North, anti-slavery forces strived violently to curb Kansas Nebraska Act. The North formed a Republican Party which was based on opposing extension of slavery activities in the western territories.

Dred Scott case was ruled by the Supreme Court and slaves’ legality was confirmed in the territories (Foner 256). The North and South perceptions of this idea was totally different. When Lincoln was elected as the president in 1860, the seven southern states withdrawn from USA. These include Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and South Carolina. When Lincoln took office in 1861, the confederates threatened Fort Sumter in Charleston. After Fort Sumter, Virginia, Missouri, Maryland and Kentucky joined the confederacy side (Hyman 244). This created more tension.

The Battle of Bull Run forced a large number of federals to retreat to Washington D.C. this forced Lincoln to request for more 500,000 recruits. The civil war was also vivid in Virginia. B. McClellan replaced the aging Winfield as the supreme commander of the Union Army. McClellan was loved by the troops; however his reluctance to advance annoyed Lincoln. The advancement of McClellan army to Potomac and New York was drove back in seven days of battleship by Robert Lee combined forces (Kaczorowski 300). Lee later moved his troops to the northern region and divided his men.

John Pope troops attacked Jackson forces in the second

Battle of Bull Run Lee hit troops from Federal with a massive assault, an act that made Pope’s men to shift towards Washington (Foner 456). Lee was successful and therefore he started full invasion in the north. McClellan attacked Lee at Maryland and drove him back to the defensive position in Antietam Creek. Lee’s forces were also attacked by the Army of Potomac. This was a bloody war since so many soldiers died. The Union victory at Antietam halted Confederate advance in Maryland. This forced Lee to retreat back to Virginia.

In 1863-1864 (Hyman 93), Lincoln made the emancipation proclamation move. This deprived the confederacy of the large labour forces and establishes international public opinions boldly on the Union side. In conclusion, civil war led to many deaths. It also led to the end of slavery. The freed slaves were mandated with legal rights and freedoms. Civil war led to military innovations. It also led to unification of North and South America.

On the other hand, reconstruction was the period after the end of civil war in the USA. It was a period of failure and success at the same time. During this period, the freedmen were indulged in great suffering. Reconstruction period affected both the poor whites and freed slaves. It also facilitated the reunification of the Union (Kaczorowski 144). The early time of reconstruction in the south was a period of marvelous positive thinking for the recently liberated slaves. The slaves were at long last granted monetary, social, economic and political freedom. The slaves had the flexibility to climb the social stepping stool. In any case, this feeling of freedom was unwarranted since there was

a considerable measure of racial separation in the south after the common war.

Most of the southern whites were racialists. The Freedman did not have cash to buy land. The national government did not consider the slaves when they were leading area under appropriation venture the national government declined to provide the slaves with an area (Hyman 101). The freedmen used to work in typical jobs. They spared cash yet at the same time the whites couldn't offer area to them. Reconstruction period was associated with inhabitant cultivating and sharecropping. Another standard of enslavement was made through sharecropping and inhabitant cultivating. In both the two frameworks, dark families needed to lease the area.

Some low-pay families in South worked for rich grower. A few families preferred paying settled lease as opposed to sharing their yields. This was more adaptable since the agriculturists were permitted to pick what they generated; this created a higher societal position. This framework was known as sharecroppers. In sharecropping framework, the grower would rent area to the poor whites and blacks. Toward the end of the year, the grower got one-portion of the family's yields (Foner 150).

The black freedmen suffered during reconstruction period. The freed slaves used black codes. Black codes were special laws that were passed to hinder and constraint freed slaves from enjoying their legal rights and freedoms (Foner 125). African Americans were denied the right to sell property as well as binding rights. Black codes envisaged the freemen in certain types of jobs, especially the typical jobs but not professions. It was also used as a travel pass. Reconstruction was associated with poverty, especially in the South. Sharecropping and intercropping

led to the struggle of the limited resources.

The white men were the land proprietors of those grounds. They used to rent them to the blacks. A cycle of awful obligations was additionally made subsequent to the liberated slaves (Kaczorowski 77). They lacked enough cash to purchase the essential instruments essential for cultivating. The liberated slaves were soiled on the homesteads in the red and neediness. Numerous poor blacks and whites saw the chance to benefit from cotton creation after the common war. The poor whites did not have the cash-flow to buy the area and along these lines confronted the same troubles as the dark liberated slaves. Common wars had disabled the economy of the south. Poor whites amassed in agricultural activities and were in interminable obligation for quite a few years after the war.

In conclusion, reconstruction period was better and favorable for the slaves when compared with civil war period. However, the freed slaves went through a period of restriction and struggle over the limited economic resources.

Works Cited

1. Foner, Eric. Reconstruction: America's unfinished revolution, 1863-1877. Harper Collins, 2011.
2. Kaczorowski, Robert J. "Revolutionary Constitutionalism in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction." NYUL Rev. 61 (2009): 863.
3. Hyman, Harold Melvin. A More Perfect Union: The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the Constitution. Alfred A. Knopf, (2010)