I like studying the period of Reconstruction because it was, to a large extent, a huge opportunity for Americans to restructure their government and society in the years after the Civil War. However, by Reconstructions end, the South seems to have barely changed, and African Americans continue to find themselves living in a position of inferiority and danger.
Why did the American government not accomplish more with this opportunity? What do things like the black codes and the KKK reveal about how hard it is to change a society?
The American government did not accomplish more with this opportunity because they did not care. They did not care that the black people were not being treated right and that nothing had changed for the rights of black people besides the ending of slavery. The American government wasn't concerned with how the blacks were being treated. They could have accomplished more with this opportunity. The American government could have made it so that blacks had more rights and were treated more equally when they had this opportunity. The KKK reveals that it is very hard to change a society. I think this because the KKK was a group that did not want the blacks to have equal rights and their powerful views on this issue made it hard for a society to change.
ReplyDeleteEven though many changes had been made during the reconstruction period, the South seemed to have barely changed and African Americans continued to find themselves living in a position of danger because the racists Southern people's sense of white supremacy could not be abolished right away. Therefore, even though many progress had been made during the reconstruction regarding what to do with the former enslaved population, which includes the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment, African Americans continued to be in a great danger because Southerners figured a way to go about their ways to claim white Supremacy. KKK is one example of reaction to the reconstruction amendments. In addition, focus on civil right movements were slowly fading away to financial movements. When Lincoln died, Andrew Johnson, who was a racist former democrat became a president and he clashed with Congress for excessive use of vetos to prevent civil right movements from getting passed. Plus, Panic of 1873, which caused widespread unemployment and hardship in finance shifted the focus of reconstruction to Finance.
ReplyDeletei believe that the American government did not accomplish more with this opportunity because they did not have someone that could lead the Reconstruction, they were missing their leader, their real president since Lincoln had been assassinated. Also, the government probably tried to accomplish with it but they could not because the American society of the time was so hard to deal with since the thoughts between the North and the South were completely opposite. Since then, racist and violent groups started to appear such as the KKK (which discriminated blacks and even killed them). The society was therefore so hard to handle because these kinds of groups were so powerful and violent, which was very very bad and painful because they never let the blacks be actually FREE.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I think the fact that Lincoln did not have the fortune to lead the Reconstruction is a key reason. There was not a person in power who truly wanted to change the inequality of black people compare to white people. The way black people were treated was just not on their concern list. Now, these KKK and supreme white alliance reveal that the society cannot be change easily. Especially under the law of freedom of speech. Just idea just cannot be stopped from spreading from generation to generations.
ReplyDeleteThe Americans didn't accomplish more with this opportunity because not everyone was at the same starting point our was thinking the same, so when all of America's minds were attempted to be changed in the same way, not everyone agreed with eachother. The government tried to treat everyone the same and convince them in the same ways when in all reality they should have gone with a much different approach. The KKK is just one examples of why the governments plansdidntwork the way that everyone thought that they would. The KKK thought differently and the government didnt plan for their actions or their ways of thinking so they just ignored it for the most part. Because the KKK was so stubborn to change their way of thinking and they were so open and cruel about how they thought and felt towards people it showed the government that changing people's minds and having a reconstruction werent going to be as easy as they thought, and that not everyone was going to willing give in to new ideas.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though it would have been a lot easier for the government to have passed laws assuring blacks the same rights as whites than it is thought. This being said, the government did try, and only failed because of the mixed views of the country and the fact that they had many other things that they had to deal with post war. With the war over, the only thing that had changed was that slavery was abolished. A previous slave owner would never be able to see black people as equals to him because they weren't for so long. The KKK is the most clear example of these mixed beliefs. Even after the laws were eventually passed and equality had settled in more, the KKK was and still IS a white supremacy group that did not share the same beliefs as most of the country. The fact that the KKK is still an ongoing organization is proof that it is hard to change a society and decades later, there are still people who don't agree with the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteWell the American government was all over the place. Everyone wanted to go in all different sorts of directions so this caused a lot of trouble, while groups like the KKK were going around making it hard for this society to change. People still felt the same then they did 100 years previous. So people from the KKK would not let African Americans do anything because if they did sometimes there would be consequences.
ReplyDeleteThe government didn't accomplish what they aspired to because it wasn't something they were in even remotely in control of. They were simply reacting to the people's actions. If there wasn't the anti abolition movement from the people then the government probably wouldn't have done anything themselves about it. But because it became such a huge thing socially, they had no option but to take action. This still happens today with a lot that happens in the government and just goes to show how powerful the people in this country can be if they come together. Just as the people had to come together to start this whole thing they had to come together to keep it moving. It wasn't the governments job to change the ideology of the country but rather the people for themselves and that's what happened. Obviously people are going to want to stick to tradition because they simply don't know otherwise. They're too scared to picture their life and this country in any other sort of way. As time passes we see that this ideology starts to become more scarce because people were smart enough to realize that thinking other men are inferior for no apparent reason is stupid and stopped spreading it on.
ReplyDeleteThe government was not able to enact these reforms because the South was so resistant of any changes in the social order. Every measure that was taken to protect the rights of former slaves was met with so much fierce opposition from the white Southerners that eventually the government gave up its moral battle. And it wasn't just the former slave owners who led this hostility, it was Democrats from every class, whether they were poor farmers, rich landowners, or even the police. It is not surprising that they opposed Reconstruction to such a great extent, these people had been taught to hate African-Americans and Northerners since they were children (I am not justifying their racism, I am simply explaining it). It was this uncompromising upbringing and mentality that caused so much senseless violence by the hands of the KKK and that did not allow the African-Americans to achieve equality for another hundred years after Reconstruction.
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