Response to these Posts Student 1 In my opinion, Reconstruction mostly failed because it was abandoned before all of the issues were addressed. The amendments that came from the Reconstruction Era did not go far enough to ensure safety and integration of everyone. The loopholes left in the amendments allowed a century of blatantly unconstitutional laws (that a bias Supreme Court said were constitutional) to exist. The Jim Crow Laws of the south were the biggest failure of the Reconstruction Era. The so called “Separate but Equal” laws allowed former slaves to be treated as second class citizens again. The separate facilities would be upgraded for whites but left original and decrepit for blacks. There was separate, but it was never equal. Another failure to come out of the era was the growth of the Klu Klux Klan. This organization still haunts the country today. Founded on principles of returning to the prewar south, their entire goal was to push blacks back into servitude through violence if necessary. Congress allowed President Grant to use Federal Troops to quell the Klan, but in his second term the scandals derailed plans to stamp them out completely. Other failures include the fighting between Congress and President Johnson, which led to many aspects of Reconstruction being placed on hold. This at times seemed to regress down to temper tantrums by both sides of the argument. But perhaps the biggest failure of Reconstruction was the Compromise of 1877. This allowed Hayes to become President but effectively ended Reconstruction. Federal troops were removed from the South, the Freedman’s Bureau was disbanded, and the fight against the Klan and Jim Crow Laws were ended. I feel there was too much given in that lopsided compromise and it hurt southern communities for the next 100 years, and even some still to this day. Jeremy Student 2 The end of the American Civil War brought about radical change throughout the nation. The country was unified once again, and people were eager for the fighting to be over. But by far the biggest change was that there were no more slaves in the United States. But just because slavery was over did not mean that everyone was socially accepted within their communities. This was an issue that was addressed when the nation was rebuilding between 1865-1877. People of color were by no means given any equal or preferential treatment in America. They were not allowed to use most everything that white people were. So when reconstruction took place white people were given everything shiny and new. People of color were however given the old, the broken, and the sub-par in everything that was possible. So when it comes to the question of did reconstruction address race the answer is very simply "yes". It just was another black mark on the History of the United States as it shows horrible treatment of its citizens that was not only a norm, but eventually became law (Jim Crow Laws lasting from 1877-1954). Luke Student 3 Class, All of these questions correlate well with each other, however, I will try to stay on the path of how the radical Reconstruction address the problems with race. Race has been a problem for hundreds of years and unfortunately it still is and concurrently here in America. This radical Reconstruction was on the right path to help eliminate race problems with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. These Amendments with the ultimate goal to eliminate slavery, elaborate that all races are American citizens when born in this country, and every race has the right to vote (Constitutional Amendments). Therefore creating these Amendments where trying to help with the race problem that American then had. Unfortunately, even though these issues were on the path of being eliminated, they were only mitigated. Race issues continued on in America's history leading to the Civil Rights movement, also refereed to as the 2nd Reconstruction. If the race issues were solved back in the 1800's their would not be any in the future, or so one would hope. The federal government was out of the state's and local laws, which ultimately let the issues with race to carry on. I honestly think the whole issue with race will never be resolved 100%. Their can be laws, equal rights, this, that, and the other, but at the end of the day people are going to hold true to their own beliefs, which is sad. Sad that we have been fighting this "race war" for so many years. One radical Reconstruction to the next, they will all fail; unless all of America gets on the same page. Cameron “U.S. Constitutional Amendments.” Findlaw, constitution.findlaw.com/amendments.html. Response to these Posts Student 1 In my opinion, Reconstruction mostly failed because it was abandoned before all of the issues were addressed. The amendments that came from the Reconstruction Era did not go far enough to ensure safety and integration of everyone. The loopholes left in the amendments allowed a century of blatantly unconstitutional laws (that a bias Supreme Court said were constitutional) to exist. The Jim Crow Laws of the south were the biggest failure of the Reconstruction Era. The so called “Separate but Equal” laws allowed former slaves to be treated as second class citizens again. The separate facilities would be upgraded for whites but left original and decrepit for blacks. There was separate, but it was never equal. Another failure to come out of the era was the growth of the Klu Klux Klan. This organization still haunts the country today. Founded on principles of returning to the prewar south, their entire goal was to push blacks back into servitude through violence if necessary. Congress allowed President Grant to use Federal Troops to quell the Klan, but in his second term the scandals derailed plans to stamp them out completely. Other failures include the fighting between Congress and President Johnson, which led to many aspects of Reconstruction being placed on hold. This at times seemed to regress down to temper tantrums by both sides of the argument. But perhaps the biggest failure of Reconstruction was the Compromise of 1877. This allowed Hayes to become President but effectively ended Reconstruction. Federal troops were removed from the South, the Freedman’s Bureau was disbanded, and the fight against the Klan and Jim Crow Laws were ended. I feel there was too much given in that lopsided compromise and it hurt southern communities for the next 100 years, and even some still to this day. Jeremy Student 2 The end of the American Civil War brought about radical change throughout the nation. The country was unified once again, and people were eager for the fighting to be over. But by far the biggest change was that there were no more slaves in the United States. But just because slavery was over did not mean that everyone was socially accepted within their communities. This was an issue that was addressed when the nation was rebuilding between 1865-1877. People of color were by no means given any equal or preferential treatment in America. They were not allowed to use most everything that white people were. So when reconstruction took place white people were given everything shiny and new. People of color were however given the old, the broken, and the sub-par in everything that was possible. So when it comes to the question of did reconstruction address race the answer is very simply "yes". It just was another black mark on the History of the United States as it shows horrible treatment of its citizens that was not only a norm, but eventually became law (Jim Crow Laws lasting from 1877-1954). Luke Student 3 Class, All of these questions correlate well with each other, however, I will try to stay on the path of how the radical Reconstruction address the problems with race. Race has been a problem for hundreds of years and unfortunately it still is and concurrently here in America. This radical Reconstruction was on the right path to help eliminate race problems with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. These Amendments with the ultimate goal to eliminate slavery, elaborate that all races are American citizens when born in this country, and every race has the right to vote (Constitutional Amendments). Therefore creating these Amendments where trying to help with the race problem that American then had. Unfortunately, even though these issues were on the path of being eliminated, they were only mitigated. Race issues continued on in America's history leading to the Civil Rights movement, also refereed to as the 2nd Reconstruction. If the race issues were solved back in the 1800's their would not be any in the future, or so one would hope. The federal government was out of the state's and local laws, which ultimately let the issues with race to carry on. I honestly think the whole issue with race will never be resolved 100%. Their can be laws, equal rights, this, that, and the other, but at the end of the day people are going to hold true to their own beliefs, which is sad. Sad that we have been fighting this "race war" for so many years. One radical Reconstruction to the next, they will all fail; unless all of America gets on the same page. Cameron “U.S. Constitutional Amendments.” Findlaw, constitution.findlaw.com/amendments.html.
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