recon 2
The reconstruction period was a time of recovery for the country as a whole. To heal the deep wounds of the civil war. The loss of cities, towns, homes, and family members. Whole cities were burned level, and widows were left scattered all over the country with a small pile of smoking rubble left as their houses. The whole country was a shambles and everyone agreed on one thing - it was time to start the healing and recovery of a nation. But the reconstruction period wasn't just about healing. It was a new beginning. For the north, for the south, for everyone a new start. Yet, it was the most important new start to the former slaves, the African-Americans. After being enslaved for hundreds of years, they were suddenly free..... or were they? True, they no longer belonged to someone else ...... well at least not technically. They would be able to earn their own money now..... or would they? At least they would be given equality .... Wouldn't they? The answer to these questions is simply no. The "reconstruction", the "new beginning", may all have been true. It was a "new beginning" wasn't it? Yes, it was, but was it a good one? The answer to that question is no. A large cause for the civil war was to free th
e African-American slaves, to allow them to have equal rights to the white race. But after the war was over, and the slaves were supposedly free, did they still not remain caged? Where could they turn? The newly freed slaves had no money, no land, no food, and no jobs. They remained slaves because they lacked those basic necessities. Therefore, where they really freed? The first example that kept them in captivity was food. Everybody needs to eat regardless of their skin color. Previously, food had been provided for them by the slave owner, but now that they were free, they were on their own for finding food. Secondly, was jobs. It was obvious that nobody in the south was going to hire an African-American to do anything more than what they had done as slaves. And even hard farm labor didn't pay anything because the landowners were resentful to pay the African- American's for a service that was previously free. Most of the freed slaves were also illiterate. This meant that a vast majority of them were unable to perform many other jobs even if they could find an unprejudiced person to hire them. When they were slaves the job was right there, you got up and you got on with it. But now that they were free, a job wasn't quite so easy to find. A third drawback was land. If you couldn't work other people's land then you had
Some common words found in the essay are:
RECONSTUCTION PAPER, African- American's, Radical Republicans, Buck None, reconstruction period, freed slaves, rebuild lives lost, black people, money pay schools, african-american slaves, money pay, lives lost, rebuild lives, african-american people, reconstruction beginning, ex-slave owners,
Approximate Word count = 893
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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