Reconstruction Act
The reconstitution is the process of rebuilding that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865). Since this was the first civil war the United States had experienced, there were a lot of questions dealing with what to do with the South after the defeat of the Confederacy and the overthrow of slavery. The debate of these questions began during the war and continued for decades. This time period was known as the Reconstitution and was from 1865 to 1877. This period began with onset of an intense national struggle over the society and government in the postwar South, and ended with the fall of the last Southern State governments under Republican control. The federal attempt to remake the South was over. Early in the war, the important issue of reconstitution emerged and attracted attention as the northern victory neared. As Union forces gained large areas of the South, both Union commanders and the federal government were forced to make decisions on how these areas should be administered. The federal officials chose to experiment with sending Northern missionaries to set up schools, have former slaves be employed as contract labor, and whites loyal to the Union to organize new
Early in 1865, before the war ended, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by the Congress in January. This amendment expanded on the prior Emancipation Proclamation by abolishing slavery throughout the United States. General William T. Sherman also issued the Special Field Order No. 15 in January. This allowed abandoned lands of South Carolina and Georgia to be set aside for the regions freed population. Lastly, in March, the Congress established a new federal agency, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedman, and Abandoned Lands. This agency, also known as the Freedman's Bureau was designed to help needy refugees. It provided food, clothes, and fuel for both blacks and whites. The primary services of this new agency was, however, for blacks; it established schools, supervised labor relations, and worked to protect blacks from intimidation and violence. In the states where the whites were the majority, opponents of the Reconstruction encouraged them to vote Democratic so the Reconstruction could be defeated. This process was known to the white Southerners as redemption. In the lower South where there were a larger number of blacks, they were convinced to vote Democratic or to stay at home on Election Day. There were some black voters who were victims of fraud, intimidation, and violence because of their color. Republican presidential candidate
Some common words found in the essay are:
Civil War, Democratic Party, President Johnson's, Andrew Johnson, Rights Bill, South Union, Freedman's Bureau, Rights Act, Democratic Reconstruction, Northerner's South, remaking south, president abraham lincoln, president abraham, abraham lincoln, emancipation proclamation, society based, congress passed, civil rights, rights southern, intimidation violence, abandoned lands,
Approximate Word count = 937
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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