After the Civil War, a period that spanded from 1863 to 1877, known as the Reconstruction period began. This time in history focused on transforming the South and changing African American lives. Although progress was made during this time, set backs from white supremacy groups like the KluKlux Klan also known as the KKK, people with pre-civil war or racist mindsets, and goverment coruption,the full effect of the Reconstruction would not be truely experienced or seen for about the next century. Northern civil rights activist and radical Republicans worked to secure rights for free blacks. Many towns, countys, and states made Black Codes black codes restricted the rights of free Africa Americans. The Black Codes of Opelousas, Louisiana for example practically took away all sense of being free, restricting blacks to be slaves, no free black were permited in town or …show more content…
The klan conisited of different types of men ranging from doctors and lawyers to farmers. Abram Colby, a former slave, was elected to the Georgia State legislature during the Reconstruction klansmen came to his home then wipped and beat him. Colby stated "two days before they whipped me they offered me $5,000 to go with them and said they would pay me $2,500 in cash if I would let another man go to the legislature in my place." This was a common occurance in the south officals would usually not do much to help the blacks that were harmed by organizations like these. Abion Tourgee was a white man who served as a judge during the Reconstruction and wrote a letter about a North Carolina Republican John W. Stephans who was brutally assulted and killed by white supremasists. the Ku Klux Klan Act authorized the president to arrest accused individuals without charge, and to send federal forces to suppress Klan violence. Ulysses S. Grant put the law to use in 1871 to minimize klan activity in the
Reconstruction is during which the United States began to rebuild the Southern society after they lost to the civil war. It lasted from 1865 to 1877, and it was initiated by President Lincoln until his assassination in 1865. President Johnson continued Lincoln’s agenda to continue the Reconstruction. Throughout the process of Reconstruction, one of its main purpose was to guarantees for equal rights for all people, especially for the African Americans. Even though slavery was abolished after the civil war, many Southerners were still against the idea of equal rights for all black people, such as the Republicans.
Nicholas Lemann begins his book “Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War” with the 1873 Colfax, Louisiana massacre where a White League militia comprised of former Confederate soldiers killed black Republican voters. The Colfax massacre was perhaps the bloodiest event of Reconstruction. Lemann views this event as a startup of what would happen later in Mississippi if Federal troops did not defend black voters. Lemann blames Ulysses S. Grant’s Secretary of War, William W. Belknap, for not stopping the White Line activity in Louisiana and Mississippi. Grant had worked hard to stop the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1870s with Congress passing legislation and Federal troops putting down Klan activity.
David Chalmers is a University of Florida professor emeritus of history. He is best known for his seminal work on the Ku Klux Klan, Hooded Americanism, that was first published in 1968. In 2003 Chalmers wrote Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement. As the subtitle indicates, this more recent work of Chalmers’ is about how the activities of the civil rights era Klan prompted the federal government to pass laws that protected the civil rights of African-Americans. “Klan violence played an important role in the passage of the 1964 Public Accommodation Law and the 1965 Voting Rights Law.
However, all acts of reconstruction were cut short when the South ultimately killed it. People like the Ku Klux Klan helped to ensure that reconstruction would be stopped and the South would regain its power. The Ku Klux Klan was one of the main groups of people that destroyed reconstruction because of their extreme ways. They used violence as a way to achieve their goal of destroying reconstruction. They killed many people just because of the color of their skin.
Passed the Emergency Immigration Act, which restricted immigration…” The Klan won basic control of some state governments, in turn there were an estimated four million paid members of the KKK. The popularity of the KKK exposed the intensity of traditional resistance to the quick social and cultural changes constructed by the roaring era. ”What would have been a simple misdemeanor trial lasting but a few hours was transformed into a major media event, and Scopes became all but an afterthought because of the high-profile players attracted to the case.” Maybe the single
Sources Analysis Freedom During the Reconstruction era, the idea of freedom could have many different meanings. Everyday factors that we don't often think about today such as the color of our skin, where we were born, and whether or not we own land determined what limitations were placed on the ability to live our life to the fullest. To dig deeper into what freedom meant for different individuals during this time period, I analyzed three primary sources written by those who experienced this first hand. These included “Excerpts from The Black Codes of Mississippi” (1865), “Jourdan Anderson to his old master” (1865), and “Testimony on the Ku Klux Klan in Congressional Hearing” (1872).
This demonstrates the KKK’s brutal treatment of African Americans after the war. The KKK wanted to maintain dominance and slavery; therefore, they began to terrorize African Americans as well as Republicans. Individuals who publicly supported blacks were additionally attacked. The KKK heavily demonstrated white supremacy due to their loss in the Civil War. Certainly, the fall of the Confederacy negatively impacted many Southerners, so other racist groups similar to the KKK formed alike efforts throughout this period.
(Mcveigh 1464). The Ku Klux Klan induced terror on those they targeted after they were deemed un-American, for not being christian, and migrating from outside of the United States. "The son of an officer in the original Klan, he had always dreamed of reviving the order, which he envisioned as the ultimate fraternal lodge” (Mcveigh 1466). After the fall of the first Ku Klux Klan in 1870, the Ku Klux Klan began its resurgence in 1915, then rapidly gained support until they reached their peak in 1920. In the early 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan saw a resurgence due to increased racism and xenophobia, which resulted in their increased racial violence, as well as political and economic influence in the United States.
April 12, 1961, marked one of the most historical events that have ever occurred in the United States -the Civil War. This war was fought by the Union (Northern states) and the Confederates (Southern states). Several factors contributed to the clash of both sides, such include: trades, tariffs, states’ rights, and the idea of slavery. After four years of fighting, the Southern states lied under complete destruction. On May 9, 1865, the fighting was over -the Union had won the war.
Former slaves who “tried to vote or participate in politics [were] likely to be singled out for “punishment”” by a terrorist organization named as the Ku Klux Klan, until the Congress passed the Force Bill in 1871 that gave the federal authorities the right to arrest and pursue active members of the KKK. But, the bill appeared to be only figurative as not really much of the Klan’s members were prosecuted (Hazen
Reconstruction caused prejudice and inequality. To elaborate, the creation of the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Codes were both in the time period of reconstruction, which caused chaos and violence throughout the Union. One of the goals of reconstruction was to repair the economy in the South, because it depended on slavery, which was now illegal, due to the thirteenth amendment. The South’s economic system now depended on Sharecropping, which caused former slaves to be in constant debt and was unjust to the black society. The reconstruction time period, was a time of dispute between the Union.
When thinking about the civil war, one of the first things that comes to mind is how did everything end up afterwards. Did things go back to normal? How long did it take to rebuild? Was the reconstruction of the south success or failure? 2 years before the Confederacy formally surrendered the Union began reconstruction.
The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865 to 1877. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendment were created during the twelve years of rebuilding the country. All of the amendments were made to protect former slaves and their rights but on paper they did not have any rights. The reconstruction period had its successes and failures.
Founded during the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877), The Ku Klux Klan was an extremist hate group that violently challenged social and political laws which protected certain minority groups. The Klan’s deliberate use of terror and violence reflected the passion held for a racial hierarchy, with whites at the top of the social structure. The presence of KKK was seen not only during the Reconstruction Era, but also during the post–World War I era (1920s). There are distinct similarities and differences that define the motives of the 1860s Klan and the reincarnated 1920s Klan; however, I believe these characteristics hide the true representation of the intolerance of American citizens.
Reconstruction a Failure or Success? Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end.