Civil War and
Reconstruction Essay
The
Blacks were before the war mistreated in the form of slavery. The South
seceding gave to the civil war. As the war waged on the war turned into a war
against slavery. The desire to help the black man rose in all. This desire
continued on into the reconstruction and then decreased. During the time era,
though the blacks achieved freedom, they were not truly free.
Before the war, both in the North and South, the rich white
men had power. In the North, the blacks were free, however they were still
prejudiced. The poor whites were also mistreated. Though the factory workers
were paid a wage, it was so meager that it barely sustained the workers and
their families. It was upon this point that the South argued that they were
just in the practice of slavery.
In the
south the slaves were mostly cared for. They were viewed not as people, but as
property. The better the whites treated their property, the more profit they
would receive. While in the North, the workers were often underpaid and faced
many dangerous in their work. Though the blacks in the South were not free,
they were for the most part treated fairly.
In the southern social class, the
plantation owners were supreme. Because of their abundance in slaves they were
at top of the social ladder. The more slaves one had, the more powerful they
became. The poor whites in the South barely received any labor since the slaves
were used as free-labor. For this reason the blacks were hated by the poor
whites for taking away jobs. They were also thought as inferior to the whites
by all.
During the war, many blacks escaped
the plantations and joined the Union army. They were not given equal pay and
were prejudiced against. The 52nd regiment consisted fully of black
soldiers who fought bravely and showed that blacks were of equal and better
vigor when compared to whites. In the South the blacks were continued to be
mistreated by the owners. Although in the beginning the war started out about
keeping the union intact, it ended up being about freeing blacks.
The Civil war was controversial and
expensive. Many northern did not wish to fight. Also the costs of the war were
enormous. In order to keep up with the costs, both the North and the South
printed paper money. The north was by
far more successful because Lincoln was able to get people have trust in the
money. However in the South, the ‘greenbacks’ were a bust. Nobody trusted them.
The factories in the North also helped the war effort, while the south had very
limited factories.
After the war, reconstruction started,
during which the blacks in the South started receiving equal rights. This was
due to the fact of the federal troops provided by Congress to protect the
black’s rights. However, as reconstruction continued on, the plight for black
equality lessened. Groups like the KKK emerged that terrorized the black race.
Congress at first succeeded in stopping the KKK, but could not keep up the
support. Democrats were elected back into Congress. Many states created Black
Codes that limited the blacks to a different sort of slavery. During
reconstruction, the Grant administration was wrought with corruption, which
took away attention from the black man’s rights.
During this time emerged the
share-cropping system. With this system, the blacks and poor whites could work
on the farms of their plantation owners, and rent would be paid in half of
their harvest. This system put the sharecroppers in so much debt that they had
no chance of escaping it.
The end of reconstruction occurred
in the presidential election of 1872, with the second corrupt bargain. In order
to have a Republican president, the republicans agreed to remove federal troops
from the south, and allow the states to treat the blacks however they choose. Also
the southern states would be given funds in order to construct railroads. In
order to reconcile with the south, the north had throw the blacks under the
bus. The blacks were the same and
perhaps even worse as a result of the reconstruction.
No comments:
Post a Comment