6478267 - Reconstruction's Impact on U.S. Original Goals
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Reconstruction's Impact on U.S. Original Goals
According to Foner (587), the United States, the Reconstruction era (1865–1877) took
place against the backdrop of post–Civil War difficulties and the intricate interaction of
political, social, and economic elements. It is essential to go back and review some of the
basic concepts that American colonists were inspired by and affected by throughout the
formation of the United States in order to comprehend the revolutionary era of
Reconstruction
(Knoll 120). The early objectives of the United States were significantly
shaped by the nation's philosophy, which was based on the Enlightenment principles of
liberty, equality, and individual rights
(Foner 100). The Constitution mirrored these
Enlightenment ideas and provided guidance for the young country, emphasizing
representative governance and a system of checks and balances
(Carle 734). The Civil War
and Reconstruction helped Americans to reach the original goals established at the founding
of the United States of America.
The country struggled with the Civil War's aftermath during Reconstruction, trying to
mend the divisions in the country and reshape its social and political environment. Presidents
Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, among others, faced the difficult task of reunifying
the Southern states into the Union while attending to the needs of millions of recently
liberated people
(Cook et al. 97). A historic piece of legislation known as the Reconstruction
Act of 1867 created military districts inside the Southern states and set severe guidelines for
their readmission to the Union
(Byman 101). This attempted to topple the Southern elite's
power structures and signaled a break from the pre-war political system.
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The Reconstruction era was greatly influenced by constitutional amendments. The
United States made significant progress toward attaining its founding objectives when the
13th Amendment, which was enacted in 1865, officially outlawed slavery
(Foner). Slavery
has been a source of conflict from the country's founding. After being passed in 1868, the
14th Amendment guaranteed equal legal protection and worked to defend every citizen's civil
rights, irrespective of race
(Byman 70). In 1870, the 15th Amendment was ratified with the
intention of granting voting rights to African American men, therefore extending the nation's
founding texts' concepts of equality and individual rights.
Notwithstanding these constitutional achievements, realizing the objectives of
Reconstruction was fraught with difficulties. Resentful of federal interference, the Southern
states created Jim Crow laws and Black Codes, which impeded the advancement of racial
segregation and hindered the creation of a fair society
(Cook et al. 107). As a violent
opposition group, the Ku Klux Klan terrorized African American neighborhoods and
threatened political stability.
Reconstruction's economic goal was to reconstruct the South after the war and include
it into the larger economy. The Freedmen's Bureau was founded in 1865 with the goal of
aiding those who had recently been released, with a focus on economic help, healthcare, and
education
(Cook et al. 121). Nonetheless, the South's economic recovery was difficult to
achieve because of the North and South's enduring animosity against one another and their
opposition to social change.
Through the destruction of the previous power structures and the empowerment of the
recently freed populace, Reconstruction aimed to bring about a new political order in the
South. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 upended the preexisting political order by requiring
the drafting of new state constitutions that guaranteed black male vote
(Foner 210). However,
the emergence of white supremacist organizations and the final federal soldier withdrawal in
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1877 signaled a regression from the political gains of Reconstruction, which weakened
African Americans' political empowerment and solidified discriminatory policies.
When evaluating Reconstruction's effects on the US, it becomes clear that while some
of the initial objectives were met, overall success was not very high. The country struggled to
reconcile the brutal reality of racial discrimination with the ideals of equality
(Carle 734).
Only a portion of the political and economic reforms envisioned during Reconstruction were
carried out, leaving a complicated legacy of achievements and failures.
The goals of the Reconstruction alterations were to actualize the ideas expressed in
the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and to create a more ideal union. In
order to rectify the historical injustices of slavery and instill the principles of liberty and
justice for all, equal protection and civil rights were prioritized
(Byman 79). But the
opposition in the South and the shortcomings of federal enforcement exposed the limits of
legislation as a means of bringing about social change.
There are similarities between the goals of Reconstruction and the founding fathers of
the United States when it comes to the pursuit of a more just and inclusive society. The
ambitions of liberty and justice were to become concrete realities, and both aimed to create a
country that protected individual rights
(Foner 99). But the difficulties encountered during
Reconstruction highlighted the ongoing difficulty in putting these principles into reality
(Carle 734). The legacy of Reconstruction continues to reverberate in the struggle for civil
rights, underscoring the difficulties in striking a balance between idealistic ideals and the
practical reality of a changing and varied country.
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Work cited
Byman, Daniel. "White supremacy, terrorism, and the failure of reconstruction in the United
States."
International Security
46.1 (2021): 53-103.
Carle, Susan D. "Reconstruction's Lessons."
Columbia Journal of Race and Law
13.1 (2023):
734.
Cook, Edward R., et al. "North American drought: Reconstructions, causes, and
consequences."
Earth-Science Reviews
81.1-2 (2007): 93-134.
Foner, Eric.
Give Me Liberty! An American History: Seagull Fourth Edition
. Vol. 1. WW
Norton & Company, 2013.
Knoll, Florian, et al. "Assessment of the generalization of learned image reconstruction and
the potential for transfer learning."
Magnetic resonance in medicine
81.1 (2019): 116-
128.