Nature of Reconstruction
At the end of the American Civil War, Reconstruction was a time of social, economic and political change and America’s first attempt at an interracial democracy. With Reconstruction came the dilemma of deciding the way forward for rebuilding the nation, the future of the newly freed slaves in America and what would replace slave labor (“People and Politics”, 2003). After the Civil War the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1866 allowed blacks a period of freedom to participate in politics, to vote, to acquire land, seek their own employment and use public accommodations. Of course, there were opponents who rallied against these changes (“Reconstruction”, n.d.). The Presidential Reconstruction plan provided lenient terms for readmitting the Southern states into the Union and was not favorable to the equality of black citizens. However, the Congressional Reconstruction which lasted from 1866 to 1877, wanted to rebuild the South where the blacks and whites would live together as equals but demanded stricter terms for allowing the Southern states back into the Union (“Reconstruction”). This was the first attempt of the United States government to define and protect the civil rights of all Americans (Altman, 1997).
The Confederate was defeated and slavery was eradicated. However, this led to conflict between blacks who enthusiastically claimed their independence from white control and the numerous of slavery and whites who wanted to retain that control (“People and Politics”, 2003). In 1865 after President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson assumed the presidency. Lincoln and Congress had not settled on his plan prior to his death (Kelley & Lewis, 2005). In March 1865 Congress established The Freedmen’s Bureau to assist in the transition from slavery to free men and in December 1865 ratified the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing...