Civil War Reconstruction Research Paper

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As the American Civil War approached its end, the Confederate states were left in utter disarray. Thousands were dead, fields and crops scorched, and southern pride was crippled; the latter possibly being the most significant game changer, for although military conflict had ended, a new war had begun. As seen in the eyes of the majority of white southerners, the Reconstruction era was a total military occupation. Instead of being beneficial to the south, the reconstruction era proved detrimental to economic growth, aided in southern resentment of the Union, and resulted the Jim Crow era. According to PBS’, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, the purpose of the reconstruction was to “readmit the South on terms that were acceptable to the North—full political and civil equality for blacks and a denial of the political rights of whites who were the leaders of the secession movement.” Understandably, the Southerners were upset. They lost the war to uphold…show more content…
As animosity festered, terrorism began to take to the streets. According to Reconstruction: US History, “many Southern whites could not accept the idea that former slaves could not only vote but hold office. It was in this era that the Ku Klux Klan was born. A reign of terror was aimed both at local Republican leaders as well as at blacks seeking to assert their new political rights. Beatings, lynchings, and massacres, were all in a night's work for the clandestine Klan.” Those affected by the unrest pleaded for help and the maintance of a union presence, but as of 1877, “congress and the radicals grew weary of federal involvement in the South”, and Union Troops were sent home. After the union troops withdraw, life became horrendous for the African-Americans and their rights were basically stripped away, with “black codes” and segregation. Consequently, the Jim Crow era

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