How Did African Americans Contribute To The Failure Of Reconstruction

1294 Words6 Pages
Reconstruction after the Civil War The Double-Edged-Sword of American Society The Reconstruction period was an era that took place after the Civil War and brought about many changes to American Society. By looking at Reconstruction Political Cartoons, “The Race Problem,” “Equal Suffrage,” Civilization and Black Progress: Selected Writings of Alexander Crummell on the South, and Black Nationalism in America we can conclude that while Reconstruction in America was successful in ratifying the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, it failed to reinforce these rights in society; however, the failure to reinforce these rights allowed for the success in keeping peace between the North and the South. Ironically, the successes of reconstruction seemed to contribute to the…show more content…
The failure to protect these rights allowed for the success in keeping peace between the North and the South. In “The Race Problem,” Frederick Douglass states, “Now that the Union is no longer in danger, now that the North and the South are no longer enemies…it seems that the negro is to lose by their sectional harmony and good will all the rights and privileges that he gained by their former enmity. ” Although the Civil War led to many rights for the African Americans, it also caused the Union to suffer from being torn in two. When peace finally started to settle between the North and the South, the United States truly became united again. This peace was very valuable because it allowed for harmonious living, prosperity, and happiness within the country. The white population viewed this peace between the North and the South as being far more valuable than the implementation of the rights that the colored people had recently earned. Therefore, they made the decision to successfully keep peace in the midst of failing to protect the African Americans’

More about How Did African Americans Contribute To The Failure Of Reconstruction

Open Document