Haley Fisher, Extra Credit Tumblr Post
The process of reconstruction had two opposing approaches; the Radical Republicans against the Presidency. After the surrender of Robert E. Lee, President Lincoln gave his second inaugural address describing the upcoming Reconstruction Policy. There were many questions surrounding how the South would be rebuilt and also how southerners would be tried. Lincoln wanted to deal with the South in a compassionate way, insinuating that they had never left the union; this was directly opposite of the opinion of the radicals, who believed the South had in fact seceded from the Union. The reconstruction began with Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty, stating that all southerners could be citizens if they took an oath to the constitution. This coincided with Lincolns 10 percent plan, which stated that ten percent of a southern states population must take the oath in order for the entire state to be reinstated back into the Union. The radicals chose to take a different approach with the Wade Davis Bill. The Radicals thought that 50% of southerners should take the oath in order for there to be a constitutional convention, but Lincoln vetoed the bill before it could become a law. The problem was that Lincoln believed it to be the Presidents duty to reconstruct the South, while Radicals believed it to be the power of Congress. This controversy continued well in to Andrew Johnson’s presidency after the assassination of Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre; though, Johnson eliminated any controversy over how the process of reconstruction would be dealt with as soon as his presidential power permitted him to. The future of race relations finally began to change during Johnson’s presidency. During Johnson’s term he ratified the Thirteenth Amendment abolishing slavery, he formed the Freedman’s Bureau which gave free slaves citizenship, and he offered amnesty to all except for those who were confederate civil and military officers. This period of reconstruction shaped racial relations in the U.S. for the next 150 years dramatically, yet gradually. African Americans had to go through a lot of discrimination and even more segregation but after the influence of Activists such as Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, JFK, etc. African Americans have achieved the same equal civil rights as any white person. Racial discrimination is actually illegal in work places and is generally frowned upon by public majority, which is a huge transition from 150 years ago. In my opinion, the civil war ended when General Robert E. Lee surrendered to the Union at Appomatox Courthouse after the battle at Gettysburg. Lee was the Confederacy’s greatest asset, he won several battles including Bull Run and Chancellorsville, and he was basically the best shot the Southerners had at a victory. Although the official final battle was the Confederates last stand at Bentonville, led by Johnston against General Sherman’s army, it was nothing more than the confederacy’s sad attempt at an unlikely redemption. When Lee lost a third of his army at Gettysburg and threw up the white flag, the south pretty much lost the only shot they had at defeating the Union.