Andree Plavita: Extra Credit Essay from Final
The Civil Rights era was a time in American history that harshly discriminated against African Americans and whites. The main goal during this era was to end racial segregation against African Americans and to create a more balanced and equal union. During the Reconstruction era, the acts of slavery and discrimination towards African Americans were very prominent. It was more prominent in the Southern portion of the United Stated. The south was known as the Confederate. The north didn’t practice slavery all too much. They were known as the Union. The reason the south more heavily practiced slavery than the north was due to their economic advances. The south thrived economically while the south thrived more so in a technological way. For this very reason, the south was known to use slaves or indentured servants to work outside from sun up till sun down, in order to thrive economically. Abraham Lincoln was strongly against slavery so he took a stand. Shortly after Lincoln was elected as our sixteen president, he released the Emancipation Proclamation. This intended to free slaves of all parts of North America, north and south included. This action infuriated the Confederate South. It became worse when Lincoln took the side of the Union. The Confederate South was absolutely enraged and this led to the Civil War. In 1865, Lincoln was assassinated, but before his death, he had claimed to return the southern states to the union. Andrew Johnson, the seventeenth president of the United States, then took office. He however, had a different outlook on slavery. He was pro-slavery and believed that African Americans didn’t know how to properly support themselves, vote, etc.
Johnson initiated what is known as Presidential Reconstruction. Here, Johnson issued pardons to plenty of Southerners. During the same time, these confederate states initiated the “Black Codes”. During reconstruction, the Black Codes were designed by southern states in order to replace slavery while still limiting black participation in America. The Black Codes hindered African Americans from owning guns or even participating on jury. Slowly after, the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, was ratified. Presidential Reconstruction lasted from about 1865 to 1867.
Between 1867 and 1877, Radical Reconstruction saw its light. After Johnson came into office, it was known that the Republican Party including the congress had tremendous control. This control allowed them to outweigh Johnson’s decisions if needed. This marked the start of Radical Reconstruction. The Radical Republicans in congress began to make decisions. For example, they made the decision to divide the former Confederacy into five military districts. Here they would require elections in which African American men can actually vote. These Radical Republicans believed that the Africa American slaves were just as human as the whites were. They believed that they should be treated just as equally. The Radical Republicans issues the Fourteenth Amendment soon thereafter. This granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States,” including the former slaves who were just recently freed, thanks to the Thirteenth Amendment.
Andrew Johnson was the main key playing role during the Presidential Reconstruction. During Radical Reconstruction, however, there were much more key figures. That included Edwin M. Stanton, Ulysses S. Grant, etc.
The outcome of the Reconstruction period ended up shaping race relations within the United States for the next 150 years. Although slavery was put to a rest, racism was still at an all time high. Racism continued to grow worse and saw its peak in the 1900’s. Although things didn’t necessarily get too much better for African American’s, they now had rights, and that was all thanks to the ending of the Reconstruction period. Without the ending of it, the north and the south could possibly be split into two nations to this very day. We could still be suffering slavery as a practice used to this day.
I strongly believe that the Civil War finally saw it’s end when General, Robert E. Lee, surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at the Appomattox Court House. I also believe that Lincoln had a great role in ending the Civil War. In my opinion, he was the most dominant figures during the War.