Effects of Reconstruction

RECONSTRUCTION OR DECONSTRUCTION

2007

Civil wars always leave deep wounds . They represent society 's own form of self-

mutilation . Yet the effects are not limited to the injury and death which defines battle . Internal

wounds can last far beyond the last firing of the last gun . Yet , the deepest wounds can also

facilitate long-term healing . Perhaps nowhere is this dichotomy more apparent than in

America 's own history . Was the post-Civil war era Reconstruction Deconstruction ' or

both

The most overt effect of Reconstruction was an economically and

br socially depressed

South . The radical wing of the Republican party headed an effort to utilize the post-Civil War

era as a means of punishment for the seceding states . They viewed the South as conquered

territories , and as such all rebels had forfeited their American rights (Schultz , Civil War

Leading Radical Thaddeus Stevens summed these beliefs : We hold it to be the duty of the

government to inflict condign punishment on the rebel belligerents , and so weaken their hands

that they can never again endanger the Union (Allard , Civil War Military occupation and

federal intervention underlined the efforts of Radical Republicans . The South was to be divided

into five military districts , and all Confederate officials would be removed from power . Radicals

also drafted the Wade-Davis Bill , which required 59 percent of a state 's white males to pledge

allegiance to the Union and its Reconstruction efforts before being readmitted to the country (Conlin 438 . Many Southerners disdained the so-called scalawags (Southerners loyal to the

Union ) and carpet-baggers (Northerners who moved South ) that filled political seats during

Reconstruction (Allard , Civil War . The tax-heavy policies of the new governments put a

further strain on cities and towns already devastated by decreased river commerce , vanished

bridges , worthless money , and flattened , unusable agricultural lands (Conlin 436 . In addition

interest rates soared to as high as eighty percent , and the railroad and Westward expansion

efforts of the Union government often left little economic assistance for the South . But perhaps

the worst consequence for Southerners was the perceived death of the Old South ' The

humiliation of Reconstruction was the worst possible blow for a culture based on honor and

pride ( Reconstruction ' Confederate Military History

Differing goals for Reconstruction affected the political landscape as well . While

Radical Republicans viewed this period as a time for retribution Democrats and moderate

Republicans desired a quick , lenient reunification of the country President Lincoln championed

this outlook in its infancy , backing measures that would allow the Confederate states to rejoin the

Union with little resistance (Schultz , Civil War . For example , the President promoted a plan

which would allow reentry if ten percent of white males in a given state pledged allegiance to the

country (a far cry from the fifty nine percent requirement of the Wade-Davis Bill (Conlin 438

When Lincoln was assassinated , his aims lived on in successor Andrew Johnson . Johnson

although initially a favorite of the Radicals , continued in the vein of leniency , pardoning many

Confederate leaders and advocating a states ' rights , federal...