What were the major failures of U.S. Reconstruction policies after the Civil War. Explain.

Purdue 1

Pete Purdue

Dr . B . Boilermaker

English 101

12 November 2000

Major Failures of U .S . Reconstruction Policies

After the Civil War the United States faced problems as half the nation had not only expressed incredible discontent by rebelling , but suffered a great deal of destruction . Furthermore , the North had opposed a major element of Southern society , slavery , and thus they would have to address . There were also issues of mistrust , the punishment of Southern leaders , and countless other problems facing the United States . The most significant

problem facing reconstruction , and where reconstruction failed to the greatest extent , was in incorporating black Americans into society . The U .S . policy towards the South went through various changes before Reconstruction ended , before resulting primarily in failure . The major failures of United States policy towards reconstruction was the division and motivation of the Republicans in power did not address the core issues inflicting the South

The major failure of reconstruction policies was that reconstruction failed to address problems with the South 's social structure that created great discrepancies between slaves and their former slave owners . The result of not directly addressing the dilemma meant a failure in reconstruction policy . While Lincoln tried to quickly readmit the South to the Union by through his 1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (10 Plan ) and the passing of the 13th Amendment , his Vice-President Andrew Johnson rolled back many of his gain . Black codes were instituted enforcing many of the aspects that would cause reconstruction to be a failure such as racial segregation in public places , prohibition of interracial marriages , prohibition of jury service by blacks , and other legal and social measures aimed at re-enforcing white supremacy even after the war was over (Becker 1997 This failure to fully apply civil rights to both blacks and whites created a situation that was ripe for failure

Another failure was the Liberal movement that contributed to bringing dismay and despair ' to not only the blacks but the whites of the South (Dunniny 203 . This meant that collapse of the radical movement failed in achieving any of the gains it intended to make . This was because the Republican success in politics after the Civil War was a result of support in the North against the former rebels rather than the specific policies of Reconstruction (Stark 1 . This meant while initially there was some radical progress in terms of Reconstruction , it was neither long lasting nor changed anything beneath the surface . The Northerners did not care so much about the South and were not united in policy , but rather were intent on punishing those who were viewed as the initiators of the war in the first place . The result was that the North was seen as nothing more than foreigners in their imposition on the South , and that there was little intended help to the African Americans in their dire socio-economic situation (Dunniny 158 . Ultimately , the greatest changes right after the Civil War was overturned and reversed meaning a failure...