Reconstruction

Reconstruction

The Civil war was the bloodiest war the United States had ever faced. The nation greatly suffered economically and fell apart. Reconstruction in the South began in 1863 to try and merge the South into the Union once again. Slavery was still the largest problem in Reconstruction and slowed down the progress of it because of disagreements between the North and the South on the issue. After many years of working, compromising and passing laws, the task proved itself to be impossible, as the country remained to be separated. The lack of unity was present because most of the amendments, laws and rules passed during Reconstruction were created to protect and ensure the rights of African Americans. However the South continued to promote slavery.

President Abraham Lincoln had plans to speed up Reconstruction and reunite the nation painlessly and quickly with his Ten Percent Plan, which decreed that a state could be reintegrated into the Union when 10 percent of the 1860 vote count from that state had taken an oath of allegiance to the U.S. and pledged to abide by emancipation. But Radical Republicans who were a small minority in congress apposed these ideas. They were very strict on giving all rights to African Americans and wanted to punish the South. Lincoln's ideas might have successful but they came to an abrupt end when Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865, which ultimately meant Lincoln's Reconstruction plan had failed. After the Lincoln's death, Vice President Andrew Johnson became president and started his own plans for Reconstruction. His too, turned out to be a failure because he supported hardcore Democratic principles and restoring Southern power. He brought in the remaining states back into the constitution and let the South assume their powers of government and elect representatives to the Congress. Johnson declared Reconstruction complete in December 1865. This did not work out well for Johnson because while the South was...