Jonathan Rivera US History 1 Final Exam Thursday, June 20th Was Reconstruction A Success or A Failure?

In order to say whether the reconstruction of the U.S was a success or a failure, you should be informed on what reconstruction is. Reconstruction is the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War which took place from 1865 to 1867. (Dictionary.com, 2013). The American Civil War was a war in the U.S between the North and South. (Dictionary.com, 2013). Now that you know that, you should know what the U.S would have looked like if reconstruction was a success. To say that reconstruction was successful, it would have fixed the differences between the North and South, everyone would have equal rights, and new laws would be created that would also be enforced. Which brings me back to the question; was reconstruction a success or a failure? Reconstruction was neither a success or a failure. I say that because reconstruction is a process that is far from finished that, at the time, had both positive and negative effects. By definition, reconstructing the U.S can not be called a success or a failure because of the fact that it had both its successes and failures. African-Americans were given new rights, although there was a lack of equality, and as a result of reconstruction, former slaves and slave owners faced many challenges. Also, it did not improve the relationship between the North and South which was the overall purpose of reconstruction. A reason that reconstruction would be a failure is the lack of equality. An example is that Southern governments were still being ran by wealthy white planters. (Evidence A). Another example would be that Democrats cut spending on public schools; which resulted in only half of the black children in the South attending school. (TCI, 2002). What leads me to believe that preventing African-Americans from attending school was their intention was that Democrats vowed to return their states to the white man's rule. (TCI, 2002). Also, in order to vote, Democrats required everyone to pay a poll tax knowing that former slaves couldnt afford it. (TCI, 2002). Lastly, inequality kept reconstruction from being a success because of females still not being treated equal. Susan B. Anthony thought that it was a joke that everyone helped form the union and women were still not given any rights. She feels that if former slaves should be equal to men, then women should too. (Susan B. Anthony, 1872). Another reason that reconstruction was a failure was because of the challenges that former slaves and slave owners faced. A challenge African-Americans faced were Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were segregation acts that prevented whites and blacks from interacting as a way to maintain white superiority. (Evidence M). A challenge former confederates faced was the Military Reconstruction Act. What it did was deny former confederates the right to vote. (TCI, 2002). Also, a challenge former slaves and slave owners faced was that instead of reconstructing the South, many of them were left in poverty. (Sarah Hine, 1866). They both tried

to solve this problem by making a farming system called sharecropping which did not have longterm success and led to a lifetime of poverty. (Evidence D). Some examples that would make reconstruction a success would be that the 16th Amendment was created to protect African-American males right to vote. (Evidence D). Also, in 1866 the Civil Rights Act was passed which declared freedmen to be full citizens. (Evidence D). Those would be reasons that it was a success; but what keeps it from being one is that as a result of reconstruction, the Texas Black Codes were passed in 1866. In section two of the Texas Black Codes, it says that persons of color will not have the right to vote, serve on juries, or have an interracial marriage. (Texas Black Codes, 1866). Which means that even though African-Americans were given new rights, they were still treated as inferiors to whites. In conclusion, reconstruction was neither a success or a failure because reconstruction is a process that is far from over. I cant say one or the other because it had good and bad outcomes. Reconstruction was more like baby steps to the America we live in today. You cant force a way of life on people if theyre not willing to change, which is why it seems rough and looks like a failure; but reconstruction did in fact accomplish a lot. You cant just snap your fingers and make everything perfect. It takes time for people to adapt to their new environments, which was the case in this situation. Look at what America is like today! Everyones equal and has the same rights, and also, we have and African-American president in the white house. Barack Obama is running a country that once prevented people of his race to vote. Therefore you cannot say reconstruction was a failure.