It can, and has, been argued that the real winner of the American Civil War was Capitalism. Those who support this belief claim that Reconstruction failed, they argue that Southern Capitalists successfully bypassed Constitutional and Congressional changes and instead implemented laws that institutionalized the economic/ political and social inequities of slavery. Others argue that the Northern vision of a free America was realized at the conclusion of the Civil War. Those who support this position argue that political changes made in the decade following the war, eventually led to radical economic/social and political changes in the defeated South, and over time led to the evolution of an America where all men are treated equally under the law and have access to all the same rights and privileges. |
Reconstruction: Success? Failure? Was the attempt to rebuild the Nation a Victory or Defeat2/23/2019 Assignment Participants will watch the PBS video entitled "Reconstruction: The Second Civil War". They will reference the additional readings available from the web links below, when finished, they will write, and post a response essay related to the text addressing the question/s "Was Reconstruction a Success? If so, how? If not, why? Was the attempt to rebuild the nation a victory or defeat? Explain your answer. What lessons can be learned from our experience with Reconstruction?". Participant essays should reflect their beliefs insights, ideas, teaching strategies etc. related to the ideas presented in both the text and additional online resources. Participant's blogs are due May 11th In addition participants will respond to a minimum two of their peer's posts within the blog. Blog Responses are due May, 15th. Post your blog by clicking on the green comments box below.
90 Comments
Bailey Ritchie
5/5/2019 02:15:39 pm
"Was Reconstruction a Success? If so, how? If not, why? Was the attempt to rebuild the nation a victory or defeat? Explain your answer. What lessons can be learned from our experience with Reconstruction?”
Reply
Ann-Marie Davis
5/9/2019 09:52:50 pm
I really like your comment about the national government needing to take charge and lead the way in the enforcement of the new laws. They already knew what the states believed, so why they would leave it up to them I cannot understand. Unfortunately, we just ended up moving the conflict from the battlefield to the Legislature.
Reply
Janalee Watkins
5/10/2019 03:01:57 pm
Often times the Reconstruction unit gets brushed under the rug and teachers briefly teach it. I like your reference to the Reconstruction Newsletters break down of failure as a social, political and constitutional problem. Students need to understand the different aspects of Reconstruction. Through examining these aspects, students will have a greater understanding of the Civil Rights Movement and the current climate of blacks in America today.
Reply
Lynda Davis
5/18/2019 09:01:22 pm
I agree! In elementary school we really run out of time and usually Reconstruction is just talked about in passing. And I felt the same way about students understanding the Civil Rights Movement at a higher level if they were actually taught about the different parts of Reconstruction.
Samantha B Webb
6/2/2019 07:52:36 pm
I agree with you, Bailey, that Reconstruction was (almost) guaranteed to be a failure before it had ever begun because of the social undercurrent that fed the political battles. I also agree that Reconstruction didn't in fact end in the 1870's, but would push even beyond the timeframe that is suggested in your essay. I would claim that Reconstruction is still occurring even to this day and that, unless we do something to radically change the way our society is structured, Reconstruction will still continue for quite some time.
Reply
Aubrie Lundquist
5/8/2019 08:31:50 pm
I completely agree with you! I love how you said Reconstruction wasn't finished when it "ended". We are constantly and still to this day, reconstructed our country. It hasn't ended! Especially at the time that the Reconstruction Act was passed, it definitely didn't end racism and the idea of white supremacy.
Reply
Aubrielle Lundquist
5/8/2019 08:33:15 pm
Aubrie Lundquist
Reply
Courtney Roberts
5/14/2019 11:50:36 am
Aubrielle I liked your comments. I liked actually how to bulleted the parts of Reconstruction to make it obvious of what was put in place. I think that Reconstruction was kinda an afterthought. When the tide of the war turned in favor of the North, the government had to think of what they would actually do when they won. I really think that if the policies that were put in place during Reconstruction were maintained and enforced for decades after then maybe the Civil Rights Movement wouldn't have even been necessary. It was too hard to change the entire societal cultural structure in a short period of time. I don't think the government really understood the South in general and maybe a more progressive Reconstruction plan would have been better. It is hard to say looking back. Regardless...the men who had their power taken away from them after the war slowly got it back and then implemented what they thought was necessary to bring the South's status and wealth back into play. I think the national government was tired of dealing with the South and continually having to send national resources down to implement Reconstruction so just let it go. It is hard to see a system that could have worked put in place and then little by little, the system is dissolved, putting freedman in the same situation they were before, a endless cycle of poverty.
Reply
Lynda Davis
5/18/2019 09:04:25 pm
It is interesting to think about the whites being upset over African Americans getting 40 acres and a mule... couldn't help, but think about how the Native Americans felt about their land being taken from them!
Reply
Janalee Watkins
5/9/2019 11:40:45 am
Five days after General Robert E. Lee surrendered his massive Confederate Army at Appomattox Court House in Virginia, John Wilkes Booth, a confederate sympathizer, shot the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. Not only did Lincoln’s physical body die, but any hope for successful reconstruction in the south died as well. Instead of leadership, a racist 17th President, Andrew Johnson sabotaged any hope of former slaves assimilating into society. Three new amendments to the Constitution banned slavery gave blacks citizenship and assured the right to vote to black males. Nonetheless, failed policies, political self-interest and corruption, and a waning lack of interest by the North guaranteed a failure of reconstruction in the South.
Reply
I Davies
5/10/2019 02:16:27 pm
Janalee stated: Instead of leadership, a racist 17th President, Andrew Johnson sabotaged any hope of former slaves assimilating into society.
Reply
Cathy Miner
5/10/2019 06:52:07 pm
Isn't it interesting how we all confidently consider Johnson to be a racist and don't assign Lincoln the same title. To both men the plight of the freedmen was an afterthought to the goal of reconciliation between north and south. Neither favored emancipation at the outbreak of the war, but both came around to it. I don't point this out because I disagree with either of your comments. I think Janalee's original post was thoughtfully well organized and supported and I agree with Davies follow up. What a fun and dangerous power history teachers have to pass judgements of moral character!
Courtney Roberts
5/14/2019 11:54:35 am
Janalee,
Reply
Shannon Diotaiuti
5/14/2019 08:32:57 pm
I really liked the video, as well, and it was interesting to see the characters they chose to focus on. If only the social experiments of people like Tunis Campbell had been allowed to flourish! There were moments of promise, but unfortunately that promise was ripped away by racist policies and corrupt bargains.
Reply
KerriLee Spain
5/15/2019 07:54:49 pm
I was so disappointed in what I learned about Andrew Johnson. He was HORRIBLE to the former slaves. He was way too raciest and ruined the reconstruction.
Reply
Linette Sheffield
6/8/2019 10:08:33 pm
I like that you discuss Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction. It would be interesting to see how that would have played out, and if we would consider Reconstruction a success under his leadership. I would like to read more about that plan. I would think he had more ideas than were published, carefully choosing how to enact change. I also really enjoyed the entire PBS video, Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. I teach elementary school and never really considered reconstruction as such, but as I watched and learned more, I better understand why it really was a battle to try to make sense of what had happened in the South and to the American people.
Reply
Alene Gray
5/9/2019 03:17:42 pm
Forced submission for a cause does not change attitudes. The mechanics of ending the Civil War and rebuilding the Union, although overwhelming, was a much simpler process than the changing of a way of life and long-held beliefs and mores of many of the Southern people. Until the political effects could also affect the more human aspects even Abraham Lincoln’s wisdom would not be enough.
Reply
Ann-Marie Davis
5/9/2019 09:45:30 pm
I loved your opening sentence! Force is never an effective way to change attitudes and opinions, as most will just say what they believe you want to hear. Then they will go and do what they believe anyway. Reconstruction was all about force.
Reply
Cathy Miner
5/10/2019 07:01:29 pm
I agree with your commentary on the need to reeducate southern whites. After all, quite often the most aggressive violence came from the poor white class who was struggling economically along with the freedmen. Its an oversimplification but I believe it is helpful to point out to students that bullies are happy well adjusted people. They are insecure. They are hurting. They might be victims themselves. It doesn't justify their wrong doing, but quite often its better long term to help the bully not just the victim.
Reply
Shannon Diotaiuti
5/14/2019 08:45:56 pm
I really appreciate your comment! It was most often the poor white class that attacked the freed blacks, just as it is often the last but one group of immigrants that hassles the newest group. There is economic pressure, worrying that jobs will be lost to those who are willing to work for even less, along with overt or hidden racism. I definitely think that education was an issue. In the north there were public schools, but in the south education was more home-based. This tends to fortify prejudice, as new ideas are never discussed or are actively denigrated. I wonder if public schooling in the antebellum south would have helped ease society into more progressive, less inbred ways.
Brian Turner
5/11/2019 10:48:46 am
"Even good laws, which do not have the support of the people, are difficult to enforce." I think you put it very well here and get to one of the key issues in reconstruction. It's our actions that count and not our words. When the words were correct, the actions simply didn't back them up.
Reply
Kayla Vernon
5/11/2019 01:28:27 pm
I loved your comment about how the "human aspect was not considered." The government can only do so much before it relies on the people to step up. Although there were so very many shortcomings by the government, it comes down to how the people react to and deal with the procedures put down by government. They did everything to violate the new laws in all but obvious ways.
Reply
Aubrielle Lundquist
5/13/2019 09:08:27 pm
I totally agree with you -- there was no human aspect involved in the reconstruction. Everything looked good on paper..or sounded like what everyone wanted it to sound like, but in the end they didn't even care about the human lives involved.
Reply
LeAnn Jensen
5/15/2019 07:49:25 am
It would have been interesting to see how Lincoln's 10% plan would have worked and if the Radical Republicans would have gone along with it. They surely would have been more receptive to Lincoln than Johnson. I liked your comment that maybe Reconstruction was crueler than the Civil War itself. A hundred years of lynching, living in fear and submission versus a four year war. I think I'd take the war...if it had solved the problem.
Reply
Evann Howlett
5/15/2019 10:58:16 pm
Okay, there are lots of things I love about your post, but what stuck out to me most was "there is not a human part to that reconstruction blueprint." And because of that, not only is it impossible to attain success, but it's impossible to properly define it.
Reply
Linette Sheffield
6/8/2019 10:22:57 pm
I agree with so much of what you wrote. I especially liked your statement, "Even good laws, which do not have the support of the people, are difficult to enforce." I believe there were good intentions with Reconstruction, but forcing people to make those changes doesn't bring about the attitude needed for a sustained change. After watching the video and reading through the extra articles, I wonder if Reconstruction was a series of changes, that if taken slowly, would have had a better outcome. That was a big chunk of change to think our country could make in a short period of time. You can't change how people feel about slavery, freedom, ownership, politics, and more in a few years. This was the lifestyle they had lived and known. I believe it had some great ideals, and positive changes to make, but Reconstruction was not executed effectively.
Reply
Sticker Shock strategy: I. Davies
5/9/2019 07:50:39 pm
Reply
Janalee Watkins
5/10/2019 03:06:42 pm
I think this strategy would get students talking maybe even debating each other. Regardless students would be engaged with a topic that may be difficult or to some a boring to teach. I like the idea you have.
Reply
Ann-Marie Davis
5/9/2019 09:28:39 pm
"Was Reconstruction a Success? If so, how? If not, why? Was the attempt to rebuild the nation a victory or defeat? Explain your answer. What lessons can be learned from our experience with Reconstruction?”
Reply
I Davies
5/10/2019 02:09:01 pm
Whatever the reason, we were unable to fully accomplish the goals of Reconstruction.
Reply
Alene Gray
5/10/2019 02:53:38 pm
The idea that the legislation of Reconstruction was ahead of its time was something I had not thought of before but makes so much sense. If the US had been ready for former slaves to have the rights of Citizenship and Suffrage, there would have been no need for the 14th and 15th amendments (and especially the 24th Amendment) as the 13th amendment should have been enough. If the 13th Amendment aboloished slavery, those who were slaves and had been born in the United States should automatically have the rights of citizenship. That seems like a “no-brainer” in today’s thinking, but it requires step-by-step educating and a lot of time for those rights to be honored. Your last comment about not being as committed to the changes, I feel is spot on for many, even today; often we are committed for others to fit what we want, but not committed for the reverse.
Reply
Brian Turner
5/11/2019 10:43:12 am
I like how you show that our government wasn't united in their plan after the war. Their broken promises and failure to lead us onto a better path ultimately ended with us being back where we started, only with new verbiage.
Reply
Aubrielle Lundquist
5/13/2019 09:13:21 pm
I totally agree with you -- especially the part when you said: "One of the lessons we can learn from this time is simply that we don't want to repeat it. The war is not something we want to repeat, nor is the treatment of human beings seen during this time and going forward. We also need to use this as an example of what can happen when we see ourselves as more than someone else. Separating ourselves into "haves and have nots" will never give us a positive ending. We need to respect others, and remember that we are all in this world together."
Reply
LeAnn Jensen
5/15/2019 07:54:23 am
I also learned a lot on that second part of the video. I had no idea that African-Americans had made such great strides in the political theater. They wanted to vote and have a say and even outnumbered the whites. I can understand the southern white's way of thinking...that these illiterate, uneducated, former slaves were taking control of their city and state governments. However, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened if African-Americans had been able to keep their control in the political arena.
Reply
Evann Howlett
5/15/2019 10:59:24 pm
@leann
Cathy Miner
5/10/2019 06:33:28 pm
While the Reconstruction Era did provide improvement in living conditions of millions of freedmen across the south, the progress was not sustained and therefore cannot be labeled as a success. Admittedly, this was an extremely difficult situation for our broken nation to navigate. The vast majority of Republicans were not ready to free the slaves before the war. When the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863 it drastically changed the course of how the north and south could and would reconcile at the war’s end. There was no going back to the way things were, and no one agreed on how to shape the future.
Reply
Kayla Vernon
5/11/2019 01:36:40 pm
"...No one agreed on how to shape the future."
Reply
Kelly Taylor
5/15/2019 09:05:44 pm
I like the points you both make in regards to leadership. I think as a leader, while it is important to know what you are about and not compromise your morals or your goals, but as a leader of the country, I think you owe it to the country to represent the country. And similarly, I often like to tell my students that Hitler was a great leader. Unfortunately, he was leading with a terrible goal, and if we consider how he is remembered, we might be led to think he was horrible. But again, pointing out the number of people that followed, he was a great leader. Sometimes, leaders need to be humble enough to know when they are wrong, and be willing to change course, if it is in the best interest of the cause as a whole. Imagine what Hitler or Johnson could have been if they had been leading in causes that were worthy to be remembered.
Aubrielle Lundquist
5/13/2019 09:16:56 pm
I like how you said "This failure to properly educate American citizens to the dishonor of the actions of the former Confederates has resulted in a nation where many believe that discrimination doesn’t exist simply because slaves were freed in the 1860s. This thinking is the result of willful hate being passed down generation to generation to 2019 where it exists as willful ignorance."
Reply
Shannon Diotaiuti
5/14/2019 08:58:32 pm
I especially liked your last paragraph. How easy it is to think that racism ended with slavery, but in many ways it became even stronger.
Reply
Samantha B Webb
6/2/2019 08:03:32 pm
I think you take a wonderfully objective look at the facts surrounding Reconstruction, Cathy. Like you said, it is really sad to continue seeing the effects of a broken Reconstruction play out in our country today. I hope that viewpoints like yours can help our students go from plain ignorance (not knowing the truth at all) and willful ignorance (knowing that they have little information/misinformation, but are unwilling to find the truth) to real knowledge and a commitment to better our world!
Reply
Elizabeth W. Donovan
5/10/2019 07:19:57 pm
I have to agree with A. Guelzo as he stated in his TIME article, “Merely to call Reconstruction a failure is too simplistic. Reconstruction was overthrown, subverted, and betrayed - and then replicated.” And replicated for decades up until and through the Civil Rights Movement. The evidence is all to clear with the means and conditions of putting Hayes in office, withdrawing the Northern troops, Black Codes and Jim Crow laws in the South to intimidate freed African Americans into submission, the lynchings that took place in the South, Emmitt Till, a 14 year old boy from Chicago who does not follow the “ways” of the South and becomes the target of a brutal murder in 1955, of which the killers did not spend one day in jail, the bombings in Birmingham, the issues with racism today, and the list goes on and on. At the end of the PBS Reconstruction documentary the narrator says, “ The retreat of the North left blacks across the South feeling betrayed and deeply in danger.” U.S. Grant even felt that the North should have kept the South in a “territorial condition,” (Guelzo article) Reconstruction did have some success for African Americans, especially the year of 1868, which was the year the 14th amendment was ratified, many former slaves were able to vote and some even held political positions. But that condition of a true democracy was short-lived. The promise of “Forty acres and a mule,” their own land on which to work and become self-sufficient never came to fruition, although it was proposed by Thaddeus Stevens in his 1867 speech to the U.S. Congress. The days of freedom and political involvement for Freedmen were replaced by suppression, poll taxes, literacy tests and the Grandfather Clause. The years to follow will hold terror, segregation, killings and “separate but equal,” status for the African American communities across the South. I don’t call that a success story. Frederick Douglas said, “You gave us no acres. You turned us lose to the sky, to the storm, to the whirlwind, and worst of all, you turned us loose to the wrath of our infuriated masters.” My sentiments of Reconstruction as well.
Reply
Cali Dansie
5/11/2019 03:36:19 pm
I loved your comments about how reconstruction was in no way a success story. Your evidence proves that the path to freedom was riddled with obstacle after obstacle and still continues to this day. Fredrick Douglas put into words the fears of former slaves being subject to former masters that no longer cared if they lived or died. The brutality in years throughout reconstruction sickens me.
Reply
Shannon Diotaiuti
5/14/2019 09:06:33 pm
An excellent post! Real reconstruction could have elevated the status and abilities of blacks and whites alike. Instead it sowed bitterness and poverty.
Reply
Kelly Taylor
5/15/2019 09:13:40 pm
I agree that to determine the success or failure of Reconstruction is too simplistic. There are so many factors and facets that complicate it for us to say whether it was truly a failure or success. I think the only way we could have seen a more successful outcome, is if Lincoln had been able to see it through. It seems he was truly the only one with a clear idea for how Reconstruction might best take place. With him gone, I think people in many ways did the best they could, unfortunately in hindsight, it's easy to judge that none of it happened how it should, but given the facets, I don't know that any one solution would have been the solution. I do think there needed to be more of a plan to acclimate slaves into society, and the buy-in from North and South would have needed to be non-negotiable. But much of the behavior of the people comes from their leadership, and since Andrew Johnson was not that leader, unfortunately, we struggled as a nation to make freedom a reality.
Reply
Brian Turner
5/11/2019 10:37:31 am
Was Reconstruction a Success?
Reply
Kristy Walker
5/11/2019 10:52:32 am
I like your post. Your last sentence really resonated with me. It's true the former slaves didn't have the representation they needed in the government to help them rebuild their lives. They were simply told they were free, but they didn't have any means by which to actually be free. It really is miracle that we have gotten to where we are today. However, we aren't done with the changes yet, and we can still do better.
Reply
Tamara Martin
5/11/2019 08:27:23 pm
Brian-I like your statement that the process of Reconstruction was "thick with racist ideals and horrible leadership..." The whole operation was fraught with incompetence, bigotry, and indifference to those who needed the most assistance. The questions is- why is it taking so long for our society to evolve?
Reply
Kristy Walker
5/11/2019 10:47:23 am
When teaching the Reconstruction after the Civil War to my 5th grade students, I have them work in groups to come up with a plan of how to solve some of the hard problems and issues after the war. They almost always say that the freed African Americans should receive free land, and some students even say that the owners of the slaves should have to pay the slaves or give them a portion of their land. General William T. Sherman had the right idea when he issued the Special Field Order Number 15, which granted the freed families forty acres on the islands and coastal region of Georgia. However, that dream of independence for the African American community was quickly crushed when the government gave the land back to the previous owners and were told they could sign a labor contract or be evicted from the land.
Reply
Pamela D Bryson
5/15/2019 08:38:01 pm
I find it fascinating that the 5th graders came up with a very similar solution. I think that concept makes a lot of sense. The consequence seems to fit the issue and it takes away some of the power that was being held by large plantation owners. After watching the documentary I really wonder if a harsher punishment, which is stated they were expecting, may have saved us a lot of trouble during the next 100 years. If you take away the source of plantation owners power and money then maybe they wouldn't have had so much to come up with so many unjust and ridiculous laws and wouldn't have been able to help the reconstruction cause.
Reply
Kayla Vernon
5/11/2019 01:44:05 pm
https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/reconstruction-sac
Reply
Cali Dansie
5/11/2019 03:45:51 pm
Thanks for this lesson resource. I think that it is incredibly valuable to have conversations with students about what it means to be free. We just had a discussion in class about how the Civil War can be won or lost still today. I think it comes down to the concept of freedom meaning equality. What is the point of all of those people dying in the Civil War if we do not ensure equality among Americans today? I think that the most important thing we can teach students about history is to make it relevant to themselves today. If we don't care to learn from history then we are throwing away all of the precious lives that were sacrificed to ensure a better future.
Reply
LeAnn Jensen
5/11/2019 01:57:15 pm
With the ending of the civil War and the Confederacy destroyed, the United States were together again, but not so united. Southern whites were not about to let their former slaves have control of any part of their society or lives. While there were some successes during the period called Reconstruction, there were many more failures.
Reply
Michele (Carpenter) Swenson
5/13/2019 07:14:34 pm
I agree that on the surface rights/progress was made on paper for the Blacks, but we were far from united. The Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, and the Klan certainly made life difficult for the newly freed blacks. It would take nearly a century for blacks to begin to have rights in many areas of our country.
Reply
Cali Dansie
5/11/2019 02:56:28 pm
"Was Reconstruction a Success? If so, how? If not, why? Was the attempt to rebuild the nation a victory or defeat? Explain your answer. What lessons can be learned from our experience with Reconstruction?”
Reply
Bailey Ritchie
5/15/2019 02:50:44 pm
Cali, your thoughts on white southerners needing reconstruction are very interesting and got me thinking. I love what you said about people changing because of experience and education. Wouldn't it be interesting if the white southerners had had the education and experience they needed to truly change.
Reply
Shannon Diotaiuti
5/11/2019 04:21:19 pm
Reply
Tamara Martin
5/11/2019 08:12:56 pm
Shannon- I think we are all a bit guilty of teaching the war and not the aftermath. Hopefully we can learn to reach a bit farther and help our students understand the ramifications of war.
Reply
Michele (Carpenter) Swenson
5/13/2019 07:19:55 pm
I think many teachers of US History don't leave enough time at the end of the 8th grade year to cover the topic- or perhaps it is so controversial and confusing that many teachers don't address it.
Reply
Bailey Ritchie
5/15/2019 02:59:00 pm
Shannon, I agree that sharecropper and slave essentially meant The same thing and isn't it interesting that they were seen as something completely different during the time? It is interesting to think about the difference in reconstruction if things had been kept in control. I agree that we don't always teach our students the terrible things about reconstruction, although this year I tried to teach them a little more about the reality than in the past.
Reply
Tamara Martin
5/11/2019 08:10:54 pm
Was Reconstruction a Success? Failure? Was the attempt to rebuild the nation a success or a failure?
Reply
KerriLee Spain
5/11/2019 08:47:45 pm
This is the first time I have ever even heard of the reconstruction period that I can remember. During the video that we watched when it told about the "40 acres and a mule" I was very pleased to hear the the federal government gave this to the African Americans post the war, only disappointed when they took it back from them. I don't feel the reconstruction a was success. The south was left ruined from the war. The freed slaves were left uneducated with very little to no money to support themselves. The efforts were there but the follow through was not. I remember thinking throughout the whole documentary "I wonder how different this period would have been had Abraham Lincoln not been killed" Andrew Jackson seemed to want the white people to dominate the blacks and didn't want to help the freed slaves.
Reply
Brittany Holman
5/15/2019 05:00:47 pm
I often wonder the same question! It makes me want to dive into his journals and see if there was a plan he was going to execute and if he had a timetable. I then wonder how different America would be without Lincoln's assassination and if the ideals of Reconstruction would be more effective with a different president and other key leadership.
Reply
Lynda Davis
5/11/2019 08:48:57 pm
The Civil War 1861-1865 was the biggest armed battle in United States history. There were many reasons why the war started: moral grounds, preservation of the Union and some fought to preserve their way of life. However, I believe the underlying cause of the Civil War was slavery.
Reply
Lynda Davis
5/11/2019 08:51:18 pm
sorry...this should have been on the other blog...oops!
Reply
Kelly Taylor
5/11/2019 09:20:32 pm
Victories and Defeats - Rebuilding the Nation
Reply
Janalee Watkins
5/13/2019 01:44:48 pm
Every time I teach my unit on Reconstruction, I have students ask the same questions you have asked in your essay. While "what if" questions can sometimes be a distraction technique, I encourage my students to think about how things would have been different in the south and today had Reconstruction not failed. The "what if's" make them think!
Reply
Elizabeth W. Donovan
5/14/2019 06:15:14 pm
Kelly, the "what if's" that you mention far outweigh the "what did's." While I believe proposals and ideas from Reconstruction were way ahead of their time, and they left an aftermath that would lead to Civil Rights trials and tribulations for over 100 years. As an educator, I do not struggle with the teaching of Reconstruction. What I struggle with is the road ahead for Freedmen and corrupt politicking and trying to find the justice of the conscience of those who knew what would happen in the South after military support was withdrawn. Also, I don't think many get that what happened after Reconstruction has a huge contribution with racism today.
Reply
Lynda Davis
5/11/2019 10:01:43 pm
Reconstruction: Success or Failure?
Reply
Evann Howlett
5/11/2019 10:06:49 pm
I got really excited with this question because even though reconstruction is in the standards for 8th grade history, I NEVER get to it. The school year always ends before I can even finish the Civil War. This makes me question if the content for this unit should take priority over some of the other content I teach…
Reply
Brittany Holman
5/15/2019 05:06:37 pm
I often ask similar questions. What do we call success? I think it's important to help students understand that the first steps were taken to bring about equality but it's not something that happens overnight. A constant theme we discuss in US History. Change takes time, and if a problem has been rampant for years (over 100 in the case of slavery) then it sill take years to move forward and create anew.
Reply
Courtney Roberts
5/11/2019 10:24:32 pm
Courtney Roberts
Reply
Elizabeth W. Donovan
5/14/2019 06:19:10 pm
Courtney, I am right there with you when you say that the "root" cause of the Civil War was slavery. Other factors and issues come into play, no double about it, and the Jackson Era and Calhoun and his states' rights will always be a huge factor that the Civil War was about that issue in and of itself. Yet we cannot deny that the underlying issue ( for myself, at least) was the institution of slavery.
Reply
Michele (Carpenter) Swenson
5/11/2019 10:57:21 pm
Reconstruction was both a success and a failure, depending on your definition, and point of view. Success in reuniting the country, bringing the States back together, yes. Was it a bumpy road? Of course. But how does a country heal from a Civil War? Devastation of the Southern economy and way of life had occurred. Lives of previous slaves flipped upside down. Real plans to integrate blacks into society? Of some well intentions, but generally failure. The North hadn't been very successful integrating blacks and immigrants into their society, so how could they "fix" the South?
Reply
Kara Maxwell
5/15/2019 05:11:51 pm
Your essay brings up many valid points. I wonder, if we are still failing at Reconstruction, is it possible to succeed, societally speaking? Are we as a large society able to navigate the waters of racism successfully and develop peace?
Reply
Courtney Roberts
5/11/2019 11:08:43 pm
Courtney Roberts
Reply
Pamela Bryson
5/12/2019 12:10:42 am
The reconstruction was a success in the long run, but that success was prolonged by a great many failures in the short run. The success in the long run might have come sooner, were it not for the some of the mistakes in the early years of reconstruction. It failed in the short run because the change was too fast for the South that was still healing from its deep wounds of war and the loss of its culture, and the leadership in the North was not even culturally prepared for this rapid change.
Reply
Merissa Graves
5/13/2019 07:52:50 pm
I agree that the North was not prepared to lead the South in this change, but I don't think the South's feelings on the matter should have been considered at all. They lost the war. The North should have followed through with enforcing Reconstruction and upholding the legislation that was passed. I wonder is Reconstruction would have been different if Lincoln wasn't assassinated?
Reply
Elizabeth W. Donovan
5/14/2019 06:22:14 pm
Merissa, U.S. Grant and I concur. In the quote of his I mentioned, they were NOT the conquerors. They should have dealt with the consequences. Reconstruction would most definitely been different if Lincoln had not been taken from the construct he was building.
Kara Maxwell
5/12/2019 04:25:01 pm
I think it nearly impossible to make a people change their beliefs by force.
Reply
Merissa Graves
5/13/2019 07:38:00 pm
I understand what you are saying with it is nearly impossible for people to change by force, but I am not sure I agree with it. War forces people to change and it is always by force. If the U.S. government and military forced the South to uphold both amendments, and provided assistance to freed slaves in need, a lot of future violence and force on blacks freed Americans may have been prevented.
Reply
Kara Maxwell
5/15/2019 04:58:12 pm
I did not say it is impossible for people to change by force. Actually, that is very possible. I think is nearly impossible, or at least ineffective, to get people to change their beliefs by force. Reconstruction was basically one big babysitting festival, with the Union trying to police white southerners, and white southerners complying only half-heartedly or not at all. But as soon as the North pulled out, the South was right back to how they wanted to behave. I think the North did try to force the South to enforce the amendments and they did provide assistance to freed slaves, albeit for only about 10 years. The North got tired of babysitting. I'm not saying I agree with the North abandoning Reconstruction, but I don't find it hard to understand why they did. If the North had continued Reconstruction, had pumped more funds into black protection or black rights, I think this would have prevented violence and death, but I still don't think it would have changed the beliefs of white southerners.
Merissa Graves
5/12/2019 11:05:17 pm
Was Reconstruction a Success?
Reply
Alene Gray
5/13/2019 11:26:24 am
Reading your 1st paragraph gave me a new perspective. The statistics about the amendments was very interesting. It is easy to get caught up in one view point and to over focus. I appreciate the positive aspects, which you pointed out. Truly, any step forward is a positive, “any progress toward equality, cannot be considered failure. With hindsight, Reconstruction would have been handled differently.We cannot fix the past but the study of history gives us the opportunity to handle current situations more positively. Your observations from the article on Afghanistan is a great case in point.
Reply
Janalee Watkins
5/13/2019 01:37:28 pm
Merissa, I do agree the amendments were a success, but only on paper. It would be another 100 years later before blacks would be able as a whole to register to vote and then vote without the fear of being targeted and terrorized by the KKK. Yes, they were seen as citizens by the 14th amendment and on paper the 15th gave them the right to vote. But much of the south did not recognize them as citizens, and certainly not as equals. Full voter ship would not come until The Voting Rights Act 1965 under LBJ.
Reply
KerriLee Spain
5/15/2019 08:00:58 pm
I like when you said we needed the 14th and 15th amendments and that made this period in time a success. Totally new perspective I didn't think about. Thanks!
Reply
Brittany Holman
5/14/2019 09:26:18 pm
The success of Reconstruction depends on what you are using as a measuring stick. The immediate acts of the Reconstruction Era were successful to an extent. The sustained success of Reconstruction was a failure. The immediate acts that were successful were the establishment of schools, election of African American congressional representatives, and the passing of crucial amendments. These successes were fraught with failure from the pushback from the southerners.
Reply
Kara Maxwell
5/15/2019 05:02:29 pm
I really like your question: "Could there be a major shift in a multifaceted issue in one generation?" I wonder this myself. Could there have been a way to make Reconstruction a success? Is it possible to turn around the beliefs of the public in one generation, especially with a group of people as prejudiced as white southerners? I don't know, but it doesn't seem like taking a radical approach to Reconstruction was very effective.
Reply
Pamela D Bryson
5/15/2019 08:31:32 pm
I agree that the reconstruction was a slow success. It would have been awesome if that change could have happened in a 10-20 year period. I think what you have state as the major success, like education are key. Even though they are slower, they are long term solutions to bring equality in our nation.
Reply
Linette Sheffield
6/8/2019 11:23:29 pm
Reconstruction: Success or Failure?
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
D2T BLOG GUIDELINES1. Write with your readers in mind: Who are they? What do they need to know? What should they know? How will they use your information? ALWAYS be respectful of differences of opinion. HELP?! I CANNOT POST ALL OF MY ESSAY?If all of your essay or comments are not posting to the blog, simply copy the content missed and post it in the reply section of your own post. Unfortunately the blog site limits the size of a post, you can bypass this feature by augmenting your essay in the reply box.
|