Reconstruction
The Reconstruction after the Civil War consisted of failures as well as successes. Despite having the intentions of positively affecting political and constitutional issues, yet failing to do so, the National Government from 1865-1877 successfully integrated many positive social changes. The National Government during that time caused increased sectional bitterness and made the Constitution more questionable than ever. It also, however, released the slaves and helped them recover while helping the South rebuild its shattered slavery free economy. The National Government during 1865-1877 can be seen as ineffective politically. Their legislature increased sectional bitterness by not taking a firm stance on the question of slavery. A failure of the National Government was the fact that the Freedmen's Bureau was disbanded in 1872. The Freedmen's Bur
This led to white planters again creating slave-like conditions. But, despite this, the Reconstruction also had its effectiveness when dealing with social changes. This was the first government agency that targeted a certain group of people. During Reconstruction, the government also tried to rebuild the South's war-torn economy. By keeping agriculture as a major industry the South's economy kept afloat. Other positive social changes were the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. Another failure was that it was impossible for blacks to get a decent education. The Black codes, which were just like slavery but under a different name, the Poll Tax that made people pay in order to vote, and the Grandfather Clause, which said that in order to vote your grandfather had to vote, didn't allow the freed blacks any rights. But, disbanding it meant that the agents and federal troops were no longer in the South to protect the freed slaves. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 also was a positive aspect of the government. The fourteenth amendment, passed in 1866, insured the protection of individual rights, and the fifteenth amendment, passed in 1869, guaranteed the right of black males to vote. A great number of former slaves still lived in poverty. It allowed blacks, at that time, to gain citizenship and have equal rights.
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