History Group
Question:
diosara
Student
High School - 12th Grade
What were the goals of reconstruction following the Civil War?
Were these goals acomplished?
Answers:
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ladyvols1 Teacher
High School - 9th GradeeNotes Editor
Posted by ladyvols1 on Wednesday December 10, 2008 at 1:46 PMThe goal, of President Lincoln and his supporters, was to rejoin all of the states to the Union and to help rebuild the "South". Lincoln was going to grant amnesty to all that rejoined the Union without fear of punishment. He was committed to following through with the Emancipation of the Slaves, and to make sure of their future in the United States of America. Were these goals met? It depends on which history book you read. If you read a book published before 1960 then no the goals were not reached. According to William Dunning’s late nineteenth-century theory:
"the failure of Reconstruction could be blamed on carpetbaggers, (Northerners who came south) scalawags (southern Republicans who supported the Union), and freed slaves."
However, if you were enrolled in school following 1965 your history books might follow the ideology of John Franklin, who believed the Reconstruction was more successful.
"Franklin’s perspective on Reconstruction was almost point-for-point the exact opposite of Dunning’s. While Franklin acknowledged that Radical Republican governments were often corrupt, he mostly defended the actions taken by freed blacks, southern white Republicans, and what he termed “so-called carpetbaggers.” "
Sources:
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alohaspirit Teacher
Middle SchooleNotes Editor
Posted by alohaspirit on Sunday December 21, 2008 at 11:37 AMWell, the goal of Reconstruction was to restore the union and compromise with the Southern states that ceded before and during the war. In order for Lincoln to restore our union he had to allow some flexibility with new laws so that the South would be want to come back to the union peacefully. The country was in a fragile state and even though many northerners were ready for complete civil rights for African Americans, if that were to happen the South would not be willing to come back to the Union. First of all Lincoln and his Congress created the 13th amendment that would completely abolish slavery, which was the beginning stages of restoration.
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rychoh Student
High School - 9th GradePosted by rychoh on Friday September 25, 2009 at 7:12 AMThe goals of reconstruction were to 1. Keep blacks safe and 2. bring the south back in peacefully. When lincoln died everyone thought that the reconstruction was finished but with Johnson as his V.P. ,and since Johnson was also a democrat, he tried to put looser polices on the south because he was on the fence. Unfortunatley the congress had conservitive republicans, and they keep over turning his veto on tough laws on the south. Johnson would later be tried on a unnrelated, lesser thing that almost empeatched him.
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