Essay On African Americans After Reconstruction

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Pages: 4

Reconstruction refers to the period following the Civil War of rebuilding the United States. The years between 1863 and 1877 was a time of great pain and endless questions pertaining to the future of the United States. Many issues had to be addressed in order to heal the country.
Despite the fact that the Civil War settled the political question of the lawfulness of withdrawal, the rejoined states confronted many inquiries over how the national government would manage the vanquished South and previous slaves. The South had been vanquished and its economy lay in remnants. The bitterest pill was the changed status of African Americans whose opportunity appeared an attack against white supremacy. Although Abraham Lincoln had many plans to heal the country before his assassination, white racism would challenge, and ultimately defeat, Reconstruction.
The Election of 1868 played a role in reconstruction. At this time, to accumulate votes and utilized fear in the South to keep Republicans from voting. Less than 53% and an overwhelming majority of black votes. Reinforced
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African Americans desired to build their own communities as well as establish political, social and economic independence. For many, their first instinct to reach this goal was to move around the country but many would ultimately return to work in the neighborhoods they were familiar with. Many whites were displeased with the blacks new-found freedom and went on to for radical anti-black groups such as the Ku-Klux-Klan . African American seeked salvation by focusing on the institutions important to them, which were their Families, Churches and Schools. For work, many blacks went on to sharecropping, which represented a compromise between planter and former slave. This compromised reinforced slaves new feeling of freedom because Sharecroppers set their own hours and