Fourth Unit Exercise

The Era of Reconstruction

Information on the sucesses and failures of Reconstruction

The lenient approach presented by former president Andrew Johnson failed in many different ways. Click here to listen to or read more!

Reconstruction led to a lot of achievements for African Americans, some mixed results, and some failures. Click here to learn more.

The reign of terror in the South brought horror and devastation to African Americans. Click here to listen to or read more.

Reign of Terror

Successes and Failures

Leniency

The Failures of Leniency

The success and failure of the Reconstruction Era

Life for African Americans in the South after the Civil War

Audio

Audio

Audio

Link

Link

Link

Takeaways

Former President Andrew Johnson and The Enforcement Acts

What were some of the outcomes and what can we take away from it? Click here to read more!

How did Reconstruction shape America, and what did we learn?

Read Me!

Click here to view my sources & Bibliography!

Info

Bibliography

Bibliography

Eric Totten, "A Fool's Errand: Reconstruction," University of Arkansas, 5/1/24

American Yawp textbook, "Reconstruction," paragraphs 1-19,

https://www.americanyawp.com/text/15-reconstruction/,

4/29/24

Sources

Eric Totten, "A Fool's Errand: Reconstruction," University of Arkansas, 5/1/24

Takeaways

There was a lack of effort to protect the rights of African Americans, as the withdrawal of federal troops and the rise of Jim Crow Laws resulted in segregation and continued oppression of African Americans. There was also a loss of trust in government or political officials, due to corruption. This distrust was major amongst African American individuals. This lack of trust led to alienation for the black people and led to disengagement in the exercise of political rights. Segregation was a huge influence that occurred after Reconstruction’s failure and lasted for long after it ended. African Americans struggled to find employment, and education and had limited opportunities to participate in American democracy.

Many historians have interpreted Reconstruction as a respectable effort to fulfill the promise of freedom and equality for African Americans, and some interpret it as a failed experiment that was ruined by corruption and terrorism.

We can take away many lessons from these events, the first being how easily and quickly civil rights can be given and taken away. African Americans gained rights, but they were quickly stripped of them by racism, terrorism, and violence. This goes to say that the fight for Civil Rights is ongoing and requires a lot of effort. We also can learn that white supremacy is still very much present and taught to this day. Many people have grandparents who would attend lynchings and even kept pictures of it, and it is shown that even though this entire era was an attempt to deconstruct white supremacy, it never truly went away, resulting in lasting racism, violence, and discrimination due to the people who are still taught Reconstruction-era policies. We can also take away that African Americans demonstrated honorable resilience, and we can learn that the fight for civil rights is always worth it, and we learn the importance of collective activism over basic fundamental human rights.