Essay on The Reconstruction Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On The Reconstruction - Essay Example According to Foner (2012), the main aim of reconstruction after the civil war was to unite the people of American as one so that they could view themselves as a nation united together to bring about change and development in the American state. In this regard, there was the adoption of the 13 amendment in America which brought an end to slavery and all the people of America were protected under the law. The blacks were given the right to participate in the voting process and they could also be elected in the governments’ seats. This was as a result of the enactment of the civil rights act. The blacks in the southern states were also represented in drafting of the new constitution that gave them access to governmental institutions. Racial equality was one of the ways proposed by the congress to bring about democracy in the south. For the first time in the history of America, there was racial integration of both races in the congress. For instance, the blacks from the city of Al bama got the opportunity of occupying seats in the congress this was an attempt to bring about the interracial democracy. However Lincoln idea was criticized by majority of the whites from the beginning of reconstruction whose main agenda was to rule out the domination of the blacks in government. In this case, the whites formed their own organizations as a way of ruling out the blacks’ representation and participation in congress. Slavery in America meant that the African-Americans were cut off from their family ties but with the emergence of reconstruction they had the opportunity to interact freely with their families and they were also given the right to access educational institutions and churches which were majorly dominated by the whites. The introduction of reconstruction was in this case to ensure that the blacks enjoyed their rights the same way as the whites (Foner, 2012). In attempt to reconstruct the southern states, the whites posed a big challenge to the federa l government. Among the challenges experienced during the process of reconstruction involved lack of cooperation from the whites in the south. It was observed that some of the officials elected in the governmental positions were not competent and so they could not deliver their services effectively. However the whites tried to intimidate the blacks and influenced them to continue working for them. With the Lincoln success in reconstruction, his successor Johnson did not embrace his idea. In this case, the federal land was returned back to the owners forcing the blacks to surrender the land they had previously obtained. Johnson view on reconstruction was that the blacks had no role to play in government. He took keen interest on the whites and this made him to appoint them to governmental positions (Foner, 2012). A period of 1886 saw the introduction of laws and implementation of policies to moderate Andrew policies. Among the bills that were introduced in the house was the civil bil l which gave the right of all American citizens to take part in elections this was regardless of race. This bill did not specify whether the blacks were given the mandate to vote. This created a lot of debates between the congress and president Johnson as he was seen abusing the office and so a called for his removal through a vote of no confidence