Reconstruction after the American Civil War - Article Example

After the bloody American civil war, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendment articles were guarded in the U.S constitution and aimed to offer all Americans an equal opportunity in society. During this period, African Americans were permitted to vote, look for their own employment, utilize public facilities, get the lands of former owners, and actively engage in politics. However, some people opposed these move and rallied against the freedmen. Despite the opposition, aggressive and rapid amendments were made to the constitution which laid a strong foundation for the most aggressive and radical stage of the reconstruction process.

The success of reconstruction was evident by 1870 in that former slaves attained equal rights like other people in society. For instance, they were in a position to get an education and vote. It is significant to note that during the era of reconstruction, most Southern States created public education for its residents but financing was variable (Foner, 2012). The efforts of reconstruction were rolled back in 1873 until 1877 when the conservative white gained power or authority via the former Confederacy.

For instance, President Hayes removed federal troops, which led to the collapse of the three Republican governments. Via the implementation of racial policies known as the Jim Crow, the conservative whites introduced racial biases and segregation, which remained in the South until the late 1960s. Initially, Republicans agreed that slavery, all acts related to slavery had to be destroyed, and the structure of Confederate nationalism had to be abandoned and suppressed. It is also important to note that white men who were in power abandoned succession and slavery but regained the issue of white supremacy (Foner, 2012).

During reconstruction period, new spending on infrastructure, schools in addition to corrupted spending, and the failure of the state credit because of unreasonable spending, made the southern states to raise tax on property. These measures were wasteful as the money meant for social amenities such as schools and development of infrastructure was embezzled. Historians provide distinct reasons as the efforts of reconstruction after the bloody civil war failed. Despite the fact that reconstruction reestablished the economy of the South, it failed.

Although slavery practices in the U.S ended, sharecropping was a brutal sequence almost as awful. This is because the freed people would participate into this and barely get anything to survive. Another reason as to why reconstruction failed in the U.S is that the ability of the South to go back to previous or initial animosity or hatred with the African Americans or black tenets and the Jim Crow policies. These policies discriminated against freed slaves and made them inferior and unequal with other people in society.

Groups that carried out racism could get away with heinous acts such as murder and it would not be seen as something bad with no consequences. For instance, the KKK was not punished for their crimes (Foner, 2012). In addition, Historians argue that the objection of the efforts of reconstruction by various factions led those who desired to continue it either give up their efforts or become discouraged to be in a position to continue.