Reconstruction and the Myth of the Lost Cause - 1511 Words

After the Civil war, the Union was reestablished in racism. Reconstruction was the constitutional effort (13th, 14th, 15th amendment) of the north to force the south to treat the freed slaves as citizens. Reconstruction failed miserably. It is one of the least glorious parts of American history. Some nationalists like to think that there are no badly edifying chapters of America, and decide to forget about it. The civil war was one of the big three events along with the Revolution and World War Two. Everybody knows about the civil war, but when it comes to reconstruction, most of my friends have never heard of it. I think it is a travesty and just ignorant of our society to not teach about Reconstruction in history classes. Reconstruction†¦show more content†¦Racism became â€Å"the American dilemma†. Some say racism is the number one story in American history. I think race is illogical, unreasonable, a misconception, and a big mistake. There is no such thing as race. We really are all mutts. The North barely tried to set the south straight, there was well meaning involved, and some effort was given I guess. But it only lasted for twelve years. The last federal troops pulled out of the south in 1877 and only showed up to make sure blacks voted anyway. If blacks were interested in voting, they got a visit from the nightriders who would murder them. Within twenty years of being permitted to vote, no blacks were voting. It does not matter what the law says if the law is not being enforced. So after the nation reunited in racism, the United States was officially a racist country. People are hung up on the constitution today, but during reconstruction, the constitution was not enforced in many ways. In the south, there were many lynching’s going on that were treated like festivals. After they hung someone, the town would pose for pictures with the corpse and sell the picture as a postcard for the town. The north could not get the federal troops to stop these and the cops and sheriffs of the southern towns were usually in the crowd supporting it. The southerners completely evaded the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments. Blacks were under Jim Crowe laws, which meant that everything was segregated between blacks andShow MoreRelatedConfederate Flag And Confederate Monuments1692 Words   |  7 Pagestaken was the titled the â€Å"Reconstruction Act† enacted on March 2, 1867. (Tulloch) This required each state to create a new constitution allowed voting rights f or all men, as well as the ratification of the fourteenth amendment. The reconstruction act was supposed to lead to a civil society where all men are equal and no person marginalized. As with most things created by man, the results did not match the intent. 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