Reconstruction

Reconstruction

Reconstruction or Malfunction?
The Reconstruction period was not as successful as most would have thought it would have been, with regards to African Americans. The overall the Reconstruction period was very unsuccessful. The main goal of President Lincoln’s was to reunite the Union and the South but the main goal was sidetracked when slavery became a vast issue.
With the ratification of the 13th amendment, there was a step taken forward to righteousness for African-Americans, Though former slaves, known as freedmen were liberated, a long road of struggle was ahead of them leading to equality. Freedmen were supposed to be free but with Black Codes they were severely restricted by white southerners. Also freedmen would find themselves in great risk pertaining to their economic & social status in the U.S. With the combination of the ending of a mediocre Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow laws, many African Americans lost voting rights and the chance to win elected office.
Republicans basically took control of all Southern state governments, except for Virginia. The Republican coalition elected various African-Americans to local, state, and national offices. Approximately 137 black officeholders had lived outside the South before the Civil War. Most escaped from slavery to the North and returned to help advance the South during the post-civil war era
There were few African Americans elected or appointed to national office. The first two African American Senators were Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce. The third African American to serve as a U.S. Senator was Edward E. Brooke who was elected in 1966. The 15th Amendment guaranteed the right to vote, but did not guarantee that the vote would be counted or that the districts would be distributed equally. As a result, even states with majority African American population often only had one or two African American representatives in Congress. South Carolina was excluded for the fact that they had four African...