HELP ME! civil war/reconstruction?

Question

okay so i have this take home frq due tomorrow.
the prompt is..
How do you account for the failure of Reconstruction (1865-1877) to bring social and economic equality of opportunity to the former slaves?

I don't understand this prompt. does this mean why did reconstruction fail in giving former slaves equality..? or .. any ideas
*sorry wrong section, but need all the help i can get *

Answer 1

Sounds to me like I would have issues with the teacher of your course!

Truth is often spun to fit the history people want!

The Blacks were an integral part of the entire South's economy! Not every person under another person was black. In Texas, slavery like it existed in other parts of the south was different! They only had indentured servants! Just like many Irish people and others who were actually indentured all through the North!

After the war, the Blacks took their 40 Acres and their mules and abandoned their previous Owners/bosses who not only needed them but had invested a great deal into teaching and training them to be valuable cogs in their machines! Many had positions as Gin operators, clerks, scribes Etc. They collectively took these skills and gathered up the laborers and formed their OWN communities They segregated themselves at both the former owners and their own demise!
The Whites were taken advantage of by the Carpet Baggers, and many Blacks were also taken advantage of by not only the same, but their own greedy and corrupt people(See Iraq)!

FYI-The reason there was so much hostility in the Southern towns was because the whites resented the blacks moving back after they had learned to get along without them and gotten their towns up and running again while the black communities collapsed!

I never lived in the deep south(Texan), but I sure do not blame the whites for being bitter!

Answer 2

Republicans brought the first civil rights act in 1866 and Democrats voted it down.

The problem, in a nut shell, was prejudice, grief, greed and apathy. People who didn't hate the former slaves didn't really care. People were upset they had family members die for a bunch of slaves. The rest were just trying to make a buck.

You can compare it to the current attitude about Iraq. The same arguments were made about fighting the Confederacy as are currently being made about Iraq by the same people. People in the city of New York rioted against the Civil War.

Look up the letters of succession from the southern states on the web, especially Georgia.

Understanding this will take more reading than a couple of answers on yahoo.

Answer 3

statistics show only app, 6%of the able bodied men from the north fought in the civil war, most were against the war, as the know this war was not about slavery, "Lincoln even told the southerners they could keep their slaves remember? there were so many blacks hanged from lamp poles etc,, that they even sent in the national guard to protect them, the main source of military was immigrants from Ireland, England. Germany etc as they promised them citizen ship after they served, these people were desperate and starving, The real reason for the civil war was Cotton, the northern textile owners needed the cotton, but, they only wanted to pay $3 per bail, France and England was paying $17 per bail, so the south was sending their cotton to France and England, the nothern Jewish textile owner put so much pressure on congress and the president, they had the southern ports blockaded, and that is when fort sumpter fired on the union, After the war southerners were disinfranchised meaning the could not vote or hold public office, former black slaves were instaled as congressmen , senators and such by the northern carpet baggers, the carpet baggers wanted to destroy the southern whites , they had blacks as judges sheriffs etc , the penalty for a black raping a white woman was 24 hours in jail, among many other injustices such as raising the taxes so much they coudn't pay , so the northern carpet baggers financed the blacks to buy the land V,I, A, tax sales,pennies on the dollar,there is a lot more but I am tired

Answer 4

Try approaching the question from this perspective: How did the reconstruction fail to bring social and economic equality of opportunity to the former slaves?

Here's a hint: "Carpetbaggers".

Answer 5

Yes thats what it means, its asking why did the Post Civil War Reconstruction, not limited to physical reconstruction but the series of political settlements, institutions, laws, federal troops, etc fail to leave the Slaves with an equal stake in America as they were legally equal citizens with whites. You should note the gains of blacks in Reconstruction, black elected officials, colleges ,etc; and then how those gains were rolled back; Jim Crow laws, KKK, intimidation, Election of 1876, sharecropping,etc

Answer 6

Reconstruction exchange right into a failure. President Lincoln were a moderating impact -- and issues could have long previous in a distinctive way had he lived. yet Lincoln exchange into assassinated, and thoughts have been stressful. particularly than welcoming Southerners returned into the national fold, the northern leaders acted greater like conquerers -- and dealt with southerners like a conquered human beings. The regulations had all of the grace and afforded all of the honor that our present day-day U.S. government provides the "terrorists" at Guantanamo Bay. It took the country better than one hundred years to recover from the mishandling of issues as we communicate following the Civil conflict. examine it to the compassionate therapy of our former enemies following worldwide conflict II. the changes are eye-beginning.

Answer 7

because most didn't care about slaves or slavery. the civil war wasn't over slavery. most really didn't care about reconstruction,they just wanted to humiliate and degrade southerners.