History
WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1A: Reconstruction.
President Lincoln’s goal for reconstruction remained linked to his goal in the war-preserve the Union. His plan favored leniency, in order to as quickly as possible reintegrate the south, and gain the support of Southern Unionists (mostly former Whigs). Radical Republicans urged a much harsher course, believing that the south was unrepentant and should bear the costs of Reconstruction.
INSTRUCTIONS:
In order to prepare you must complete the following readings:
Review the section in Chapter 17 which discusses the Black Codes, and the linked document, taken from the writings of William A. Dunning Click for more options .
Review the relevant sections of Chapter 18: The Southern Burden and Life in the New South.
Review and identify relevant information on the linked PBS American Experience site, Reconstruction The Second Civil War
Utilize at least one of the linked sources to support your discussion.
Identify and incorporate at least one additional outside source to support your discussion. In addition to the textbook, you may use any material outside of the textbook
that is recommended in the Additional Reading section at the end of each chapter. You are also encouraged to do your own research and identify relevant sources. Please keep in mind that WIKIPEDIA is not an acceptable reference.
PREPARE AND SUBMIT:
Write a well-organized essay, a minimum of 700 words (but not limited to), including supporting details from the documents/textbook/other sources in which you analyze and discuss the material that has been assigned by addressing the following question:
In your opinion, were the Radical Republicans correct in their assumptions regarding the South, or could Lincoln’s approach have paved the way for a continuation of the political, social, and economic gains that African Americans had achieved during reconstruction? Support your argument(s) including information from assigned and linked readings
Reminders
Use Microsoft WORD to write the essays. The acceptable submission file types are .doc, .docx, and .rtf.
Prepare the assignment as a Word Document, double-spaced, and using a standard font of 12 points.
Paragraphs in an essay are not numbered. Any questions that are associated with an assigned reading are there to serve as a guide for your discussion.
Your discussion should incorporate all of the information from the documents and or textbook, and outside sources as one essay.
Students are required to research and incorporate into their discussions additional sources that relate to the content. Recommendations can be found in at the end of the textbook chapter in Additional Reading.
All statements must be supported and all sources must be identified and cited, and included in your reference list. This also applies to the textbook. Failure to do so constitutes Plagiarism, and the college has strict policies and penalties for failure to comply. Under the Resources, you will find links to sites that review how to format a paper or essay. I recommend that students use APA or Chicago Style to format their essays. Students should ask their instructor which format style they prefer you to use.
Proofread your work. Make sure that you have looked for all of the spelling and grammatical errors and corrected them, and that you have organized your work into coherent paragraphs.
Submit via the Dropbox as an ATTACHMENT. Any work that is submitted directly into the box will be graded as a 0.
Point Value: 100
Grading Criteria:
Analysis and discussion (60%)
Support for discussion (30%)
Organization (10%)
Reminder: All written work must comply with standard English rules, such as proper capitalization, grammar, and spelling. The assignment must be submitted by the deadline listed in the calendar.
Note: Even though you will see a statement giving you the option of copy/paste or file attachment, please disregard this statement. You are required to attach the assignment in MS Word format.
Teaching Tip Links have been provided to various sites that offer guidance for essay writing, and APA format. This information is located in the “Student Writing Resources Folder” under the “Course Content” menu option.
Link to book:
https://b-ok.org/book/3510103/6cf685
ANSWER
By the end of the Civil War, the South states lay in ruin with crops destroyed, entire cities annihilated and people in economic, political and social upheaval. A good example to repercussions on the economy was the price of a loaf of bread that had shot up to $700 Confederate dollars. Many starved to death and suffered losses in property, land, homes and other personal belongings. By the year 1865 legislators in Washington embarked on the difficult task of reconstruction. Reconstruction had three major objectives, restoring the Union, implementing development to the southern regions and enacting the progression of the African American freed slaves (Franklin 1994). Prior to the end of the war, in 1963, President Abraham Lincoln had unveiled a 10% plan that was to guarantee the southern states back to the Union after 10% of the voting population pledge loyalty to the United States where all Confederate officials would have received a pardon. Abraham Lincoln died before seeing this through but his successor President Andrew Johnson took the10% plan forward a move that lead to the creation of the Radical Republicans in Congress who favoured harsh measures to the Confederate and its officials and at least 50% voting population loyalty (Foner 1982). One point that remained true for all parties including Lincoln, Johnson and later, Radical Republicans was that the confederate states had to abolish slavery to be readmitted to the Union. This essay analyses whether or not Radical Republicans were correct in their assumptions regarding the South or Lincoln’s 10% plan would have been more effective in the progression of African Americans politically, socially and economically during the reconstruction.
The plan by Congress towards reconstruction was radical and the reason the leaders of this plan are referred to as Radical Republicans. They aim was to assert blame and demand submission. Historically, it is understood that conflicts can never be resolved through threats. The Boston Tea Party and the American founders understood this and were the reason they choose diplomacy, concession and compromise for the sake of greater good. It was the reason President Lincoln preferred leniency rather than strong-arming the Confederate States. However, one move by the Radical Republics and that paved way for a continuation of the political, social and economic gains of the African Americans was the positioning of the army troops in the confederate states. This ensured that the 14th Amendment and later the 15th Amendment was upheld in the Southern States that were very resistant when it came to granting similar rights to African Americans as they own. This proved its importance in 1877 when the military occupation in the southern stated came to an end. The resulting effect was economically and socially vulnerable freed slaves open for exploitation by their former masters. The southern states went back to hard restrictions on African Americans which they enacted as their state laws and black codes (Sproat 1957). The 15th and 14th Amendment now existed only on paper and the deterioration of the progress achieved was on a steady decline.
Alternatively, the 10% Lincoln’s plan would have born more fruit because it was designed not to enforce laws but to logically reason with the South through diplomacy. Changing the perception and mind-set of the former Southern slavers would have gone longer in ensuring freedom and human rights were accorded to the African Americans. Reconstruction by the Radical Republicans up to 1877 was both constructive and destructive because apart from enforcing laws it did nothing else. The plan did not even include a system of economic sustenance to the slaves who were now free and did not have to rely on their masters for basic necessities. African Americans still could not access proper transport, education or business opportunities making them dive deeper and deeper into poverty. The point is, without the white former confederate states in support of the freeing of slaves, the plan remained an idea on paper rather than a practical solution to a practical problem.
This essay concludes that Radical Republicans were wrong in their assumptions regarding the South and that Lincoln’s 10% plan would have been more effective in the progression of African Americans politically, socially and economically during the reconstruction. I believe that should Lincoln and Johnson’s plan has carried forward, more would have been achieved in the south and the possibility for reoccurrence eliminated.
References
Foner, E. (1982). Reconstruction revisited. Reviews in American History, 10(4), 82-100.
Franklin, J. H. (1994). Reconstruction after the civil war. University of Chicago Press.
Sproat, J. G. (1957). Blueprint for Radical Reconstruction. The Journal of Southern History, 23(1), 25-44.
