Reconstruction Act essays

Reconstruction Act essays The reconstitution is the process of rebuilding that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865). Since this was the first civil war the United States had experienced, there were a lot of questions dealing with what to do with the South after the defeat of the Confederacy and the overthrow of slavery. The debate of these questions began during the war and continued for decades. This time period was known as the Reconstitution and was from 1865 to 1877. This period began with onset of an intense national struggle over the society and government in the postwar South, and ended with the fall of the last Southern State governments under Republican control. The federal attempt to remake the South was over. Early in the war, the important issue of reconstitution emerged and attracted attention as the northern victory neared. As Union forces gained large areas of the South, both Union commanders and the federal government were forced to make decisions on how these areas should be administered. The federal officials chose to experiment with sending Northern missionaries to set up schools, have former slaves be employed as contract labor, and whites loyal to the Union to organize new state governments under the federal control. President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation by January 1, 1863 that freed all slaves that were in rebel held areas. The Norths war aims were now shifted from preserving the Union to remaking the South. Many Northerners felt that the South should be remade into a society that was based on free labor, equal rights, and the republican form of government. Early in 1865, before the war ended, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution was passed by the Congress in January. This amendment expanded on the prior Emancipation Proclamation by abolishing slavery throughout the United States. General William T. Sherman also issued t ...