Southern Response to Reconstruction

Southern Response to Reconstruction

     The reconstruction period that occurred after the end of the Civil War in the US was a turbulent period, to say the least. The whites in the South had an especially hectic and odd experience, as their entire way of life was turned upside down and changed. The basis of the work force in the South was slaves, and after the Civil War had ended, slavery was outlawed. Whites reacted with dismay and denial. Most southern whites attempted to keep their dominance and enacted many laws dividing whites and blacks. Some states even enacted “black codes” ridiculous laws that  practically brought slavery back, just slightly less bad. Some civil rights were granted, such as right the to property but the restrictions kept were still severely harsh.

    The Radical Reconstruction was a period of development for the United States that began the assimilation of blacks into white society. The weakness of Andrew Johnson as president after Lincoln’s death enabled the Radical Republicans to take power and use Congress to remove ex-Confederates from power in politics. One of the methods of resistance for white Southerners to the new freedom of slaves was the formation of the KKK. The KKK stood for the Ku Klux Klan, a group formed because of whites refusing to accept the banning of slavery. The KKK was a violent force that used its violent methods to push for slavery to be re-enacted.

 Carpetbaggers was a term created after the civil war during reconstruction. It referred to northerners who moved to the South primarily for monetary gain. Southerners did not look to these people kindly seeing them as opportunists using the South's suffering for their own gain. The term Scalawags referred to Southerners who supported the reconstruction and the Republican party. Due to the South's heavy resistance to reconstruction, eventually the Union forces withdrew their soldiers in an agreement finally reached with the south. Southern legislature came up with new laws to basically keep slavery alive but under a different name and the KKK ran rampant.

                                                    Works Cited

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/section2/section2_intro.html

http:www.crf-usa.org/brown-v-board-50th-anniversary/southern-black-codes.html

http://www.history.com/this-day-history/kkk-founded

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