Reconstruction and America
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Reconstruction and America
Reconstruction in the United States was a failed attempt at creating a true democratic society. There are multiple different opinions as to why it failed, but the two outstanding ones are; Reconstruction failed because it gave too much to African Americans too quickly which caused a backlash by southern whites, and that reconstruction failed because it didnt give enough power to African Americans so they were unable to stop more powerful whites. I believe that reconstruction failed because not enough power was given to African Americans. If blacks had been given adequate education equal to that of whites, their own plot of land with proper resources, and if they been able to make and pass their own laws, reconstruction might have worked.
If African Americans had been educated to the same level as whites during the time of reconstruction, they would have had a much better standing in society and might have prevented the civil rights movement. If blacks had been given a proper education, they would have been viewed as more intellectual. They would have been able to prove that they were not actually less intelligent than white people. They would have had a better reputation, and been able to get better jobs if they were allowed to go to colleges and get the same education as white people. If blacks had been higher educated, they would have been able to hold government positions and pass laws forcing equality.
Because there were hardly any African Americans holding government positions during the time of reconstruction, there was nobody who could fight for the rights of all African Americans. If there had been more black people in office, they would have been able to pass laws guaranteeing equality. But because the general conscientious of the time was that blacks were unequal to whites, no laws would be passed guaranteeing their equality. If they had been granted equality to whites, they would have been able to make as much money, and have access to the same land and resources as whites.
If African Americans would have has access to all of the same land and resources as whites, they would have been viewed as equal. If they had been viewed as equal to whites, there would have been no discrimination and the civil rights movement would not have been necessary. If the civil rights movement had not been necessary, we would not