Reconstruction Era: North America, 1865-1877

In reference to the seven continents in the world, North America is a continent that has great notable events in the past about their reconstruction era that began in the year 1865 and lasted up to 1877. The process of reconstruction ended up in the United States of America connected to the Pacific Ocean. It had acquired one of the richest places in North America that were famous for gold-digging, which is the state of California . The reconstruction was done to build the nation from the crisis of the civil war that had emerged earlier. Although the conflicts between militaries in the country had ended, the rebuilding was another form of conflict. Albeit, conflicts due to the reconstruction had some positivity since it finished slavery. The main aim of this paper is to discuss the facts surrounding the scalawags, freedmen, carpetbaggers, and important people in the reconstruction of the west.

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Many white republicans from the south had strong anti-black attitudes and were against any rebel society during the rebuilding era. These white men, known referred by their enemies with the name scalawags, had made the largest number of supporters to the reconstruction movement. The scalawags believed that whites should acknowledge the political and civil rights of the black society while mastering the methods of improving their political and economic life . These men were believed to be worthless in the sight of many people in the nation since most of them were ex-union army soldiers, and others had been imprisoned for some union sympathies. These scalawags were described as traitors of the south. They were from different backgrounds, but they were united with the same motive; that is, they could achieve less in their living by supporting the republican south and oppose the reconstruction movement.

The southerners disliked the opportunistic Europeans who immigrated in their country during the period of reconstruction. In 1865 some North men who were referred as carpetbaggers moved to the south in search of some leasing plantations, lands on sale with an aim to making money by plantation of cotton, which was in high demand during that period. The southerners gladly welcomed them in their countries since they thought the north men were traders; they wanted to boost their state of the foreign exchange market. Later the southerners realized that the northers were nothing but opportunists who wanted to benefit from this new land. Most of these carpetbaggers were professionals in teaching, journalism, in doing merchant work, and they were good businessmen. The reconstruction enabled them to utilize their abilities properly to bring out a steady economic growth.

Enslavement of immigrants was very common to the people in America before the reconstruction began. Reconstruction was a very crucial period regarding slavery because millions of black slaves were freed during this period. The act of freeing people was made possible by a movement known as the Freedmen's Bureau that was established on third march 1865 on an act of Congress aimed to free slaves2. The movement provided the former black slaves and poor whites with food, shelter, clothes, and provided them with efficient medical facilities. The Freedmen's Bureau ensured that the homeless black people were provided with the land that was abandoned after the civil wars. The scalawags supported this movement and ensured that they gave their support to the maximum since they were less racist as compared to any other southern.

The new leadership favoured the black people in the reconstruction period. After the shocking death of Lincoln, Andrew Johnson became the rightful successor of the presidential seat. The new president decided to follow Lincoln's footsteps and allowed the reconstruction of America. Johnson allowed south men to have a place in the government seats and made each state to have multiple governments; he felt these governments would help in deciding what is best for the immigrant slaves. Although, the north men were not impressed by the decision of giving the south power and they were also frightened that the south men will adopt imposing fear to the black people due to power, but that was not the case since more black people were freed due to this act and the relationship between the north men and south men became a little better.

Conclusion

Indeed, the facts surrounding the scalawags, important men, freedmen, and carpetbaggers during the reconstruction period are discussed. The scalawags were not racists and discourage the practice of slavery of fellow human beings. Their act made them be considered as traitors by their fellow southern people since it was their culture to enslave the immigrants. The southern people also disliked the north men when they knew the main intention in them; they knew the north people were only opportunists looking to get benefits in American land. The Freedmen's Bureau, formed by an act of Congress, helped the black people and other poor people to meet their basic needs and provided medical facilities to them. Andrew Johnson played a bigger role in freeing slaves by forming multiple state governments.

Bibliography

Barton, Clara. 2019. Reconstruction in the West. July 18. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.clarabartonmuseum.org/event/reconstruction/.

Blair, Wiliam. 2011. Journal of the Civil War Era. March 7. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://www.journalofthecivilwarera.org/about/.

History. 2018. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags. August 21. Accessed April 25, 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags.

Lloyd, Sealy. 2020. American History: The Civil War and Reconstruction: Key Events and Figures of Reconstruction. March 10. Accessed April 26, 2020. https://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/c.php?g=288398&p=1922435.

Sean Andrews. 2018. Freedmen's Bureau. October. Accessed April 2020. https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/freedmens-bureau.