Reconstruction Era of the U.S. - Short and Long Term Impacts

 After hundreds of thousands of years of slavery in the U.S., our country finally voted to abolish slavery, after thousands of attempts from many citizens. At this time, the government decided to create new amendments to add the constitution, and finally declare the legal blocking to slavery in America. With this, many previous slaves were brought into states of worry and confusion, as being set free would leave the slaves all on their own, with no food, shelter, or general care at all. To help solve this issue, the government and the president at this time, Andrew Johnson, decided to help slaves transition back into freedom, by creating a period called the Reconstruction. The Reconstruction period assisted slaves, and gave them (limited) rights. Following the 13th amendment set earlier on, the 14th and 15th amendment were soon introduced, which allowed all born in the U.S. to be citizens, and allowed all citizens the right to vote. To this day, this period of reconstruction still has many affects on our country, yet impacted also has impacts which did not last as long. Some of the short term impacts this had were popular opinions and racism in the North, targeting African-American voters and government officials, black codes, and Henry Adam's statement, while, some long term effects included the reconstruction amendments, and education.

To start, the Reconstruction period led to some still-lasting, long term impacts, those being the Reconstruction Amendments, and Education. According to Document A, an excerpt of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, " ...13th, 14th, and 15th amendments..."Reconstruction Amendments"...were passed in order to abolish slavery and establish the rights of former slaves." These Amendments of the constitution are still present to this day, and still apply to all citizens and the American government. As stated in this quote, all of these rights were to give rights back to former slaves, and help the slaves transition back into freedom. Following the establishment of the 13th amendment, which ended slavery and made slave trading now illegal, the 14th and 15th gave certain rights back to the slaves, to help aid and transition back into a free life. However, though these amendments did impact slaves, these new laws also set the guidelines and rules for future generations, and declare freedom to others under unfair rights. The rule of having all born in the U.S. be "sorted" as citizens, and allowing all citizens be able to vote are still rules set today, and had positive impacts on freed enslaved citizens. Though this might seem like a short term effect, these amendments are still referred and looked at to this day, and still have impacts on the U.S. today, making them long-term affects on our country. According to Document E, a Q&A to slaves about education, "Many of the negroes in some localities, common plantation negroes, and day laborers in the towns and villages, were supporting little schools themselves." Over time, the amount and skill level of the education being taught to blacks has significantly become better, and is actually being offered. However, education between blacks has always been there, yet has just improved  changed over time. Back before the reconstruction period, no slaves were taught properly, in schools, with proper education. However, with the reconstruction of slaves, education in the old enslaved became a much more common topic, and has started to "mix" with whites, to this day creating diverse school societies. Some of the long-term affects of the Reconstruction period included the "Reconstructon amendments," and the education of the enslaved.

On the other hand, there have been many rules and laws which have not lasted as long, and do not affect our country today. Some of these include the Black Codes, and popular opinion and racism in the North.  According to Document B, an excerpt of black code guidelines set, "...years following the Civil War, Southern states and cities passed Black Codes...laid out what freed blacks were and were not allowed to do...passed July 3, 1865..." In these specific codes from a city in Louisiana created soon after the Civil War ended, they negatively limited the rights and space the slaves received, slowly taking away the rights they gained from being freed. However, with later laws passed by higher positions of government, these rules would soon be abolished, and stay rules of history. This does not take away from the fact however that most of these codes and laws set were very unfair, and did not follow the plan of the reconstruction. Instead of allowing the enslaved more rights, this took away most of the rights they gained with this plan. According to Document I, "...period long enough for the black to have forgotten something of his condition as a slave and learned much of the true method of taking care of himself." This not only shows how unfair the government is by not allowing any black officials on any form of government, but also shows how unfair they treat blacks. In this case, the South Carolinian state legislature was attempting to make previously freed slaves forget the entire route and happenings of slavery, after all they forced through. With this, the government was attempting to help benefit all, both blacks and whites, yet were once again being unfair to the past of black slaves. Also, this issue would only create further conflict in the furutre, and only sets the government up for failure as time goes one. However, this issue only lasted a short period of time, as more and more realized it is important for our government to own up to past actions, so most of these thoughts were quickly abolished. Some examples of short-term impacts the Reconstruciton period left on the United States were the black codes, and opiontions and racism in the North.

To add on, targeting African-American voters and government officials and Henry Adam's statement were also examples of short term affects of reconstruction. According to Document G, a Q&A about the way freed slaves were being treated, "...about two days before they whipped me they offered me $5,000 to go with them...if I would let another man go to the legislature in my place." To add onto all of the other harsh ways the government was treating slaves, they were once again taking away more of the rights slaves received once being freed. Specifically, the right that all citizens are allowed to vote was being taken away in this situation. The government had strong opinions on who they wanted to win elections, and would pay certain slaves to vote for this individual, a long with getting other people on this side. If the slave were to refute and vote the other, they would then be punished and whipped, just like life when they were still enslaved. This would even happen to extreme extents, where white men were threatening to kill blacks who thought and voted differently and had different views of leadership. According to Document C, Henry Adam's statement, "four white men...one of the asked me who I belonged to...him and two others struck me with a stick and told me they were going to kill me..." Not only does this show more of the rights being taken away from freed enslaved slaves, but whites also started treating blacks like objects rather than humans once again. By asking who a person belonged to completely takes away all of the rights they earn as a citizen, and is a prime example of objectification during the reconstruction period. Obviously, as time passed, this unfair treatment had to come to an end, as the reconstruction period started, and slaves were seen as lower class citizens. Just like all other situations which happened during the reconstruction, this issue went through evolution and changed over time, improving the situation. Targeting African-American voters and government officials and Henry Adams statement were both examples of short term impacts of Reconstruction on the U.S.

Reconstruction in the U.S. had many impacts, both short term and long term. Some short term impacts included the black codes, Henry Adams statement, targeting African-American Voters and government officials, and popular opinions and racism in the North, and some long term affects included the reconstruction amendments, and education. Nearly all of these events had negative impacts on America, yet some had longer-lasting affects. Overall, the reconstruction period was a great improvement for America, and helped shape America to be the country it has grown to be.