Question

Consider social, political, and economic equality. In what ways did Radical Reconstruction address and secure these forms of equality? Where did it fall short?

Answer 1

The Reconstruction tried to generate opportunities to end the segregation between white Americans and African Americans in the Southern States by giving them job opportunities and voting rights so they could be elected into important political roles.

During the Reconstruction African Americans were able to enjoy family bonds and tried to make a way for former slaves buying land to cultivate.

The problem was that the way Reconstruction was imposed created a brutal reaction in southern whites, that believed that they were stripped of their liberty, because of that many became committed to keeping blacks in a subservient position. With the election of President Johnson Reconstruction changed and the land was returned to white landowners which avoided land redistribution in the South.

The sharecropping system was a way of maintaining those ex-slaves and African Americans dependent on the landowners, it limited economic development and ensured that the South remained an agricultural location.

As we can see, the Reconstruction fell short of accomplishing its objectives because at the end it caused resentment in the Southern states, which backfired in the Black Codes and the creation of a series of white supremacy groups.