RCWR - Document Based Question: Reconstruction (Lesson)
Document Based Question - Reconstruction
The Civil War brought monumental changes to the United States. The question of whether or not states could secede from the Union and form a separate nation was answered with a resounding "no" as the Union emerged victorious in the Civil War.
- The 13th Amendment to the Constitution ended slavery in the nation forever.
- The 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship for all Americans born in this country regardless of race or previous condition of servitude.
- The 15th Amendment guaranteed African American males the right to vote.
After the Civil War, the application of these principles was a struggle. The competing approaches to Reconstruction played out politically in dramatic fashion. Former slaves, known as the freedmen, enjoyed many benefits of freedom and voting rights during Radical Reconstruction. But old patterns and ways of thinking died hard as many white Southerners resisted the changes. When Reconstruction ended, many of the freedoms extended during the era were restricted and African Americans suffered under institutional discrimination until the mid- 20th Century.
No one argues that big changes took place. But what was the extent of these changes? Were they truly revolutionary? Was Reconstruction, despite its flaws, an overall success? Or did it harden Southern resolve to resist the changes?
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