2 ChaPter^1
This period of Reconstruction became vital to the future of the United
States. The decisions made did not radically change the political and social
conditions that had existed before the Civil War. The same people who had
caused secession continued to lead the southern states. Blacks still lived with
discrimination and poverty. But the country would expand and build a new
economy at the same time. The long-term project to eliminate Native
Americans as a barrier to expansion would be brutally fulfilled and, most
importantly, the transition to Industrial Capitalism was completed and the U.S.
would become, in a short time, a global economic power.
To address the importance and aftermath of the Civil War and the period
of Reconstruction we will thus focus on three key issues: first, the political
and social consequences of reconstruction, with a particular emphasis on what
it meant for ex-slaves; then the nature of expansion and Indian removal; and
finally, and most critically, the triumph of Industrial Capitalism, which would
be the basis for the growth of American power and have a profound impact
on the American people.Reconstruction and Race, Controversies and Consequences
The first task of Reconstruction would be to put the United States back
together, but political and regional differences created great problems in
accomplishing that goal. There were essentially three programs for
Reconstruction, and they would be negatively affected by North-South, and
Republican-Democratic differences. The programs would try to address
reuniting the Union with the Confederate states and creating a new legal and
social system for ex-slaves. None of the programs, however, was a great success.
President Abraham Lincoln developed the first plan while the war was in
progress and it was lenient toward the Confederacy [not surprisingly, since his
primary goal was to restore the Union before confronting the issues of slavery
or race]. Lincoln was willing to allow southern states back into the United
States when only 10 percent of the White population promised loyalty to the
Union. On the race issue, his plan just required the southern states to accept
the reality of abolition. Lincoln even vetoed an attempt, the Wade-Davis Bill, to
require a majority of the White population to swear allegiance to the Union
and to give some legal and civil rights [but not the vote] to Blacks, in 1864.