Kyle Snyder History 453: Civil War and Reconstruction Professor Harvey 12 May 2010 ReconstructionA Total Failure

The history of emancipation starts with the abolitionist movement prior to the Civil War. In the northern part of the United States, emancipation was the primary desire for the nation. In the south, the anti-abolitionist fought to maintain their rights to their property and limit the federal governments control on their lives. This struggle eventually led to the Civil War, dividing a nation, and driving the United States into a battle which would last over one hundred years. Although the emancipation of the slaves was an issue of moral importance to many, the repercussions of its success led to the failure of its overreaching goals and failure of reconstruction throughout the United States years later. As early as 1861, Union generals began to encounter abandoned slaves, also known as contraband, as they conquered southern lands (see appendix I). General Benjamin F. Butler asked the Secretary of War in July of 1861 Are they property in regards to slaves found in Virginia (MP, 281). He continued to tell that my own mind is compelledto look upon them as men and women and not property (MP, 281). Many soldiers felt dismayed to discover they had disobeyed orders by harboring the fugitives (MP, 291). These feeling spread quickly as soldiers who stoutly maintained that they fought only for the union bitterly resented being implicated in the punishment of men and women who had done nothing more than do them a good turn in exchange
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for a blanket and a few morsels of food (MP, 291). Similar feelings were felt throughout the union army as they marched throughout the south and continually asked the political question concerning the status of these individuals. Without stronger enforcement from the military, the soldiers often enacted their own policy for these former slaves. It was impractical for the military to use them as untrained soldiers, illogical to ignore their intelligence, and helpfulness around the camp, but unethical to return them to the Southern states. A common response was for the army to free the slaves or allow them to live amongst the soldiers. By freeing them in this way, the military had granted the former slaves the right to live as they wanted to live. Many chose to grow crops (see appendix II), some headed to safer territory in the North, while others learned and practiced trades to help the Union soldiers. Although still not officially classified as freedmen, the rights awarded to these individuals by the soldiers would help Abraham Lincoln expand the war and free more men. The Emancipation Proclamation was officially signed by President Lincoln in two parts in September of 1862 and January, 1863. The proclamation stated that the slaves in the states that did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, would be freed. The second proclamation signed on January 1, 1863 specifically spelled out the ten states where the slaves were declared free. Seven states had received partial or full exemption from the proclamation because they either never seceded from the Union or were under the Union army control at the time the proclamation was issued (MP, 289). This meant that the only impact the Emancipation Proclamation had was upon states in which it had no control. It did however lay the foundation for the emancipation of slaves in all states and territories by the wars end. As the military advanced further into the
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south more slaves were freed and given more opportunities some of which included fighting in the war. Although there were independently organized infantry units of freed slaves willing to fight for the union in Kansas, North Carolina, and Louisiana prior to the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, it was not until the spring of 1863 when they would see serious combat. Until this point these units, made of freedmen and runaway slaves, had only been involved in minor skirmishes. They performed well in the skirmishes and were commended for their valiant performances. On May 27, 1863, the Louisiana Native Guard was involved in the battle at Fort Hudson where over one thousand soldiers were engaged in the battle. Their victory opened the eyes of those who did not believe the black soldiers would be willing or advantageous to the fight. Other units, including the famed 54th Massachusetts, consisted mainly of black men and freed slaves (see appendix III). In order to make black military service more palatable to northern whitesnearly all officers in black units were white (MP, 305). By the wars end these units would play a significant role in the emancipation of more slaves. Although a huge advancement for freed blacks, the status the freed slaves would earn by the end of the war and the way they were implemented would become crucial in the failure of reconstruction following the war. When the war ended in 1865, the United States congress declared terms for readmission of former Confederate states to return to the union. The biggest term was the inclusion of the fourteenth Amendment into the states constitution. This declared that all individuals within the jurisdiction of the state are citizens and that no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law (MP,
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318). Another condition was that until the territory was readmitted as a state to the union it would become a military district subject to military authority. The citizens of the former slave states did not respond to these new heads of government in their district favorably. Representative L. Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi stated that Even if it were true that they came to the south for no bad purposes, they were put in a position which has always endangered rapacity, cupidity, corruption, grinding oppression, and taxation in its most devouring form (MP, 380). The ruling of a northerner in the south was a great controversy because southerners were habitually regarded and treated as rebels who had forfeited their right to protection[and] under that policydisfranchised a large portion of the white people of the southern states (MP, 381). The feelings of disfranchisement were being blamed on the northerners and taken out on the freed black individuals for bringing this influence upon them. Many southerners remained committed to the Democratic Party following the war. The former slaves almost completely turned to the Republican Party with many northerners. Drawing the color lines between the two parties was the weapon that finally toppled the republicansrace was obviously an ever-present element during reconstruction, especially because the republican party with its black constituency threatened to disturb the existing racial order (MP, 397). With the demand for votes among the parties ever increasing it was both safe and necessary to play the race card (MP, 398). Many fights emerged as the Freedmens Bureau attempted to keep the peace (see appendix IV). The Freedmens Bureau was established to be a diplomat, marriage counselor, educator, sheriff, judge, and juryestablish schools, provide aid for the destitute, adjudicate disputes between whites and blacks and among
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the freed people, and secure former slaves and white unionists equal treatment before the courts (F, 97). The Bureau would fall through because of the impossibility of reconciling the aspirations of former masters and former slaves (F, 98). The battle between the races did not end at that time and would continue due to a variety of factors well into the twentieth century. The economic struggle between the northerners attempting to alter the lifestyle of the southerners, the constant political battles for rights, and the enduring racial discrimination all led to the failure of the reconstruction. With the return of the democrats to power in the late 1870s, the priorities of Reconstruction itself, not just the republican party, had been substantially overthrown (MP, 399). The political advancement of the Democratic Party made them the restorers of white supremacy that would make the south severely circumscribed by old practices and priorities (MP, 399). Racial tensions returned with white organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan being given a free pass to commit crimes of racial intimidation and hatred throughout the south (see appendix V). This would continue until the Civil Rights Movement of the mid twentieth century. Reconstruction of the United States had honorable and justified intentions to reunite America and make all of the citizens an equal part in society. The political and racial tensions gained a stronger ground than the ultimate goal of a new nation. If anything, reconstruction set America back further from racial advancement by allowing the attitudes of southerners prior to the war to continue and not place enough emphasis on the forward progression of the nation. Reconstruction was a failure on almost all accounts and only succeeded in reuniting the country. Laws were allowed to be passed
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to hinder racial equality and the advancement of blacks in America would take another hundred years to be enacted.

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