American History

With the end of the Civil War, the enmity between the North and the South ended. Confederate troops returned to the barracks many of them returned to farming or trading. Union troops were disbanded. The one-million strong Union army was severely reduced to 10, 000.  President Lincoln implemented a reconstruction program the purpose of which were as follows 1) rebuilding the economic infrastructure of the South, 2) abolishing the institution of slavery in the South, and 3) emphasizing industrialization in economic planning. The Reconstruction Program, in essence, destroyed the age-old cynicism between the North and the South. It was perhaps the genuine intent of the program (and its administrators) which caused this.
 After Union troops occupied the South, President Lincoln asked the war department to form regional military districts. The president intended the creation of military districts as the focal point of his reconstruction program. The 11 former Confederate states were divided into five military districts governed by Union generals. For a start, Lincoln asked Congress to amend some provisions in the Constitution. Congress unanimously passed the 13th Amendment (institutional abolition of slavery), the 14th Amendment (giving African-Americans full rights as citizens), and the 15th Amendment (giving black males the right to vote). These amendments resulted in the election of seven black representatives in the state legislature. There were, however, disagreements over the direction of the Reconstruction Program. Northern Republicans, or more commonly known as Radical Republicans, wanted to punish the South for fighting against the Union. The president, Andrew Johnson, opposed such stance. As a result, he was impeached. The Blacks though lost much of what they gained in the aftermath of the war. The Jim Crow laws were passed in the US Congress. Blacks were forbidden to carry firearms. They could not testify against whites in criminal proceedings. They could also be arrested for being unemployed. The Reconstruction did, indeed, heal the enmity between the North and the South in the long-run, the black community suffered from gross political negligence. 
    The Reconstruction Period may be viewed as the focal point of a beginning. There was a restoration of political unity between the North and the South. The economic infrastructure of war-torn areas was, essentially, rebuilt. Political rights were granted to former slaves, to blacks. Former Confederate states were allowed to keep a significant quantity of ammunitions, in case of invasion. There was, indeed, a feeling of warmth and appreciation from both the North and the South (hence, the term Brothers War). Behind this curtain of respect and adoration was reality. The blacks were never fully emancipated, having lost several rights in the process.