Need for Reconstruction period

Introduction

The Civil War (1861 - 1865) came to an end with the victory of the Union over the Southern states. This was followed by an era of Reconstruction (1865 - 1877) in order to integrate the states that broke away from the Union on the issue of slavery. This period was one of controversy with regard to the treatment meted to the states that would be allowed to integrate with the Union. Therefore the reconstruction was social, economic and political in nature so as to benefit the States of the South. There after, America saw a spur in industrial growth with the accessibility of sufficient land due to western expansion, flow of money and availability of cheap labor. This period witnessed the second industrialization which shaped the history of America and influenced the socio - political, economic and cultural life of the people on the whole.

The Need for Reconstruction

The Civil War came to an end with the surrender of Confederate troops headed by Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses Grant at the Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. This was followed by a Reconstruct ional phase between 1866 to 1877 to enable the Southern States to join the Union and to provide equal citizenship to the Whites and Black alike. After The Union's victory in the Civil War, there was a faction in the Republican Party regarding the kind of treatment that should be meted to the Southern States for the secession from the Union. The democrats and the moderate Republicans were for a lenient approach unlike the Radical Republican wanted a harsher course of action that would both punish the South and ensure freedom to the emancipated slaves of the South. In 1863 Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction which focused on reconstruction and not to punish the South for breaking from the Union. Therefore the reconstruction programs of Abraham Lincoln and his successors focused on the political, social and economic reconstruction of the Southern States that seceded from the Union.