8/13/2019 Cole Creighton- Reconstruction DBQ

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Who Slaughtered Reconstruction? North or South?By Cole Creighton

W.E.B. Dubios said, Slaves went free, stood a brief moment in the sun, thenwent back towards slavery. Who caused the freedmen to go back towards slavery?

After the bloodiest war in American history, the country needed a time of healing afterthe war. This period of time was called Reconstruction. Reconstruction met itsunfortunate demise with the Compromise of 1877, which extracted the troops out of theSouth officially ending Reconstruction. This removal allowed the KKK to causeextortion to political leaders. The KKK used violence and intimidation, and the Southdisobeyed the 14th and 15th Amendments.

To begin with, by causing extortion to political leaders, the South killedReconstruction. The KKK killed political leaders that would vote for the RepublicanParty. This happened once when the KKK kidnapped Congressmen Abram Colby.They said they heard that he had voted for Grant. They asked him if he would vote for

the Republicans. Colby said ,If there was an election tomorrow, I would vote for theRepublican ticket (B1). After hearing this, they whipped him 1,000 times, and left himin the woods (B1). By doing this the KKK, made election unfair because Republicanscould not vote freely.

Another reason why the South killed Reconstruction was because the KKK usedviolence and intimidation. The KKK killed Republican Senator, John W. Stephens in acourt room where everyone could see. They were trying to scare people into voting forthe Democratic Party (A1). Also, they destroyed the homes of the people that did notagree with them (SS Textbook). They would not work together with the North.

Lastly, disobeying the 14th and 15th Amendments caused the the South to endReconstruction. The South passed Black codes, which denied African Americans ofmany rights. This was against the the 14th Amendment. The South ignored the 15thAmendment by making poll locations far from where African Americans lived. Also, theymade them provide a poll tax that they could not afford (SS textbook). The South wastrying to demote what Reconstruct was trying to promote.

The South caused the death of Reconstruction by the KKK causing extortion topolitical leaders, the Klan using violence and intimidation, and ignoring the 14th and 15Amendments. In conclusion, the South is responsible for the death of Reconstructionbecause they let the KKK rule over them and represent them. This issue is important

because you can see the progress our country has made over the last two centuries.