Reconstruction

 The Reconstruction Era

Shortly after the Civil War was over, a new era came called the Reconstruction Era which, was the effort to reintegrate Southern states from the Confederacy from 1865 to 1877. Shortly after the war, the president of the USA, Jackson passed black codes. Black Codes were restrictive laws designed to limit the freedom of African Americans and ensure their availability as a cheap labor force.

After the Black codes were created the Republican party led a radical right-wing which allowed black people to have a voice for the first time. Of course, after this, the white people got mad and decided to create the Ku Klux Klan. 

The KKK is a U.S. hate organization that employed terror in pursuit of its white supremacist agenda. They would kill people if they had different beliefs or if they had a different skin tone. The 13th- 15th amendment also came during this period allowing black people to have a voice and be a citizen. 

During the end of the reconstruction period, the hate groups slowly started to die off and black people were starting to be called people. Obviously this was not the last time that the black people would have hate groups coming at them. Shortly after that, the confederate states started coming together with the Union and formed the United States of America again. 

CarpetBagger

 CarpetbaggerCarpetbagger 

Have you ever heard of the term "Carpetbagger?" Most people in this year in time have never heard of the word carpetbag before. So today I'm going to be informing you on what a carpetbagger is and why it got that name. Carpetbagger is a derogatory term for an individual from the North who relocated to the South during the Reconstruction period from the year 1865 to 1877. The Reconstruction period was the period following the Civil War that acted as a time where the United States of America kept trying to keep the Union and the South as one country. The reason why 'Carpetbaggers' went to the Confederate states is that they needed significant capital investment, and there were financial opportunities that didn’t exist in the North. 

Making fast money was on a carpetbagger's mind and finding ways to make that money also applied was just the start. An example of a financial opportunity for them was buying land in the South for a very good deal and then sometimes leasing the land. Another example is investing in small businesses such as banks at the time.
The reason why carpetbaggers are called carpetbaggers is that they were said to be able to fit all their belongings in one large carpetbag and go off. During this period carpetbags sold out almost everywhere because everyone was moving to different states. They were often compared to jews for being money hungry and trying to make every cent they could. Similar to a carpetbagger is a scalwag which was just someone from the South going to the North to look for finical opportunities.

 
   
The carpetbaggers were not well-liked due to most of them being Union soldiers and coming into a Confederate state was not the most ideal situation. However, there were many Political opportunities for them such as becoming high up in the office. Something that helped them to succeed was when the federal government banned former Confederate leaders and military from voting. Helping the carpetbaggers win most of the elections in the South was a big help to the minorities such as black people and different races. They were most of the time in political offices (no surprise) in the South because the Confederates were limited to running and voting. The people however living in the South weren't too friendly to carpetbaggers. They would call them names and sometimes even physically hurt them. The reason why the Confederates did this was that they viewed them as exploiters who only wanted to gain personal riches from the South and they thought they didn't really care for growing the country.

Carpetbaggers also backed the Republican party which was the party of Lincoln. One of the positive impacts left behind by the carpetbaggers was creating a statewide public school system. Some of the carpetbaggers taught newly freed African Americans how to read and write. Doing this however made a group not too happy. That being the Ku Klux clan, which targeted carpetbaggers just because of their efforts in supporting racial equality.

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Pro-Slavery

One of the acts in favor of slavery was the Kansas Nebraska Act. This act would open up slavery to the North if Southern slave owners moved to Kansas and Nebraska. One of the main reasons for this was to keep slavery balanced. Bleeding Kansas was a war against pro-slavery and anti-slavery this is known as the start of the Civil War. The war resulted in the building being set on fire and destroying certain printing presses. 

The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was an act approved by Congress stating that runaway slaves must be returned to their owners. The government enforced this saying; that even if you want no part in it, you must abide by the law, or you could get fined.  There would also be a reward for catching the slaves and returning them.

Anti-Slavery

One of the Anti Slavery movements was the publication of Uncle Toms Cabin, written by Harriet Beacher Stowe. Who was once a slave and lead many people to freedom. The book discussed the injustices of slavery and how to fight against slavery. 

              

John Browns Raid happened for two days which they tried to start a slave revolt. Ten raiders died during the process; seven were tried and executed. Brown inspired many abolitionists and was a huge part of ending slavery.

The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes used by slaves to escape from their jobs. This railroad would lead the slaves to different states and even had safe houses along the way. An estimated 100,000 enslaved people escaped through the railroads. The railroad was a key part of making slaves free and giving them the life that all humans deserve to have.

                                        

State Vs Mann

State vs Mann was a case where Lydia the slave was shot in the back by John Mann. Mann was loaning the slave from Elizabeth Jones when she tried to run away in fear of Mann. That's when Mann shot her in the back and, the court found Mann guilty of harming the slave and charged him ten dollars. Mann then sued the state for his money back which he won but, I don't believe he should've due to the fact he was not the master at the time and just a loaner and injured "property." State v Hale 1823 says A battery committed on a slave, no justification, or circumstances attending it, being shown, is an indictable offense. 

I believe that the; court should've stuck with their decision to set a tone not to abuse slaves or mistreat them. Most people during this time believed; that black people at this time were not people and were inferior to white people. However, now we see that this is not the true way and it was very unethical. The opposing side says that the loaner had custody of the slave for a year and being she didn't die she wasn't hurt. But if we consider her to be property, the shot in the back affected her working habits and, the owner no longer could have a one hundred percent worker.

A verse that could've helped the state win the case due to this time being very religious would have been Luke 6:31 saying "And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them." The case presided over the indictment, or prosecution, of a man who had committed cruel and heavy-handed punishment on his slave. Hale was fined and found guilty due to being too aggressive to his slave. The State V. Hale's case set an example for State V. Mann's case that the harm of a slave is indictable or punishable by law. If the assault of a slave has been punishable and found guilty previously, it should still be found punishable in this case. The problem at the time was everybody who was in favor of slavery was the jury was all white and usually also had a bias to slavery. This is one of the reasons in big cases we have a diverse jury. Another problem, in this case, was there were already laws defending the owner so the judge had to side with Mann for him to be doing the right job. “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word”. – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In conclusion, this period was very unfair and unjust. I'm glad to see how people have learned from their mistakes and most of everyone sees slavery now as a huge mistake.