Reconstruction Era
When Thomas Jefferson became president, one of the first things he did was to make the Louisiana Purchase. With this buying of land from France, America had more than doubled its size. It was from this dawning that the idea of manifest destiny and the American character began swirling in the collective conscious of many Americans. It is these ideas that helped to inspire a war over unity and equality. The American Civil War was started to unify a nation that had split over the institution of slavery. However, when the dust had begun to settle there was a new series of issues facing the nations leaders of the time. This period after the war is most commonly known as the Reconstruction Era. During this time (1867-1877), racism was more prominent than ever. Many historians of the day felt that these were Radical Republicans who had freed the slaves. It was only recently that the view of the Republicans was that of heroes who fought for liberty and racial equality during Reconstruction. These ideas are seen more vividly in Eric Foner’s essay “The New Reconstruction.” It is thanks in large part to the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s that historians have, for lack of a better phrase, re-colored history. That is to say historians couldn’t rewrite history, but they presented it in a different light.
From the beginning of the United States racism has been prevalent issue. Even after the emancipation of slavery racism continued very heavily. It was because historians of that era and up until the civil rights movement had portrayed racist views as well. For instance it was a common thing during the Reconstruction Era to think that the Northerners who helped free the slaves were just misguided. The white man had always been the supreme race, but when slaves became free it endangered many whites supremacy. But it was not a secret that freeing the slaves didn’t guarantee them there rights they truly deserved. To say the least the emancipation of slavery was...
Please login to view the full essay...