Reconstruction by B. M.

1 The documentary we watched was about the reconstruction of America after the civil war. The south wanted America to be returned to its “former glory”. While now freed slaves wanted, what had promised them in the constitution.  We learned about Mr. Campbell and his term as president on a South Carolina costal island, and the importance of education for freed slaves. We learned about land freed slaves were given and how President Jackson took it all back.  All this information was from documents written in first hand by the men that experienced these situations. There was no real argument made here but more education and information regarding what happened.
2   The purpose of this documentary was to educate. There was no hidden agenda. All the information was provided was done so in a fair manner. We heard from freed slaves, from former slave owners, betrayed freed slaves, angry confederate supporters. The voices missing were those of the women that lived in these times. What their perspectives were.

3. In class all of this was brought together through images some even graphic images that let us know how freed slaves felt and what confederate supporters thought. We learned about the struggles freed slaves faces in terms of racism and discrimination, and a divided country between how we conducted ourselves and how we should have conducted ourselves in relation to how we treated freed slaves in a post-civil war country.
4. One of the conclusions we drew was that for most freed slaves they had a rougher and more anxiety ridden life as free men. As freed men, they now had to be leery of all white men retaliating because the freedom slaves now had. They had to endure physical violence along with verbal abuse. There were lynching and murders across the south with virtually no repercussions to White men.

5.A question I had was what happened to the freed slaves after they were displaced from their island off the South Carolina coast? What did white and black women think and feel about what was going on?

Reconstruction by S. A.

In the first part of the first half of the documentary titled Reconstruction show the events following the end of the civil war and the dealings of the freedmen and the plantation owners who came to claim back their land and the freedmen who learned their lives in this country is going to be long and hard. To begin during the war in order to get the slaves off the union armies tail Sherman signed field order fifteen and essentially gave every freedman forty acres and a mule since the army had no need for them. After a couple years the land granted to the freed man after being cultivated now belonged to them. Until the southern landowners mainly the wealthy plantation owners came back and told all the freedmen to leave the land the government that field order 15 had granted them. Northerners believed that the treasonist southerners should be punished but the North believed the road the recovery and reconstruction was through rebuilding the south rather than punishing them. The author shows the actual field order that had been archived by most likely a military scribe. Shows one special case which was an island only inhabited by blacks and no whites were allowed guarded by an black militia it only seen as trouble for the government to deal with such sensitive matters.
The author wanted to show the hardship of the south as it was difficult and unpleasant time for everyone in the south. For those who were seeking their pardons for the government were being hung out to dry and it became evident they would need to have official help to sort out all the conflicts of men and freedmen.The government formed the freedmen's Bureau to settle any disputes with the southern landowners and the freedmen who lived on the government seized lands. The only voices missing would be of the landowners who wouldn’t be pardoned so easily since Andrew Johnson wouldn’t handle out the pardon without the groveling he thought they were required to perform. You can hear the voices of the slave who were utterly disappointed to learn that the land that once held their hopes dreams were going to be taken from them and the road they had ahead of them would be worse than the slavery they were forced to endure. Ever since the book of Frederick Douglas we saw from a primary source of someone who could read and write and had experienced slavery and his harshest possible treatment any human will undergo. From the harshest of religious slave owners to ones who would allow their slave to leave the land to complete labor contracts. Until he found his opportunity to escape and he ran to the north where he became a published author under a different name and showed the world what it is to be a slave. Questions i’m left wondering whether or not the island of the all black community ever came to combat the local white population. A population of around a thousand black slaves versus the an entire gathering of the local white supremacists back then it was normal to look down on blacks but now i guess that would be the correct term for them. Overall the situation for every freedman look grim from owning land and their very own community being taken away the next couple year will hold even more suffering in pain that will only grant their freedom as second class citizens.

Reconstruction by D. C.

1) The speaker's main argument was that white men made it increasingly difficult to become regular people after slavery no matter how hard they tried. The narrator of the documentary provided examples of the hardships that African Americans had to face such as; no education, limited job openings, no money, no skills besides agricultural work and white prejudice.
2) The purpose is that although slaves were now emancipated, now they were faced with a new task; independence. Going from being totally dependent on their white masters, African Americans has to find jobs, fend for themselves, and try to build up a life after slavery. A voice in the documentary that seemed to be missing was that of the women. We focused on the men because they were the ones, back then, to make the political moves and policies. Men carried them out such as Field Order 15 that General Sherman put in place to make the freedmen stop following the Union Army. Women were hardly mentioned except for the ex-slaves that moved onto St. Catherine's Island.
3) Some of the in-class sources we used were the images about Reconstruction depicting the negativity of blacks and white power. One specifically that showed the KKK, lynching, and quotes from the era. A quote we discussed in depth was "The Lost Cause" which was the point of view of the South on the Civil War, although they lost the war Southerners said they were set up for failure but fought valiantly anyways.
4) A question that a student asked in class was about why Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson to be his Vice President for his second term. As we talked about it, we concluded that Lincoln's reasoning behind is that Johnson was a Southerner so that would be very beneficial to Lincoln's re-election. Perhaps that may be why he was assassinated, so a Southerner with their current ideas and values could be in charge.
5) I'd love to know how long it took for Blacks to become independent of Whites. Even with the Labor Contracts, Blacks were still dependent but they were not treated as cruelly. Also, did any other race besides African Americans ever have to face a hardship like slavery? I know the Jewish people did in Egypt but what about the Irish, or Chinese, or Spanish/Mexican peoples.

Reconstruction by A. P.

For Our final assignment this semester we watch a documentary “The Second Civil War” on the reconstruction of the country after the Civil War. The Narrater talk about the thing that unfolds after the Civil War was over in efforts to reconstruct the country, and there are many things going on at this time. The slaves are now freed, and the government has no clear idea of what they are supposed to do with the freed man. The freedmen had to find their own place in the country. The country has to find a way to come together after a war between its own people. Southerners have to accept they lost, and that thing will not be the same. The southerner also fear what will happen to them. If they will be punished for their rebellion, and how. When Lincoln dies all the plans he had to die with him as well. The country now has a new president who shared very different view than those of the former President Lincoln. The documenter is really good at explaining how both sides feel about the future that is ahead of them and how everyone is trying to deal with it. For example, it gives you the case of Kate Stone And how her family almost lost everything during the war being of the side of the Confederacy. They showed how the freedmen felt when having to give the land back to the owners and work as controlled laborers. We saw the struggles that the whites had because the African Americans no longer obeyed.
Before Lincoln was murdered his approach was to send Stanton to the south to talk to black minister in the south he wanted to know what was their vision for their future in the south. Lincoln even Wanted to know what the Civil War had meant to them. We saw a little of what Lincoln and thought the country should look like. Such as he thought that African American veterans deserved the right to vote. He was moving Toward more equality for all. When Andrew Johnson took Lincoln place as President of the United Sates. Johnson had very different views he was from the south, and he was known to own a few slaves, but he had a strong belief in the union. One of the reasons Lincoln chose him was to show the south he had some tie to them. The vision that Johnson had of the reconstruction was very different. Johnson was not worried about the freedman he was more sympathetic to the poor white people. We saw how he took back the land that was given to the freedman by the special order #15 of General Sherman. Johnson’s action gave way to a very horrible future for the now Freedman.
During class, we saw four different pictures that depicted the past, and what the African American went thought. We discussed how they were, lynched, how their schools were burned down and the different way they were kept from voting. We also read through a laborer contract and discussed how this labor contract just made the freedmen dependent of the whites. Not only by the south but by northerners to, their fate as freedmen were turning out to be more uncertain and brutal than before. All we spoke in class left me wounding what if Lincoln had never died would the future of the freed man have been the same or would they had a better life? Would Lincoln had found a better was to reconstruct the nation and really give everyone a better future?

Lincoln Ch 7 & 8 by E. C.

 In Abraham Lincoln chapter 7, author George McGovern writes about the ways which Lincoln  utilized federal power for the war effort. After his reelection, Lincoln happy gun to replace many of his cabinet members. He would hire her man he greatly respected such as Secretary of State William Seward, but he would even hire men whom he didn't get along with personally, but would form great working relationships with them, such as his Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton.  Lincoln put aside his personal views and pride for the good of the country.  Lincoln was very pleased with the make up of his second cabinet, choosing men such as Gideon Wells as Secretary of the Navy, John Usher as Secretary of the Interior, and Edward Bates as Attorney General. After Bates was called home to St. Louis by his family, Lincoln chose Joshua Speed as attorney general.  Mc govern also explains that financial measures to fund the war had been enacted such as the Legal Tender Act of 1862, which authorized the production of paper money to fuel the bond program, the Internal Revenue Act of 1861, which was the first federal income tax, The Subsequent Revenue Acts of 1862 and 1864 which created moderately progressive tax brackets and set rates at 5, 7.5, and 10 percent.  These measures greatly reversed the downward spiral of the trends issued by the Democratic Congress. The author also tells us about the landmark acts, the Homestead Act of 1862 which made it possible for any adult citizen to obtain 160 acres of land just by living on it for five years, the Morril Land Grant College Act, which gave federal lands to states to establish agricultural and mechanical arts colleges, and the US department of agriculture to look after farmers.  Lincoln also proposed the Ten Percent Plan, Which allowed states back into the Union as long as 10% of its citizens gave an oath of allegiance to the national government. We also read about how Lincoln worked tirelessly to gain votes for a new constitutional amendment, which was passed by a vote of 119 to 58. McGovern uses evidence to support his claim by giving specific dates and locations, making his claims credible.  Chapter 7 gives us readers an insight of how Lincoln dealt with the political aftermath of the war.
In Abraham Lincoln, chapter 8, make a governor examines the toll that the war took on both the people and Lincoln. The four years of hard, bloody war had begun to drain Lincoln,he did not eat or sleep very well and people who are close to him commented that he was extremely depressed and his same to you are hardly ever appeared, the weight of thousands of deaths weighing on his shoulders. Though physically, he was weak, Hisperia remain strong and he had to bend his faith in God. The author also describes the battle against Lee and his honorable surrender. McGovern uses the last few pages to recollect the death of Lincoln at Ford's theater and the happiness he had experienced in the moments before. Much like chapter 7,The author uses specific dates and even specific times as evidence.
The authors main purpose in these two chapters is to dig deeper into Lincoln's political choices at the end of the war and explain the negative told that the war took on Lincoln. From the authors point of view, Lincoln did everything he could to stabilize the country and put it back together in the end, even if it meant losing hundreds of thousands of lives.we mainly here Lincoln's voice in chapter 8, but I would like to hear you little more about his opinion on the many acts passed in the early 1860s, as discussed in Chapter 7. Did he agree with all of them?
in class, we formed groups of three to discuss some of Lincolns views. In Lincoln's point of view, we were to finish the sentences, "I believe that..." "I hope that..." and "I insisted that…" How would he finish the sentences? For the first, I am reminded of a quote of Lincoln in chapter 7. "If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." I feel that these two statements work well together. "I believe that if slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong." For "I hope that..." I think Lincoln would choose to say, "I hope that our nation can unify and become one as the Union again. For "I insist that..." I think that "I insist that all men are created equal and United States is stronger when we are unified." We also read "War by the Numbers" which debunks the previous death total of the war at 620,000 as calculated by two amateur historians to the new 2012 estimation of 750,000 as reported by Dr. J. David Hacker. This is possibly the closest number, but we will never really know for sure because no one ever kept any proper death tolls back then. Our discussions in class helped us get a better understanding of Lincoln's views and choices at the end of the Civil War.
We also discussed in class some historical questions we had about the reading. One question was, "after the war, how would the states make sure that no one was illegally  owning slaves?" According to our teacher, states would hire agents to make sure everyone was abiding by the law. Another question was, "what does the author do well?"in my opinion, the author uses direct quotes from Lincoln along with his claims to prove that it's not only his opinion, but also Lincoln's opinion. We also discussed how the war affected soldier's family members. They upset Stover dying soldiers constantly, asking, "did they have a proper death?" "Did they have any last words?" "Did they die with others around them or were they all alone?" Proper deaths were very important to people in the 19th century, especially to wives and mothers. These questions really helped us dig deeper and better understand the reading.
Some questions still remain: were the financial acts well accepted? Were they successful? Did Lincolns former cabinet members still remain in politics? Were they angry with him because they let them go?