North or South who ended Reconstruction? Write your essay here.

Reconstruction is a time period in which many acts of violence and racism carried out. It lasted

from 1863-1877. The conflict between the North and South over Freedmen's rights led to the

Civil War. The Civil War was very deadly and cost many people their lives. Reconstruction was

a time when Freedmen were gaining rights such as with the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Although the North had multiple scandals, racism, and couldn’t send many troops to the South,

the South was far more racist, and brought forth a lot of violence from the Klu Klux Klan.

The North shares part of blame for ending Reconstruction. They put out propaganda

clearly depicting stereotypes associated black people. In Document D, Harper’s Weekly states

that from the Boston Evening Transcript that, “the blacks, as a people, are unfitted for the proper

exercise of political duties…. The rising generation of… blacks needed a period of probation

and instruction…” People in the North also started to lose interest in Reconstruction due to

corruption. They became “sick of the carpet-bag government” and instead focused on President

Grant’s scandals.

However, the South consisted of a great amount of violence. In Document A, a letter

from the New York tribune talks about how the Ku-Klux Klan brutally murdered a State Senator

from the North. He was stabbed six times, and was hanged on a hook for everyone to see, in

the Grand Jury room. In Document B, a testimony to the people in the House, and Senate talk

about how the KKK broke into someone's house, took him to the woods, and whipped him for

three hours. It’s clear how much more violence was coming from the South than anything.

While the North does share some of the blame, for it’s corruption, racism, and scandals,

the South shows enough violence and racism to make them the lesser of two evils. Despite the

North's issues, the South prevails in ending Reconstruction because of the numerous acts of

terror, and the racism that was more intense than that of the North.