Reconstruction Video Notes

Lessons from Reconstruction: A History That Still Haunts Us

Watching the video about the Charleston church shooting on June 17, 2015, shook me. I learned that when that gunman prayed with those churchgoers before opening fire, he was acting out violence rooted in a history I didn't fully understand. We're still haunted by the collapse of Reconstruction, and I'm beginning to see why.

Lincoln sighing the  Emancipation Proclamation 

I always thought Lincoln freeing the slaves was the end of the story. History class made it seem so simple and complete. But I learned that freedom felt like releasing a bird from a cage—you're free, but you don't know if you'll survive or thrive. That uncertainty defined the Reconstruction period.

After the Civil War, the first thing formerly enslaved people did was search for lost family members. Meanwhile, bigger questions loomed: Could free Black people become citizens? Could they vote, hold office, or serve in the military? I was surprised to learn that the Republican Party was originally the party of civil rights, promoting interracial cooperation during this period.

 Edward Pollard's "The Lost Cause"

President Andrew Johnson complicated everything with his soft approach to Reconstruction. Frederick Douglass, the famous Black abolitionist, recognized immediately that Johnson was "no friend to the Black community." The Freedmen's Bureau tried to help formerly enslaved people transition to freedom and ensure civil relations between Black and white Americans, but Johnson undermined these efforts.

Then came the "Black Codes" and Edward Pollard's 1866 book "The Lost Cause," which romanticized the Confederacy. Southern states passed vagrancy laws forcing Black people to sign labor contracts with white employers or face fines. I was shocked to learn that Southern states elected Confederate congressmen to represent them in Congress immediately after losing the war.

The most striking fact I learned: fewer than 1,800 Black men could vote before the war, but by 1867, over eighty percent of eligible Black men were registered. Military Reconstruction made this possible. Violence and Jim Crow laws were later used to strip away these gains, which explains why we're still grappling with these issues today.

~AI disclosure: After taking notes while watching my classmates videos, I found the best source of AI to organize and provide a response (Claude.ai).  I then edited the text and added photos/links.