Reconstructing the Nation

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The Civil War ended on April 9, 1865, and the original goal of the North to preserve the Union was accomplished. The task that lay before Lincoln and Congress was to reintegrate the rebellious Southern states into the Union. For many white southerners “Reconstruction was a vicious and destructive experience – a period when vindictive Northerners inflicted humiliation and revenge on a pro-state South.”

In order to prepare for this discussion forum:

Review and identify the relevant sections of Chapters 17 and 18 that support your discussion.
Review and identify relevant information on the linked PBS American Experience site, Reconstruction The Second Civil War
White Men Unite
State by State: Reconstruction timeline
This link will direct you to the full transcript of the Wade-Davis Bill. What does it suggest about the prevailing Reconstruction sentiments in Congress?
Read the section in Chapter 17 which discusses the Black Codes, and the linked site on the Black Codes.
Read the linked document, a selection from The Ills of the South, written by Charles H. Okten, a Mississippi Baptist preacher, and schoolteacher, in which he describes conditions for Black Americans under the sharecropping and crop-lien system.
After you have completed your readings, post your response to ONE of the following questions:

Were the Black Codes another form of slavery?
Based on Okten’s statements, discuss how the sharecropping/crop lien system created a vicious cycle. Was this system simply another version of slavery? Why or why not.
Consider the following statement: “The persistence of racism in both the North and the South lay at the heart of Reconstruction’s failure.” Agree or disagree, and explain your position.

 

Sample Solution

When slavery ended in the United States, freedom still eluded African Americans who were contending with the repressive set of laws known as the Black Codes. Widely enacted throughout the South following the Civil War, a period called Reconstruction, these laws both limited the rights of Black people and exploited them as a labor source. In fact, life after bondage didn’t differ much from life during bondage for the African Americans subjected to the black codes. This was by design, as slavery had been a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and the former Confederate states sought a way to continue this system of subjugation. The black codes effectively continued enslavement for African Americans by restricting their rights and exploiting their labor.

rtance of establishing a hierarchy became evident during the planning stage of the outdoor management course for the red team, the coordinators within the team assumed leadership roles but were unable to gain positional power due to the team being a peer group (Pettinger, 2007). The leaders selected had little authority and influence over the group as everyone was perceived to have the same rank, status and occupation, hence the leaders had none of French and Ravens five bases of power (Pettinger, 2007). The result was leaders with no positional power over the group, so could not direct the group with the method of leadership required for the situation. The task had significant constraints, particularly a short time frame and a large group size, for this situation Chelladurai recommends an autocratic leadership style would be most favourable (Chelladurai and Madella, 2006). The leaders attempted an autocratic leadership style, setting individual tasks for the group, however due to the poor leader member relations and lack of positional power the leadership structure quickly became a democracy. The product was an extremely unproductive workforce initially because of the time spent discussing how was best to approach the task. Because of how the leaders were perceived by the group there was little mutual trust, respect or confidence that the leaders were making the correct decisions, and as a result any management style they tried to implement would have been unsuccessful (Pettinger, 2007). Ultimately, if the leaders had analysed their position and the group they would have realised this and chosen a more democratic approach initially the group would have gained trust for the leaders, making future policy implementation easier.

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