The Reconstruction Era. Freedom to the African Americans.

The Reconstruction Era
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The Reconstruction Era
The reconstruction years established an ambitious plan that aspired at bringing racial, socio-economic and political equality to the American people regardless of their race. The ambitious plan aimed at abolishing slavery, a status-quo deeply entrenched in the South. The proposed changed was unfavorable to many resulting into unprecedented havoc and political terror.
The era of reconstruction aimed to bring total freedom to the African Americans. The liberty was to be attained by abolishing slavery and bestowing citizenship and constitutional equality upon them (Blight, 2002). The 1863 Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln secured freedom for the excess of 3.5 million African Americans in the ten rebellious southern states (National Archives, n.d.). The proclamation angered the white southerners who opted for violence. President Lincoln further pushed for the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment that declared freedom for all slaves and the abolition of slavery nationwide (Drexler, 2018). President Lincoln adopted moderate measures hoping to reunite the nation quickly and without violence.