Explain how the Civil War and the failures of Reconstruction caused the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Was the civil rights movement a success?

Question

Im trying to write an essay and any help would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Here is an article that might help you

https://www.theroot.com/the-truth-behind-40-acres-and-a-mule-1790894780

Start by thinking about where black people were in the south at the end of the civil war. The Union Victory gave them their freedom, but did not give them land, education or jobs to empower themselves and develop skills needed to move up in free society.

While the early years of reconstruction saw an increase in black lawmakers and business owners, it also saw the rise of white power groups like the KKK who viewed any increase in black rights as a threat to their power.

Here are some more questions to consider. With an economy based on slave labor, how did the south re-organize the economy after this system collapsed? Who did this reorganization affect black people? How was the establishment of Jim crow and sharecropping laws related to these economic pressures? Try to also think about how the federal government's treatment of the situation might have angered poor working white people at the time. These are important questions that still have deep ramifications to this very day. Here's another article that might help get the juices flowing.

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/carpetbaggers-and-scalawags