After watching the video about the Reconstruction I learned many new things, but one that stood out to me was Upham's fight against the Ku Klux Klan. In Upham's battle against the KKK he applied the same violent tactics that they did: pure bloodshed. He believed that any member of the Klan deserved to be killed and had no place in society whether they left the organization of not. In the fight Upham was successful in using the Klan's own game against them, and ultimately won the battle. As a result the KKK claimed to disband forever, but they did continue to go on raids throughout the South. Regardless, it was considered a great victory to the radical republicans. Another thing I learned about was the treatment of the Lumbee Indians and the Lowry War. I did not know that as another colored race they were also targeted by Southerners, and treated just as violently. I was also unaware that a minor war broke out in the South due to their treatment, and that the Lumbee Indians stalked around the swamps where they were hiding and attacked any white Southerners hunting them. I didn't know that discrimination against Indians still continued in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction.
The movie on the reconstruction taught me about the extreme violence of the reconstruction era. Before we had learned about the reconstruction, I assumed that it would be a period of reorganizing the federal and state government system, when in fact the reconstruction era was more of a continuance of the civil war. I had assumed that reconstruction signified the end of the war, but it definitely did not. The South continued to rebel against the Union and northern legislation, often acting violently to do so. When the Ku Klux Klan was established in order to remove Republican dominance in the United States and prevent black civil rights, I thought that the federal government would take charge in putting a stop to their extreme terrorism tactics. I was surprised to learn that the state governments were the ones who would combat the Ku Klux Klan. The state of Tennessee was the first state to have internal fights with the KKK in order to stop the violence. These small battles inspired other Southern state governments to take matters into their own hands when combating the Klan’s terrorism. As racial discrimination continued to be prevalent in the South, I was shocked to learn about the New Orleans massacre. Black civil war veterans were participating in a freedom march, but the white population of New Orleans was so opposed to it the march ended with an all-out brawl, resulting in many deaths and injuries. This showed that racial segregation and discrimination was still prevalent in the Southern societies and that the South disregarded reconstruction policies.
The movie on Reconstruction showed me how resistant the South was to change. I was suprised to see the amount of continued violence toward both freed blacks and radical Republicans. It suprised me that even after the Civil War was officially over, many people in the South continued fighting. I knew about the formation of terrorist groups such as the KKK but I never knew what the government did to deal with such groups. The movie showed what the Tennessee government did to deal with the widespread violence caused by the KKK. I also learned that the violence was not only toward the blacks. Like Inez mentioned, I also did not know about the discrimination and violence shown toward the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina. I assumed that almost all of the violence during Reconstruction was toward blacks and freed slaves but the movie showed me that it was to all people of color. I also thought it was interesting the extent to which the Lumbee tribe fought back against the Whites who were targeting them.
As a result of watching the Reconstruction video in class, I learned that despite the fact that the Civil War had ended, extreme violence continued toward African-Americans for over ten decades and that African-Americans were not the only targeted minorities in the South during Reconstruction. With racism still prevalent throughout the South, African-Americans faced a great amount of hatred despite their newfound freedom. Plantation owners hired freed slaves and when their work was finished, the freed slaves would be run off the land without payment. African-Americans also lived in fear of being brutally killed and beaten by terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was not only African-Americans that were discriminated against during Reconstruction, but also numerous minorities like the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. During Reconstruction, the tribe was rid of their land, faced famine and terror and was forced to work in extremely poor conditions while building Fort Fisher for the ex-Confederates. As a result, many members of the tribe went into hiding and were killed if found by the Home Guard of the South. Ultimately, because of the great amount of terrorism throughout the nation, Reconstruction became a time of violence not growth for the Union.
The main thing I learned from watching the video was that there was basically a second Civil War that went on in the south during Reconstruction. D.P. Upham led a militia against the Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas, and they fought each other in a battle in which Upham won. The video showed that others like Upham, such as Governor Brownlow of Tennessee, fought the violence of the Ku Klux Klan with violence, and sort of employed the same scare tactics in order to gain the upper hand. The war may have been over, but the video showed that it continued for many more years in the south, and I had never heard of that before. Another thing that surprised me was the discrimination against the Lumbee Indians. I had previously thought that all of the violence had been directed at the freed blacks, but the video showed how the Indians were discriminated against as well. I had not realized how resistant the southern states remained to Reconstruction, and how bad the violence really was.
The video we watched about Reconstruction was shocking in many ways, but one of the things that I learned that stood out to me was how violent and unforgiving the plantation owners were towards their slaves, even after the war had officially ended. This is demonstrated in the video when the narrator says, “A reporter in Nashville writes, White men are riding about whipping, maiming and killing all negroes who do not obey the orders of their former masters just as if slavery existed.” This clip showed me that the whites in the South didn’t care about the laws of the federal government and that it was hard for the North to enforce the law because they could not change the way the South viewed the slaves. Another thing that I learned, which surprised me, was how harshly the returning Confederate soldiers were treated when they returned from war, especially in the areas where Republicans held office. Although they had been fighting for slavery, they were treated poorly and forced to renounce their loyalty to their state. I understand that the North thought it was the only way they could control the South and uphold the laws against slavery, but ultimately it backfired and led to the formation of the Klu Klux Klan. Overall, what shocked me most from this video was the amount of violence that happened in the South after the Civil War and the horrors that the freed slaves experienced at the hands of white supremacists, such as the Klu Klux Klan.
The video gave me a completely different outlook of what the reconstruction period was like. In the video it says that the reconstruction period was just as violent, if not more violent than the actual civil war. I assumed originally that because the war was over, it would not be a violent time period. I thought that it would be a time period with a lot of disagreements but not a time period with fighting. But this movie highlighted that the reason the fighting was going was because there still so many unsolved conflicts. These conflicts led to violence such as the assassination of President Lincoln, and also violence from the group Ku Klux Klan. Another thing the video taught me was that it was more than just the blacks being attacked during the reconstruction period. A lot of southerners were also mad at the radical republicans because they felt that these people were to blame for the blacks gaining power. The video taught me a lot but the too biggest things were that the reconstruction was very violent and that this violence went towards radical republicans and the african americans.
Scott- One thing I learned about reconstruction from the video was the huge amounts of violence that continued after the war was “officially” over. Citizens brutally attacked blacks and even politicians during the New Orleans Massacre. I had no idea that there was so much hatred in the South that everyday-citizens would murder their white state politicians just because they were discussing allowing blacks to vote. The New Orleans Massacre showed me a whole new level of the brutality of the violence that went on in the south. Another thing I learned about Reconstruction from the video was the dominance of the Ku Klux Klan. I didn’t know they had such huge power in controlling everything that goes on in the south. I was surprised to see a battle was scheduled between the Union army and the KKK. Although the battle didn’t take place, the fact that there was one scheduled shows their power and magnitude. They had to have had been making a enormous impression on the south for the Union Army to try fighting them.
The video, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War", showed me how the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era affected Native Americans, primarily the Lumbees of Robison County. The Lumbees used to live peacefully with the White population, even intermarrying, until new legislation undermined the rights of all those who weren't White. Many Lumbees fled to swampland to avoid being forced to work on Fort Fisher, where they would surely die because malaria and other diseases were rampant amongst the workforce there. The Home Guard of the South attempted to kill any Lumbees they found. Before watching the video, I never thought of what happened to Native Americans who still inhabited near the Atlantic coast; they seemed to fade away in my mind without me noticing, yet in reality, they were heavily discriminated against. Another thing I learned from the video was how Reconstruction was truly an extension of the Civil War. The battles and violence during the Reconstruction Era were not as large-scale and formal; it wasn't one massive army versus another equally-impressive one. Rather, Reconstruction was a time of great turmoil throughout the South as many White Southerners resisted change by persecuting minority groups in the South, such as Blacks, Lumbees, and Republicans. Some groups of people even attacked politicians that were discussing possible Black suffrage, as displayed in the New Orleans Massacre. I had no idea that Reconstruction was an era brimmed with such an immense quantity of violence and hatred caused because of the South's resistance to change.
One new thing I learned from the video was how popular the KKK was. I never realized how large the organization had grown to, and how spread out throughout the South it was. I always thought of it as a secret organization that didn't reveal who was a member and who wasn't. The fact that leaders of the KKK made this fact known to the public and event went as far as to form an army to fight the Union army shocked me. The video showed me how the KKK was less like a private organization and more like a small white supremacist country forming in the United States. Another thing I learned was how the people committing violence against the blacks and others received no punishment at all. In the New Orleans Massacre, hundreds of people were killed or injured, a crime easily punishable in a court of law. Still, the perpetrators of these crimes were not punished severely. In fact, they were not punished at all. I had never known that people were literally allowed to get away with murder in the South during Reconstruction before watching this video.
After watching the documentary, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War," I learned a few things that I had not previously known about the Reconstruction time period.
One thing this movie revealed to me was the rampant disrespect Southerners had for President Lincoln. I have always been taught that Lincoln was one of the most successful and respected presidents in our country's history. However, there was an instance after his assassination where Union soldiers marched throughout the South and asked the citizens to mourn for the loss of their President. One Southern woman chose to hang herself rather than to fly black colors in mourning for Lincoln's death. Southern citizens were so unbending in their beliefs that they lacked the decency to even pretend to mourn for their white, dead President; after learning this, I found it easier to understand the difficulties the federal government faced in trying to change the Southern opinion toward the new, black citizens.
Another thing this movie exhibited was the discrimination Native Americans became subject to after the Civil War. Before the 1830s, they had been given the same rights as white citizens; then, just before the war broke out, they became marked as "colored" people and lost all their rights. The Confederacy, in hopes of preserving their slaves' strength (as they were still viewed as property), had forced Native Americans to build their forts in the Southern heat. Even after the Civil War, the Southern "Home Guard" continued to violently attack the Native Americans and steal their land. One group of Lumbees, the Lowry Boys, were then compelled to fight ex-Confederate soldiers in the woods in order to protect their land and rights. I feel that the US fails to teach its students about the hardships Native Americans face throughout our history, but this video attempted to explain some of the adversity the Native Americans had to face during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, something I had never seen before.
One new thing I learned from the movie about Reconstruction was the origination of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK was created by six young ex-confederate soldiers who were angry after being forced to pledge their allegiance to the Union. The KKK began as a fraternal organization in Pulaski that used night time rides as tools of terror. But eventually these rides escalated in to violent raids with an increase of member numbers. The KKK had its own uniforms and rules. Ultimately, the KKK was continuing the war with its violent acts. Another thing I learned was that white supremacists went to great lengths to control election outcomes. Not only did the KKK scare black voters into voting Democratic or not at all, but the movie said that white supremacists murdered at least one African American daily leading up to the election in 1868. This violence caused both black and Republican voting rates to drop significantly. The discrimination and violence from white supremacists took away black rights given to them by the 14th and 15th Amendments. They were in more danger than they were while enslaved.
After watching the documentary from class, I was able to understand the extreme violence during the Reconstruction much better. Before, I did not fully understand how much violence, terror, and murder occurred during the years following the war, but the documentary made me realize that the tension and hatred did not end with the Civil War. I learned that until the election of 1888, white supremacists terrorized freed slaves and other African-Americans, and killed on average one black person a day. I realized that even though the war was over, the government could not change the minds and ways of white supremacists. The video also taught me that not just freed slaves and African Americans were victimized and targets of white supremacists. White radical republicans were considered equal targets, and were tortured and killed almost as often. One of the last things that I learned from this video was that the KKK was created during the Reconstruction. I've always associated the KKK with the civil rights movement, but in fact, the secretive group was created by ex-confederate soldiers that had been forced to pledge their allegiance to the Union. These men dressed in white cloaks, sheets, cloths, etc. and rode around in the night, terrorizing families, and torturing and killing others. This video helped me understand (visually) the extreme hardships people had to face after the war, and that the Reconstruction era really the "second civil war."
While watching the documentary, “Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War,” I learned about the unnecessary violence that ensued the Civil War. After learning about the Black Codes in class, the video revealed the true extent of their purpose. The Black Codes were an altered form of slavery, created to give back Southern plantation owners their power over African Americans. Mike Hodge stated, “White landowners would hire freed slaves to work the harvest only to chase them off the land when their wages came due. Unable to collect their meager earnings many Blacks starved to death.” I also learned that some states legalized the beatings of former slaves that were considered to have “misbehaved.” An appalling example of stepping out of line was when a black person didn’t step off the sidewalk when a white woman or man walked by. I also learned about D.P. Upham, a leading Radical Republican, who successfully suppressed members of the Ku Klux Klan who resided in Arkansas. Upham forms his own militia and uses the same savage tactics the Klan uses to defeat them. Mike Hodge states an example of this, “Upham tears through the town of Augusta beating and arresting suspected Klansmen. Four of the suspects are shot and killed.” Upham battles the Klan on his property, but his trained men are too strong for the Klan. Upham was an interesting individual to learn about because of his victorious efforts in suppressing the entire Arkansas Klan. I learned that violence was a big factor in the Reconstruction era, which is why the movement has been called "The Second Civil War."
One of the most interesting things I learned from the movie was the amount of gangs in the South after the war; I did not realize that this concept was already so present in America. There were Lee's Raiders in Texas, and The Lowry Boys. These gangs killed lots of people and made the South a very dangerous place for African Americans and Republicans. Another thing that I learned from the video was just how violent the Klu Klux Klan could be. It was said that the KKK murdered on average one person for a year leading up to the Election of 1868. Not only were they violent, but also a huge portion of the South was involved. People like police officers and doctors, would often be involved in this not so secret organization; since this was the case the blacks and Republicans had very little safety in the South, and very few KKK members were punished for the acts that they committed.
The video entitled, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War" opened me up to several events of the Reconstruction that I did not know about before. For example, I had never heard of the Lowry Gang before. Henry Laury was a 17 year old Lumby who hid from labor camps and persecution. He formed a militia of other Lumbies, former slaves, and former Union soldiers to steal from rich plantation owners so they and their families could eat. They were rivals with a man named James Wishard who was a violent white supremacist. Wishard was constantly fighting to kill Lowry and the other members of the militia. Soon after the formation of the group, the gang was known across the state Even though the Lowry Gang technically broke the law, it makes me happy that there were, indeed, people in the South who stood up for themselves and tried to make a change. The whole nation watched as a strong militia headed by a young minority man consistently evaded violent and powerful groups such as the KKK and Wishard's forces. The conditions in the South were simply horrific, and it is a great sign that some people had the courage to take what they deserved.
Next is the fact that very few people in the South received any punishment for committing a crime. An example of this would be the New Orleans Massacre. This massacre took place in and around a meetinghouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, when a meeting concerning the place of blacks in the city's society was taking place. Violent citizens and former Confederate soldiers shot and killed many blacks, politicians, and anyone against white-supremacy. Then, to make everything worse, not one person from this massacre was sentenced to any punishment. The disgusting amount of violence exhibited by these perpetrators justifies some type of action, but none was taken. This shows how downtrodden the South was at the time. People knew this was happening but either supported the white-supremist ideals, or could not scrounge up enough resources or popular support to make a difference.
One new thing that I learned about Reconstruction as a result of watching the video was what the ex-Confederate soldiers came home to. I was unaware that the destruction of the South went beyond the battlefields and into many of the cities and towns. These soldiers came back, but it would hardly be fair to call it coming back home because their homes were lost in the destruction of the war. Another part of what ex-Confederate soldiers came home to was a task called “swallowing the dog”, which was when those soldiers had to pledge allegiance to the Union. Many of the soldiers forced to do this were still wearing their Confederate Army uniforms. Another new thing that I learned about Reconstruction from the movie was the wave of many so-called “second Civil Wars”. One example of this phenomenon was Lowery War in Robinson County, North Carolina. This was a war between Lumbee Native American rebels and the counter militia of the Union. The Lowery gang was fighting for rights that had been taken way from them after the Civil War concluded. Another example of a “second Civil War” was between Federal troops lead by General Chaffey and guided by Louis Peacock against Bob Lee in northeast Texas. This “war” was fought because Lee wanted to keep his slaves even though the Union had been put back together and the Thirteenth Amendment had already been passed. These are just two examples of some the aspects of Reconstruction that I learned about because I watched the movie.
After watching the video about the Reconstruction I learned many new things, but one that stood out to me was Upham's fight against the Ku Klux Klan. In Upham's battle against the KKK he applied the same violent tactics that they did: pure bloodshed. He believed that any member of the Klan deserved to be killed and had no place in society whether they left the organization of not. In the fight Upham was successful in using the Klan's own game against them, and ultimately won the battle. As a result the KKK claimed to disband forever, but they did continue to go on raids throughout the South. Regardless, it was considered a great victory to the radical republicans. Another thing I learned about was the treatment of the Lumbee Indians and the Lowry War. I did not know that as another colored race they were also targeted by Southerners, and treated just as violently. I was also unaware that a minor war broke out in the South due to their treatment, and that the Lumbee Indians stalked around the swamps where they were hiding and attacked any white Southerners hunting them. I didn't know that discrimination against Indians still continued in the Southern United States during the Reconstruction.
ReplyDeleteThe movie on the reconstruction taught me about the extreme violence of the reconstruction era. Before we had learned about the reconstruction, I assumed that it would be a period of reorganizing the federal and state government system, when in fact the reconstruction era was more of a continuance of the civil war. I had assumed that reconstruction signified the end of the war, but it definitely did not. The South continued to rebel against the Union and northern legislation, often acting violently to do so. When the Ku Klux Klan was established in order to remove Republican dominance in the United States and prevent black civil rights, I thought that the federal government would take charge in putting a stop to their extreme terrorism tactics. I was surprised to learn that the state governments were the ones who would combat the Ku Klux Klan. The state of Tennessee was the first state to have internal fights with the KKK in order to stop the violence. These small battles inspired other Southern state governments to take matters into their own hands when combating the Klan’s terrorism. As racial discrimination continued to be prevalent in the South, I was shocked to learn about the New Orleans massacre. Black civil war veterans were participating in a freedom march, but the white population of New Orleans was so opposed to it the march ended with an all-out brawl, resulting in many deaths and injuries. This showed that racial segregation and discrimination was still prevalent in the Southern societies and that the South disregarded reconstruction policies.
ReplyDeleteThe movie on Reconstruction showed me how resistant the South was to change. I was suprised to see the amount of continued violence toward both freed blacks and radical Republicans. It suprised me that even after the Civil War was officially over, many people in the South continued fighting. I knew about the formation of terrorist groups such as the KKK but I never knew what the government did to deal with such groups. The movie showed what the Tennessee government did to deal with the widespread violence caused by the KKK. I also learned that the violence was not only toward the blacks. Like Inez mentioned, I also did not know about the discrimination and violence shown toward the Lumbee tribe in North Carolina. I assumed that almost all of the violence during Reconstruction was toward blacks and freed slaves but the movie showed me that it was to all people of color. I also thought it was interesting the extent to which the Lumbee tribe fought back against the Whites who were targeting them.
ReplyDeleteAs a result of watching the Reconstruction video in class, I learned that despite the fact that the Civil War had ended, extreme violence continued toward African-Americans for over ten decades and that African-Americans were not the only targeted minorities in the South during Reconstruction. With racism still prevalent throughout the South, African-Americans faced a great amount of hatred despite their newfound freedom. Plantation owners hired freed slaves and when their work was finished, the freed slaves would be run off the land without payment. African-Americans also lived in fear of being brutally killed and beaten by terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan. However, it was not only African-Americans that were discriminated against during Reconstruction, but also numerous minorities like the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina. During Reconstruction, the tribe was rid of their land, faced famine and terror and was forced to work in extremely poor conditions while building Fort Fisher for the ex-Confederates. As a result, many members of the tribe went into hiding and were killed if found by the Home Guard of the South. Ultimately, because of the great amount of terrorism throughout the nation, Reconstruction became a time of violence not growth for the Union.
ReplyDeleteThe main thing I learned from watching the video was that there was basically a second Civil War that went on in the south during Reconstruction. D.P. Upham led a militia against the Ku Klux Klan in Arkansas, and they fought each other in a battle in which Upham won. The video showed that others like Upham, such as Governor Brownlow of Tennessee, fought the violence of the Ku Klux Klan with violence, and sort of employed the same scare tactics in order to gain the upper hand. The war may have been over, but the video showed that it continued for many more years in the south, and I had never heard of that before. Another thing that surprised me was the discrimination against the Lumbee Indians. I had previously thought that all of the violence had been directed at the freed blacks, but the video showed how the Indians were discriminated against as well. I had not realized how resistant the southern states remained to Reconstruction, and how bad the violence really was.
ReplyDeleteKatie
ReplyDeleteThe video we watched about Reconstruction was shocking in many ways, but one of the things that I learned that stood out to me was how violent and unforgiving the plantation owners were towards their slaves, even after the war had officially ended. This is demonstrated in the video when the narrator says, “A reporter in Nashville writes, White men are riding about whipping, maiming and killing all negroes who do not obey the orders of their former masters just as if slavery existed.” This clip showed me that the whites in the South didn’t care about the laws of the federal government and that it was hard for the North to enforce the law because they could not change the way the South viewed the slaves. Another thing that I learned, which surprised me, was how harshly the returning Confederate soldiers were treated when they returned from war, especially in the areas where Republicans held office. Although they had been fighting for slavery, they were treated poorly and forced to renounce their loyalty to their state. I understand that the North thought it was the only way they could control the South and uphold the laws against slavery, but ultimately it backfired and led to the formation of the Klu Klux Klan. Overall, what shocked me most from this video was the amount of violence that happened in the South after the Civil War and the horrors that the freed slaves experienced at the hands of white supremacists, such as the Klu Klux Klan.
Lily
ReplyDeleteThe video gave me a completely different outlook of what the reconstruction period was like. In the video it says that the reconstruction period was just as violent, if not more violent than the actual civil war. I assumed originally that because the war was over, it would not be a violent time period. I thought that it would be a time period with a lot of disagreements but not a time period with fighting. But this movie highlighted that the reason the fighting was going was because there still so many unsolved conflicts. These conflicts led to violence such as the assassination of President Lincoln, and also violence from the group Ku Klux Klan. Another thing the video taught me was that it was more than just the blacks being attacked during the reconstruction period. A lot of southerners were also mad at the radical republicans because they felt that these people were to blame for the blacks gaining power. The video taught me a lot but the too biggest things were that the reconstruction was very violent and that this violence went towards radical republicans and the african americans.
Scott-
ReplyDeleteOne thing I learned about reconstruction from the video was the huge amounts of violence that continued after the war was “officially” over. Citizens brutally attacked blacks and even politicians during the New Orleans Massacre. I had no idea that there was so much hatred in the South that everyday-citizens would murder their white state politicians just because they were discussing allowing blacks to vote. The New Orleans Massacre showed me a whole new level of the brutality of the violence that went on in the south. Another thing I learned about Reconstruction from the video was the dominance of the Ku Klux Klan. I didn’t know they had such huge power in controlling everything that goes on in the south. I was surprised to see a battle was scheduled between the Union army and the KKK. Although the battle didn’t take place, the fact that there was one scheduled shows their power and magnitude. They had to have had been making a enormous impression on the south for the Union Army to try fighting them.
The video, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War", showed me how the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era affected Native Americans, primarily the Lumbees of Robison County. The Lumbees used to live peacefully with the White population, even intermarrying, until new legislation undermined the rights of all those who weren't White. Many Lumbees fled to swampland to avoid being forced to work on Fort Fisher, where they would surely die because malaria and other diseases were rampant amongst the workforce there. The Home Guard of the South attempted to kill any Lumbees they found. Before watching the video, I never thought of what happened to Native Americans who still inhabited near the Atlantic coast; they seemed to fade away in my mind without me noticing, yet in reality, they were heavily discriminated against.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I learned from the video was how Reconstruction was truly an extension of the Civil War. The battles and violence during the Reconstruction Era were not as large-scale and formal; it wasn't one massive army versus another equally-impressive one. Rather, Reconstruction was a time of great turmoil throughout the South as many White Southerners resisted change by persecuting minority groups in the South, such as Blacks, Lumbees, and Republicans. Some groups of people even attacked politicians that were discussing possible Black suffrage, as displayed in the New Orleans Massacre. I had no idea that Reconstruction was an era brimmed with such an immense quantity of violence and hatred caused because of the South's resistance to change.
One new thing I learned from the video was how popular the KKK was. I never realized how large the organization had grown to, and how spread out throughout the South it was. I always thought of it as a secret organization that didn't reveal who was a member and who wasn't. The fact that leaders of the KKK made this fact known to the public and event went as far as to form an army to fight the Union army shocked me. The video showed me how the KKK was less like a private organization and more like a small white supremacist country forming in the United States.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I learned was how the people committing violence against the blacks and others received no punishment at all. In the New Orleans Massacre, hundreds of people were killed or injured, a crime easily punishable in a court of law. Still, the perpetrators of these crimes were not punished severely. In fact, they were not punished at all. I had never known that people were literally allowed to get away with murder in the South during Reconstruction before watching this video.
Holly --
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the documentary, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War," I learned a few things that I had not previously known about the Reconstruction time period.
One thing this movie revealed to me was the rampant disrespect Southerners had for President Lincoln. I have always been taught that Lincoln was one of the most successful and respected presidents in our country's history. However, there was an instance after his assassination where Union soldiers marched throughout the South and asked the citizens to mourn for the loss of their President. One Southern woman chose to hang herself rather than to fly black colors in mourning for Lincoln's death. Southern citizens were so unbending in their beliefs that they lacked the decency to even pretend to mourn for their white, dead President; after learning this, I found it easier to understand the difficulties the federal government faced in trying to change the Southern opinion toward the new, black citizens.
Another thing this movie exhibited was the discrimination Native Americans became subject to after the Civil War. Before the 1830s, they had been given the same rights as white citizens; then, just before the war broke out, they became marked as "colored" people and lost all their rights. The Confederacy, in hopes of preserving their slaves' strength (as they were still viewed as property), had forced Native Americans to build their forts in the Southern heat. Even after the Civil War, the Southern "Home Guard" continued to violently attack the Native Americans and steal their land. One group of Lumbees, the Lowry Boys, were then compelled to fight ex-Confederate soldiers in the woods in order to protect their land and rights. I feel that the US fails to teach its students about the hardships Native Americans face throughout our history, but this video attempted to explain some of the adversity the Native Americans had to face during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, something I had never seen before.
One new thing I learned from the movie about Reconstruction was the origination of the Ku Klux Klan. The KKK was created by six young ex-confederate soldiers who were angry after being forced to pledge their allegiance to the Union. The KKK began as a fraternal organization in Pulaski that used night time rides as tools of terror. But eventually these rides escalated in to violent raids with an increase of member numbers. The KKK had its own uniforms and rules. Ultimately, the KKK was continuing the war with its violent acts. Another thing I learned was that white supremacists went to great lengths to control election outcomes. Not only did the KKK scare black voters into voting Democratic or not at all, but the movie said that white supremacists murdered at least one African American daily leading up to the election in 1868. This violence caused both black and Republican voting rates to drop significantly. The discrimination and violence from white supremacists took away black rights given to them by the 14th and 15th Amendments. They were in more danger than they were while enslaved.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the documentary from class, I was able to understand the extreme violence during the Reconstruction much better. Before, I did not fully understand how much violence, terror, and murder occurred during the years following the war, but the documentary made me realize that the tension and hatred did not end with the Civil War. I learned that until the election of 1888, white supremacists terrorized freed slaves and other African-Americans, and killed on average one black person a day. I realized that even though the war was over, the government could not change the minds and ways of white supremacists. The video also taught me that not just freed slaves and African Americans were victimized and targets of white supremacists. White radical republicans were considered equal targets, and were tortured and killed almost as often. One of the last things that I learned from this video was that the KKK was created during the Reconstruction. I've always associated the KKK with the civil rights movement, but in fact, the secretive group was created by ex-confederate soldiers that had been forced to pledge their allegiance to the Union. These men dressed in white cloaks, sheets, cloths, etc. and rode around in the night, terrorizing families, and torturing and killing others. This video helped me understand (visually) the extreme hardships people had to face after the war, and that the Reconstruction era really the "second civil war."
ReplyDeleteWhile watching the documentary, “Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War,” I learned about the unnecessary violence that ensued the Civil War. After learning about the Black Codes in class, the video revealed the true extent of their purpose. The Black Codes were an altered form of slavery, created to give back Southern plantation owners their power over African Americans. Mike Hodge stated, “White landowners would hire freed slaves to work the harvest only to chase them off the land when their wages came due. Unable to collect their meager earnings many Blacks starved to death.” I also learned that some states legalized the beatings of former slaves that were considered to have “misbehaved.” An appalling example of stepping out of line was when a black person didn’t step off the sidewalk when a white woman or man walked by. I also learned about D.P. Upham, a leading Radical Republican, who successfully suppressed members of the Ku Klux Klan who resided in Arkansas. Upham forms his own militia and uses the same savage tactics the Klan uses to defeat them. Mike Hodge states an example of this, “Upham tears through the town of Augusta beating and arresting suspected Klansmen. Four of the suspects are shot and killed.” Upham battles the Klan on his property, but his trained men are too strong for the Klan. Upham was an interesting individual to learn about because of his victorious efforts in suppressing the entire Arkansas Klan. I learned that violence was a big factor in the Reconstruction era, which is why the movement has been called "The Second Civil War."
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting things I learned from the movie was the amount of gangs in the South after the war; I did not realize that this concept was already so present in America. There were Lee's Raiders in Texas, and The Lowry Boys. These gangs killed lots of people and made the South a very dangerous place for African Americans and Republicans. Another thing that I learned from the video was just how violent the Klu Klux Klan could be. It was said that the KKK murdered on average one person for a year leading up to the Election of 1868. Not only were they violent, but also a huge portion of the South was involved. People like police officers and doctors, would often be involved in this not so secret organization; since this was the case the blacks and Republicans had very little safety in the South, and very few KKK members were punished for the acts that they committed.
ReplyDeleteThe video entitled, "Aftershock: Beyond the Civil War" opened me up to several events of the Reconstruction that I did not know about before. For example, I had never heard of the Lowry Gang before. Henry Laury was a 17 year old Lumby who hid from labor camps and persecution. He formed a militia of other Lumbies, former slaves, and former Union soldiers to steal from rich plantation owners so they and their families could eat. They were rivals with a man named James Wishard who was a violent white supremacist. Wishard was constantly fighting to kill Lowry and the other members of the militia. Soon after the formation of the group, the gang was known across the state Even though the Lowry Gang technically broke the law, it makes me happy that there were, indeed, people in the South who stood up for themselves and tried to make a change. The whole nation watched as a strong militia headed by a young minority man consistently evaded violent and powerful groups such as the KKK and Wishard's forces. The conditions in the South were simply horrific, and it is a great sign that some people had the courage to take what they deserved.
ReplyDeleteNext is the fact that very few people in the South received any punishment for committing a crime. An example of this would be the New Orleans Massacre. This massacre took place in and around a meetinghouse in New Orleans, Louisiana, when a meeting concerning the place of blacks in the city's society was taking place. Violent citizens and former Confederate soldiers shot and killed many blacks, politicians, and anyone against white-supremacy. Then, to make everything worse, not one person from this massacre was sentenced to any punishment. The disgusting amount of violence exhibited by these perpetrators justifies some type of action, but none was taken. This shows how downtrodden the South was at the time. People knew this was happening but either supported the white-supremist ideals, or could not scrounge up enough resources or popular support to make a difference.
Meredith
ReplyDeleteOne new thing that I learned about Reconstruction as a result of watching the video was what the ex-Confederate soldiers came home to. I was unaware that the destruction of the South went beyond the battlefields and into many of the cities and towns. These soldiers came back, but it would hardly be fair to call it coming back home because their homes were lost in the destruction of the war. Another part of what ex-Confederate soldiers came home to was a task called “swallowing the dog”, which was when those soldiers had to pledge allegiance to the Union. Many of the soldiers forced to do this were still wearing their Confederate Army uniforms. Another new thing that I learned about Reconstruction from the movie was the wave of many so-called “second Civil Wars”. One example of this phenomenon was Lowery War in Robinson County, North Carolina. This was a war between Lumbee Native American rebels and the counter militia of the Union. The Lowery gang was fighting for rights that had been taken way from them after the Civil War concluded. Another example of a “second Civil War” was between Federal troops lead by General Chaffey and guided by Louis Peacock against Bob Lee in northeast Texas. This “war” was fought because Lee wanted to keep his slaves even though the Union had been put back together and the Thirteenth Amendment had already been passed. These are just two examples of some the aspects of Reconstruction that I learned about because I watched the movie.