Reconstruction in Action

The war has just ended and it is time for the civilians to reconstruct their nation, but the war has left much misery behind it. It had destroyed much of the transportation and accumulated a total of 9,000 miles of railroad. It had devoured farm lands and farm building and machinery. Animals that were used in the farm and much of the livestock, bridges and canals all were gone. the value of the southern farm properties had declined of 70 precent.

The civil war has just destroyed many lives. Men, husbands and brothers all died leaving behind their family; their wives and their children. The north has suffered a loss of over 364,000 people and more than 38,000 African American while the south lost 260,000 soldiers and only one fifth of them were white men. The people who have participated to the war are scarred for eternity but we are trying to reconstruct our nation.

After the civil war the African Americans in the south were now free. Over 4 million freed slaves are starting their new life in a poor region with slow economic activities. As slaves they have received inadequate food and shelter but now after a lifetime of forced labor and unreasoned suffering many are homeless, famished and jobless. Some of them though have chosen to continue on working on the plantation of their previous masters, others sought jobs on the West and the cities and on the North as well.

With out our president, Abraham Lincoln who was savagely assassinated we the nation of the United states are having a little of difficulty reconstructing our country and though with our previous Vice President and now President of the Untied States, Andrew Johnson who now all the hopes and future of reconstruction are in his hand.

Andrew Johnson was born in North Carolina. After Lincoln's death it was for the Vice president to take in charge of the nation and of the politics of it.

Before the start of his presidential state Johnson had already pursuit a plan for our nation's construction. It was much similar to the one done by our respected president Lincoln's plan in 1863.

This plan proposed a whole new start of the nation. It offered pardon to southerners who swore allegiance to the Union and the state could then hold elections and rejoin the Union.

The plan for the reconstruction of our nation now is to gather the southerners and the northerners in to one same political unit. The plan to reconstruct our nation is to join the Union.