Definition and explanation of the following terms

Johnsonʼs Reconstruction Plan: Johnson's reconstruction plan was to pass on a series of laws that helped the South. One of these laws is "It pardoned the southerners that swore allegiance to the Union." On the other hand, Lincoln reconstruction plan declared harsh laws upon the South. These couldn't be applied because he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Black Codes: "Black codes are laws that restricted freedmen's rights." These laws were very harsh. One of these stated" black people could not gather after sunset." Although they earned their freedom, they didn't dispose of it in a good way. This isn't fair because these black people fought in the war in order to earn their freedom but at the end a series of laws were placed upon them.

14th & 15th Amendment: The 14th amendment stated that all the people born in the United States are citizens of this nation. It also declared that "no state shall make or enforce any laws which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens." Another important part of this declaration is that the states can't take away life, liberty, or property from a citizen. This is important because this law finally stated the freedom of any race in the country.
The 15th amendment was declared from the black citizens of Nashville. The most important part of this amendment was "Why deny them the right to have a voice in the election of its rulers?" Although they gained their freedom, they weren't allowed to vote in the elections of its rulers. Later on, this 15th amendment was passed on to the constitution. It stated that all the citizens had the right to vote in the elections.

Radical Reconstruction: In the radical reconstruction, there were many people that had "a desire to prosper in the postwar South." During this event, there was a group called the radical republicans that were opposed to Johnson's reconstruction plan. So they decided to do their own.

Carpetbagger: The Northern Republicans who moved to the postwar in the South were known as carpetbaggers. This name was given by the South which criticized them. This was because the Northern Republican carried with them a cheap suitcase that was made from carpet scraps. The carpetbaggers were often known as greedy men that wanted power. This idea is thought false from the point of view of the historians because they think that they are honest and educated men.

Scalawgs: The Southerners had a name for white southern Republican. They were thought of scalawgs which is a scottish word. This term means that they are "scrawny cattle". Many of the scalawgs were former whigs who were often poor. Many of the southerner whites thought that the reconstruction government was incompetent. They were opposed to the power of the freedmen.

The end of the civil war

The civil war finally ends. The South is in fury. The North celebrates as expected. In the South, all the lands are devastated and the people don’t know what to do. Houses are burned, many dead bodies are left behind, and people are starting to get hungry. During this war, many farmlands were destroyed leaving the people behind with nowhere else to plant their crops. Also, two thirds of the shipping industries were damaged. As for the soldiers, many of them are suffering from injuries and the rest are dead in the war. Their only hopes know is to flee for their lives.

Almost 38,000 African Americans were killed in this war. The rest that stayed alive are now located in a poor region in which the economic activity is slow. With this support we can say that they earned their freedom but not in a good way. Some of these people decided to continue working in the plantation of their master. Others thought in moving to cities and try to find jobs. In this war, these African American people were paid 7 dollars each month which was half the salary of a white soldier. What they cared the most about is fighting in order to earn their freedom. Some questions started to be stated about African Americans. One of them is “Now that the black southerners were free, would the races have equal rights? If so, how might those rights might be protected. If they earlier said that these people were free men, why do they need to ask themselves this question?

As for President Lincoln, he passed out his reconstruction plan in which many people were not pleased with. Right after, he got assassinated by John Wilkes. This gave the chance for the vice president Andrew Johnson to take over as President. He wrote his reconstruction plan in which he accorded many favors to the South. This was partially because he came from North Carolina which was a South state. Some of his ideas were that he “pardoned the southerners who swore allegiance to the Union. He permitted each state to hold a constitutional convention. He also stated that states were required to void secession, abolish slavery, and repudiate the confederate debt, and finally, states could then hold elections and rejoin the Union. These new ideas were not exactly the same as Lincoln’s ideas. Lincoln helped the South in some ways while Johnson helped the south in all the ways. Lincoln also mentioned a harsh law that stated that it denied pardons for any Southern person that killed an African American war prisoner.