EOTO: Reconstruction Era Reaction

Listening to the EOTO groups allowed me to learn more about the Reconstruction era. The first group taught the class about the positive aspects of the Reconstruction era, hitting topics such as Forty Acres and a Mule, the Freedmen’s Bureau, and the Reconstruction Amendments.  While the other focused on the negatives such as, The Black Codes, The Klan, and the overall Failure of Reconstruction. Both groups did a great job presenting and teaching their peers about their topics.

Kaitlyn discussed Forty Acres and a Mule, which was the promise of land being redistributed to freed black families and some were given army Mules hence the name. The one to pass this order following the war was General Sherman. He made it possible for around 40,000 freedmen to settle on this land. This land had been taken from wealthy confederates. 

Alyson taught us about the Freedmen's Bureau established in 1865. This helped millions of former enslaved people by providing them with food, shelter, medical aid, schooling, and legal assistance. They had set up offices in fifteen states' major cities. The Freedmen's Bureau even helped found historically black colleges such as Howard University. 

On the opposite side, Justin spoke about a negative during this time, which was the Ku Klux Klan. This organization started as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1865. They targeted any symbols of black autonomy because their goal was to reverse back to how life was before the Reconstruction Era. Some of their members were even made up of well-to-do people in society and not all poor southern whites. When Ulysses S. Grant took executive office he went after the Klan and after this, they gradually went away for some time. 

After hearing Kaitlyn, Alyson, and Justin speak, I feel that I have now learned more about the positive and negative aspects of the Reconstruction Era.