Reconstruction Video Reaction:

 This video begins by asserting that the Reconstruction Era served as the backbone for anti-black hate crimes. After the Civil War had ended, America was optimistic that it would be reconstructed better than ever before. In addition, African Americans were optimistic to the new ideals and laws being pushed forward. The Reconstruction amendments were passed and The Emancipation Proclamation helped support the abolition of slavery. The government's outlook on Reconstruction was divided once again between the North and the South. 

The newspapers started to highlight the separation of slave families and Abraham Lincoln continued to support his ideals. Lincoln tried his best to convince the people that African American men should have the right to vote, but due to his progressive views, he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth in 1865.

 After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson rose to power as the new President of The United States. Unlike Lincoln, Johnson had very complex views. Johnson grew up as a poor white southerner who resented the planter class, whom he believed to be at fault for the country's issues. Johnson also displayed racial tendencies which was evident when he refused to shake the hand of Frederick Douglass.

 Many other southerners were determined to preserve their old way of life while most of the northerners were ready to move forward. Black Codes were created during this period to guarantee that there was as little change to slavery as possible. The Black Codes were more specifically designed to keep African Americans subordinate, indefinitely. 

Tensions rose among the states and riots broke out in Memphis and New Orleans. Despite this, the 1866 midterms provided a solution as Republicans took up the majority of Congress and pushed the new phase of Military Reconstruction. The decade of Reconstruction wasn't entirely easy for African Americans and the rest of America to endure, but it absolutely shed hope to the future that was yet to come.