Jennica, thank you for sharing!
I agree it's important for us to recognize and not forget the problems and circumstances that led to The Civil War. If we don't remember our history - we're bound to repeat it - as they say. Over the last decade in particular, there's been discussion, or more of a revisionist history, as to the origins of The Civil War. Which had led to its own cultural clash in society - a small piece to a greater issue regarding discrepancies over agreed upon reality. A society that can't come to a conclusion between fact, opinion, and fiction. A distinction that will only be harder to make in the coming years.
Sometimes I feel the greatest lasting impact of reconstruction wasn't what was implemented, but simply what wasn't. With the murder of Lincoln, a lot of these efforts were pushed to the wayside (40 Acres and a Mule comes to mind) by President Andrew Johnson. I find it important for us to learn the totality of the original Reconstruction plan, its intended impact, along with its actual impact, and what could be utilized currently to correct an economic injustice that has now impacted generations of Americans, led to great wealth inequality, and racial disparity as a society. Even today, redlining in other means are used to create economic dependency or lack of economic independence on groups that have been historically marginalized - with more and more Americans fitting in that equation as generations have gone on and the wealth gap has only grossly widened with a lack of accountability towards those put in charge to address it.
I appreciate your thought process and I'm excited to discuss more with you as the semester rolls on!
I agree it's important for us to recognize and not forget the problems and circumstances that led to The Civil War. If we don't remember our history - we're bound to repeat it - as they say. Over the last decade in particular, there's been discussion, or more of a revisionist history, as to the origins of The Civil War. Which had led to its own cultural clash in society - a small piece to a greater issue regarding discrepancies over agreed upon reality. A society that can't come to a conclusion between fact, opinion, and fiction. A distinction that will only be harder to make in the coming years.
Sometimes I feel the greatest lasting impact of reconstruction wasn't what was implemented, but simply what wasn't. With the murder of Lincoln, a lot of these efforts were pushed to the wayside (40 Acres and a Mule comes to mind) by President Andrew Johnson. I find it important for us to learn the totality of the original Reconstruction plan, its intended impact, along with its actual impact, and what could be utilized currently to correct an economic injustice that has now impacted generations of Americans, led to great wealth inequality, and racial disparity as a society. Even today, redlining in other means are used to create economic dependency or lack of economic independence on groups that have been historically marginalized - with more and more Americans fitting in that equation as generations have gone on and the wealth gap has only grossly widened with a lack of accountability towards those put in charge to address it.
I appreciate your thought process and I'm excited to discuss more with you as the semester rolls on!