The+Criminal+Minds



**What is the primary goal of reconstruction? Reunification, punishment, civil rights, other? (Thesis) (Christina)** When friends are torn apart by an issue, and are no longer on polite speaking terms, most of the time, it’s difficult stitching the friendship back together. Now imagine reunifying an entire country after a major war that devastated the land and the people and created a seemingly unending bitterness between the two sides. In no way could it be easy. Nobody agrees on anything except for the fact that they disagree on everything, and maybe not even that. During the war, Lincoln used intelligence to preserve the United States in the condition in which he received it. He used careful strategy in his speeches and actions to hold the Republicans and the War, Peace, and Copperhead Democrats together, and he used the right balance of leniency and punishment to maintain a grasp on the South without angering them further. Our goal for Reconstruction is ultimately reunification, while also introducing civil rights for Freedmen and using a Lincoln-esque balance of leniency and firmness in the affairs of the South. What should be done to the ex-Confederates? (Mariela) Should have to listen to the new laws that were created in their absence. Every one will be allowed to vote if they were able to vote before. People who do not respect the new laws will be punished, and people that take the law into their own hands will be prosecuted. Everyone will have the same rights they had before, except in instances like military and government leaders. __MILITARY/GOVERNMENT LEADERS__: The worst offenders should be punished to some degree, but none should be executed. The top government and military leaders of the confederacy should not be allowed to hold any short of office in government, people like Jefferson Davis, Alexander Stephens and Robert E. Lee. The same people should not be elected to congress in the South as before the war started or nothing would be accomplished. They should also not be allowed to carry guns. __SOLDIERS__: They should be treated as any other solider would be treated after coming back from war. There should be no restrictions placed on them unless they are from the upper ranks. Shelter should be provided for them if they have no where to go and so should food. __CIVILIANS:__They should be left alone and not punished for any of their actions. The government should help rebuild the Southern economy so that all the civilians don't suffer for long, and so that they may continue making money to support themselves. Some form of charity should be made to help feed the people who have lost their homes and have no way to supplement themselves. They should be treated as normal citizens of the US with no restrictions placed upon them. __LARGE PLANTATION OWNERS__: Many of the people that do still own their relinquish a portion of it to the government so that it may be used to insure the civil rights of blacks. They may not trick the freed slaves into working for them for free but they should be allowed to find workers to help keep the farms going as long as they are paid reasonably.

What should be done for the freedmen? (Jaime)

Former slaves who served in the Union army during the Civil War should each be given a portion of the land confiscated from the large plantation owners (see above), enough for them to be able to live decently and independently. If that land supply exhausts itself, they shall instead be given the right to the same amount of undeveloped land in a territory, so that they will still have a way of making a living for themselves. Former slaves who did not serve in the Union army should be allowed to continue working as farm hands and domestic servants only if they are paid a fair wage, one roughly equal to the corresponding salary (depending on skill level) of a white worker in the same job field. All former slaves should be given full rights equal to those of the average white man. Programs should be set up (whether through the government or by private abolitionist parties) to help former slaves locate lost family members and to ensure that they at least receive a basic education (one that would be equivalent to one of the average white man). All former slaves should rest assured that they, and their rights, will be protected from all infringements, such as those by terrorist cults like the Ku Klux Klan.

Who should be able to vote and hold office in the new Southern state governments? (Samantha)

Well it is a definite no to let the high military officers have office. They should not be able to hold that much power in the nation they most obviously wanted to split at the seams. But that does not mean that they should not be able to vote. There comes to a point that harsh is too harsh. They might not deserve to hold office and be able to make the major decisions in the country but they should have some say. So everyone should have a vote; yes this does include African Americans. African Americans should also be able to hold office. They are now normal citizens that deserve every opportunity. The only restrictions for being of office should be these: you must be at least 30 years old, of course you must be a citizen of the United States, you must be a citizen for at least ten years, you cannot be in office if you were a major confederate leader and you must be educated. There should be no restrictions on voting except for age. You must be 18 at time of voting to be able to vote. What requirements must be met before states regain full rights and representation? (Christina)

Before they can regain full rights and representation, the Confederate states must first make an oath of loyalty to the Union. The states will not be regarded as a conquered nation, but at least 75% of the ex-Confederate population in each state must swear their allegiance to the Union.

The states must also ratify the 13th amendment, stating that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

The states must ratify the 14th amendment. Section 1 declares that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Section 2 declares that “representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.” Section 3 states that “no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

The states must also ratify the 15th amendment, stating that “the right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

The states must accept that “congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

How should the Southern economy be restored? (Sandy)

To increase the amount of currency in the South, taxes will be exempted for a duration of 4 years. Primarily, the North will fund the South to rebuild the destructed railroads and to stretch the railroads to the west, for the convenience of exporting new farming materials for the reconstruction of the farms and homes, and temporarily transport foods. The government will hire poor whites, whose land got confiscated, to assist in building the railroads. The confiscated lands will be equally distributed to groups of freedmen families. Two or three African families will share a farm. The government is to provide them with equipments and seeds for the first harvest that will feed them and southerners. Excessive harvest will be sell to the North, earning them money for the next harvest. For the prestigious former slave owners, their farms will be rebuilt and manage by hired (at their own expense) single African Americans; while a small percentage of them have the choice to sell their farm to the government (more lands for freedmen) and use that money to build factories. These factories will produce materials used for the reconstruction and stretching of railroads. The government will purchase them with a low price from the South. This not only helps the South to be modernized, but also lessens the competitions between the farms, guaranteeing a greater chances of survival for farms operated by freedmen. What role should Union troops play in policing, governing, or rebuilding the South? (Natalie) ==== By the unification of both sides, South and North, we need the South's trust. By sending Union troops in the South, there is a feeling of oppression towards the Southerners and a misunderstanding of this act of patrol as Northern "pride". Instead of sending Union troops, the best solution would be to change their (South) police activities. There will be police officers from the North, who shall work with Southern officers to ensure all citizens' rights, no matter the color of their skin. (A 50/50 ratio from North to South) The Northerners will not rule or oppress, but rather make sure that the South is being regulated. To work together in preserving peace and justice for all. This is to ensure the safety of all citizens, regardless of their race. (Henceforth, getting rid of the KKK cults and other people who are having "trouble" adjusting to the new world of freedmen) ====

**Re-state the primary goal of reconstruction. (Thesis re-stated) (Christina)** Overall, our main goal for Reconstruction is to make the United States whole once more which involves using a balanced mixture of leniency and a firm hand to keep the South at ease, but to also guarantee that the South does not fall into its old ways.