The+Muffin+Stuffers



**Amy, Alex, Madison**

1. What is the Primary goal of Reconstruction? Reunification, punishment, civil rights, other?

After such an extensive destruction of life in the South and the loss of many lives both from the Union and from the Confederacy, to better the country, we need healing and not the execution of a scapegoat. The proper way to work on such a project of bringing the country together would be to help each other and not to point fingers while assigning punishments. All citizens of America are human and it is the similarities that would bring the people together.( That sentence would have been beautiful in a speech :) ) (I agree, particularly effective) __//**(I Absolutely agree with them)**//__ What is needed is to bring the South out of its depression so that the scar on this country can be healed and there can be equality in all parts of the nation. In this equality the freedmen would be given the rights that were denied from them while they were in bondage. This would be accomplished with apprenticeships (What would occur if a solid South refuses to comply with the apprenticeship plan, the mentality suggests that the majority would refuse to abide having to teach a black person. Would it be forced upon them?) (Who would be the people to teach these former slaves? The deeply racist whites who just lost the war? Or the uneducated Blacks?) ( Where would there be room for apprenticeships? Everything is industrialized by this time period) and so that they can gain skills, (nice) so that the public could feel secure in that they have people with the proper qualifications fulfilling their duties. **//__(Do you think that an intensely racist South would ever trust a former slave, regardless of the freedmen's newfound education? Sounds a bit unreal.)__//** (Wouldn't some say a qualification is the color of their skin? What about the KKK?) (What could be their motivation to maintain these apprenticeships?) (Wouldn't many whites simply maintain that blacks are still inferior and decline to accept their, "qualifications"?) To expedite the reunification the requirements for each state will not be harsh, as only a third of the officials will need to make an oath to the Union to rebuild the trust that was lost between these two areas. ( What of the other mutinous two thirds of the officials? Is an apology from less then the majority truly enough to ensure that candid trust may be rebuilt between the North and South? ). There must be an understanding between the South and the Union of what caused such a war (what caused the war?) (Does this mean no punishment for the South? Furthermore what is going to be accepted as the cause?) so that a new era of peace can be started and that such a bloody war will not happen between brothers.

2. What should be done for the ex-Confederates?

In order to re-form a more perfect Union, (GREAT rhetoric) (__//**aha, me and whoever did purple see what you did there. Excellent)**//__ there must first be a common objective amongst Americans. Reunification (Nice, unity through reunification). Although the ex-Confederates have sinned against us, we remain Americans, and it is through forgiveness that we shall overcome their trespasses. This Nation, under God, was constructed on Christian beliefs, beliefs of forgiveness (I'm fairly certain they weren't asking for forgiveness) (Wouldn't Southerners say they didn't need forgiveness since they had done no wrong?), “ If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” (Luke 17:4) The ex-Confederates shall be required to acknowledge their sins and mistakes and must verbally consent to allegiance not only to our Nation, but our Union  (And if they don't?)  Will they be allowed all of the rights of US citizen? What if they do not keep their promise, will they be punished? (Are words really powerful enough to ensure trust between the North and South. Did the South not say they would join the United States after the Revolutionary War, and then dismember the United States in the civil war? Is their promise still viable?﻿). In order to avoid further conflict among the people of the Union, slavery shall no longer be permitted in //any// state, (What will you do when the KKK uprises?) as the penalty of enslaving another human being shall be life imprisonment. (slavery as defined as a person held against their will? what about indentured slavery/servitude?) (I would have continued on the assimilation of the 4 million newly African American citizens in America.) 3. What should be done for the freedmen?

The freedmen shall be admitted into apprenticeships in order to acquire the trades such as banking and law, otherwise unknown to the freedmen. ﻿ (Are they mandatory?) ﻿  (In these internships will the freedmen be paid? Or will they be working for nothing as they learn? Would they be enslaved again? If you were going to pay them, how would you?) (Nice Idea, but who will be chosen to lead/ who will want to lead the internships? ) Prior to the government issued apprenticeships, the freedmen will be taught to read and write because education is imperative ( who will educate them? and with what money?). This will result in an influx of steady businesses run by the freedmen, therefore promoting a healthy economy (What white would want to buy from his x-slave, or any x-slave when he can buy from the white merchant down the street? Would not the only income for black business men most likely be from their fellow blacks? Unfortunately most of their fellow blacks lived destitute lives in squalor and poverty, thus creating a non fluctuating black economy in which blacks stay poor, and then get poorer.) (Ya why would any white southerner do business with his ex-slave, and how would poor poverous illiterate blacks start businesses). For the freedmen that have already mastered a skill (i.e. agriculture management), the government will distribute a sect of land,  (Will they get this land from former plantation owners?  ) (from what land?) providing the opportunity for countless freedmen to finally become independent. **//__(The South will just have to deal with their land getting "stolen"?)__//** The government will finally issue predetermined sums of money, (Where will the money be from?) (how will the government afford to just away sums of money when the economy is already destroyed) in compensation for the years of abuse endured. With the money acquired from the government, (clarification: federal funds or taxes?) the freedmen would be capable of making investments in other businesses and or starting their own business. H(How will iliterate blacks get the expertise and know how to start their own business and what about poor white southerners, dont they get job opprtuinities and if they dont wont this cause more racial tension ) (Where will this money come from, for the tax payers in the North will surely not want to pay it after paying for a long and grueling civil war. The Southerners will not want to pay for it for they want their black slaves back to work on their fields, why sponsor them to go work elsewhere and create economic competition?) ﻿ -Agreed

4. Who should be able to vote and hold office in the new Southern state governments?

In order to prevent the mistakes that the South made in the past there must be changes made to their government. Freedmen may have the right to hold office just as white men have had however they must first be educated in reading and writing and must also have some experience such as an apprenticeship. ( i like that requirement, educating the voters) (How long will this process take? Where will the money come from with which to educate them?) (But white men don't need education to vote...) If a white man has held an office that was at or higher than a general in the Civil War then he may not hold an office unless he swears an oath to the Union as well as sending in reports of his work every month which will be reviewed. (monitoring, NICE.) (What if the reports contain lies? What if he takes the oath but doesn't mean it?) ( very good way of keeping an eye on them) ﻿   (What if they are still bitter? They can easily lie, technology isn't up to par yet. Even better, they can sabotage the system by convincing their colleagues to lie too ﻿ ) These reports will be looked over by the vice president who will then report to the president if there is anything amiss in the reports. This will ensure that the man in office is upholding his oath to the Union. (Nice idea of checks and balances!) 5 . What requirements must be met before states regain full rights and representation? What requirements must be met before states regain full rights and representation?

Before the states can reenter the Union as states, there must be proper evidence of their loyalty and they must gain the trust of the Federal Government again. At least one third of the people in office must make an oath to the government so that proper trust can be earned. (And you expect the ex-confederates to just say the oath and they can be trusted again?what about if they break this oath and enforcing the oath if broken or not obeyed? are their to be repercussions and if so, how will the South like it when the carpet-baggers take them over?) I like the amount of 1/3 much better than the original 10% plan, good thinking! In the oath it will state that they will not create any law that will go against the Constitution, namely the 14th amendment. (what about disobeying an established law?) Their laws are also subject to review before their admittance to the Union and before they can regain their rights as states. (Who will review their state laws?) As incentive for the states to fulfill the requirements as quickly as possible the Federal Government will issue more jobs (How will they be able to provide jobs?) for the working middle class and this will provide the South with a desperately needed economic boost. (with what money?) (What happens if they refuse to become states?) 6. How should the Southern economy be restored? We plan to stimulate the southern economy by introducing new productive citizens into the labor force, the former slaves (What about the poor white Southerners who are already there? Could this cause more tension between them and the former slaves?). With the apprenticeship program, (abuse of apprentices? abuse of apprenticeship?) shortly there will be the introduction of many more skilled laborers (What ensures that a discriminating employer will consider a colored worker). These labors increased income will lead to increased spending which will in turn bring more money into the economy. With the increase of the middle class, the standard of living will be raised. We want to bring industry to the south, which will help to bring more money into the economy (With what money will these factories be built?). The north does not need to manufacture all the cotton that is already in the south; the south can do some of this manufacturing as well. (Who is going to work the cotton farms? Ex-slaves? Won't it just lead to sharecropping and bondage again?) The introduction of more industries in the south will provide jobs for the many freedmen. What about the people in the rural areas who have lost their slaves and there are no industries for them to work in? (When and over what period of time will industrialization be introduced into the Southern economy?) 7. What role should Union troops play in policing, governing, or rebuilding the South? The Union Troops will exercise their power when necessary, focusing on Reunification as a primary goal as well as respecting the decision made by Congress, Reunification at all costs. If rebellion occurs, that is when the Union Troops will be responsible for seizing protests and or riots that accumulate in response to Reunification. (Have you considered an extended police force, or some other kind of controlled monitoring without a military occupation?) The Union Troops shall be divided in half, focusing half of the Troops on the reconstruction of the South, and half focusing on the control of rebellion. **//__(How long do you plan on keeping troops in there, with your apprenticeship plans and reimbursement for the freedmen, how much money do you plan on spending?)__//** While the troops are focusing on stopping rebellion by military force, they will attempt to stay out of the way of the South and allow it to rebuild itself somewhat on its own terms. (Will it be safe for African Americans to go anywhere alone?) (Isn't this a controversial statement, nice idea, but not really realistic.) We will allow the south to have their own leaders and try not to place too much power over them. With little power, how are you sure they will follow the laws? (What will you do if they cannot be trusted as leaders?) (Couldn't this lead to even more disunity? Or even cause them to try and leave again?) They will not attempt to punish or control the south with military force, (How can you make them not try to?) but rather help the union become once again unified and finally be The United States of America. 8. Re-state the primary goal of reconstruction. (Thesis re-stated) Hannah=highlighted blue Elena = Purple Andres = Red Trevor = Green Addison=Blue Xander = Brown Sarah = Teal

Renae= Orange

Aron=Gray Kieran=﻿Green Moe=Pink

Joseph Malach: So apparently this thing doesn't like me and won't let me change the color on my beautiful notes on this plan, so I've decided to just write a long paragraph that you all are going to have to read, and you know what, that stinks and I don't care anymore cause this thing is not letting me do what I want to do. Onto other topics though, I would like to point out that your plan has many errors consistent with the original Reconstruction plan. It follows the whole scheme of "well, hopefully everyone will just be happy with this", looking back on the social climate of the time, this plan would seem to anger the Southerners and give them means by which to antagonize freedmen. Will the apprenticeship idea not give room for Southerners to beguile their black "apprentices" and treat them like a slave (considering back then apprentices were allowed to be hit and worked for little to no pay)? Also, do you expect that the South will practice the Christian way of forgiveness (technically the country was built by Freemasons, but that's irrelevant), taking due note that they disregarded blacks beforehand and viewed it as the Bible telling them slavery was just? How willing will the Union troops be willing to stay in the South to promote something that a majority of them don't feel necessary themselves? Will the Southerners feel threatened by the new black workforce that will arise competition between the black and white workers? How do you plan on making the money to pay the black people that do go into agriculture if it is to be funded by the nation? Will Congress be able to pass a law that will give money (to which people hold so precious) to people they hardly even like? Would this method of going about the situation be a little too touchy on both ends of the now "United" States who just want the fighting to stop? Overall this plan is good and well thought out, yet lacks the aggressiveness or pure social effort it would take to break the barriers between Civil Rights and the South's feelings, but I guess that just depends if you care more about the black peoples' Civil Rights, or the South's feelings. Hope ya'll stay wizard down there!
 * //__Kekoaonuimana = underlined, bolded and italicized__//**