What were the effects of Reconstruction for whites in the South?

Reconstruction had a significant effect on southern whites. There were many changes in the South as a result of Reconstruction. African-Americans got more freedoms. White southerners would no longer have total control over the African-Americans. With the passage of the 15th amendment, African-American males got the right to vote. This was difficult for many white southerners to accept. The Radical Republican plan also denied voting rights to ex-Confederate leaders.

The Republican Party got power in...

Reconstruction had a significant effect on southern whites. There were many changes in the South as a result of Reconstruction. African-Americans got more freedoms. White southerners would no longer have total control over the African-Americans. With the passage of the 15th amendment, African-American males got the right to vote. This was difficult for many white southerners to accept. The Radical Republican plan also denied voting rights to ex-Confederate leaders.

The Republican Party got power in the South. Some white southerners refused to take part in the writing of the new state constitutions. As a result, the Republicans got control of many state governments, and some African-Americans got elected to office. Because the reconstruction process was directed by the Republicans, many white southerners voted for candidates from the  Democratic Party for years to come. Some white southerners also turned to a group like the Ku Klux Klan that tried to intimidate African-Americans into not exercising their rights. The Ku Klux Klan used scare tactics and threats against the African-Americans. This group was very active in the South for many years.

Reconstruction impacted white southerners because it imposed ideas and concepts that many white southerners had rejected for generations. They had to accept freedom for the former slaves. They had to accept African-American males voting in elections. They had to accept African-Americans becoming citizens. Creating, at least for a period of time, a more equal society in the South was very difficult for many white southerners to accept.