Reconstruction Writing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reconstruction Writing - Assignment Example Andrew Johnson who was the vice president became the president of the United States after the assassination of the president Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a non slave holding individual and he remained loyal to the north and carried a distinct grudge towards the wealthy Southern Planter Class (Zuczek et al, 10). President Johnson was a white supremacist who clashed with the republicans over the reconstruction the liberation and union of the slaves African American. However, Johnson was determined to carry out the reconstruction policies of Lincoln’s (American Experience). Nevertheless, his policies were different from Lincoln’s and the congressmen’s. Johnson favored reconstruction policy, opposed African American equality and supported states rights unlike the leader of the congress in the radical republican who employed harsh punishment of the southern state but also worked towards the African American getting an equal treatment. In contrast to the passive approa ch of President Johnson, the radical republicans had a much tougher approach towards the African American. The republican were idealistic who were mostly driven by an almost religious fervor. The republican congress did not accept the commonly assumed notion that African Americans were inferior and therefore, they insisted on full social, civil and political rights for the former slaves. Furthermore, they were true reformers with very different ideas about reconstruction as compared to President Johnson. In the summer of 1965, the confederates’ state that had remained met Johnson’s reconstruction ideas that none of the constitutions allowed voting rights to African American. Congress refused to seat the representatives of the south to congress and the radicals in the congress were voting for reconstruction to punish the south harshly unlike the plan of Johnson ( Egerton, et al, 359). Also the presidential reconstruction of the southern government limited the African Am erican rights by passing a black code and prohibiting blacks from testifying in court, borrowing money to buy land or renting land. These black codes combined with the reconstruction plan of Johnson widen the wage between the Republicans in congress and Johnson. This was because unlike the reconstruction plan of Johnson the republican’s reconstruction campaigned for equal rights to the African American. The plan that was better according to me is the reconstruction plan of the republican in congress. This is because of many things in their plan. First of all, by waving the bloody shirt of 1866 congressional elections of republican campaign on hatred towards the southerners over the civil war hardships gained the republicans more than 2/3 majority seats in both houses of congress hence getting the power needed to override a presidential vote. Also the republican in congress reconstruction were more harsh on the southern states and more supportive and protective of African Amer ican rights. Secondly, the republican had two types of Republicans which made it better than the presidential reconstruction ( Egerton, et al, 360). The first was the Moderates which were mainly concerned with the economic gains for the white middle class and the north while the second type the Radicals also know as progressive championed for equal righ

Religious Feminism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Religious Feminism - Essay Example The plight of women is generally evident in all spheres of life, both religious and secular. Even in religion, areas of authority are always of a reserve of men who dominate the creation of norms that determine religious traditions. When baby boys are born, it is considered a blessing than when baby girls are born. Most religious images are male which are considered a symbol of holiness while those of females considered idolatry. In this regard, patriarchy and sexism are aspects that present themselves in all spheres of life especially on high grounds religion where it should be least expected. Under religious representations, there are numerous proposals put forward by the feminist groups about language and image representations of God. Among them is the traditional representation of God as of male gender. When people refer to God, the metaphors used in describing the deity in this respect should be changed to show that God transcends human sexes and that the deity should be taken to represent all sexes on equal grounds. In this case the use of the term â€Å"God the Father† is not acceptable according to the feminists. In this regard, other propositions have been put forward to show God as a mother, sister, and friend. This can be seen as the second part in which images of God are supposed to be changed to be female so as to end the general notion that the use of female images symbolize idolatry. The proposition holds that since the deity makes of all of us including male and female, therefore its representation should include images from both sides. Besides, imag es of God as mother would not in any way stereotype God’s feminine traits. Another proposition is that God should be seen as relational. In this context, God should be seen as a central part of human life who is also shares in the experiences of human beings. By this, the deity is also part of women’s