Perhaps the biggest hurdle to the success of Reconstruction was the failure of whites to accept the new position blacks had in this country. Why would they have so much difficulty in accepting them?

It can generally be attributed to deep rooted racist ideals and White anger.

Explanation:

The failure of Whites to accept the new position Blacks had in the country can be attributed to deep rooted, long standing beliefs regarding the inferiority of African Americans as used to justify slavery. Ideas like the superiority of Whites and the inferiority of another race, White supremacy and racism, designated Blacks as below human in Southern, and in many instances, Northern society. In the South, with these ideals combined with a bitter defeat against the North and economic ruin, Whites were generally very angry. In their eyes, the Freedmen they had once owned as slaves did not deserve to stand on equal ground or vote as American citizens. Throughout the South, Freedmen also outnumbered White people in many instances. For this reason, voting Blacks held political power that Whites saw as a threat. Such harmful views towards Blacks and Black freedoms would severely inhibit their integration into American society as equals and continues to negatively impact America today.

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