Final answer:
Reconstruction was considered a failure because it failed to establish equal rights, leading to the rise of Jim Crow laws and white supremacy, which left African Americans isolated and powerless despite the Fourteenth Amendment granting citizenship (option C).
Step-by-step explanation:
Reconstruction was considered a failure by some because it did not establish an interracial democracy with equal rights for all citizens. Option A ("African Americans could not take part in government") is not entirely accurate, as African Americans did have some participation in government during Reconstruction. Option B ("Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes were repealed") is incorrect because these laws were not repealed during Reconstruction, but instead formed the basis of segregation policies. Option C ("The South left African Americans isolated and powerless") and Option D ("An amendment that granted citizenship was struck down") are also not accurate, as citizenship was granted through the Fourteenth Amendment, which was not struck down. The correct answer is Option C, as Reconstruction ultimately failed to protect African Americans from disenfranchisement and segregation laws that left them isolated and powerless in southern society.
The Jim Crow laws and other discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests and poll taxes, effectively disenfranchised African Americans and segregated them from white society. Despite initial advances, such as the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments, white supremacy regained power in the South and established a system that persisted until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The resurgence of white supremacy and the violent enforcement of segregation through groups like the Ku Klux Klan underscored the failure of the federal government to maintain the ideals of Reconstruction regarding civil rights and equality.