Download Reconstruction - Net Start Class

Chapter 18 Notes: Reconstruction
Section 1: Rebuilding the Union
A: Reconstruction Begins
- After the war, the South faced the challenge of building a new society not
bases on slavery
- Reconstruction – the process the federal govt. used to re-admit the
Confederate States to the Union
- Reconstruction lasted from 1865-1877
- Freedman’s Bureau – this bureau was established to assist former slaves
- After Lincoln’s assassination Andrew Johnson became President
- Johnson offered amnesty, an official pardon, to most white Southerners
- He promised to return their property, in return they had to pledge loyalty to
the U.S.
B: Rebuilding Brings Conflict
- Some Southern states refused to ratify the 13th Amendment
- Southern states passed laws known as Black Codes
- Black Codes – limited the freedom of former slaves
- The aim of Congress was to destroy the South’s old ruling class and turn the
region into a place of small farms, free schools, respect for labor, and political
equality for all citizens
C: The Civil Rights Act
- Civil Rights – those rights granted to all citizens
- The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that all persons born in the U.S. (except
NA) were citizens, and it stated that all citizens were entitled to equal rights
regardless of their race
- President Johnson vetoed the bill
- Congress voted to override the veto, an did so
D: The Fourteenth Amendment
- Congress proposed the 14th Amendment in 1866
- It stated that people born in the U.S. were citizens and had the same rights
- All citizens were granted “equal protection of the laws”
- The amendment said nothing about black suffrage
- It did say that any state that kept blacks from their rights would lose
representation in Congress
- Every former state except TN refused to support the amendment
- This cause passage of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867
-
This act divided the South into 5 military districts each run by an Army
Commander
Before the Southern states could re-enter the Union, they would have to do
two things
o Must approve the states new constitutions that let all men vote
o Must ratify the 14th Amendment
E: The New Southern Governments
- In 1867, Southern voters chose delegates to draft their new state constitutions
- About ¾ of the delegates were Republicans who were poor white farmers
angry at the planters
- These delegates were called “scalawags”
- The other ¼ were called “carpetbaggers”
- Carpetbagger – white Northerners who rushed South after the war
- By 1870, voters in all Southern states had approved their new Constitutions
- During Reconstruction more than 600 African Americans served in state
legislatures and 14 of the new U.S. Congressmen from the South were AA
- 2 AA served as U.S. Senators
F: Johnson is Impeached
- Johnson fought against many of Congress’s reform efforts during Radical
Reconstruction
- In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, that prohibited the
president from firing govt. officials without Senate approval
- In 1868 Johnson fired his Secretary of War
- 3 days later, the House voted to Impeach
- Impeach – formal accusation of improper conduct while in office
- Johnson was acquitted by a single vote
Section 2: Reconstruction and Daily Life
-