Download Chapter 16 - vocab and notes

Chapter 16 – Reconstruction and the New South (1863-1896)
Vocabulary –
Key Terms:
1. freedmen
men and women who had been slaves
2. amnesty
government pardon
3. black codes
Southern laws that severely limited the rights of
African Americans after the Civil War
4. impeachment
to bring charges of serious wrongdoing against a
public official
5. scalawag
white Southerner who supported the Republicans
during Reconstruction
6. carpetbagger
uncomplimentary nickname for a Northerner who
went to the South after the Civil War
7. sharecropper
person who rents a plot of land from another
person and farms it in exchange for a share of the
crop
8. poll tax
tax required before a person can vote
9. literacy test
exam to see if a person can read and write; used in
the past to restrict voting rights
10. grandfather clause
law that excused a voter from a literacy test if his
father or grandfather had been eligible to vote on
January 1, 1887
11. segregation
enforced separation of people based on racial,
ethnic, or other differences
Key People/Places/Events:
12. Ten Percent Plan
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13. Wade-Davis Bill
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14. Freedmen’s Bureau
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15. Reconstruction
16. Radical Republican
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17. Radical Reconstruction
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18. Reconstruction Act
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Lincoln’s plan that allowed a Southern state to
form a new government after 10% of its voters
swore an oathof loyalty to the US
1864 plan for Reconstruction that denied the right
to vote to hold office to anyone who had
volunteered to fight for the Confederacy
government agency founded during Reconstruction
to help former slaves
rebuilding of the South after the Civil War
member of Congress during Reconstruction who
want to ensure that freedmen received the right to
vote
period beginning in 1867 when the Republicans
who controlled both houses took charge of
Reconstruction
1867 law that threw out the Southern state
governments who refused to ratify the 14th
Amendment
19. Conservatives
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20. Ku Klux Klan
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21. Thirteenth Amendment
22. Fourteenth Amendment
23. Fifteenth Amendment
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24. John Wilkes Booth
25. Andrew Johnson
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26. Hiram Revels
27. Blanche Bruce
28. Homer Plessy
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29. Plessy v. Ferguson
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30. Jim Crow Laws
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31. “New South”
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white Southerners who resisted change during the
Reconstruction
secret society organized in the South after the War
to reassert white supremacy by means of violence
1865 – bans slavery throughout the nation
1868 – guarantees equal protection of the laws
1869 – forbids any state to deny African Americans
the right to vote because of race
Confederate sympathizer who assassinated Lincoln
17th US President who proposed a more lenient
plan of Reconstruction
African American who served in the Senate
African American who served in the Senate
arrested for sitting in a “white” section of a coach
of a railroad car – set precedent for “Separate but
Equal” rule.
1896 court case in which the Supreme Court ruled
that Segregation in public facilities was legal as long
as the facilities were equal
laws that separated people of different races in
public places in the South
term to describe the South in the late 1800s when
efforts were made to expand the economy by
building up industry
Chapter 16 – Reconstruction & the New South (1863 – 1896)
Section 1 – Rebuilding the Nation
Obj: to discuss why postwar problems were more severe in the South than in the North; to
list the early steps that were taken toward Reconstruction; and, to explain how the
assassination of Lincoln and the inauguration of a new President led to conflict
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After four years of war, both northerners and southerners had to adjust to a changed
world.
Victorious North –
o Economic problems
o Union soldiers needed jobs
o Factories were laying off workers after war orders now being cancelled
o North lost more soldiers than South, but more battles on Southern soil
o Northern farms and cities were hardly touched.
Defeated South –
o Ex-soldiers had little chance of picking up where they had left off
o In some areas, every house, barn and bridge had been destroyed
o Two thirds of their railroad had been turned into twisted heaps of scrap
o Cities had been leveled
o Financial system wrecked
o Confederate money worthless
o Loans never repaid
o Society changed forever
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan – 1863
o Ten Percent Plan – under this plan southern states could form a new
government after 10% of its voters swore an oath of loyalty to the United States.
o New government had to abolish slavery
o Voters could elect members of Congress and take part in national government
o Amnesty offered to Confederates who swore loyalty to the Union
 But this would not apply to former leaders of the Confederacy
Rival Proposal –
o Many Republicans felt 10% too generous
o 1864 – Wade-Davis Bill a rival plan for Reconstruction
 It required a majority of white men in each southern state to swear
loyalty to the Union.
 It also denied the right to vote or hold office to anyone who had
volunteered to fight for the Confederacy
 Lincoln refused to sign the Wade-Davis bill because he felt it was too
harsh.
Freedmen’s Bureau –
o Congress and Lincoln agreed on this proposal
o Created to help former slaves
o It gave them food and clothing and tried to find them jobs
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o It helped poor whites as well
o It provided medical care for more than one million people
o It set up schools for freedmen
 This laid the plan for the South’s public school system and created
colleges for African Americans
Lincoln hoped to persuade Congress to accept his Reconstruction plan, but never got
the chance.
April 14, 1865 – just five days after Lee’s surrender, Lincoln was assassinated by popular
actor from the south, John Wilkes Booth.
He died the next morning
Booth was later caught and killed in a barn outside the city
Nation plunged into grief.
Vice President Andrew Johnson was now President.
Johnson’s Plan –
o His plan milder than strict Reconstruction plan of Lincoln.
o It called for a majority of voters in each southern state to pledge loyalty to the
United States.
o Each state also had to ratify the 13th Amendment, which Congress had approved
in January 1865.
o Southern states quickly met Johnson’s conditions
o Republicans in Congress were outraged.
o Also no southern state allowed African Americans to vote.
When the new Congress met, Republicans refused to let southern representatives to
take their seats.
Instead, they set up a Joint committees on Reconstruction to form a new plan for the
South.
The stage was set for a showdown between Congress and the President
Chapter 16 – Reconstruction & the New South (1863 – 1896)
Section 2 – The Battle Over Reconstruction
Obj: to describe how Congress reacted to the passage of black codes in the South; to explain
how Radical Republicans gained power in Congress; to discuss why President Johnson was
impeached; to identify the groups of people that made up the new forces in Southern politics;
to describe how Southern Conservatives resisted Reconstruction; challenges the government
faces; and, to explain how many Southerners became locked in to a cycle of poverty
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After war, most states promptly ratified the Thirteenth Amendment.
Southern legislature also passed black codes.
o They could marry legally and own some kind of property
o Kept freedmen from gaining political or economical power
o Forbade freemen to vote, own guns or serve on juries
o Some states permitted them only work as servants or farm laborers
o Had to sign contracts for a year’s work
Republicans charged that Johnson’s lenient Reconstruction plan had encouraged
southern legislatures to pass the black codes.
Joint Committee on Reconstruction accused the South of trying to “preserve slavery….as
long as possible”
When Johnson ignored report, members of Congress, called Radical Republicans, vowed
to take control of Reconstruction.
Republican control –
o Moderate and radical Republicans disagreed on many issued, but shared a
strong political motive – to control both Houses
o To combat black codes – Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in April 1866.
 It gave citizenship to African Americans
 Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress overrode the veto.
o To avoid a similar ruling to Dred Scott, Republicans proposed the Fourteenth
Amendment. (all persons born or naturalized in US, were citizens)
Election of 1866 –
Radical Program –
o 1867 – with huge majorities in both houses, Republicans in Congress prepared to
take charge of Reconstruction.
o Passed the first Reconstruction Act in March 1867.
 It threw out the state governments that had refused to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment, and divided the South into five military districts.
 To join the Union, former Confederate states had to write new
constitutions to set up new governments. Former leaders barred from
voting.
February 24, 1868 – the House voted to impeach Johnson.
During his trial it was clear he was not guilty of any wrong-doing, and he served out his
remaining few months of his term.
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1868 – Ulysses S. Grant elected President.
1869 – the Fifteenth Amendment proposed and ratified in 1870. (At last all African
American men over age 21 had the right to vote
Radical Reconstruction was different from any government the South had known
before.
Old leaders lost much of their influence
Three groups stepped in to replace them –
o White Southern Republics
o Northerners
o African Americans
Most white southerners who had held power before the Civil War resisted
Reconstruction.
o These Conservatives resented the changes imposed by Congress and enforced by
the military.
o They were willing to let African Americans vote and hold a few offices, but were
determined that real power would remain in the hands of whites.
Few wealthy white planters tried to force African Americans back onto plantations.
Many farmers who wanted the government to take action against freedmen, now found
themselves competing with them for land and power. (most of these white southerners
were Democrats)
Some white southerners formed secret societies to help them regain power.
o The most dangerous, the Ku Klux Klan
 Violence
 Murder
o Many moderate southerners condemned the violence of the Klan.
o 1870 – Congress made it a crime to use force to keep people from voting.
Reconstruction governments tried to rebuild the South
o Built schools for blacks and whites
o Many states gave women the right to own property
o Rebuilt railroads, telegraph lines, bridges and roads
Corruption in the Reconstruction was widespread, both South and North.
During Reconstruction, many freedmen and poor whites became sharecroppers.
Many hoped to own their own land one day.
Chapter 16 – Reconstruction & the New South (1863 – 1896)
Section 3 – The End of Reconstruction
Obj: to list events that led to the end of Reconstruction; to explain how the rights of African
Americans were restricted in the South after Reconstruction and, to identify industries that
flourished in the “New South”
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By 1870s, Radicals were losing power.
Many northerners grew weary of trying to reform the South
Time to let southerners run their own governments
o Even if it meant that African Americans in the South might lose their rights
Widespread corruption also hurt Republicans
o Grant appointed many friends to government offices
 Some used their position to steal large sums of money from the
government
Grant won reelection in 1872, but many northerners lost faith in Republicans and their
politics.
1872 – Congress passed Amnesty Act – they voted solidly Democratic
By 1876 – only three southern states; South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, remained
under Republic control
Election of 1876 – end of Reconstruction came with this election.
Rutherford B. Hayes, Republican, won election.
Reconstruction was over.
Reconstruction had a deep and lasting impact on southern politics
o White southerners had bitter memories of Radical Republican policies and
military rule.
o For the next hundred years, the South remained a stronghold of the Democratic
party.
o At the same time, black southerners steadily lost most of their political rights.
Conservatives tightened their grip on southern governments, states found new ways to
keep African Americans from exercising their rights.
o State poll taxes
o Literacy tests
o Grandfather clauses
After 1877 – segregation became the law of the South
o Laws separated blacks and whites in schools, restaurants, theaters, trains,
streetcars, playgrounds, hospitals and even cemeteries.
o These Jim Crow laws, as they were known, trapped southern blacks in a hopeless
situation.
African Americans brought lawsuits to challenge segregation
o 1896 – Plessy v. Ferguson
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The South’s economy slowly recovered, by 1880 planters were growing as much cotton
as they had in 1860.
the “New South” used its vast natural resources to build its own industry instead of
depending on the North.
o More and more textile mills,
o tobacco company,
o mineral resources; iron ore and coal;
o the steel industry;
o oil refineries; copper, granite and marble.
By the 1890s, many northern forests had been cut down.
Still, the South could not keep up with the more rapid-growing North and West.