Download Name

Student Study Guide for the American Pageant
Chapter 22 The Ordeal of Reconstruction, 1865–1877
CHAPTER SUMMARY
With the Civil War over, the nation faced the difficult
problems of rebuilding the South, assisting the freed
slaves, reintegrating the Southern states into the Union,
and deciding who would direct the Reconstruction
process.
The South was economically devastated and socially
revolutionized by emancipation. As slaveowners
reluctantly confronted the end of slave labor, blacks took
their first steps in freedom. Black churches and
freedmen’s schools helped the former slaves begin to
shape their own destiny.
The new President Andrew Johnson was politically inept
and personally contentious. His attempt to implement a
moderate plan of Reconstruction, along the lines
originally suggested by Lincoln, fell victim to Southern
whites’ severe treatment of blacks and his own political
blunders.
Republicans imposed harsh military Reconstruction on
the South after their gains in the 1866 congressional
elections. The Southern states reentered the Union with
new radical governments, which rested partly on the
newly enfranchised blacks, but also had support from
some sectors of southern society. These regimes were
sometimes corrupt but also implemented important
reforms. The divisions between moderate and radical
Republicans meant that Reconstruction’s aims were
often limited and confused, despite the important
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
Embittered whites hated the radical governments and
mobilized reactionary terrorist organizations like the Ku
Klux Klan to restore white supremacy. Congress
impeached Johnson but failed narrowly to convict him.
In the end, the poorly conceived Reconstruction policy
failed disastrously.
GLOSSARY - To build your social science vocabulary, familiarize yourself with the following terms:
treason - The crime of betrayal of one's country, involving some overt act violating an oath of allegiance or
providing illegal aid to a foreign state. In the United States, treason is the only crime specified in the Constitution.
civil disabilities - Legally imposed restrictions of a person's civil rights or liberties.
legalistically - In accord with the exact letter of the law, sometimes with the intention of thwarting its broad intent.
mutual aid societies - Nonprofit organizations designed to provide their members with financial and social benefits.
often including medical aid, life insurance, funeral costs, and disaster relief.
confiscation (confiscated) - Legal government seizure of private property without compensation.
pocket veto - The presidential act of blocking a Congressionally passed law not by direct veto but by simply
refusing to sign it at the end of a session. (A president can pocket-veto a bill within ten days of a session's end or
after.)
lease - To enter into a contract by which one party gives another use of land, buildings, or other property for a fixed
time and fee.
chain gang - A group of prisoners chained together while engaged in forced labor.
sharecrop - An agricultural system in which a tenant receives land, tools, and seed on credit an, pledges in return a
share of the crop to the creditor.
peonage - A system in which debtors are held in servitude, to labor for their creditors.
scalawag - A white Southerner who supported Republican Reconstruction after the Civil War.
carpetbagger - A Northern politician who came south to exploit the unsettled conditions after the Civil War; hence,
any politician who relocates for political advantage.
felony - A major crime for which severe penalties are exacted under the law.
terror (terrorist) - Using violence or the threat of violence in order to create intense fear in the attempt to promote
some political policy or objectives.
president pro tempore - In the United States Senate, the officer who presides in the absence of the vice president.
1
What was the fate of the defeated Confederate leaders following the Civil War? (pg 479) ________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
Describe the economy of the postwar South? (pg 480) ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________.
What was the prevailing attitude toward the war among many in the South? (pg 480) ____________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
Describe the circumstances that many freed slaves found themselves in at the end of the Civil War: (pg 481)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
What are “Exodusters” and what happened on their way to Kansas? (pg 482) _________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
The greatest achievements of the Freedmen's Bureau were in (pg 484) ______________________________________.
How was the Freedmen's Bureau viewed by the white south? (pg 484) _______________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________.
In President Andrew Johnson's view, the Freedmen's Bureau was (pg 484) ____________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________.
Why was Andrew Johnson named Lincoln's second-term vice president? (pg 485) _____________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________.
Describe the controversy surrounding the Wade-Davis Bill and the readmission of the Confederate states to the Union?
(pg 486)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________.
Describe Lincoln’s 10 percent plan for Reconstruction? (pg 486) ___________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
Explain President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction? (pg 486-87) __________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
2
What was the main purpose of the Black Codes? (pg 487) ___________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________.
To many Northerners, the Black Codes seemed to indicate that (pg 487)
A) it would take some time to reconcile the South and the North.
B) the transition to black freedom would be
difficult. C) the Civil War had been worth the sacrifice.
D) residential Reconstruction was working. E) the
arrogant South was acting as if the North had not really won the Civil War.
For congressional Republicans, one of the most troubling aspects of the Southern states' quick restoration to the Union
was that (pg 488)
A) with the black population fully counted, the South would be stronger than ever in national politics.
B) pro-Union southern politicians would be weak and inexperienced. C) the majority white South might be represented
by black Congressmen. D) a high tariff might be reinstituted. E) slavery might be re-established.
Describe the incident that caused a clash between Congress and President Johnson? (pg 489) _____________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________.
What did the Fourteenth Amendment do? (pg 489) _______________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________.
The root cause of the battle between Congress and President Andrew Johnson was (pg 489-490)
A) Johnson's personal vulgarity and crude style of campaigning.
B) the president's former ownership of slaves.
C) Johnson's “soft” treatment of the white South..
D) Johnson's “class-based” policies that favored poor whites.
E) Johnson's underlying loyalty to the Democratic Party.
Radical congressional Reconstruction of the South finally ended when (pg 492)
A) the South accepted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.
B) the last federal troops were removed in 1877.
C) President Johnson was not reelected in 1868.
D) the Supreme Court ruled in Ex parte Milligan that military tribunals could not try civilians.
E) blacks showed they could defend their rights without federal intervention.
Congealed – to become thick and solid
Which of the following was not one of the Reconstruction era constitutional amendments? (pg 486,492)
A) Twelfth B) Thirteenth C) Fourteenth D) Fifteenth E) All of the above were Reconstruction amendments.
Why were many feminist leaders disappointed with the Fourteenth Amendment? (pg 492-493)
__________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
What purpose did the Union League serve? (pg 494) ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
During Reconstruction, African American women assumed new political roles which included all of the following except
(pg 494)
A) participating in black church life.
B)monitoring state constitutional conventions. C) participating in
political rallies.
D) organizing mass meetings.
E) voting.
3
Describe the accomplishments of Radical Reconstruction state governments? (pg 495) __________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________.
Political corruption during Reconstruction was (pg 495)
A) primarily the fault of white carpetbaggers and scalawags. B) located in the North. C) common in both North and
South. D) present in all Southern states except South Carolina and Louisiana. E) almost entirely conducted by blacks.
What was the primary motive for the formation of the Ku Klux Klan? (pg 495-96) _____________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________.
Explain the successes achieved by the Ku Klux Klan to achieve its central goal (pg 496) ________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________.
What was the official charge that the House of Representatives used to impeach President Johnson? (pg 496-97)
________________________________________________________________________________________________
All of the following were reasons the Senate voted to acquit President Andrew Johnson except (pg 497-498)
A) opposition to abusing the Constitutional system of checks and balances.
B) concern about the person who would
become President.
C) fears of creating a destabilizing period.
D) Johnson promised to step down as President.
E) Johnson's promise to stop obstructing Republican policies.
What did Secretary of State Seward do that amounted to the Johnson administration's greatest success in foreign relations?
(pg 498)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
Explain what may have led to a more successful ending to Reconstruction? (pg 498-499) _________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________.
4