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Chapter 13, Lesson 4
ACOS #11: Identify causes of the Civil War, including states’ rights and the issue
of slavery.
11a: Recognizing key northern and southern personalities, including Abraham
Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Ulysses Grant, Robert E. Lee, “Stonewall” Jackson,
William Tecumseh Sherman, and Joseph Wheeler.
11b: Describe social, economic, and political conditions that effected citizens
during the Civil War.
11c: Identify Alabama’s role in the Civil War.
11d: Locate on a map sites important to the Civil War.
11e: Explain events that led to the conclusion of the Civil War.
Vocabulary Words
• Reconstruction – The period when the South rejoined the Union after
the Civil War.
• Assassination – the murder of an important leader.
• Freedmen’s Bureau – provided food, clothing, medical care, and legal
advice to poor blacks and whites. It set up hospitals and schools and
found jobs for many.
• Impeach – to charge a government official with a crime.
Plans for Reconstruction
• During Reconstruction, the country had to be reunited. The period when the
South rejoined the Union is called Reconstruction.
• During this time, Americans could not agree on how to bring the South back into
the Union.
• Some northerners were bitter about the war and wanted to punish the South for
everything that had happened.
• President Lincoln did not want to punish the South and asked northerners to fight
their anger. He said “With malice toward none, with charity for all…let us strive
on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.”
• Lincoln planned to let the defeated states set up new government and rejoin the
Union quickly.
• Many people disagreed with Lincoln, especially a group called the Radical
Republicans.
Lincoln’s Death
• On the evening of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to a play at Ford’s
Theater in Washington.
• John Wilkes Booth, an actor, crept up behind Lincoln and shot him in
the head.
• Booth supported the Confederacy and was angry about the South’s
defeat.
• Lincoln died the next day.
• An assassination is the murder of an important leader.
• Lincoln’s death made Reconstruction in the South even more difficult.
After Lincoln’s Death
• After Lincoln’s death, Vice President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee
became president.
• Johnson immediately put Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction into action.
The federal government forced the South to abolish slavery in their state
constitutions. At the same time, though, most southern states passed
harsh laws called Black Codes.
• The Black Codes limited the rights of former slaves to travel, vote, and
work in certain jobs.
• Radical Republicans were angry about southerners making these codes
and by allowing southern states to elect former Confederate leaders to
Congress.
• Congress voted not to let the new southern representatives join
Congress.
• Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau to provide food, clothing,
medical care, and legal advice to poor blacks and whites. It set up
hospitals and schools and found jobs for many.
Congress Takes Control
• In 1867, Congress began its own Reconstruction plan. It put the South
under military rule.
• Under military rule, the army marched into the south and forced
southern states to obey Congress.
• The states had to allow men, including blacks to vote.
• After taking over Reconstruction, Congress tried to remove President
Johnson by impeachment. To impeach means to charge a government
official with a crime. They accused him of breaking one of their new
laws. They did not succeed in forcing him our of office. He finished his
presidency.
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
• Some southerners supported the Republicans during
Reconstruction. Those southerners were very unpopular
in the South.
• Southerners who helped the government during
Reconstruction were known as scalawags. Scalawag was
a slang word for an old worthless horse.
• Many northerners traveled south during Reconstruction.
Some wanted to help the South, but others just wanted
to make money. These people were called carpetbaggers,
because they often carried suitcases made of carpet
materials.
• Southerners hated these people and did not want them
here.
The Constitution Changes
• During Reconstruction, Congress created three new amendments to the
Constitution.
• The new amendments gave the national government more power over the
states. They also protected the rights of African Americans.
• The 13th amendment ended slavery throughout the United States.
• The 14th amendment gave citizenship to African Americans. This
amendment helped protect African Americans from Black Codes. Almost
every southern state refused to ratify this amendment. They were not
allowed to rejoin the Union until they did.
• The 15th amendment guaranteed African American men the right to vote.