Download Chapter 11 Section 2 - Congress Takes Charge

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Section
2
Words to Know
impeach
to accuse a high pubtic official (like the President of
the United States) of a crime
segregation
the separation of PeoPle bY race
a name for a Northerner who went to the South after
the Civil War
a name for a white Southerner who supported
Reconstruction government
carpetbagger
scalawag
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almost two years after Abraham Lincoln's death,
the southern states were able to remain free of Union
control. Under Andrew Johnson's plan, the southern
states formed governments like the ones they had before
the war. In spite of the Civil Rights Act and the Thirteenth
and Fourteenth Amendments, southern laws controlled
African Americans. Finally, Congress took charge.
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Congress Passes Reconstruction Acts
The Radical Republicans did not feel that Johnson's
plan was working. In 1867 , Congress passed the first of
many Reconstruction Acts. All those states that did not
accept the Fourteenth Amendment were under military
rule. This meant that the South was divided into five
military districts, or regions. United States troops
occupied, or controlled, the South.
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The act also said that all adult African American
males and all qualified adult white males could vote.
Whites and African Americans would run the state
governments in the South. However, whites who had
held Confederate office would not be able to vote or
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hold office. Whites who supported the Confederacy
could not vote. Southern states had to approve the
Fourteenth Amendment before they could be allowed
back into the Union. By 7870, all former Confederate
states had been readmitted to the Union.
According to the Reconstruction Act, who would
not be able to vote or hold office in the South?
Gongress lmpeaches President Johnson
President Johnson did not like the Reconstruction
Acts. He said they gave the U.S. government more
powers than it should have. Johnson did not want to
punish former Confederate officers. He even tried to
help them get back their land.
Johnson's actions made the Radical Republicans
angrier. Other Republicans in Congress were upset too.
They fought back by trying to remove Johnson from
office. To do this, they would have to impeach the
President, or accuse him publicly of a crime.
Johnson was saved from being removed from office
by one vote. He finished his term as President, but
being impeached hurt his reputation.
Why did the House vote to impeach Johnson?
Republican State Governments
Under the Reconstruction Acts, new state
governments were formed in the South. Republicans
controlled most of them. The Republicans in the South
were made up of African Americans, Northerners who
moved to the South, and white Southerners who sided
with the Republicans.
African Americans voted in large numbers. Many
ran for office and won. Mississippi sent two African
Americans to Congress in Washington, D.C. They were
Hiram R. Rev{s and Blanche K. Bruce.
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Hiram R Revels was the
first African American
senator to represent
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Chaptell1 . Rebuilding a Divided Nation .
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1865-1877
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The Republican state governments passed laws
against segregation. Segregation is the separation of
people by race. However, not everyone followed these
segregation laws. The new government also set up
public school systems and tried to bring businesses and
jobs to the South. The new governments did not have
enough money or experience to take care of all the
problems of the region.
Who made up the Republican party in the South?
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
Some Northerners went to the South to start schools,
build railroads, or work to protect the rights of African
Americans. Some started businesses that provided jobs
for Southerners. However, many white Southerners,
A Closer Look
THE IMPEACHMENT PROCESS
The Constitution tells how a President is removed from office.
There are two parts. lt begins in the House of Representatives,
where the President is accused of a crime.
The President is impeached if most of the
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representatives feel he has broken laws. Then
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the SÞnate puts the President on trial. lf two
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thirds of the senators feel that the President
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broke the law he is removed from office.
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Andrew Johnson was the first President in U.S.
history to be impeached. ln 1998, President Bill
Clinton became the second President to be
impeached. Both Johnson and Clinton were
acquitted, or found not guilty, in the Senate.
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rs a ticket from President
Johnson's impeachment trial.
Gritical Thinking Why do you think the Constitution made it
difflcult to remove ûtr President from office?
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especially former Confederates, disliked the northern
newcomers. The Southerners called the Northerners
who came to the South carpetbaggers. The name.
came from the Northerners' small cloth-covered
suitcases made of carpeting. Many white Southerners
felt carpetbaggers were in the South iust to make money,
Another $oup that many white Southerners
disliked was the scalawags. The word scaløwag
means "liaf' or "troublemaker." Scalawags were
white Southerners who supported Reconstruction
governments. Many of them were business people
or small farmers. Former Confederates blamed the
scalawags for allowing Northerners and African
Americans to hold political office.
'=¡'''tìltrhy did many white Southerners dislike people
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they called carpetbaggers and scalawags? '
Section 2 Review
L. According to the Reconstruction Acts, who
would control state governments in the South?
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2.Why didJohnson not like the Reconstruction
Acts?
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3. CriticalThinking How did the impeachment of
President Johnson affect his popularity?
4. Write About Citizenship Explain in writing why
most African Americans supported the Republican
paúy during Reconstruction.
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Chapter 11 . Rebuilding a Divided Nation
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. 1865-1877 205