Download Reconstruction Notes

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RECONSTRUCTION
What is Reconstruction?
The time period after the Civil War when the Southern states were readmitted to the US
and the country was rebuilt.
Main Ideas of Plans for Reconstruction
Lincoln’s Plan
10% of the voters of a
state had to take an oath
of loyalty.
Then the state could form
a new government and ban
slavery.
Offered a pardon to all
white Southerners who
were willing to swear
loyalty to the Union, except
Confederate leaders.
Radical Republicans’ Plan
The majority of the state’s
white males had to swear
loyalty.
Only white males who swore
they had not fought against
the Union could vote for
delegates to a state
constitutional convention.
Any new state constitution
had to ban slavery.
What did the Reconstruction Acts do?
Johnson’s Plan
Grant amnesty (pardon) to most
Southerners once they swore
loyalty to the Union.
High-ranking Confederates could
be pardoned by appealing to the
president.
Only loyal, pardoned whites could
vote for delegates to the state
constitutional conventions.
State had to denounce secession
and ban slavery. (Ratify the 13 th
Amendment.)
Called for the creation of new governments in
10 Southern states that had not ratified the
Fourteenth Amendment.
Divided the South into 5 military districts, ach
run by the military until the new governments
were formed.
Guaranteed African American men the right to
vote in state elections and banned former
Confederate leaders from holding political
office.
States had to ratify the 14th amendment to
rejoin the Union.
Military commanders were required to register voters and prepare for state constitutional
conventions.
Directions: Describe the 3 Amendments associated with Reconstruction and rights for
African Americans.
13th Amendment: Banned slavery in the US
14th Amendment: Granted full citizenship to all people born in the US.
Everyone is
entitled to equal protection of the law.
15th Amendment:
Allowed all male citizens to vote, including African Americans
Directions: During the early years of Reconstruction, Congress tried to help the former
slaves, while many Southern states tried to restrict their rights. In the space below,
explain how each either helped or hurt the newly freed slaves. Use complete sentences!
Freedmen’s Bureau
Black Codes
The Freedmen’s Bureau helped African
Americans adjust to freedom. It provided
food, clothing and medical services. It helped
freed people get land or find work for fair
wages. It also set up schools and created
universities for African Americans.
Black codes were laws that controlled freed
men and women. The black codes kept
African Americans in a situation that was
basically slavery. It allowed plantation owners
to exploit workers and allowed officials to
arrest and fine jobless African Americans.
They banned African Americans from owning
or renting farms.
African American Rights And Restrictions
Directions: During Reconstruction, African Americans made some gains but also faced much
discrimination, opposition and restrictions on their rights. In the graphic organizer below, describe
the things that helped African Americans and those that limited their freedoms.
Base this on your new knowledge of Reconstruction and pages 528 – 531 and pages 539 – 540.
The Good
1. Freedmen’s Bureau is set up, which helps them.
2. More African Americans in government: Hiram Revels became one of the first African American
Senators. Blanch Bruce became a Senator from Mississippi.
3. Education improved for African Americans, both for children and improving universities.
4. Many African-American men began voting with the 15th Amendment. They gained citizenship with
the 14th Amendment.
5. Some northerners moved south to help.
The Bad
1. Some scalawags (Southerners) and carpetbaggers (Northerners who moved South) too advantage of
the situation, making money illegally.
2. African Americans went to different schools, which were not equal to white schools.
3. Secret societies like the Ku Klux Klan used fear and violence to deny rights to freed men and
women. They burned homes, churches and schools. Sometimes they killed.
4. Most African Americans couldn’t afford land, so they rented a plot of land, along with a shack, some
seeds and tools and perhaps a mule. This was known as sharecropping. It often left sharecroppers in a
cycle of debt, because there was often little left to sell when they paid back the landowners.
5. Southern states put voting restrictions, like poll taxes and literacy tests in place to keep African
Americans from voting. They had to pay a tax and take a reading test in order to vote. Grandfather
clauses allowed poor, uneducated whites to vote, however.
6. Jim Crow law enforced segregation, or the separation of races. They were separated in restaurants,
bathrooms, water fountains and theaters. The Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson said that
segregation was legal as long as facilities were equal. They rarely were, however.
Now double-check your answers. Have you used the following key vocabulary?
Sharecropping, Poll Tax, Literacy Test, Grandfather Clause, Segregation, Jim Crow Laws, Plessy v.
Ferguson, Ku Klux Klan
If not, go back and fill them in where appropriate.
What are one difference and one similarity between scalawags and carpetbaggers?
Similarity: Both trying to help the south (or take advantage of the situation)
Difference: Scalawags are Southerners, Carpetbaggers are Northerners
What happened in 1877 that made Reconstruction a failure?
The remaining military were withdrawn from the South, and Southern states were free to
do what they wanted. This led to many of the rights of African Americans being severely
restricted.