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Reconstruction Stations • 5 stations – located around the room • Work individually or with a partner to complete the questions for each station Consider the question throughout all of your stations: Did the lives of African Americans improve during Reconstruction? Why or why not? Constitutional Amendments Passed During Reconstruction • 13th Amendment (1865) (FREE) – Abolished slavery across the whole United States • 14th Amendment (1868) (CITIZENS) – Established citizenship for all people born or naturalized in the United States – Provided equal protection & due process for all citizens. • 15th Amendment (1870) (VOTE) – Prohibited states from denying citizens the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude Station 1 - Sharecropping • More than anything else, slaves wanted land to support their families with. • During Sherman’s March through the South, General Sherman promised conquered territory in the south would be divided up – each former slave would receive 40 acres a mule to help plow their land – never happened. – Property ownership seen as a cornerstone in American society – large landholdings by former plantation owners were never split up. • Many former slaves became sharecroppers. • Benefit – received pay for their crops (although very little) Station 2 – Freedmen’s Bureau • Purpose – help Southern blacks transition from slavery to freedom by providing services to them. – Built/operated schools – Settled disputes & established contracts between white landowners and black laborers – Defended blacks in courts • Andrew Johnson was opposed to Bureau because he saw the enforcement of black rights as a state issue, not the responsibility of the federal government. • Bureau faced violent opposition in the south – especially from KKK. Prevented many blacks from voting or trying to move up in society. • Bureau succeeded in education – established universities that are still around today (Howard & Hampton universities). • The Bureau ceased operations by 1872 because of little political or financial support. Station 3 – Black Codes • Laws enacted in the South to restrict freedoms of former slaves and limit their opportunities – Enforced by the KKK • President Johnson was not opposed to these laws because he favored the states enforcing the rights of newly freed slaves, not the federal government. • Examples: – Blacks traveling into town must have a permit to travel into town from the country – Some towns outlawed blacks from owning/renting homes – Requiring blacks to have written evidence of employment or face fines – Blacks must pay annual tax to hold a job other than sharecropping – Prohibited public meetings of blacks after sunset • Despite these, blacks managed some political successes – some African Americans were elected to state governments & Mississippi elected the first black Senator (Hiram Revels) in 1870 Station 4 – Rise of KKK During Reconstruction • In defiance of Republican-led federal government during Reconstruction, Southern Democrats formed organizations that intimidated blacks and Republicans in the south. • Ku Klux Klan formed in Tennessee originally as social club for former Confederate soldiers, led by Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest • Goal of the KKK was to keep southern society dominated by whites – prevent blacks from exercising new rights & freedoms • Klan evolved into violent organization – used terror to intimidate blacks and Republicans from voting or running for office in the South. • To stop this, federal government passed the Enforcement Acts in 1870, which made it a crime to interfere with political rights of blacks, BUT very few violators prosecuted under this law Thomas Nast. "The Union as it was / The Lost Cause, worse than slavery.“ 1874 Station 5 – 1876 Election & Compromise of 1877 • In 1876 election, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden run for president – neither a particularly good candidate. – Tilden won the most votes, but did not win a majority in the Electoral College. • Republicans (primarily in the North) accused Democrats (primarily in the South) of voter fraud & intimidation of black voters in the South. • To resolve the dispute, an electoral commission decided the election & gave contested votes & the election to the Republican Hayes. – Democrats furious – another Civil War? • Compromise of 1877 – Democrats accepted Hayes as the President in exchange for: – Withdrawal of federal troops from the South – Provide federal funds provided for internal improvements in the South – Name a Southerner to his Presidential cabinet • This compromise effectively ended the period of Reconstruction and allowed the South to return to policies of racial segregation. • With no federal enforcement, southern states continued policies of racial segregation & discrimination for almost 100 more years: – Poll tax – voters forced to pay tax to cast ballot, often prevented poor from voting – Literacy tests – voters required to pass reading test to cast ballot – Grandfather clause – exempted voters from poll tax or literacy test if their grandfather had voted – allowed poor whites to vote Reconstruction Reflective Response Did the lives of African Americans improve during Reconstruction? Why or why not? In your response, use at least 3 examples of historical evidence from the Reconstruction stations.