Download Major Questions After the Civil War

Radical Reconstruction
Focus Activity
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The Civil War, 1861-1865
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Reconstruction Era
Photograph of ruins in Richmond, Virginia, taken in 1865
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Major Questions After the Civil War
• How should the South be rebuilt?
• How should the states that
seceded be brought back into the
Union?
• How should former slaves be
incorporated into the country as
freed men and women?
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Reconstructing a Nation
• After 4 years of war
and over 200 years
of slavery, could
Northerners and
Southerners rebuild
the South together?
Photograph of a Union soldier camp taken
between 1861 and 1865
• Could they unify as
citizens of the same
country?
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Punishment for the Confederate States?
• Should people
who fought
against the
United States be
recognized as
citizens? Should
they be
Illustration of the Attack on Fort Sumter from
punished?
1861
• What should be done to the Southern state
governments that fought against the United States?
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African Americans in the South
• How would freed men
and women be treated
in the Southern
states?
• How would
Northerners address
the issue of including
Photograph of an enslaved family in South
former slaves as
Carolina taken in 1862
citizens in society?
• What were some major challenges that former
slaves faced?
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After the War
• South lay in ruins (destroyed)
• Nearly 4 million freedman (freed slaves) needed food,
clothing, & jobs
• President Lincoln planned for Reconstruction, the rebuilding
of the South
Ruins seen from the
Circular Church,
Charleston, S.C., 1865.
111-B-4667.
http://www.archives.go
v/research/civilwar/photos/images/civil
-war-112.jpg
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan
• Reunite Union quickly
• Southern state could form
a new government after 10
% of its voters swore
loyalty to U.S.
• States also had to abolish
slavery
• Many in Congress didn’t
like Lincoln’s plan &
wanted a stricter form of
Reconstruction
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-188.jpg
Acts of Congress
• Freedman’s Bureau was created by
Congress
– It gave food, clothing, & other kinds of help to
the freedman.
• Thirteenth Amendment
– Passed by Congress in January, 1865
– Ended slavery throughout the U.S.
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Glimpses at the Freedmen - The Freedmen's Union Industrial
School, Richmond, Va. / from a sketch by Jas E. Taylor (1866).
• Room of African American women sewing.
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/aaodyssey:@field(NUMBER+@band(cph+3a33775))
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• Lincoln is assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth on
April 14, 1865
• Andrew Johnson became
President
John Wilkes Booth
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-198.jpg
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-202.jpg
Reconstruction Plan of
Andrew Johnson
• In each southern states,
a majority of voters
must swear loyalty to
the U.S.
• Each state must
approve the 13th
Amendment
• Then each state could
rejoin the Union
Andrew Johnson, Vice President & President
http://www.archives.gov/research/civil-war/photos/images/civil-war-187.jpg
Impeachment of Johnson
Tenure of Office Act: Restricted the President
of removing a cabinet member without
Senate approval.
Johnson removed Sec. of War Edwin Stanton.
Johnson was aquitted, (he was not removed
from office).
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Response to Johnson’s Plan
• Southern States met Johnson’s
demands
• Republicans in Congress outraged
because African Americans were not
allowed to vote & former Confederate
Leaders were elected to Congress
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Central Historical Question
Why was the Radical
Republican plan for
Reconstruction considered
“radical”?