Download Reconstruction - Northern Local School District

Reconstruction
Starter

Jim Crow laws, which were passed in
Southern states following
Reconstruction, were intended to
– A. support the goals of the 13th, 14th, and
15th Amendments
– B. encourage African Americans to buy
their own farms
– C. provide basic education to former slaves
– D. institute racial segregation
BIG IDEA

At the end of the Civil War,
Reconstruction helped shape the United
States for years to come.
I Can Statements...

1. Explain how President Lincoln’s
assassination furthered the struggle
over control of Reconstruction.

2. Explain how President Johnson’s
impeachment impacted Reconstruction.

3. Explain the major policies that came
out of Reconstruction including, the
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

4. Explain the impact of the Ku Klux
Klan (KKK) and the creation of the black
codes during and after Reconstruction.
Definition

Rebuilding the nation after war (Civil
War)
Lincoln’s Plan

Offered pardons to Southerners who
took an oath of loyalty and abolished
slavery

Denied pardons to Confederate military
and government officials who killed
African American war prisoners
Continued

Could hold a constitutional convention
when 10% of the state had taken the
oath
– to create a state constitution

After all of this the state could hold
elections and join the Union again
Radical Republicans



Republicans in Congress opposed
Lincoln’s plan
Wanted to prevent Confederate leaders
from returning to power after the war
Wanted to guarantee African Americans
the right to vote and equality
Starter

Part of President Lincoln’s plan for
Reconstruction was to offer _____ to
Southerners who would take an oath of
loyalty to the United States.
– A. imprisonment
– B. pardon
– C. debt peonage
– D. exile
Wade-Davis Bill


Summer 1864
Compromise between moderates and
radicals
Bill Continued

Bill
– Majority of while males had to take the oath
– Could hold a convention to create a new state government
– “iron-clad” oath- taken by those at the convention
• never fought against the Union or supported the Confederacy
– State Constitution had to:
• abolish slavery
• reject debts the state had as part of the Confederacy
• No former Confederate officials could hold office in new
government
Veto

Lincoln blocked Wade-Davis Bill with a
pocket veto
– indirectly vetoing a bill by letting a session
of Congress expire without signing the bill
– Didn’t want a harsh peace
– Feared it would alienate whites in the
South
Freedmen’s Bureau

Freedmen: newly freed African
Americans

Bureau established in 1865 by
Congress
– feeding and clothing war refugees in the
South using surplus Army supplies
– helped them find work on plantations
Johnson Takes Office



Democrat from Tennessee
Supported a moderate Reconstruction
policy
His Plan:
– pardon to all with an oath of loyalty and
return of property
– excluded the same people Lincoln
excluded
– Southern states had to ratify the 13th
Amendment
Aftermath


By December 1865 Johnson’s plan was
working
Many Confederate leaders were elected
to Congress
– angered many
Black Codes


Passed by Southern legislatures
Required African Americans to:
– Sign annual labor contracts
– Vagrancy Laws- for those who didn’t follow
codes
• could be whipped, beaten, or forced into
servitude
– Curfews
– Land Restrictions
• could only rent houses or land in rural areas
Radical Reconstruction

Election of Confederates and Black
Codes caused more Republicans to join
radicals

1865 House and Senate leaders
created a Joint Committee on
Reconstruction to make their own plan
Civil Rights Act of 1866

Civil Rights Act of 1866
– granted citizenship to all persons born in the
United States, except Native Americans
– African Americans could own property
– Everyone treated equally in court
– Could sue anyone who violated those rights
– Johnson vetoed it, but radicals were able to
override it
14th Amendment



Granted citizenship to all persons born
or naturalized in the United States and
declared the no state could deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property
“without due process of law”
also, no state could deny any person
“equal protection of the laws”
ratified in 1868



Johnson did not support the 14th
Amendment
In 1868 congressional elections he
hoped Northerners would vote out
Radical Republicans
Republicans won and had enough to
override any presidential veto
Military Reconstruction Act




Passed in 1867
Divided south into 5 military districts
Union general put in charge of each
Each former Confederate state had to
hold another constitutional convention
– had to give the right to vote to ALL male
citizens
– had to ratify the 14th Amend.
Johnson’s Impeachment

Congress passes the Tenure in Office
Act
– Senate must approve removal of official
that had been approved by the Senate


Johnson fired Secretary of War,
supported Radical Republicans
In May the Senate voted
– 1 vote shy of removing him from office
Election of Grant



Johnson does not run for re-election
Ulysses S. Grant wins
Republicans remain in control of
Congress
15th Amendment


The right to vote “shall not be
denied…on account of race, color, or
previous servitude”
Ratified by March 1870
Republican Rule


By 1870 all former Confederate states
had rejoined the union
There were still problems between the
North and South
Carpetbags

Carpetbaggers:
– Name given to Northerners who traveled to
the South during Reconstruction and
supported the Republicans
– arrived with belongings in suitcases made
of carpet
Scalawags

Scalawags:
– Name given to Southerners who supported
Republican Reconstruction of the South
– Old Scots-Irish term for weak, underfed,
worthless animals
African Americans



Many men entered politics
elected to many positions at all levels of
government
14 elected to the House of
Representatives and 2 elected to the
Senate

The Freedman’s Bureau helped
establish schools in the South

By 1876 about 40% of African American
children attended school

Also began building churches that
became the center of communities
Republican Reforms

Instituted the following reforms:
– Repealed the Black Codes
– Created state hospitals and institutions for
orphans
– Rebuilt roads, railways, and bridges
– Funded new construction


Many white Southerners disliked the
reforms
States increased taxes and borrowed
money to pay for reforms
– lead many landowners to lose land
Southern Resistance

Largest Group was the Ku Klux Klan
– started in 1866 by former Confederate
soldiers in Tennessee
– Dressed in hoods and white robes and
terrorized African Americans and their
supporters at night

Congress Responds to the KKK
– Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871
• outlawed the activities of the Klan
• not very successful in stopping the Klan
Reconstruction Ends
President Grant


Left policy-making up to Congress
Radical Republicans became strong,
but left the President weak
– lost public support for Reconstruction
Party Splits

Critics in the Republican Party split to
become Liberal Republicans
– nominated their own candidate for
president
– Grant wins again anyway
Problems




Economy suffers
Panic of 1873 set off depression
Scandals in Grant administration
In 1874 elections the Democrats win
control of House of Representatives
Compromise of 1877


Changes and problems made
continuing Reconstruction difficult
Northerners especially were more
concerned about the economy than the
South
Continued

1876 Election
– Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep.) versus Samuel
Tilden (Dem.)
– Disputed electoral votes

Solved with the Compromise of 1877
– Not sure about what happened
– Promise of Republicans to pull troops out
of the South if Hayes was elected
– a month later troops were removed
A “New South” Arises


Believed they had to develop a strong
industrial economy
Could not have an agricultural economy
dominated by elite

North worked with the South to build:
– railroads
– iron and steel industry
– tobacco processing
– cotton mills

For many the end of Reconstruction
meant a return to the “Old South”
– little political power
– forced to labor under difficult conditions
– African Americans would not get their own
land

Many returned to plantations owned by
whites
– worked for wages
– or become tenant farmers and rented land
– Sharecroppers:
• paid a share of crops to rent the land, and pay
for tools, seed, and supplies
• Local suppliers provided things on credit, but if
they were unable to pay they could be
imprisoned or had to do forced labor
Starter

After the Civil War, many formerly
enslaved African Americans earned a
living by becoming
– A. railroad workers in the West
– B. sharecroppers on Southern farms
– C. workers in Northern factories
– D. gold miners in California
Starter

How did the Democrats regain power in
the South by the 1870s?
– A. by appeals to white racism
– B. by promising to build new railroads and
industry
– C. by blaming Republicans for high taxes
– D. by bringing in more federal troops