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Reconstruction
Terms
• Reconstruction- reorganizing and bringing
the seceded states back into the Union
after the Civil War
• Freedman- a person who has been freed
from slavery
• Amendment- to change or modify a law,
bill, or document
• Ratify- to approve
• Civil rights- rights belonging to all citizens
• Martial law- rule by an army instead of the
usual civil authorities
Black Codes
Laws limiting the rights of African
Americans passed during
Reconstruction by the South.
Assigned African Americans to
second-class status.
Juneteenth
• June 19, 1865, Gen. Gordon
Granger issued a proclamation
freeing the slaves in Texas.
June 19th is a state holiday.
Freedmen’s Bureau
• Organization created to provide
food, shelter, education, and
medicine for former slaves.
• Major contribution was the
creation of schools for African
Americans
Sharecropper
• A tenant farmer who receives a
share of the value of the crop,
minus charges for rent and
other expenses.
• After the Civil War, Texas’
economy became a
sharecropping based economy.
Ku Klux Klan
• Secret group who wanted to
restore Democratic control in
the South and to keep former
slaves powerless. They
attacked African Americans and
white Republicans. They rode
on horseback and were dressed
in white robes and hoods and
beat people and burned homes.
th
13
Amendment (1865)
• "Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude...shall exist within the
United States."
• Formally abolished slavery
(Free)
th
14
Amendment (1868)
• All persons born or naturalized
in the United States, and
subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the
United States and of the state
wherein they reside.
• (Citizens)
th
15
Amendment (1870)
• The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by
any State on account of race, color,
or previous condition of servitude.
• was supposed to guarantee the right
to vote to former slaves while
barring discrimination on the basis
of racial origin or skin color at the
same time. (Vote)
Reconstruction
Amendments
• 13th Amendment (Free)
• 14th Amendment (Citizens)
• 15th Amendment (Vote)
TX Constitutions after
the Civil War
• Constitution of 1866- Changed most
of constitution back to the way it
had been before secession, canceled
state debts from war, and ended
slavery in TX. Refused to ratify 13th
amendment and denied civil rights to
African Americans, including the
right to vote. U.S. Congress did not
accept this constitution and refused
to admit TX back into the Union.
TX Constitutions cont.
• Constitution of 1869- Declared
U.S. Constitution the law.
Guaranteed the right of all men
to vote regardless of race,
color, or former condition.
TX Constitutions cont.
• Constitution of 1876- Stripped the governor
and legislature of as much power as
possible. Legislature can meet only every
other year. This constitution limits the
ability of the legislature to make changes
in government services and powers except
by an amendment. It has been amended
467 times as of today. Adopted on
February 15, 1876 and is still the
constitution we use today.
Reconstruction over in
Texas
• Texas was admitted back into
the Union on March 8, 1870,
after TX ratified the 14th and
15th amendments.