Download Reconstruction - Windsor C

Reconstruction
Reconstruction Begins
• Recap of Civil War:
• Fought over many issues – states rights vs.
federal government, and SLAVERY.
• Argument over slavery went on for
generations – boiled over and actual fighting
went on from 1861-1865.
Reconstruction Begins
• Northern states wanted to abolish slavery,
southern states did not – their economy based
on agriculture – needed cheap labor.
• The Union (North) won in 1865 – the
Confederacy (South) defeated.
• Question – what now? How to we repair the
country? – This time is called Reconstruction.
Reconstruction Begins
• Civil War aftermath – the south was in ruins.
• Over 550,000 deaths from the war – 1/3 of all
southern men were either killed or wounded.
• 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution
passed – abolished slavery, made freed slaves
citizens, allowed them to vote.
• Special hardships for 3 groups – black southerners,
plantation owners, and poor white southerners.
Reconstruction Begins
• Black southerners
–1. 4 million freed slaves looking for
jobs, shelter and food
–2. Not much opportunity with
damaged southern economy
–3. Some stayed to work on
plantations – others went to cities
for work
Reconstruction Begins
• Plantation owners
–1. Lost slave labor worth about $3
billion
–2. Confederate money was
worthless and could not afford to
hire help
–3. Many sold property to cover
debts
Reconstruction Begins
• Poor white southerners
–1. Tough finding jobs especially
with freed slave competition
–2. Many migrated to frontier lands
in Mississippi and Texas for better
opportunity
Reconstruction Begins
• White leaders in southern state governments
restricted African-American freedoms with a
bunch of laws
• These new laws were commonly called the
“Black Codes”
• The Black Codes essentially virtual slavery
with certain restrictions placed on freed slaves
Reconstruction Begins
• Black Codes
–Could not gather after sunset
–If convicted of vagrancy were fined,
whipped, or forced to do manual labor
–If labor contract broken, then all wages
were lost
–Could not rent homes in rural areas
Reconstruction Begins
• To assist freed slaves in the south, Congress
established the Freedman’s Bureau.
• Delivered food, health care, and clothing to many
freed people – created schools – helped reunite
families broken up by slave trade.
• Churches also became the most visible black
organizations – center for help, meetings, and
worship.
Reconstruction Continues
• Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 – and this put a
wrinkle into the Reconstruction plans.
• Lincoln had planned on using forgiveness towards
the South.
• He was going to offer pardons to any Confederate if
they swore an oath to the U.S. – and welcomed
states back to the union if they agreed to the 13th
Amendment – abolishing slavery.
Reconstruction Continues
• However, Lincoln who was a Republican was
criticized by “Radical Republicans” from his own
party – they thought it was a threat to
Congressional power.
• The radicals wanted to punish the South – called the
traitors.
• And force southerners to accept that newly freed
slaves were equal citizens.
Reconstruction Continues
• After Lincoln was killed, his Vice President Andrew
Johnson – democrat from Tennessee – took over as
President.
• Johnson agreed with Lincoln’s plan of forgiveness –
wanted the South to accept 13th Amendment – but
no punishment.
• To make laws, President and Congress must work
together – Johnson and Radical Republican Congress
clashed.
Reconstruction Continues
• In 1868, Congress attempted to remove Johnson
from the Presidency – tried impeaching him.
• Johnson was impeached by the House of
Representatives for violating the Tenure of Office
Act - but not convicted by the Senate.
• Therefore, he remained as President but lost his
influence, and Radical Republicans took over
Reconstruction.
Reconstruction Continues
• In the next election Union war hero, and Republican
Ulysses S. Grant won and became 18th President.
• He was more willing to work with Radical
Republicans in Congress.
• Reconstruction Act of 1867 - The military
immediately took control of the South – divided up
into five districts – each with a general in charge.
Reconstruction Continues
• The union military forced the southern states to accept
the 14th Amendment – which made all newly freed slaves
citizens and gave them equal protection under the law.
• And the 15th Amendment – which granted all newly freed
slaves the right to vote (13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
ensured rights of African-Americans.)
• During the next election in 1870 thousands of black
men voted for first time - many African-Americans won
political office in southern states – the Republican Party
gained strength in the South.
Reconstruction Continues
• However, even though the 14th Amendment was
designed to grant citizenship and all the rights that come
along with it to newly freed slaves…
• The U.S. Supreme Court made rulings in the 1870s that
restricted and limited the scope of the 14th Amendment
to them.
• SCOTUS said there was a difference between “federal
citizenship” and “state citizenship” thus giving southern
states the power to suppress rights to blacks.
Reconstruction Continues
• Some in the South resisted the changes and tried fighting
back.
• Six former Confederate soldiers in Tennessee created the
Ku Klux Klan.
• The KKK used white hoods and robes to pretend to be
the ghosts of Confederate soldiers seeking revenge after
death.
• Goal was to scare African-Americans from exercising
their new rights to vote and keep them oppressed.
Reconstruction Ends
• Some northerners tried to take advantage of
the vulnerable and weak south.
• Carpetbaggers – northerners who went to the
south looking to make money.
• Questions arose in the south with how to
make money through agriculture – because
that is what they had – hardly any
industrialization.
Reconstruction Ends
• Planters had land but no workers, and workers had labor but
no land.
• Southern Homestead Act of 1866 tried to help farmers by
offering low cost land.
• Situation led to a new pattern of farming in the south called
“sharecropping”.
• A family would work the land in return for a home and a
portion of the profit from the harvest.
Reconstruction Ends
• Some sharecroppers were corrupt and would
not pay fair share – fining workers if they
missed a day – or lying about land expenses.
• This kept many families in debt to the planter
and trapped on the plantation.
• Some sharecropping families who had success
moved up to tenant farming.
Reconstruction Ends
• Rented the land and worked for themselves –
decided what crops to grow.
• Freed African-Americans were attracted to
sharecropping.
• For many it was the only thing they knew, and
they could not do anything else.
Reconstruction Ends
• Sharecropping and tenant farming changed
the south’s economy.
• Farmers wanted to make money – and cotton
and tobacco were the “cash crops”.
• With everyone growing cotton and tobacco to
make money – less food crops were being
harvested.
Reconstruction Ends
• Another economic concern in the South was
the rebuilding the destroyed infrastructure.
• Infrastructure is the public property and
services that society uses – roads, telegraph
lines, and bridges.
• Southerners were amazed at northern cities
and how industrialized they had become.
Reconstruction Ends
• Railroads were repaired and extended in the
south and cities increased populations – used
tax money to rebuild infrastructure.
• Atlanta was on the rise and quickly becoming
a major southern city.
• Even though south made some strides in
industry – they still never flourished like the
north.
Reconstruction Ends
• President Grant responded to the KKK with the Enforcement
Act of 1870
• The Act banned the practices of the KKK and within a year the
KKK was virtually wiped out by Federal Govt
• Violators were fined $500 and sentenced to a month in jail.
• But by the time Grant was reelected in 1872, people grew
tired of Reconstruction (heavy taxes) and corruption was
exposed in Grant’s administration.
Reconstruction Ends
• With the attention off of the South and on Grant and
corruption, reconstruction moved out of focus.
• Grant was giving top level jobs to friends and acquaintances.
• White southern democrats began regaining power – lowered
taxes to help improve economic conditions in the south.
• White leaders began winning elections again – criticized
Republicans for raising taxes – intimidated blacks when they
tried voting.
Reconstruction Ends
• Reconstruction officially ended after the 1876
election when there was a dispute over who
won a close result.
• A compromise was made between
Republicans and Democrats.
• Republican Rutherford B. Hayes named the
winner – and he removes military troops out
of the South.
Reconstruction Ends
• Success of Reconstruction
–Union restored
–14th and 15th Amendments protect
rights of African-Americans
–Repaired the war torn south - south
economy grows and wealth continues
in North
Reconstruction Ends
• Failures of Reconstruction
– White southerners bitter towards Federal
Government
– Black and white southerners caught in poverty
cycles
– Racist attitudes towards African-Americans
continue in North and South
- Movement by women to earn the right to vote
during Reconstruction but they failed.