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United States History & The Constitution
Unit 5.2: Reconstruction
Ch. 12.1 Notes
The Politics of Reconstruction
Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator
Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how
regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding
of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.
USHC-3.3: Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on the southern states &
on the role of the federal government, including the impact of the thirteenth,
fourteenth, & fifteenth amendments on opportunities for African Americans.
- Lincoln’s 10% Plan:
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Lenient on the South.
- Gov’t pardon all Confederates except high-ranking officials & those
accused of crimes against prisoners of war = swear allegiance to the
Union.
- 10% of states eligible voters had to vote to re-enter the Union.
- form new state government & get representation in Congress.
- Radical Republicans (Goals):
- Destroy power of former slaveholders.
- Give African-Americans right to vote &
citizenship rights.
Wade-Davis Bill:
- Proposed Congress, not the president, be
responsible for Reconstruction.
- Proposed a majority, not 10%, of 1860 eligible
voters, required to establish a state government.
- Lincoln “killed” it with a pocket veto.
Radical Republican Leader
Thaddeus Stevens (R. – PA)
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Pres. Johnson’s Plan (Presidential Reconstruction):
- Aim: to punish ex-confederate leaders (military & landowners):
- Remaining 7 Confederate states had to:
- 1.) Withdrawal secession, 2.) swear allegiance to the Union,
3.) annul Confederate war debts, & 4.) ratify the 13th Amendment.
- Failed (like Lincoln’s) to help ex-slaves: land, voting rights, legal
protection.
- Freedmen’s Bureau Act:
- Assisted ex-slaves & poor whites (clothing & food)
- Set up 40 hospitals, 4,000 schools, 61 ind. institutes, & 74 teachertraining centers.
- Civil Rights Act of 1866:
- African-Americans citizenship.
- Banned discriminatory “black codes”.
- Pres. Johnson vetoed both the Freedmen’s & Civil Rights Acts:
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Radical Republicans override Johnson’s veto.
- Reconstruction Amendments:
- Thirteenth amendment (11.5)
- Formally abolished slavery.
- Fourteenth Amendment
- All persons born/naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.
- Entitled to equal protection of the law.
- Constitutional basis for Civil Rights Act of 1866.
- Fifteenth Amendment
- Extension of suffrage rights to African Americans (males).
- Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Radical Reconstruction):
- 1.) Abolished governments formed in the former Confederate
states, 2.) divided those states into 5 military districts, 3.) set up
requirements for readmission to the Union
Reconstruction Military Districts
Daily “Bell Ringer” Warm Up
2nd Nine Weeks
Bell Ringer #6 (5 & 7 Dec)
6.) Despite the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, & 15th),
why did African Americans experience continued discrimination?
a.) Southern governors declared the amendments null & void.
b.) Southern state legislatures passed a series of Jim Crow Laws..
c.) State governments were now aware these amendments were ratified.
d.) The amendments did not address political rights.
CORRECT ANSWER: B
Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator
Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how
regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding
of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.
USHC-3.4: Summarize the end of Reconstruction, including the role of anti–
African American factions & competing national interests in undermining
support for Reconstruction; the impact of the removal of federal protection
for freedmen; & the impact of Jim Crow laws & voter restrictions on African
American rights in the post-Reconstruction era.
United States History & The Constitution
Unit 5.2: Reconstruction
Ch. 12.2 & 12.3 Notes
Reconstructing Society &
The Collapse of Reconstruction
Political Terms:
- Republicans in the South:
a.) Carpetbaggers – northern Republican missionaries, teachers, or
entrepreneurs whom had moved to the South following the war.
b.) Scalawags – white southerners who did
not participate in the Confederacy whom
supported the Republicans views on
economic growth & public schools.
c.) Freedmen – former slaves.
- Democrats in the South:
a.) Redeemers (redemption): ex- planters/
ex-confederates) who “redeemed” the
South by removing the Republicans &
returning “home rule”.
African Americans in Congress
Sen. Hiram Revels,
First African American Congressman
(Republican – Mississippi)
First black Senator & Representatives:
Sen. Hiram Revels (R-MS), Rep. Benjamin S.
Turner (R-AL), Robert DeLarge (R-SC), Josiah
Walls (R-FL), Jefferson Long (R-GA), Joseph
Rainey and Robert B. Elliott (R-SC)
The Rise of Vigilante Groups
The Goals of the Ku Klux Klan, the Riflemen, & the Red Shirts
- Intimidate Republican carpetbaggers & freedmen = force them away from the
voting polls & southern politics in the hope to go back to the North.
- Forced the closing of freedmen’s
schools through intimidation &
violent tactics.
- Lynching, beatings, & cross-burnings
were not uncommon means used to
achieve the Klan’s objectives.
- Federal government passed the
Ku Klux Klan Act & sent troops to South to
protect the freedmen. (weakly enforced).
Freedmen & Reconstruction
Freedmen in the Post-War South
- Around 2.3 million slaves were freed with the ratification of the 13th
Amendment in Dec 1865 (both displaced & liberated).
- Most freedmen (former slaves) could not read or write; jobs were scarce.
- Thousands left the plantations
to start fresh in places like
Charleston, & look for former
family members.
- Hunger, disease, & lack of
shelter were problems.
- Some chose to remain on the
plantations to work for wages
Freedmen in Post-Civil War
Richmond, VA
Freedmen & Reconstruction
Creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau:
- Set up by federal government in 1865; operated by the US Army.
- Provided food, clothing, & medical supplies to needy blacks.
- Supervised work contracts & helped freedmen find jobs.
- Established schools & military courts, as needed.
Freedmen’s Bureau
The Freedmen’s Bureau Cont.
Failures of the Freedmen’s Bureau:
- Over 2 million freed blacks in the South needed help, but resources were
very limited.
- Working with resentful cash-poor planters proved challenging.
- “Forty Acres & a Mule”
- The Bureau promised
more than it could deliver.
“Freedmen’s Bureau”
Economic Changes in the South
Sharecropping became the dominant job & lifestyle for poor whites &
blacks throughout the South.
- Allowed former planters to reestablish their former
position as master through a new means.
- Poor blacks & whites were economically
dependent on the land owner = cycle of debt.
- Sharecroppers worked the land in exchange for a
share of the crop (landowner supplied land, tools &
seeds).
- Some poor farmers relied on crop liens.
Post-Reconstruction Era
Sharecropping in the South
Exodusters Leaving the South
Election of 1876 & Compromise of 1877
- Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep) v. Samuel Tilden (Dem)
- Compromise of 1877: Deal is struck over 20 contested electoral votes.
- Democrats cede the election to Hayes, in exchange…
…the last federal troops pulled out of the
southern states in 1877 & the era of
Reconstruction ended (1865-1877)
- Power is returned to the Southern
Democrats (redeemers).
Successes & Failures of Reconstruction
Successes
- Blacks were allowed to play a role
in government politics through the
end of Reconstruction.
- Public schools established by the
Freedmen’s Bureau were open to
all.
- Thousands of free blacks learned
to read & write.
Failures
- Race relations did not improve.
(increased) black/white tensions.
- The Ku Klux Klan grew.
- Race riots took place across the
South.
- Government corruption increased
during the period.
- “Redeemers” (Ex-Confederate
Democrats) regained control)
Beginnings of “Jim Crow”
- 1877: Conservative-Democrats take control of the South.
- Moved to disfranchise (take away) the black vote.
- Eight Box Law (1881): had to put your vote in the right ballot box.
- Poll Taxes: had to pay a tax to vote.
- Literacy Tests: had to read part of the SC Constitution out-loud.
Poll Tax Receipt
“Jim Crow” Cont.
- These tactics were designed to stop poor & illiterate blacks & whites from
voting.
- 1876 = 90,000 people in SC voted Republican.
- 1888 = less than 14,000 voted Republican.
- Some states made you own land in order to vote
(kept away the poor).
“Jim Crow” Cont.
- Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather could vote before the Civil War,
then you could.
- Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court case which established
the principle of “separate but equal” facilities for blacks & whites
(rarely equal).
- All of these actions led to de jure segregation.