Download Reconstruction

Name __________________________
Page 38
Instructions: Read the following article. Underline/highlight/etc. the main idea of each paragraph. 75% of
the time it is the first sentence, 20% of the time it is the last sentence, and 5% of the time it is elsewhere.
A Shattered Fairy Tale: The South after the Civil War
1
What happens when a fairy tale has an unhappy ending?
For some people, the antebellum or pre-Civil War South was an
American fairy tale. There were handsome princes, ladies fair,
and a noble code of honor. The pace of life was serene and
genteel. But in this fairy tale, no one was destined to live
happily ever after.
2
Even before the Civil War, the South was not quite the
place of enchantment it might have seemed. The agricultural
economy relied heavily on slave labor. Thousands of black
slaves were forced to work on the large plantations. They
certainly did not lead storybook lives. Neither, for that matter,
did poor whites. The fabled Southern culture may have been
real only to the wealthy upper class.
3
In any case, nothing was the same for anyone after the war. By the time of Lee's surrender
at Appomattox, the South lay in ruin. Cities, farms, and homes were burned and ravaged by
cannon fire. Railroads and bridges were destroyed. Business and industry were nearly wiped
out. Almost 300,000 men were dead.
4
In the midst of this shattered fairy tale, daily life followed a rocky path. Everything from food
to fuel was in short supply, if it could be found at all. Families dug in burned and shell-studded
fields for root crops or any kind of edible vegetation. Tents or ruined houses were shelter for
many. Disease added to the huge death toll.
5
The Deep South lay in desolation. The rubble was a monument to General William T.
Sherman's determined destruction of anything that could be used by the Confederacy.
Rebuilding was a much lower priority than survival.
6
In the border states of Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri, prowling bands from both armies
plundered homes and towns in "foraging" raids. Raiders took food, livestock, or whatever they
could carry off. It took time for the official cease-fire to filter down to these guerilla-like groups. In
some areas, these raids occurred regularly for weeks on end, even after the war was over.
Raids were a big problem for these areas along the Western part of the Confederacy.
7
Shortly after the cease-fire, Northern relief agencies came with food and other basic
supplies for displaced slaves and poor whites. One way or another, most people made it
through until the fields began to produce enough food to stave off starvation. The immediate
crisis passed because of time and outside help.
8
The federal government launched its rebuilding plans. Military governments and newly
forming state agencies began to bring some order to the chaos. Life assumed a pattern that was
not quite so desperate. But even for people not used to luxury, the war brought an existence
totally different from what they had known.
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 1: DEFINING RECONSTRUCTION
a quick review:
How did the Civil War change the United States? In other words, how was the United States
different after the Civil War?
Reconstruction
Define Reconstruction (include the years that it took place):
Below are four questions that define the challenges in Reconstruction. There are no easy answers, but
what would you suggest for each? Remember, while you don’t want to let the South go unpunished, but
you can’t punish Southerners too much or they will resist federal authority.
challenge
1. Who should lead
Reconstruction
(i.e. President?
Congress?
Other?)? Why?
2. What do exConfederate states
have to do before
they can rejoin the
Union?
3. To what extent do
you punish exConfederates?
4. What do you do
regarding the
freedmen (newly
freed African
Americans) in the
South?
What would you do?
Name __________________________
Page 39
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 2: THE PRESIDENTS’ PLANS GO EASY ON THE SOUTH
political climate at the end of the war:

Lincoln, a ________________________ Republican, would soon be ____________

Andrew Johnson, a ____________________ Democrat, would become
__________________________

Influential minority of __________________________ Republicans in Congress who want
to ______________________ the South
Follow these steps to explore Abraham Lincoln’s and Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction plans:
 Read over the questions below and the charts on the back.
 Skim “Lincoln Sets a Moderate Course” on pages 271-3 in the textbook and “Johnson’s
Reconstruction Plan” on pages 273-274 in the textbook. Pick one paragraph in both sections to add
an additional note in the chart. Consider a main idea sentence for the additional note.
 Answer the questions below.
Reconstruction Phase One: The Presidents’ Reconstruction Plans
1. Why was Lincoln’s plan called the Ten Percent plan?
2. How was Abraham Lincoln’s plan easy on the South?
3. How was Andrew Johnson’s plan easy on the South?
4. Whose plan was easier on the South? Why?
5. Johnson’s plan will begin a week after the war ends. What do you expect the results of his
plan to be on rebuilding the South? In other words, what do you expect to see in the South
after Presidential Reconstruction is enacted?
Whose
plan?
Name of
the plan
Who this
plan put in
charge of
Reconstruction
Goals
(motives
and
beliefs)
what
Confederate states
needed to
do to
rejoin the
Union
treatment
of exConfederates
provisions
for the
African
American
question
who
opposed
this plan
and
why/how
they
opposed
it
additional
note
PLAN #1
PLAN #2
Abraham Lincoln
Andrew Johnson
Ten Percent Plan
Presidential Reconstruction
the President
the President
secession is unconstitutional, so South
never really left; wanted to bring the
South back into the Union as quickly and
easily as possible
supported states’ rights; wanted to bring
the South back into the Union as quickly
and easily as possible; sought return of
“government for white men”
ten percent of prewar voters in the state
had to take a loyalty oath to the Union;
state had to ratify 13th Amendment and
provide education for African-Americans
state had to ratify 13th Amendment
pardoned all except for high-ranking
Confederates
pardoned all ex-Confederates; highranking ex-Confederates had to write to
him personally asking for pardon
no slavery; guaranteed education; no
guaranteed equality
Freedmen’s Bureau (passed by Congress):
 helped poor whites and blacks in the
South
 provided food, clothing, healthcare,
and education
 reunited separated families
 represented blacks in court
no slavery
Radical Republicans opposed this as too
easy on the South; proposed Wade-Davis
Bill, designed to punish the South,
instead.
Wade-Davis Bill:
 majority of states’ prewar voters
swear loyalty to the Union before
state can reenter Union
 guaranteed African American equality
 Lincoln’s “pocket veto” killed this bill
before it became a law
Radical Republicans opposed this as
allowing South to return to almost exactly
how it was before the Civil War
Name ________________________________
Page 40
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 3: EFFECTS OF PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Johnson’s Reconstruction plan is ____________________ on the South
which
causes
ex-Confederates working to bring back the ways of the ____________________.
1. former
2.

_________ passed by Southern states and cities denying many
rights of citizenship to _____________________ after the Civil War

some free blacks returned to the conditions of ___________________ through these
3. _________________________________: landowners give land and supplies on credit to be
repaid with a portion of the crop grown; see below for usual results
________________________________: when farmers pay rent for land; a step up from
sharecropping
Use the Venn diagram below to compare and contrast sharecropping and slavery. Make sure you have
at least one thing in each part and five overall. Use the article below and the chart on the front if you
were absent when we did the simulation. Things unique to either go in the outer portions of the circle,
while similarities go where the circles intersect.
SLAVERY
SHARECROPPING
Would you rather be a sharecropper after the Civil War or a slave before the Civil War?
Explain.
To read if you are out for this page:
What the freed men and women wanted above all else was land on which they could support their own families,
though this did not happen. During and immediately after the war, many former slaves established subsistence farms on
land that had been abandoned to the Union army. But President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat and a former slaveowner,
restored this land to its former owners. The failure to redistribute land reduced many former slaves to economic dependency
on the South's old planter class and new landowners.
During Reconstruction, former slaves--and many small white farmers--became trapped in a new system of
economic exploitation known as sharecropping. Lacking capital and land of their own, former slaves were forced to work for
large landowners. Initially, planters, with the support of the Freedmen's Bureau, sought to restore gang labor under the
supervision of white overseers. But the freedmen, who wanted autonomy and independence, refused to sign contracts that
required gang labor. Ultimately, sharecropping emerged as a sort of compromise.
Sharecropping was not the economic opportunity that the freed men and women wanted. Instead of cultivating
land in gangs supervised by overseers, landowners divided plantations into 20- to 50 acre plots suitable for farming by a
single family. In exchange for land, a cabin, and supplies, sharecroppers agreed to raise a cash crop (usually cotton) and to
give half the crop to their landlord. The high interest rates landlords and sharecroppers charged for goods bought on credit
(sometimes as high as 70 percent a year) transformed sharecropping into a system of economic dependency and poverty.
The freedmen found that "freedom could make folks proud but it didn't make 'em rich."
Nevertheless, the sharecropping system did allow freedmen a degree of freedom and autonomy far greater than
that experienced under slavery. As a symbol of their newly won independence, freedmen had teams of mules drag their
former slave cabins away from the slave quarters into their own fields. Wives and daughters sharply reduced their labor in
the fields and instead devoted more time to childcare and housework. For the first time, black families could divide their time
between fieldwork and housework in accordance with their own family priorities.
Name __________________________
Page 41
10% Plan and Presidential Reconstruction Crossword
Across
2. type of Republicans that wanted to punish the South
3. type of farming that left farmers in a cycle of poverty with much debt
5. amendment that ended slavery
6. president whose Reconstruction plan allowed the South to return to its old ways
7. if a sharecropper was lucky, he might pay off debts and become this
8. city and state laws that limited the rights of blacks in the South
9. Radical Republicans' bill to punish the South that never passed
Down
1. name of Johnson's Reconstruction plan
4. rebuilding the South 1865-1877
5. percentage of citizens that had to pledge allegiance to Union according to Lincoln
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 4: CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
What could be done to stop President Johnson from returning the South to the way it was
before the Civil War?
Name of Congress’ plan for Reconstruction:
components of plan
1.
Description
federal agency set up to help former
slaves after the Civil War
2.
first U.S. civil rights law; declared
everyone born in the United States a
citizen with full civil rights
3.
Constitutional Amendment giving full rights of
citizenship to all people born or naturalized in
the US except for American Indians
4.
5.
6.
laws that divided the former
Confederacy into military zones and
required them to draft new
constitutions upholding the 14th
Amendment
Congress charged the president with violating the Tenure
of Office Act (this said he couldn’t
fire a Cabinet member without
Senate approval); one vote short of
removing him from office
Constitutional amendment that gave
African American men the right to vote
How does Radical Reconstruction try to force change on the South?
How much do you expect this to change the South by the end of Reconstruction in 1877?
Name _________________________
Page 42
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 5: EFFECTS OF CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
Aspects of the antebellum South
ECONOMY
POLITICS
SOCIETY
Congressional
Reconstruction
Aspects of the modern South
ECONOMY
POLITICS
SOCIETY
EFFECTS OF CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION:
ECONOMY:

rebuilding the South was
_________________________; paid for with
________________________________________

sharecropping and tenant farming remained

Northern influence added some
___________________________ to diversify the farming
economy
POLITICS:

all states back in the __________ by 1870, but
Reconstruction continued as
_________________________ did not want to lose
control of the South

African Americans are now _______________ and
many blacks won
______________________________

_________________________ (scrawny goat)—
Southerners who joined the
_________________________ party

_________________________—Northern
_________________________ who moved South after the
war

_________________________ repealed
SOCIETY:

African Americans form their own _______________ and
____________________________ to provide financial and
emotional ____________________
Name _________________________
Page 43
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 6: POLITICAL CARTOONS
some common elements of political cartoons:
Symbols: Symbols are simple pictures that are commonly understood by people in our society to stand
for ideas or groups. For example, a donkey is the symbol for the Democratic Party. Uncle Sam or an
eagle symbolizes America and a dove symbolizes peace.
Caricatures: Caricatures are drawings of people that exaggerate certain features to make the cartoon
picture of the famous person quickly and easily recognizable. Caricatures also serve sometimes to poke
fun at the person they picture.
Stereotypes: Stereotypes are styles of picturing a person or a group of people that call to the reader’s
mind commonly held ideas or prejudices about the type of person pictured. Stereotypes often found in
editorial cartoons include the lazy, rich Congressman; the old fashioned, bespectacled teacher; the
sneaky, fast-talking lawyer; the rumpled, disorganized scientist and many others.
Analogies: Analogies are comparisons. In simplest terms, they tell us that this thing is like that other
thing, at least in one respect. They often use symbols and compare a current situation to a well-know
historic event, story, book, movie, fairy tale or nursery rhyme.
Reconstruction Cartoon #1:
Reconstruction Cartoon #2:
What objects or people do you see in the
cartoon?
What objects or people do you see in the
cartoon?
What action is taking place?
What action is taking place?
What is written in the political cartoon?
What is written in the political cartoon?
What is the event or issue that inspired the
cartoon?
What is the event or issue that inspired the
cartoon?
Which of the terms above (symbols,
caricatures, stereotypes, analogies) are
used in the cartoon?
Which of the terms above (symbols,
caricatures, stereotypes, analogies) are
used in the cartoon?
Does the cartoon present the event or issue
shown as a good thing or a bad thing?
What is the message of the cartoon?
Does the cartoon present the event or issue
shown as a good thing or a bad thing?
What is the message of the cartoon?
How can we learn from the good and bad of Reconstruction
to succeed at current reconstruction efforts?
PART 7: RECONSTRUCTION ENDS / CHANGES THE U.S.
WHY RECONSTRUCTION ENDED:
1. increased _________________________ from groups such as the
____________________ keep blacks from ____________________
and ____________________
2. Northerners get __________ of “Negro” question and problems of
______________________________ governments in the South.
Instead, the North turns attention to _______________ of 1873 and
_________________________ in President Grant’s administration, such
as the ___________________________________ scandal.
3. Election of 1876 leads to
________________________________________ (military
pulled out) that officially __________ Reconstruction
HOW RECONSTRUCTION CHANGED THE U.S.:

___________________ laws makes
______________________________ an official part of the South

__________________________ = South that is solidly
_________________________

Some new ________________________ for African Americans
(i.e. new ____________________________)
Was Reconstruction successful? Why or why not?
Reconstruction: Letter to Obama Project
On a separate sheet of paper, write a letter to Barack Obama about what lessons he might learn
about how to reconstruct Afghanistan based on what we have learned about the Reconstruction
(1865-1877) of the American South.
Include 2 pieces of advice. Explain your advice based on the lesson learned in Reconstruction
in the American South. Point out a problem with Reconstruction and then suggest how the U.S.
may avoid the same mistake in Afghanistan. Or, point out a success of Reconstruction and
then suggest how the U.S. might achieve the same success. The rubric is on the back.
You may chose to begin:
Dear Mr. President,
I have recently been studying the era of Reconstruction in American History. Based on what
happened then, I have some advise on how to handle the reconstruction of Iraq today…
Below are some similarities between Reconstruction and the current reconstruction in Afghanistan.
criteria:
Reconstruction of the South after the Civil
War:
length of time
Northerners got impatient when it lasted
from 1865-1877
who is in
charge
Lincoln, then Johnson (both Presidents),
then Congress
major goals of
reconstruction
rebuild infrastructure (see Freedmen’s
Bureau) and rebuild government (see
carpetbag governments)
enforcement
of
reconstruction
winning side (Union) enforces (see
Military Reconstruction); continues to
meet resistance
the new
governments
claims of corruption common (see
carpetbag governments)
resistance
terrorist groups resist (see KKK); many
those in control before the war
reconstruction of
Afghanistan today:
Americans increasingly get
impatient since it began in
2001
President Bush was and
now President Obama is at
the forefront in creating the
reconstruction strategy
goals to rebuild the
infrastructure (buildings and
roads) that was destroyed in
war and create a
government that will be
peaceful and not support
violence against others (has
proven slow and difficult)
military of the winning side
(U.S.) enforces and
continues to meet
resistence
claims of corruption are
common in the new
government as it struggles
to establish itself
many terrorist groups such
as Al-Qaeda resist; many of
these groups are the ones
who were in control before
the war
criteria
first good/bad
about
Reconstruction
second
good/bad
about
Reconstruction
first piece of
advice for
current
Reconstruction
0 points if:
does not
clearly explain
an aspect of
Reconstruction
and why it was
good or bad
same as above
1 point if:
somewhat
clearly explains
an aspect of
Reconstruction
and why it was
good or bad
same as above
2 points if:
mostly clearly
explains an
aspect of
Reconstruction
and why it was
good or bad
same as above
3 points if:
clearly
explains an
aspect of
Reconstruction
and why it was
good or bad
same as above
gives unclear
advice on how
to repeat good
aspect or avoid
bad aspect of
Reconstruction
or no advice at
all
same as above
gives
somewhat
clear advice on
how to repeat
good aspect or
avoid bad
aspect of
Reconstruction
same as above
gives mostly
clear advice on
how to repeat
good aspect or
avoid bad
aspect of
Reconstruction
gives clear
advice on how
to repeat good
aspect or avoid
bad aspect of
Reconstruction
same as above
same as above
letter has one
of these:
 proper
grammar
 correct
spelling
 been turned
in on time
letter has two
of these:
 proper
grammar
 correct
spelling
 been turned
in on time
letter has:
 proper
grammar
 correct
spelling
 been turned
in on time
second piece
of advice for
current
Reconstruction
grammar,
letter has none
spelling, and
of these:
on time
 proper
grammar
 correct
spelling
 been turned
in on time