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Transcript
Reconstruction and Segregation After the Civil War, Georgia and the rest of the South went through a period of Reconstruction. This involved political and economic changes that were resisted across the South. Also during this time, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed, giving African-Americans more civil rights. Reconstruction in Politics After the Civil War, President Lincoln proposed a Reconstruction of the South. His plan, known as the 10% plan, allowed a Southern state to rejoin the Union once 10% of its voters took a loyalty oath to the Union and promised to support the Emancipation Proclamation. Also during Reconstruction, three amendments were passed. The 13th Amendment, in 1865, made slavery illegal in the U.S. The 14th Amendment, in 1866, granted citizenship and civil liberties protection to freed slaves. The 15th Amendment gave the right to vote to all men "regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude." Many Southern states refused to ratify these amendments, and created "Black Codes," laws that restricted the rights of African-Americans. These codes varied from state to state. Southern states also began voting only for Democrats, in order to decrease the number of AfricanAmerican and Republican legislators. By 1877, Georgia political offices were all held by Democrats. Reconstruction in Economics and Society The South's economy was in ruins after the Civil War. Plantation and farm owners could no longer rely on free labor to help bring in the crops. Freed slaves had no skills other than farming. Sharecropping allowed plantation owners to retain their labor, by giving up farmland and using slave-housing, and gave slaves a chance to make a living by paying rent through a share of crops grown on the land. The Freedmen's Bureau was created to help get freed slaves an education. Three other groups also became a part of the South's economy and society. Scalawags were former Southern Democrats turned Republicans. The name was given to them by Southern Democrats. Carpetbaggers were Northern businessmen and politicians who came to the South to ensure federal laws were followed. Southerners saw them as profiting from their misfortunes after the war. Finally, the Ku Klux Klan was a loosely organized group of Southerners against the Republican Party. Their goals included white supremacy and the political defeat of the Republican Party. Reconstruction and Segregation After the Civil War, Southern Democrats in Georgia and other Southern states fought for a one-party political system. Southern Democrats in Georgia were unhappy with the Reconstruction efforts in the South. Arguments were held over the 14th Amendment, giving slaves the right to hold position in government and other civil rights. Conservative white Democrats fought the 14th Amendment and removed all black legislators from the government in 1868. By 1877, white Democrats were in full control of the government. In Georgia, the one-party system nearly guaranteed only Democratic candidates would win political races. Between 1872 and 2003, Georgians only elected Democratic governors, and Democrats held most of the seats in the General Assembly. Reconstruction and Segregation Georgia, along with other Southern states, used legal and illegal means to enforce segregation of the races in social and political situations. Some of these included Jim Crow laws, Ku Klux Klan activities, the grandfather clause, white primaries, and the literacy test and poll tax. Jim Crow laws: laws created in the South after Reconstruction to keep blacks and whites segregated in society (drinking fountains, restrooms, restaurants, stores, etc.). Supreme Court upheld Jim Crow laws in 1896, then reversed their position in 1954. Ku Klux Klan: political organization of white Protestants who did not want blacks to have political or economic freedom. Members used scare tactics to change people's votes at the polls, and engaged in whipping and lynching blacks. Carpetbaggers and scalawags were also harassed during Reconstruction. Grandfather clause: law that stated if a person could prove they were from British descent or if their ancestor had voted they did not have to pay the poll tax or take the literacy test to vote. Blacks could not prove this and were forced to pay the tax, which most could not afford, and take the literacy test, which most could not pass. White primaries: primary elections held by the Georgia Democratic party kept out black voters. They made the primaries "white only" to keep black voters from influencing the candidate choices. Literacy tests and poll taxes: two ways that kept blacks from voting in the South. Unless the grandfather clause applied, a person had to pay a tax and prove they could read to be able to vote. The literacy test was so hard, well-educated people could not pass the test. The poll tax was high enough that many blacks, especially sharecroppers, could not afford to pay the tax.