Reconstruction Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government carried out a program to repair the damage to the South and restore the southern states.

Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government carried out a program to repair

the damage to the South and restore the southern states to the Union. This program was

known as ReconstructionReconstruction. FreedmenFreedmen (freed slaves) were starting out

their new lives in a poor region with slow economic activity.

Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $3 billion.

Poor white Southerners could not find work because of new job competition from

FreedmenFreedmen. The war had destroyed two thirds of the South’s shipping industry and about 9,000

miles of railroad.

The Taste of FreedomFreedom of movement: Enslaved people often walked away

from plantations upon hearing that the Union army was near. Exodusters: moved to Kansas and Texas

Freedom to own land: Proposals to give white-owned land to freed people got little support from the government. Unofficial land redistribution did take place, however.

Freedom to worship: African Americans formed their own churches and started mutual aid societies, debating clubs, drama societies, and trade associations.

Freedom to learn: Between 1865 and 1870, black educators founded 30 African American colleges.

1865, Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau to help former

slaves get a new start in life. This was the first major relief agency in United

States history.

Bureau’s AccomplishmentsBuilt thousands of schools to educate

Blacks. Former slaves rushed to get an education

for themselves and their children. Education was difficult and dangerous to

gain. Southerners hated the idea that Freedmen would go to school.

Importance of Educ to freedmen

Letter by a Teacher teaching freedmen on Letter by a Teacher teaching freedmen on the importance of education, 1869:the importance of education, 1869:

“It is surprising to me to see the amount of suffering which many of the people endure for

the sake of sending their children to school. Men get very low wages here---from $2.50 to $8.00 month usually, while a first rate hand may get $10.00, and a peck or two of meal per week for

rations-----and a great many men cannot get work at all.

The women take in sewing and washing, go out by day to sour, etc. There is one woman who

supports three children and keeps them at school; she says, “ I don’t care how hard I has to

work, if I can only send Sallie and the boys to school looking respectable.”

Freedmen’s Bureau 2

Freedmen’s Bureau 4

Freedmen’s Bureau 5

are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds….to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among

ourselves, and with all nations.”

Lincoln’s speech

“With malice toward none; with

charity for all; with firmness in the

right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to

finish the work we

• State can be brought back into the Union when 10 percent of its voters from the 1860 election take an oath of allegiance to the United States and abide by emancipation.

• Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan”

pardon

• 50 percent of a state’s voters must take oath of allegiance

• Emancipation for slaves

• Congress will administer Reconstruction

• Lincoln pocket-vetoes the bill, and Congress responds by refusing to seat delegates from Louisiana government created by Lincoln’s plan

Amnesty:Amnesty: Presidential pardonPresidential pardon•Rebels sign an oath of allegianceRebels sign an oath of allegiance

•10% of the population10% of the population• Leading Confederates lose right to vote, BUTLeading Confederates lose right to vote, BUT

•Even high ranking Confederate officials can petition for pardonsEven high ranking Confederate officials can petition for pardons

Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•approve the approve the 13th Amendment13th Amendment

•reject secession and state’s rightsreject secession and state’s rights•submit to U.S. Government authoritysubmit to U.S. Government authority

No mention ofNo mention of•Education for freedmenEducation for freedmen

•Citizenship and voting rightsCitizenship and voting rights

•Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil

War.

•Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the

South’s Reconstruction.

•Supported Lincoln’s Plan

•Engaged in a power struggle with Congress

over who would lead the country through Reconstruction.

•Would be impeached but not removed from

office.

•Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil

War.

•Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the

South’s Reconstruction.

•Supported Lincoln’s Plan

•Engaged in a power struggle with Congress

over who would lead the country through Reconstruction.

•Would be impeached but not removed from

office.

John Picture background info

Plans compared

•AmnestyAmnesty : : Presidential pardonPresidential pardon•oath of allegiance---50%

•high ranking Confederate officials•lose voting rights if you don’t sign oath

•Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•Ratify: 13, 14 & 15 Amendments•reject secession and state’s rights

•submit to U.S. Government authority•Help for FreedmenHelp for Freedmen

•Freedmen’s Bureau for education•40 acres and a mule

•Divide the South into 5 military districts

Reconstruction Act of 1867-Reconstruction Act of 1867--76 (Harsh)(Harsh)

Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner

•Wanted to see the South punished.

•Advocated political, social and economic equality for the Freedmen.

•Would go after President Johnson through the impeachment process after he vetoes

the Civil Rights Act of 1866.Radical Republicans

Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, 18661866

“Strip a proud nobility of their bloated estates, send them forth to labor and you

will thus humble the proud traitors.”

Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, 18671867

“I am for Negro suffrage in every rebel state. If it be just, it should not be denied: if it be necessary, it should be adopted: if it be a punishment of traitors, they deserve

it.”

As southern states were restored to the Union under President Johnson’s plan, they began to enact black codes, laws that

restricted freedmen’s rights. The black codes established virtual slavery with provisions such as

these:Curfews: Generally, black people could not gather after sunset.Vagrancy laws: Freedmen convicted of vagrancy– that is, not

working– could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor.Labor contracts: Freedmen had to sign agreements in January

for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned.

Land restrictions: Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations.

•President Johnson vetoed the Civil

Rights Act of 1866

•Gave $$$$ to Freedmen’s Bureau

for schools and granted citizenship to the Freedmen

•Congress believed Johnson was working

against Reconstruction and overrode his veto.

•Leads to the 14th Amendment

•President Johnson vetoed the Civil

Rights Act of 1866

•Gave $$$$ to Freedmen’s Bureau

for schools and granted citizenship to the Freedmen

•Congress believed Johnson was working

against Reconstruction and overrode his veto.

•Leads to the 14th Amendment

Johnson’s Veto

An inflexible President, 1866: Republican cartoon shows Johnson knocking Blacks of the Freedmen’s

Bureau by his veto.

An inflexible President, 1866: Republican cartoon shows Johnson knocking Blacks of the Freedmen’s

Bureau by his veto.

Impeachment:Impeachment: Bringing charges against the President. Two steps

involved……

1st Step: U. S. House of Representatives hold hearings to decide if there are crimes committed. They then vote on the charges

and if there is a majority, then, charges are brought against the President.

2nd Step: U.S. Senate becomes a courtroom. The President is tried for the charges brought against him. The Chief

Justice of the Supreme Court is the judge. Once trial is completed, Senators must

vote to remove President with a 2/3’s vote.

Impeachment process

Brought up on 11 charges of high

crimes and misdemeanors.

Tenure in Office Tenure in Office Act:Act: Law Congress passed. President can’t fire any of his cabinet members

without consulting Congress.

fired Edwin Stanton

Missed being removed from office

by 1 vote

Presidency would suffer as a result of this failed

impeachment. President would be more

of a figure-head. Saved the separation of

powers of 3 branches govt.

Civil Rights: What Blacks want

““All persons born in the U.S. are citizens of this country and the state they reside in. No state No state shall make or enforce any law shall make or enforce any law

which deprives any person of life, which deprives any person of life, liberty, or property, without due liberty, or property, without due process of lawprocess of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction to

the equal protection of the lawsequal protection of the laws.”

The CongressCongress shall have power to enforceenforce by appropriate

legislation, the provisions of this article.

14th 14th: Rights of Citizens

““The The right of citizensright of citizens of the of the United States to United States to votevote shall not be shall not be denied or abridged by the United denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account States or by any State on account

of race, color, or previous of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.condition of servitude”.

The The Congress Congress shall have shall have power to power to enforceenforce this article by appropriate this article by appropriate

legislation.legislation.14th

15th: Voting Rights

•13th AmendmentAbolished slavery

(1865)

•14th Amendment Provided citizenship & equal protection

under the law. (1868)

•15th Amendment Provided the right to

vote for all men which included white

and black men. (1870)Voting rights

The 14th and 15th AmendmentsIn 1867 and 1869 Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments,

granting African American males citizenship, equality under the law and the right to vote.

In 1867 and 1868, voters in southern states chose delegates to draft new state constitutions. One quarter of the delegates elected were black.

The new state constitutions guaranteed civil rights, allowed poor people to hold political office, and set up a system of public schools and orphanages.

In 1870, southern black men voted in legislative elections for the first time. More than 600 African Americans were elected to state legislatures, Louisiana gained a black governor, and Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American elected to the Senate.

Black Congressmen

First Black Senators and

representatives in the 42st and 42nd Congress.

Senator Hiram Revels, on the

left was elected in 1870 to

replace the seat vacated by

Jefferson Davis.

First Black Senators and

representatives in the 42st and 42nd Congress.

Senator Hiram Revels, on the

left was elected in 1870 to

replace the seat vacated by

Jefferson Davis.

Once Johnson is impeached,

Congress passes Reconstruction

Act of 1867.

The South would be reconstructed under the Radical Republicans plan.

Republicans would elect Grant as their President

and he would carry out the

Radical Reconstruction.“The Strong

Government”, 1869-1877. Grant

enforcing the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and

“forcing” the South to change.

Military Reconstructio

n

Each number indicates the Military Districts

•Women rights supporters refused to support the 14th Amendment giving African American Men citizenship unless women were added to it.

•Abolitionists would not support women’s rights

Abolitionists vs Women’s rights

New South

New South•Becomes

industrialized

•Cities rebuilt

•Railroads

•Schools, over a thousand

•Hospitals, 45 in 14 states

•Diversify economy.

Funding ReconstructionRebuilding the South’s infrastructure, the public property and

services that a society uses, was one giant business opportunity.

Roads, bridges, canals, railroads, and telegraph lines had to be rebuilt.

Funds were also needed to expand services to southern citizens. Following the North’s example, all southern states created public school systems by 1872.

Congress, private investors, and heavy taxes paid for Reconstruction. Spending by Reconstruction legislatures added another $130 million to southern debt.

Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret society or

an inner circleOrganized in 1867, in Pulaski, Tennessee

by Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Represented the ghosts of dead

Confederate soldiers Disrupted

Reconstruction as much as they could.

Opposed Republicans,

Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and

Freedmen.

Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret society or

an inner circleOrganized in 1867, in Pulaski, Tennessee

by Nathan Bedford Forrest.

Represented the ghosts of dead

Confederate soldiers Disrupted

Reconstruction as much as they could.

Opposed Republicans,

Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and

Freedmen.

Spreading TerrorSpreading TerrorThe Ku Klux Klan

The Klan sought to eliminate the Republican Party in the South by intimidating voters.

They wanted to keep African Americans as submissive laborers.

They planted burning crosses on the lawns of their victims and tortured, kidnapped, or murdered them.

Prosperous African Americans, carpetbaggers, and scalawags became their victims.

The Federal Response President Grant’s War On

Terrorism. The Enforcement Act of

1870 banned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent people from voting.

Other laws banned the KKK and used the military to protect voters and voting places.

As federal troops withdrew from the South, black suffrage all but ended.

kkk

ALL HATED BY THE KKKALL HATED BY THE KKK

CarpetbaggersCarpetbaggers Northerners/Republicans sent to help

reconstruct the South….

ScalawagsScalawags Southerners who helped

Carpetbaggers

Freedmen Freedmen Blacks who tried to vote or were

involved in the reconstruction of their states governments.

During Radical Reconstruction, the Republican Party was a mixture of people who had little in common

except a desire to prosper in the postwar South. This bloc of voters included freedmen and two other

groups: carpetbaggers and scalawags.

Northern Republicans who moved to the postwar South became known as carpetbaggers.

Southerners gave them this insulting nickname, which referred to a type of cheap suitcase made from carpet scraps.

Carpetbaggers were often depicted as greedy men seeking to grab power or make a fast buck.

White southern Republicans were seen as traitors and called scalawags.

This was originally a Scottish word meaning “scrawny cattle.”

Refers to one who is a “scoundrel”, reprobate or unprincipled person.

Some scalawags were former Whigs who had opposed secession.

Some were small farmers who resented the planter class. Many scalawags, but not all, were poor.

kkk

Sharecroppers were Freedmen and poor Whites who stayed in

the South and continued to farm.

Freedmen signed a work contract with their former masters

.Picked cotton or whatever crop

the landowner had. Freedmen did not receive “40

acres and a mule”

•Sharecropping is primarily used in farming

•Landowner provided land, tools, animals, house and

charge account at the local store to purchase necessities

•Freedmen provided the labor.

•Sharecropping is based on the “credit” system.

Sharecroppers

Advantages Part of a business

ventureRaised their social

statusReceived 1/3 to 1/2 of

crop when harvestedRaised their self

esteem

DisadvantagesBlacks stay in SouthSome landowners refused to honor the

contractBlacks poor and in debt

Economic slavery

1. Poor whites and freedmen have no

jobs, no homes, and no money to buy

land.2. Landowners need laborers and have no

money to pay laborers.

4. Landlord keeps track of the money that

sharecroppers owe him for housing, food

or local store.

5. At harvest time, the sharecropper is

paid.

•Pays off debts.

•If sharecropper owes more to the landlord or store

than his share of the crop is worth;

6. Sharecropper cannot leave the

farm as long as he is in debt to the

landlord.

3. Hire poor whites and freedmen as

laborers

•Sign contracts to work landlord’s land

in exchange for a part of the crop.

Sharecroppers

369369 total electoral votes, need 185185 to win.

164

1876 Election

•Tilden did not receive enough electoral votes.

•Special Commission

gives votes to Hayes.

•Hayes wins the election

•Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President

1876 Election

•Tilden did not receive enough electoral votes.

•Special Commission

gives votes to Hayes.

•Hayes wins the election

•Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President

*

*Disputed Electoral

votes

The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to recognize Hayes as PresidentIn return, President Hayes must end

Reconstruction and pull the Union troops out of the South.

Once this happens, there is no protection for the Freedmen and the South will regain their

states and go back to the way it was.

Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes Samuel TildenSamuel Tilden

Agreement between

Democrats and Republicans

•Hayes pulls the troops out of the

South.

•Southerners take over their state

governments called “REDEEMERS”

•Successes FreedmenFreedmen would be lost because

Southerners would take over their state

governments.

•Jim CrowJim Crow laws kept Blacks from voting

and becoming equal citizens.

Agreement between

Democrats and Republicans

•Hayes pulls the troops out of the

South.

•Southerners take over their state

governments called “REDEEMERS”

•Successes FreedmenFreedmen would be lost because

Southerners would take over their state

governments.

•Jim CrowJim Crow laws kept Blacks from voting

and becoming equal citizens.

Cartoon of Hayes: end of Reconst

social reality

After Reconstruction, 1865 to 1876, there were several ways that Southern

states kept Blacks from voting and segregated, or separating people by

the color of their skin in public facilities..

Jim Crow laws, laws at the local and state level which segregated whites

from blacks and kept African Americans as 2nd class citizens and

from voting.poll taxesliteracy tests grandfather clause

social reality

The systematic practice of discriminating against

and segregating Black people, especially as

practiced in the American South from the end of

Reconstruction to the mid-20th century

Derogatory name for a Black person, ultimately from the title of a 19th-century minstrel song.

Goal: Take away political and constitutional

rights guaranteed by Constitution: Voting and

equality of all citizens under the law.

JC laws

Jim Crow Laws:Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks in

public facilities became the law after Reconstruction:

Jim Crow Laws:Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks in

public facilities became the law after Reconstruction:

•Used at the Used at the local, state local, state levels and levels and

eventually the eventually the national to national to

separate the separate the races inraces in

•kept Blacks, minorities and poor

whites from voting and as 2nd class citizen

status

•kept Blacks, minorities and poor

whites from voting and as 2nd class citizen

status

schools, schools, parks, parks,

transportationtransportation, restaurants, , restaurants,

etc….etc….

Poll Taxes:Poll Taxes: Before you could vote, you had to pay taxes to vote. Most poor Blacks could not pay the tax so they

didn’t vote.

Literacy Test:Literacy Test: You had to prove you could read and write before you could vote…. Once again, most poor Blacks

were not literate.

Grandfather clause:Grandfather clause: If your grandfather voted in the 1864 election than you could vote…..Most Blacks did

not vote in 1864, so you couldn’t vote….

Reconstruction EndsThere were five main factors that

contributed to the end of Reconstruction.•Corruption: Reconstruction legislatures & Grant’s

administration symbolized corruption & poor government.

•The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt.

•Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to regain control of the state governments.

•The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned ex-Confederates combined with other white Southerners to form a new bloc of Democratic voters known as the Solid South. They blocked Reconstruction policies.

•The Country: The Civil War was over and many Americans wanted to return to what the country was doing before the war.

Successes and Failures of Reconstruction

Successes Failures

Union is restored. Many white southerners bitter towards US govt & Republicans.South’s economy grows and

new wealth is created in the North.

The South is slow to industrialize.

14th and 15th amendments guarantee Blacks the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage.

After US troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny Blacks the right to vote.Freedmen’s Bureau and

other organizations help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling.

Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty.

Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education.

Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North.

Quote by Frederick Douglass 1

Quote by Frederick Douglass 2

Social equality vs. legal equality

Which way would the scale tip?Which way would the scale tip?

social reality

Supreme Court decision Supreme Court decision which legalized segregation which legalized segregation

throughout the nation.throughout the nation.•““Separate but Equal”Separate but Equal” as as

long as public facilities were long as public facilities were equalequal

•Problem:Problem: Black facilities Black facilities would never be equal to would never be equal to

White facilitiesWhite facilities

•Our nation would be Our nation would be segregated until the 1960’s.segregated until the 1960’s.

Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonHow do Black Americans overcome How do Black Americans overcome

segregation?segregation?Southern PerspectiveSouthern Perspective

•Former slaveFormer slave•Wrote a book/Wrote a book/Up From SlaveryUp From Slavery

•Before you are considered Before you are considered equalequal in in society--must be self sufficient like most society--must be self sufficient like most

AmericansAmericans•Stressed Stressed vocational educationvocational education for Black for Black

AmericansAmericans•GradualismGradualism and economic and economic self-sufficiencyself-sufficiency

•Founder of Founder of Tuskegee InstituteTuskegee Institute

W.E.B. DuboisW.E.B. DuboisHow do Black Americans overcome How do Black Americans overcome

segregation?segregation?Northern PerspectiveNorthern Perspective

• Fought for immediate Black equality in society

• Talented 10%: Demanded the top 10% of the talented Black population be placed into the “power positions”

• Gain equality by breaking into power structure

• Founder of NAACP National Association for the National Association for the

Advancement of Colored PeopleAdvancement of Colored People