reconstruction to civil rights. freedmen’s bureau sharecropping and tenant farming reconstruction...

Reconstruction

to

Civil Rights

Freedmen’s Bureau Sharecropping and Tenant Farming

Reconstruction Plans13th, 14th, 15th Amendments to the

ConstitutionHenry McNeal Turner & Black Legislators

Ku Klux Klan

I can analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia and other southern states.

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AS A RESULT OF THE RECONSTRUCTION ACTS, MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS SERVED AT THE LOCAL,

STATE, AND NATIONAL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT

African Americans in Politics

• The election of 1867 was the first time African Americans had voted.

• Several African Americans were elected to Georgia’s

General Assembly.

29 African Americans Georgia House of Representatives

3 African Americans Georgia Senate

Henry McNeal Turner was one of the first

black men elected to Georgia’s House of Representatives.

Black & White Political Participation

Black & White Political Participation

Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South

Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South

Colored Rule

in the South?

Colored Rule

in the South?

• The African Americans elected to the General Assembly were expelled in 1868.

• It was argued by whites that civil rights laws gave blacks the right to vote but not to be elected.

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IN RESPONSE TO NEW AFRICAN AMERICAN RIGHTS, SEVERAL HATE

GROUPS SPRANG UP THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH.

Ku Klux Klan• The Ku Klux Klan Was The Most Powerful One.

• It Was Created In 1866 By A Group Of Former Confederate Soldiers Who Planned To Utilize Violence To Terrorize Blacks And White Sympathizers To Prevent Them From Exercising Their New Rights.

• Secret organization – originally started as a social club for men returning from the war.

• Members hid behind robes and masks.

• The group terrorized blacks to keep them from voting.

“Invisible Empire of the South”

“Invisible Empire of the South”

• As a result, Congress passed “The Georgia Act” and sent troops back to Georgia.

• The act required Georgia to pass the 15th Amendment giving all males the right to vote.

15th Amendment15th Amendment Ratified in 1870 & gave all male citizens the

right to vote.

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!

Economic Reconstruction• Without slaves, landowners needed

laborers to work their large farms.

• Two systems emerged:

tenant farming

and

sharecropping

Sharecropping Tenant FarmingLandowner provides a house,

land, equipment, animals, fertilizer and seeds.

Workers agreed to give the owner a share of the harvest.

The landowner issued credit to the worker to buy medicine, food, clothing and other supplies until workers sold crops.

The landowner gets a share of the crop and crops to pay any debt owed.

Sharecroppers rarely had any cash and little hope to ever buy their own land and equipment.

Landowner provides house and land.

Tenant farmer usually owned some agricultural equipment and farm animals.

At the end of the year, tenant farmers either paid the landowner a set amount of cash or an agreed upon share of the crop.

Owned more than sharecroppers.

Usually made a small profit.

SharecroppingSharecropping

The Reforms In The South Did Not Focus On A Diversified Economy And Sharecropping Dominated The South.

This Prevented Small Farmers From Owning Land And Made Them Dependent On The Prices Charged By The Landowner

Which Left Them Constantly In Debt.

Both Small Farm-owning Whites And Sharecropping Blacks Were Negatively Effected And Left In Poverty.

Cotton

Cotton was Georgia’s most important crop.

Continuous growing of tobacco and cotton ruined the soil on many farms.

Banks

Banks began to reopen.

Businesses Reopened

Dry goods stores, shops,

and hotels opened again.

Railroads

Railroads expanded across the state.

Ports

Savannah and Brunswick became important shipping ports.

Atlanta

Atlanta was rebuilt and began to grow into an important business

center.

Capital Moves to AtlantaIn 1868, Georgia’s capital moved to Atlanta. In 1877, Georgia voters chose Atlanta to be the permanent state capital. The vote was 99,147 to 55,201.

The End of Reconstruction

• The African Americans who had been expelled from the General Assembly in 1868 were readmitted by the Georgia Supreme Court in 1870.

• The Assembly approved the 14th and 15th Amendments.

• Georgia was readmitted to the Union, again, ending Reconstruction.

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MAP OF THE DATES THE STATES REENTERED THE UNION