chapter 16 section 2 the battle over reconstruction explain why conflicts developed over plans for...

Chapter 16 Section 2

The Battle Over Reconstruction

• Explain why conflicts developed over plans for Reconstruction.

• Describe the changes in the South brought about by Radical Reconstruction.

• Explain how Congress tried to remove President Johnson from office.

• Describe how the Ku Klux Klan and other secret societies tried to prevent African Americans from exercising their rights.

Objectives:



• Andrew Johnson – Vice President who became President when Lincoln was assassinated

• Hiram Revels – an African American senator

• Blanche Bruce – an African American senator

• scalawag – southern whites who had opposed secession

• carpetbagger – a northern white who went south to start a business or pursue political office

Terms and People



Terms and People (continued)

• impeachment – bringing of formal charges against a public official

• black codes – new laws used by southern states to control African Americans



How did disagreements over Reconstruction lead to conflicts in government and in the South?

President Andrew Johnson and Congress disagreed over plans for Reconstruction.

This led to a battle for power between Congress and the Presidency.



Like Lincoln, President Johnson proposed a less demanding plan for Reconstruction.

• He gave amnesty to most former Confederates.

• He allowed southern states to organize new governments and elect Congressmen.



Johnson required states to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment.

This amendment abolished slavery and forced labor.

The 13th Amendment gave Congress the power to make laws to enforce its terms.

Slavery



Congress rejected Johnson’s lenient approach and began to debate a new plan.

Anger over these developments

led Radical Republicans in

Congress to adopt a hard line.

To sidestep the abolishment of slavery, some Southerners

supported black codes, a system of near-slavery.



The struggle over Reconstruction led to direct clashes between the President and Congress.

Johnson vetoed the

bill.

Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It gave citizenship to African Americans.

Congress overturned the veto. It became law.



The 14th Amendment.

The 14th amendment was not fully enforced until the 1970s.

Next, Congress passed the 14th Amendment.

All people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens.

States must allow all males over 21 to vote.



Which side pushed for stricter controls of the new states?



They passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. To return to the Union, southern states had to:

write a new state

constitution

ratify the 14th Amendment

allow African Americans to

vote

Radical Republicans won enough support to begin a series of reforms known as Radical Reconstruction.



The act imposed military rule on states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment, dividing them into five military districts.



Radical Reconstruction brought about many improvements:

Southern states opened their first public schools.

Taxes and voting rules became

more fair for all citizens.

Legislators granted women property rights.

States rebuilt bridges, roads, and buildings.



For the first time in American history, African Americans in the South played an active role in politics.

African Americans were elected to local and state-wide offices. Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce became the nation’s first African American senators.

Hiram Revels



The Republican Party built a strong following during this time, based on three groups.

Freedmen voters.

Scalawags, or southern whites who had opposed secession.

Carpetbaggers, or northern whites who came to work in the South.

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The Radicals tried to remove President Johnson from office by impeachment. Johnson received just enough votes to stay in office.

Then, General Ulysses S. Grant won the 1868 presidential election.

Radical Republican power peaked in 1868.

Grant was a moderate, so the Radicals began to lose power.



In 1869, Congress approved the 15th Amendment.

Secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan used terror and violence to keep African Americans from voting.

States had to allow African Americans to vote.



Although Reconstruction guaranteed rights to more Americans, huge challenges still remained.

Congress passed laws barring the use of force against African American voters.

Klan violence took hundreds of lives during the election of 1868.

Congress responded to Klan violence in the 1870s.



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