RECONSTRUCTION AND BEYOND

1865-1877Mending the Union

Reconstruction Key Terms

Reconstruction: Period after the Civil War of rebuilding the South 1865-1877

Freedmen: former slave who are now free Black Codes: Southern laws passed to limit the freedom of

former slaves Carpetbaggers: Northerners that moved to the South during

Reconstruction looking for wealth, land, or to help the freedmen. Sharecroppers: farmer who works part of the land and gives the

landowner part of the harvest Scalawags: Southern Republicans, often viewed as traitors by other

white Southerners Jim Crow laws: laws which created legal segregation in the

U.S. Lynching: illegal killings, often hangings, used by KKK to

terrorize former slaves

Intro Video

http://www.history.com/videos/the-failure-of-reconstruction

Big Picture: Reconstruction Reading

13th amendment-Abolishes slavery 14th amendment-Citizenship rights, due

process of the law, Federal citizens 15th amendment- Right to vote-race,

color, or previous condition of servitude

The Freedmen’s Bureau and the 13th Amendment

When the Civil War ended over 4 million former slaves became freedmen

These actions don’t change many people’s point of view. Quote of Mississippi Governor Humphreys :

“The Negro is free, whether we like it of not. To be free, however, does not make him a citizen or entitle him to social or political equality with the white man”

How does this statement summarize the attitudes of many American’s towards the freedmen?

The Freedmen’s Bureau

The freedmen faced many problems.

Few could read or write, no land, no money

1865- The Freedmen’s Bureau is set up by Congress to provide medical care, clothing, food, education, and help/protection finding employment for the freedmen and poor white southerners.

A teacher and elementary school students posing on the steps of the Hill School, ca. late 19th Century. The school was a part of the Christiansburg Institute, which was first opened by the U. S. Freedmen's Bureau in 1866.

Rival Plans for Reconstruction

There are basically two different plans for how to Reconstruct the south.

Presidential Reconstruction

Radical Republican’s Plan

Lincoln’s 10% Plan

II. …Southern states could rejoin the national government after they abolished slavery.(13th)

I. Once 10% of the state’s voters swore loyalty to the U.S….

Johnson’s Plan

Andrew Johnson takes office after Lincoln’s assassination. His plan is very similar to Lincoln’s.

The majority of voters in each Southern state must pledge their loyalty to the U.S….

and each state must ratify the Thirteenth Amendment

Grants pardons to most ex-confederates!

By the end of 1865 many southern states elect former Confederates to Congress

The Black Codes

Radical Republican’s feared Southern states would return to slavery if strict enforcement wasn’t in place. the South.

Black Codes Readings

READ BOTH OF THE HANDOUTS. What was the overall

purpose of the Black Codes?

Give examples of how Black Codes impacted African Americans in the following ways: Social Economic Political

What should the Federal government do to protect the rights of the ‘freedmen’?

Black Codes: Limit the rights of the freedmen

Social

1. Speak out of turn, show disrespect

2. Remove hats, stand for whites, move for women

3. Needed to carry a pass with them for almost all travel or gatherings(often require a white overseer)

4. Curfew5. Limited Housing6. No Firearms7. No Miscegenation

(interracial)

Economic1. Often required

labor contracts2. Banned from

selling or exchanging goods

3. Some banned property ownership

Political1. No vote2. No political office3. Freedom of Speech

and Assembly

Punishments range from fines, corporal punishment, forced labor, or jail

Radical Republican’s Plan

Radical Republicans - members of the Republican party that believed that Pres. Johnson was too lenient on the South.

Fear the old order would return It required that a majority of Southern white men swear

‘ironclad oath’ of loyalty to the U.S…. denied former Confederate soldiers the right to vote or

hold political office Each state must pass the 14th and 15th

amendments(guarantee equal rights) Place southern states under military rule(to enforce laws)

Military Reconstruction Act1867

* Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.

* Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.

Congress Vs. The President

Fighting between Congress and Pres. Johnson came to a head in 1868.

Both sides wanted to have control of Reconstruction.

Johnson was brought up on impeachment charges by Congress

The trail gave them control over Reconstruction.

Rise of the Invisible Empire-KKK

Ku Klux Klan –Terrorist group set up in the South after the Civil War.

KKK’s Goal: was to use fear and violence to intimidate blacks and whites to maintain white supremacy

KKK

Video questions:1.What is “swallowing the dog”?2. Who were the Pulaski Six?3. Describe their original dress?3. What is the purpose of their night rides?4. What is their goal in 1868? What evidence does the video provide they are successful?5. Who is the first “Grand Wizard”?

Lynching’s

Sources estimate 3,446 blacks and 1,297 whites were lynched between 1882 and 1968!

Election of 1868

Military Reconstruction under Grant

Southern state governments became controlled by ‘Carpetbaggers’, ‘Scalawags’ and freedmen

A cartoon from the 1870s makes fun of a Northern politician. It shows him as a carpetbagger, or a Northerner who moved to the South with only what he could carry in a small bag. (At the time, traveling bags were commonly made of carpet.) Reading

1. Identify the successes and failures of Southern government during Reconstruction.

2. What happens when Reconstruction ends?

Political Cartoon 1.Who does the

woman in the cartoon represent? How do you know this?

2. What burden is she carrying?

3. What is the role of the two soldiers? Why is she chained to the rifles?

4.What details in the picture shown the economic and social changes in the South?

The End of Reconstruction/Sharecropping

Some Radical Republicans wanted to give each freedman “40 acres and a mule”. However, all the freedmen were given was their freedom. Most were forced to go back to work for their former masters.How did sharecropping work? Reading/Questions

Election of 1876

Neither candidate, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes or Democrat Samuel Tilden, had enough electoral votes to win the election

The Compromise of 1877

In a back room deal, Hayes is given the Presidency if he promises to end Reconstruction.

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow Laws - laws passed by southerners to segregate public places, such as schools, restaurants, theaters, trains, hospitals, water fountains, and cemeteries.(all aspects of public society)

The "Jim Crow" figure was a fixture of the minstrel shows that toured the South; a white man made up as a black man sang and mimicked stereotypical behavior in the name of comedy.

Separate but not Equal

Voting Restrictions Poll taxes and literacy tests were used to prevent

freedmen from voting.

Grandfather Clause

In order to help poor, illiterate whites to vote, a grandfather clause was passed.

It stated that if a voter, a voter’s father or grandfather was eligible to vote on January 1, 1867, they did not have to take a literacy test or pay a poll tax.

This allowed whites to vote, but not freedmen

Plessy V. Ferguson 1896

Plessy v. Ferguson - The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal as long as facilities were “separate but equal”.