MRS. BRYANT’S 5T H GRADEGEORGIA STANDARDS

WJIS

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Reconstruction

Georgia Standards

SS5H2a. Describe the purpose of the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments.

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Reconstruction in the South

Reconstruction is the name given to the time period following the Civil War (1867 to 1877) in which Southern states were brought back into the Union.

Reconstruction 3

Time for Some Additions

After the conclusion of the Civil War, which included freeing the slaves in the South, the Union’s lawmakers realized that some changes were needed to the U.S. Constitution. Without changes, the ordeal of the war would have been for nothing.

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Time for Some Additions

So, they added three amendments – the 13th, 14th, and 15th – to the Constitution.

The 13th Amendment banned slavery in the United States and any of its territories.

The 13th Amendment

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14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States and guaranteed them equal protection under the law.

The 14th Amendment

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15th Amendment

The 15th Amendment ensures that the right to vote cannot be denied because of race, or color, or previous conditions of servitude.

The 15th Amendment

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The Purpose of the Amendments

The purpose of these three amendments is to guarantee equal protection under the law for all citizens.

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Life After Slavery

Freed slaves had two big problems – they were uneducated and unemployed. To help them, the U.S. government established the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865. This organization gave food, clothing, medicine, and other supplies to freed slaves. The bureau also built thousands of schools and helped blacks with legal and labor problems.

The Freedmen's Bureau 9

Sharecroppers

To make a living, many freed slaves turned to their old masters and became sharecroppers. Freed slaves knew how to grow crops, and landowners still needed labor. In the sharecropping arrangement, a landowner gave the worker supplies and a place to live. Since the worker had no money for rent, he agreed to give the owner a share of the crop at harvest time, plus extra for the cost of rent and supplies. Sharecropping was a hard way to get ahead because the worker rarely made a profit.

Sharecropping 10

“Jim Crow” Laws

Segregation Laws became known as “Jim Crow” Laws. Discrimination against African Americans continued after Reconstruction into the early 20th century.

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“Jim Crow” Laws

“Jim Crow” laws were passed to discriminate against African Americans. They made it legal to have separate schools, hotels, restaurants, theaters, and restrooms. Trains and buses were also segregated.

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“Jim Crow” Laws

Jim Crow laws clearly violated the newly won rights of African Americans. These laws also continued the Southern practice of separating white people from black people.

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The Right to Vote

The continued discrimination against African Americans led to serious attempts to deny one very important right – the right to vote.

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The Right to Vote

By 1900, blocking the black vote, known as “disenfranchisement,” was almost complete. This was accomplished in various ways. One was the poll tax, which required voters to pay all back taxes before they could vote. This was impossible for poor sharecroppers. Another way to stop blacks from voting was to give them a reading test. Only about half of Southern blacks could read at that time.

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