Reconstructing Society

Chapter 12, section 2

Main Idea and Key Terms

• Various groups contributed to the rebuilding of Southern society after the war

• Scalawag• Carpetbagger• Hiram • Revels• Sharecropping• Tenant farming

Conditions in the Postwar South

• Even though the Southern states had all reentered by 1870, the north did not want to end reconstruction, they wanted to make economic changes in the South

Physical and Economic Conditions

• Since most of the war had been fought in the south, the south had the most rebuilding to do

• Property values had plummeted• Farms were ruined and in disrepair• Everyone was poorer• 1/5 of adult males died in the war

Public Works Programs

• The governments built roads, bridges, and railroads as well as establishing orphanages and institutions for care of the mentally ill and disabled

• Also created the first public school system• Taxes were raised to pay for all this,

draining the already hurting economy

Politics in the Postwar South

• Different groups of the Republican party in the south had conflicting goals

• Scalawags – white southerners who joined the republican party: wanted to industrialize the south and prevent the aristocrats from regaining power

• Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the South after the war: some worked the freedman’s bureau, teachers, and ministers who felt a moral duty to help former slaves

African American Voters

• African Americans gained the right to vote with the passage of the 15th amendment

• 9 out of 10 were republican• In some areas as many as 90% of former

slaves showed up at the polls• This is despite “fatigue, hardship, hunger,

and threats of employers”

Political Differences

• There are splits within the republican party

• Some republican governors appointed democrats to office to gain votes

• Not everyone agreed with equality• Southerners had trouble adjusting

Former Slaves face Challenges

• After the war, 4 million slaves gained new rights

• Many slaves moved to get away from the plantation and to search for new lives

• Urban population in the ten largest southern cities doubled between 1865 and 1870

Reunification

• After the war, many slaves were able to search for their families for the first time

• i.e. – in 1865, one slave walks 600 miles from GA to NC in search of his family

• The Freedman’s bureau tried to help in searches as well

Education

• African Americans established educational institutions

• Some southerners responded violently

• Regardless, by 1870 over 600,000 African Americans were in elementary school

Churches and Volunteer groups

• After the war many African Americans founded their own churches

• They were usually Baptist or Methodist

• They also formed thousands of volunteer groups

Politics

• African Americans began to hold office, although only in south Carolina did they have a majority in the state legislature

• Hiram Revels becomes the 1st African American Senator

• There are 15 House members

Laws against Segregation

• By the end of 1866, most black Codes were repealed

• African Americans were more interested in building their own communities as opposed to integration, although some integration occurred

Changes in the Southern Economy

• Few Africans had land, and whites were reluctant to sell it to them

• Sherman promised slaves that followed him 40 acres and the use of army mules

• In 1865 President Johnson orders land returned to the original owners

Restoration of Plantations

• The Planter Class wanted to restore plantations

• They didn’t want to pay former slaves

• Worried they couldn’t make a profit• Faced a labor shortage

Sharecropping and tenant farming

• The need for work forced many former slaves to sign labor contracts with plantation owners

• Wasn’t good for either group• Forced each group to look at

sharecropping and tenant farming

Sharecropping

• Landowners divided their land and gave each worker a few acres as well as seed and tools

• At harvest time, the sharecropper gave the land owner a share (usually ½) of their crop

Tenant Farming

• If the farmers could save up money, they could buy their own tools and seed, and rent land from landowners

• This gave them a chance to move up the economic ladder

Former King Cotton

• Cotton demand from the south had declined during the war

• PEOPLE Tried to grow more TO MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE, but this drove down prices even more