Reconstruction in the SouthChapter 12 Section 2

• Explain how Republicans gained control of southern state governments.

• Discuss how freedmen adjusted to freedom and the South’s new economic system.

• Summarize efforts to limit African Americans’ rights and the federal government’s response.

Objectives

African-American Activism

• Many African- Americans registered to vote and began to lobby for equality.

• Union Leagues were formed to build black churches and schools.

• African-Americans began to participate in politics and served as delegates to all the state constitutional conventions.

Carpetbaggers

• Northerners who travelled south to get involved in state conventions.

Scalawags

• Southern whites who supported reconstruction.

Opportunities for Women

Single women carved out new roles for themselves.

• in medical facilities• in orphanages• in relief agencies• in the public school

system

Southern Problems

• limited protection for African Americans

• racial violence• rampant corruption

• many illiterate southerners

• poor quality medical care

• poor quality housing

• slower economic production than the North

Sharecropping

• Many southerners lost their land because they couldn’t pay their debts or taxes.

• Sharecropping- farmers work a parcel of land in exchange for a portion of the profit

Benefits

• Planters get their lands worked when they have no money to pay laborers.

• Laborers had a place to live and lands to work without close supervision.

Drawbacks

• Sharecroppers had to borrow heavily for supplies

• Their debts would be added to their bills the following year.

Ku Klux Klan

• Angry former confederates formed the KKK to prevent African Americans from voting.

Klan Attacks

• “Grand Wizard” Nathan Bedford Forrest warned he was going to attack the Republican Party and their supporters.

Steps Against the Klan

• Congress passed the Enforcement Acts, three acts designed to combat terrorism with military force.