United States History & The Constitution

Unit 5.2: Reconstruction

Ch. 12.1 Notes

The Politics of Reconstruction

Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator

Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.

USHC-3.3: Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on the southern states & on the role of the federal government, including the impact of the thirteenth, fourteenth, & fifteenth amendments on opportunities for African Americans.

- Lincoln’s 10% Plan:

- Lenient on the South. - Gov’t pardon all Confederates except high-ranking officials &

those accused of crimes against prisoners of war = swear allegiance

to the Union. - 10% of states eligible voters had to vote to re-enter the Union.

- form new state government & get representation in Congress.

- Radical Republicans (Goals):

- Destroy power of former slaveholders. - Give African-Americans right to vote & citizenship rights.

Wade-Davis Bill:

- Proposed Congress, not the president, be responsible for Reconstruction. - Proposed a majority, not 10%, of 1860 eligible voters, required to establish a state government. - Lincoln “killed” it with a pocket veto.

Ch. 12.1 Notes

Radical Republican LeaderThaddeus Stevens (R. – PA)

- Pres. Johnson’s Plan (Presidential Reconstruction):

- Aim: to punish ex-confederate leaders (military & landowners):

- Remaining 7 Confederate states had to: - 1.) Withdrawal secession, 2.) swear allegiance to the Union, 3.) annul Confederate war debts, & 4.) ratify the 13th Amendment. - Failed (like Lincoln’s) to help ex-slaves: land, voting rights, legal protection.

- Freedmen’s Bureau Act:

- Assisted ex-slaves & poor whites (clothing & food) - Set up 40 hospitals, 4,000 schools, 61 ind. institutes, & 74 teacher- training centers.

- Civil Rights Act of 1866:

- African-Americans citizenship. - Banned discriminatory “black codes”.

- Pres. Johnson vetoed both the Freedmen’s & Civil Rights Acts:

Ch. 12.1 Notes

- Radical Republicans override Johnson’s veto.

- Reconstruction Amendments:

- Thirteenth amendment (11.5)

- Formally abolished slavery.

- Fourteenth Amendment

- All persons born/naturalized in the U.S. are citizens. - Entitled to equal protection of the law.

- Constitutional basis for Civil Rights Act of 1866.

- Fifteenth Amendment

- Extension of suffrage rights to African Americans (males).

- Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Radical Reconstruction):

- 1.) Abolished governments formed in the former Confederate states, 2.) divided those states into 5 military districts, 3.) set up requirements for readmission to the Union

Ch. 12.1 Notes

Reconstruction Military Districts

Daily “Bell Ringer” Warm Up2nd Nine Weeks

Bell Ringer #6 (5 & 7 Dec)

6.) Despite the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, & 15th), why did African Americans experience continued discrimination?

a.) Southern governors declared the amendments null & void.b.) Southern state legislatures passed a series of Jim Crow Laws..c.) State governments were now aware these amendments were ratified.d.) The amendments did not address political rights.CORRECT ANSWER: B

Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator

Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.

USHC-3.4: Summarize the end of Reconstruction, including the role of anti–African American factions & competing national interests in undermining support for Reconstruction; the impact of the removal of federal protection for freedmen; & the impact of Jim Crow laws & voter restrictions on African American rights in the post-Reconstruction era.

United States History & The Constitution

Unit 5.2: Reconstruction

Ch. 12.2 & 12.3 Notes

Reconstructing Society & The Collapse of Reconstruction

Political Terms:

- Republicans in the South:

a.) Carpetbaggers – northern Republican missionaries, teachers, or entrepreneurs whom had moved to the South following the war.

b.) Scalawags – white southerners who did not participate in the Confederacy whom supported the Republicans views on economic growth & public schools.

c.) Freedmen – former slaves.

- Democrats in the South:

a.) Redeemers (redemption): ex- planters/ ex-confederates) who “redeemed” the South by removing the Republicans & returning “home rule”.

African Americans in Congress

Sen. Hiram Revels, First African American Congressman

(Republican – Mississippi)

First black Senator & Representatives: Sen. Hiram Revels (R-MS), Rep. Benjamin S.

Turner (R-AL), Robert DeLarge (R-SC), Josiah Walls (R-FL), Jefferson Long (R-GA), Joseph

Rainey and Robert B. Elliott (R-SC)

The Goals of the Ku Klux Klan, the Riflemen, & the Red Shirts

- Intimidate Republican carpetbaggers & freedmen = force them away from the voting polls & southern politics in the hope to go back to the North.

- Forced the closing of freedmen’s schools through intimidation &violent tactics.

- Lynching, beatings, & cross-burningswere not uncommon means used toachieve the Klan’s objectives.

- Federal government passed theKu Klux Klan Act & sent troops to South toprotect the freedmen. (weakly enforced).

The Rise of Vigilante Groups

Freedmen in the Post-War South

- Around 2.3 million slaves were freed with the ratification of the 13th Amendment in Dec 1865 (both displaced & liberated).

- Most freedmen (former slaves) could not read or write; jobs were scarce.

- Thousands left the plantationsto start fresh in places likeCharleston, & look for formerfamily members.

- Hunger, disease, & lack ofshelter were problems.

- Some chose to remain on theplantations to work for wages

Freedmen & Reconstruction

Freedmen in Post-Civil War Richmond, VA

Freedmen & Reconstruction

Creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau:

- Set up by federal government in 1865; operated by the US Army. - Provided food, clothing, & medical supplies to needy blacks.

- Supervised work contracts & helped freedmen find jobs.

- Established schools & military courts, as needed.

Freedmen’s Bureau

The Freedmen’s Bureau Cont.

Failures of the Freedmen’s Bureau:

- Over 2 million freed blacks in the South needed help, but resources were very limited.

- Working with resentful cash-poor planters proved challenging.

- “Forty Acres & a Mule”

- The Bureau promisedmore than it could deliver.

“Freedmen’s Bureau”

Sharecropping became the dominant job & lifestyle for poor whites & blacks throughout the South.

Economic Changes in the South

- Allowed former planters to reestablish their former position as master through a new means.

- Poor blacks & whites were economically dependent on the land owner = cycle of debt.

- Sharecroppers worked the land in exchange for a share of the crop (landowner supplied land, tools & seeds).

- Some poor farmers relied on crop liens.

Post-Reconstruction EraSharecropping in the South

Exodusters Leaving the South

- Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep) v. Samuel Tilden (Dem)

- Compromise of 1877: Deal is struck over 20 contested electoral votes.

- Democrats cede the election to Hayes, in exchange…

…the last federal troops pulled out of the southern states in 1877 & the era of Reconstruction ended (1865-1877)

- Power is returned to the Southern Democrats (redeemers).

Election of 1876 & Compromise of 1877

Successes & Failures of Reconstruction

Successes Failures

- Blacks were allowed to play a role in government politics through the end of Reconstruction.

- Public schools established by the Freedmen’s Bureau were open to all.

- Thousands of free blacks learnedto read & write.

- Race relations did not improve.(increased) black/white tensions.

- The Ku Klux Klan grew.

- Race riots took place across theSouth.

- Government corruption increasedduring the period.

- “Redeemers” (Ex-Confederate Democrats) regained control)

- 1877: Conservative-Democrats take control of the South.

- Moved to disfranchise (take away) the black vote.

- Eight Box Law (1881): had to put your vote in the right ballot box.

- Poll Taxes: had to pay a tax to vote.

- Literacy Tests: had to read part of the SC Constitution out-loud.

Beginnings of “Jim Crow”

Poll Tax Receipt

- These tactics were designed to stop poor & illiterate blacks & whites from voting.

- 1876 = 90,000 people in SC voted Republican.

- 1888 = less than 14,000 voted Republican.

- Some states made you own land in order to vote(kept away the poor).

“Jim Crow” Cont.

“Jim Crow” Cont.

- Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather could vote before the Civil War, then you could.

- Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court case which establishedthe principle of “separate but equal” facilities for blacks & whites(rarely equal).

- All of these actions led to de jure segregation.