Life After the War

Life After the WarChapter 4 Lesson 4Lesson 4When the Civil War finally ended, it was clear that peace had not come easily. More than 600,000 soldiers had died. Many others had returned home wounded. Much of the South was destroyed. And now the President was dead. The years following the war were hard ones. However, the end of the war brought hope to at least one group of peoplethe former slaves.A Free PeopleThe Thirteenth Amendment to the ConstitutionPassed in December of 1865Banned slavery in the United States Forever

Free AfricansFormed new communitiesBuilt churches and schoolsOpened storesFormed groups to help people find jobs and to take care of people who were sick

Many former slaves began searching for family members that had been sold and sent awayUsed newspapers to advertiseMost never found who they were looking forFor the ones that did it was a joyful time

The Freedmans Bureau1865 Congress set this program up to help former slavesReal name was Bureau of Refugess, Freedmen, and Abandoned LandsGave food and other supplies to freed slavesIt also helped some white farmers rebuild their farmsMost important work was educationTaught them how to read and writeBuilt more than 4,000 schoolsHired thousands of teachers

SharecroppingPlantation owners were given there land back after the war.Most freed slaves had trouble finding work and the plantation owners needed workers so many went back to work on the farms.This time they had to be paid.Most plantation owners couldnt pay with money so they paid them in shares.Landowners gave a worker a cabin, mules, tools, and seedThe farmer then worked the land.At harvest, the landowner took part of the crops, plus enough to pay for the items given.What was left was the workers.

The ReconstructionVice President, Andrew Johnson became the president when Lincoln diedHe tried to carry out Lincolns promise to be fair to the SouthHe pardoned most Confederates who promised loyalty to the United States.They became citizens again and were given their right to vote back.They had accept the 13th amendmentMany Southerners were elected to gov. offices

Many Northerners were upset because they wanted the South to be punished.

Black CodesLaws were passed in the South that limited the rights of former slavesThey were different from state to stateEx. Not allowed to voteNot allowed to travel freelyCouldnt own certain propertyCouldnt work in certain businessesThey could be made to work in the fields for free if they could not find a job

Secret GroupsAfter the war ended secret groups formed in the South to keep Africans from having their rights as free personsKu Klux Klan or the KKK was one of these groupsDressed in white robes and hoodsDelivered nighttime messages of hateBroke into homesKilled AfricansBurned African schools and churchesPunished anyone who helped former slaves also

Congress Takes ActionCongress did not agree with what the South was doing so they voted to change to a plan that was much tougher than Johnsons.1st- Congress did away with state government and put the South under Union army ruleArmy officers became governorsIn order for states to reestablish its gov. it had to write a new state constitution giving all me the right to voteThey also had to pass the 14th amendmentGave citizenship to all people born in the U.S.-even former slaves

President Johnson is mad!He got mad that Congress went behind his back to change lawsHe refused to carry them out1868, the House of Rep. voted to impeach him (aka charge him with a crime)He was put on trial in the SenateAfter a close votehe was found not guiltyThis weakened his leadershipAfter the laws in the south went into affect African Americans from the South were elected to Congress for the first time.

Reconstruction EndsState Governments made many changes.They did away with the black codes.15th Amendment- no citizen can be kept from voting because of raceThey built hospitals and school and repaired roads, bridges, and railroadsTo pay for all this they had high taxes on land which hurt the landowners and they were forced to sell their land

Southerners quickly got mad at all thisThey called white Southerners who supported the gov. scalawagsNortherners went to the South to try to help with the Reconstruction or to make money and were called carpetbaggers after the suitcases they carriedWhite Southerners took back control by the KKK and eventually took back over gov. officesThis is when laws led to segregation, separation of blacks and whitesReconstruction ended in 1877