Reconstruction Reconstruction and the Black Experienceand the Black Experience

1865-18771865-1877

Responding to freedomResponding to freedom

First reaction of newly-freed African First reaction of newly-freed African Americans = get away from the plantation!Americans = get away from the plantation!Seek jobs, new way of life, familiesSeek jobs, new way of life, families

Families are rebuiltFamilies are rebuilt Freedmen’s bureau helps reunite familiesFreedmen’s bureau helps reunite families Slaves could now marry legallySlaves could now marry legally No more fear of being sold away from familyNo more fear of being sold away from family

Freedmen’s schoolsFreedmen’s schools During Reconstruction, the During Reconstruction, the

freed people gave a high freed people gave a high priority to the creation of priority to the creation of schools, often with the schools, often with the assistance of the assistance of the Freedmen's Bureau and Freedmen's Bureau and northern missionary northern missionary societies. societies.

Between 1865 and 1870, Between 1865 and 1870, the Freedmen’s Bureau the Freedmen’s Bureau spent $5 million just on spent $5 million just on education!education!This photograph of a newly established school was

taken around 1870, showing both the barefoot students and the teacher. (Library of Congress)

African Americans of all ages eagerly pursued the opportunity freedom provided to gain an education. This young woman in Mt. Meigs, Alabama, is helping her mother learn to read.

More than 150,000 More than 150,000 African American African American students attended 3000 students attended 3000 schools by 1869schools by 1869 Why was education so Why was education so

important to freed people?important to freed people? Many white Southerners Many white Southerners

were against freemen’s were against freemen’s schoolsschools Attacks on teachersAttacks on teachers Burning schools Burning schools

40 Acres and a Mule40 Acres and a Mule

Most freedmen wanted/expected land to help them Most freedmen wanted/expected land to help them become economically independentbecome economically independent Rumor spread that the government would give all ex-slaves Rumor spread that the government would give all ex-slaves

forty acres and a mule to start their new livesforty acres and a mule to start their new lives Radical Republicans proposed taking away land from Radical Republicans proposed taking away land from

plantation owners and giving it to freed people, but plantation owners and giving it to freed people, but the idea did not have enough support in Congress to the idea did not have enough support in Congress to passpass Many felt that civil/voting rights were enoughMany felt that civil/voting rights were enough Land reform would be too harsh on SouthernersLand reform would be too harsh on Southerners

Result: freed people turned to contracts or Result: freed people turned to contracts or sharecropping to make a livingsharecropping to make a living

Contract system vs. sharecroppingContract system vs. sharecropping

Pros Pros African Americans could African Americans could

decide whom to work fordecide whom to work for Planters could not abuse them Planters could not abuse them

or split up familiesor split up families Cons Cons

Like in slavery, workers could Like in slavery, workers could not leave the plantation not leave the plantation without permissionwithout permission

Planters often cheated workers Planters often cheated workers out of wages and benefitsout of wages and benefits

Laws punished workers for Laws punished workers for breaking contracts even if they breaking contracts even if they did so for good reason!did so for good reason!

ProsPros Families without land now had a Families without land now had a

place to farmplace to farm Landowners had a source of Landowners had a source of

cheap laborcheap labor ConsCons

Farmers wanted to grow food Farmers wanted to grow food crops for their families but crops for their families but landowners wanted them to grow landowners wanted them to grow cash crops like cotton; surplus of cash crops like cotton; surplus of cotton actually drove the price cotton actually drove the price DOWN, resulting in poverty!DOWN, resulting in poverty!

Cycle of debt created by the Cycle of debt created by the system tied workers to the land system tied workers to the land (p. 527)(p. 527)

In the contract system, freed African Americans worked on the plantation in exchange for wages, shelter, and food

In the In the sharecroppingsharecropping system, workers system, workers rented a plot of land in exchange for a rented a plot of land in exchange for a share of the cropshare of the crop

Before the Civil War, about 135 slaves worked on the plantation, supervised by an overseer and a slave foreman. After the war, the former slaves who remained on the plantation signed labor contracts with owner David Barrow. Freedmen grew cotton for wage, but they disliked the new arrangement. In the late 1860s, Barrow subdivided his land into tenant farms of twenty-five to thirty acres, and freedmen moved their households from the old slave quarters to their own farms. By 1881, 161 tenants lived on the Barrow plantation, at least half of them children. One out of four families was named Barrow.

The Barrow plantation, 1860-1881The Barrow plantation, 1860-1881

Sharecropping gave African Americans more control over their labor than did labor contracts. But sharecropping also contributed to the south's dependence on one-crop agriculture and helped to perpetuate widespread rural poverty.

At plantation stores merchants recorded in their ledger books debts that few sharecroppers were able to repay. (from Mississippi 1868)

African Americans and African Americans and the Politics of Reconstructionthe Politics of Reconstruction

Of all the opportunities now open to African Americans during Of all the opportunities now open to African Americans during Reconstruction, the right to vote was seen as the most Reconstruction, the right to vote was seen as the most important.important.

During Reconstruction, more than 600 African Americans During Reconstruction, more than 600 African Americans served in state legislature, and sixteen of the new U.S. served in state legislature, and sixteen of the new U.S. congressmen/senators were African Americans as wellcongressmen/senators were African Americans as well Important names include Hiram Revels and Robert B. ElliotImportant names include Hiram Revels and Robert B. Elliot Which political party did they support?Which political party did they support?

Reconstruction Statistics: Reconstruction Statistics: African American Members of CongressAfrican American Members of Congress

African American Members of Congress, 1868-2000

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1868

1874

1880

1886

1892

1898

1904

1910

1916

1922

1928

1934

1940

1946

1952

1958

1964

1970

1976

1982

1988

1994

2000

Year

Nu

mb

er

of

Mem

bers

House of Representatives

Senate

White Resistance to Black RightsWhite Resistance to Black Rights In addition to poverty, In addition to poverty,

freedmen faced racism!freedmen faced racism! Many whites Many whites

(especially in the South) (especially in the South) opposed giving African opposed giving African Americans Americans opportunities to rise in opportunities to rise in societysociety

As a result, groups As a result, groups formed to intimidate formed to intimidate African Americans to African Americans to keep them from keep them from asserting their rightsasserting their rightsThis 1866 cartoon opposed the Freedmen’s Bureau

because it would “keep [African Americans] in idleness at the expense of the white man”….what sort of message was this cartoonist trying to send?

The KKKThe KKK

In this picture, the artist has portrayed a group of Klansmen contemplating the murder of a white Republican. (Library of Congress)

The The Ku Klux KlanKu Klux Klan was a secret was a secret organization that aimed to organization that aimed to remove Republicans from power remove Republicans from power and restore white control of the and restore white control of the SouthSouth LynchingLynching blacks for “crimes” blacks for “crimes”

committed against whites was a committed against whites was a scare tactic sometimes used scare tactic sometimes used

Targets of the KKK included Targets of the KKK included prosperous African Americans prosperous African Americans and white Republicansand white Republicans

Klan victims had little protection. Klan victims had little protection. Some authorities were against Some authorities were against Reconstruction and simply Reconstruction and simply ignored the violenceignored the violence

The KKK terrorized African The KKK terrorized African Americans to keep them from Americans to keep them from voting.voting. These tactics helped Democrats These tactics helped Democrats

increase their powerincrease their power The KKK was finally The KKK was finally

outlawed in 1871,(not that it outlawed in 1871,(not that it disappeared)disappeared) It was not the only group trying It was not the only group trying

to keep African Americans to keep African Americans from accessing their rights .from accessing their rights .

Alabama's White League, formed in 1874, strove to oust Republicans from office by intimidating black voters.

To political cartoonist Thomas Nast, such vigilante tactics suggested an alliance between the White League and the outlawed Ku Klux Klan. (Harper's Weekly, October 24, 1874)