Reconstruction

Rebuilding the Union

READING WITH QUESTIONS

Complete the handout “The Challenges of Reconstruction”

Freedmen’s Bureau

• Established by Congress in March 1865

• First American welfare system that helped ex-slaves and poor whites with food, clothing, education

• Biggest Success: education!!

Lincoln’s Plan

• Lenient toward the South; “with malice toward none, with charity for all”

• Once ten-percent of a state’s voters pledged allegiance to the Union, Lincoln would readmit that state back into the Union

• Congress rejected Lincoln’s “Ten-Percent Plan”

13th Amendment

• Prohibition of slavery

• "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Johnson’s Plan

• Andrew Johnson believed in being lenient with the South like Lincoln

• Did not consider African Americans to be on equal terms with whites

• Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which limited the President’s power to dismiss a member of his cabinet

• Johnson dismissed his Sec’y of War anyway• Johnson was impeached in 1868

• Only one vote saved him from removal

Black Codes

• Southern states tried to keep freedmen from voting and obtaining same rights as white people

• Passed “Black Codes”, which prevented “persons of color” from voting, serving on juries, testifying in court against whites, holding office, marrying whites, traveling freely

Congressional Reconstruction

• Moderate Republicans joined with “Radical Republicans” – a smaller group of Republicans who believed that the South should be punished and that African Americans should be granted full political and civil equality

• Passed a civil rights bill and a bill to enlarge freedmen’s bureau; Johnson vetoed; Republicans overrode

Civil Rights Act

• Prohibited discrimination based on race, thus overturning the Black Codes

• Made all persons born in the U.S. into citizens, which gave them the same rights as white citizens

14th Amendment

• To make sure freedmen got the rights established in the Civil Rights Act, Congress passed the 14th amendment

• Prevents states from denying African Americans the rights and privileges of citizens

• Southern states had to ratify to get back into the Union

15th Amendment

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

ACTIVITYRead and answer questions on the 14th Amendment

Reconstruction in the South

• Radical Republicans divided the South into 5 districts – each one occupied by Union troops

• New Southern governments were elected

• “Carpetbaggers” – not a nice term for Northerners coming to the South for business opportunities or to help freedmen

• “Scalawags” – Southern whites who supported Reconstruction

Hiram Rhodes Revel

• Became the first African American to be elected to Congress in 1870

• Elected to the Senate from Mississippi

• Fifteen other African Americans sat in Congress during Reconstruction

ACTIVITY

Imagine you are an African-American freedman, a Northern “carpetbagger”, or a white “scalawag” in a Southern state. Write a paragraph for an editorial in a local newspaper explaining your views on Reconstruction in your state

The “New South”

• Sharecropping – landowner provided land and tools, farmer had to pay back with crops

• Tenant farmers – rented land from the landowner but provided their own tools and provisions

• Debt Peonage – if owed any money at all to the landlord, could not leave until debt was paid

The “New South”

• New farming methods used• New crops like fruits and

vegetables was added• Railroads, cotton mills, and steel

furnaces were built

Reconstruction Ends with The Compromise of 1877

• Rutherford B. Hayes was voted in as President.

• In exchange, federal troops were withdrawn from the South

Failure of Reconstruction

• Legacy of Racism• Economic Dependence of African

Americans• Freedmen Lacked Education and

Political Experience• White Terrorism (KKK)• Loss of Northern Interest in

Southern Reconstruction

Nadir – low point in American race relations

• Openly targeted by the KKK• Kept from voting through:

• Literacy tests• Poll Taxes• Grandfather Clauses

As a result, whites gained control of local, state, and federal governments; became supporters of Democratic Party (Solid South)

“Jim Crow” laws

• Segregation• Denied black citizens equal

opportunities and rights• Reinforced white racism• Conveyed message that whites

were superior• Circumvented the 13th, 14th, and

15th amendments

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Railroad cars were separated by race

• Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in the white car – he sued

• The Supreme Court upheld racial segregation

• “Separate IS equal”

Florida History

• Josiah T. Walls, former slave and Union veteran, was first black Floridian elected to the U.S. House of Representatives

• Jim Crow laws were in effect• African Americans who sought work

in a turpentine camp were offered a bus ride to camp – they had to work off the ride, housing, and food – they became virtual prisoners (debt peonage)

• Produced 1/5th of the world’s turpentine

Checkpoint

• What impact did Radical Republicans in Congress have on Reconstruction?

A. They opposed the passage of the 14th amendment

B. They encouraged the freedmen to exercise their new political rights

C. They persuaded President Johnson to pardon former Confederate leaders

D. They prevented President Johnson from sending federal troops to the South

Checkpoint

• What impact did Radical Republicans in Congress have on Reconstruction?

A. They opposed the passage of the 14th amendment

B. They encouraged the freedmen to exercise their new political rights

C. They persuaded President Johnson to pardon former Confederate leaders

D. They prevented President Johnson from sending federal troops to the South

Checkpoint

• What is the best contemporary definition of a “scalawag”?

A. A Northern abolitionist who supported the Freedmen’s Bureau

B. A Northerner who came to the South after the Civil War

C. A white Southerner who supported Reconstruction

D. A freedman entitled to vote

Checkpoint

• What is the best contemporary definition of a “scalawag”?

A. A Northern abolitionist who supported the Freedmen’s Bureau

B. A Northerner who came to the South after the Civil War

C. A white Southerner who supported Reconstruction

D. A freedman entitled to vote

Checkpoint

• What was an important effect of the sharecropping system and debt peonage?

A. Freedmen achieved social and political equality in the South

B. Freedmen played an important role in local and state government

C. Freedmen achieved economic independence from their former masters

D. Freedmen often remained in a state of economic dependence on their former masters

Checkpoint

• What was an important effect of the sharecropping system and debt peonage?

A. Freedmen achieved social and political equality in the South

B. Freedmen played an important role in local and state government

C. Freedmen achieved economic independence from their former masters

D. Freedmen often remained in a state of economic dependence on their former masters

Checkpoint

• Which two groups most helped the freedmen during the Reconstruction Era?

A. Radical Republicans and carpetbaggersB. Northern Democrats and Ku Klux Klan

membersC. Southern Democrats and supporters of

the Black CodesD. Confederate veterans and supporters

of President Andrew Johnson

Checkpoint

• Which two groups most helped the freedmen during the Reconstruction Era?

A. Radical Republicans and carpetbaggersB. Northern Democrats and Ku Klux Klan

membersC. Southern Democrats and supporters of

the Black CodesD. Confederate veterans and supporters

of President Andrew Johnson