Unit 1: Reconstruction

A. Reconstruction Defined

1. Reconstruction: the period of rebuilding the South and readmitting Southern states into the Union following the Civil War

B. Reconstruction Plans

1. Lincoln & The “10%” Plan● A) 10 % of voters in a Southern state must take an oath

of loyalty to the Union● B) State could then create a new state constitution that

was required to ban slavery● C) Amnesty: forgiveness of crimes

○ Offered to most Southerners except top Confederate leaders

B. Reconstruction Plans

2. Radical RepublicansA) Definition: Group of Republicans that thought Lincoln

was too soft in his approach to dealing with the South

Leader: Thaddeus Stevens (PA)

B. Reconstruction Plans - Radicals

B) The Wade-Davis Bill1) Majority of white Southerners in a state must

pledge loyalty to the Union 2) Create a new state constitution that banned slavery3) Former Confederate soldiers could not vote or hold

political office Lincoln used the “pocket-veto” to stop this plan

Lincoln’s Assassination

Actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford’s Theater

Vice-President Andrew Johnson became the President

Johnson was from the south, but supported the Union during the war

B. Reconstruction Plans

3. President Johnson’s PlanA) Amnesty for Southerns that took an oath of loyalty

Confederate leaders could only receive amnesty if they appealed to the President

B) States must outlaw slavery in state constitution

C) States must ratify the 13th AmendmentAbolished slavery

C. Radicals in Control

1. Civil Rights Act (1866)A. Passed by Congress to combat black codes

Black Codes - laws passed in Southern states to try to control freedmen and freedwomen

Johnson vetoed the bill claiming that Congress was interfering with state’s rights and that not all states were represented in Congress

Congress overrode the President’s veto

C. Radicals in Control

2. The 14th Amendment (1868) A) Citizenship for African-AmericansB) Equal protection of the laws for all citizens

C. Radicals in Control

3. The 15th Amendment (1869) A) State and Federal government could not deny the right

to vote based on race

C. Radicals in Control

4. The Reconstruction Acts (1867)A) Divided Southern states that did not pass the 14th

Amendment into military districts until new state governments were created that did pass the 14th Amendment

D. Johnson Impeached

1. Impeach - to formally charge an elected official with wrongdoing

2. Impeachment Process:A) House of Representatives - Impeach B) Senate - conducts a trial

Removed from office if found guilty

D. Johnson Impeached

3. Why was Johnson Impeached?A) Radicals passed the Tenure of Office Act

Required the POTUS to get Congressional permission before removing Cabinet members

Technically was unconstitutional

B) Johnson fired Secretary of War, Edwin StantonStanton was a Radical Republican

C) Senate voted that Johnson was not guilty

E. Life in the South

1. The Freedmen’s Bureau A) Organization created by Lincoln & Congress to help

freed slaves adjust to life after slavery

Greatest contribution was the creation of schools, colleges and universities

E. Life in the South

2. Carpetbaggers and ScalawagsA) Carpetbaggers: White Northerners who moved to

the South during ReconstructionSome were corrupt and dishonest but most had good intentions

of helping rebuild the South

B) Scalawags: Former Confederates that joined the Republican Party

Mostly business owners

E. Life in the South

3. SharecroppingA) Sharecropping: system of farming in which a farmer

works land for an owner and receives a % of the crop as payment

Most sharecroppers were freed slaves

B) Why Sharecropping? - Scarcity Former plantation owners had land but no workersFreed slaves mostly did not own land, had little education and

mostly lacked other skills

E. Life in the South

4. The economics of the “New South”A) An emphasis on increased industrialization as a

way to rebuilt the SouthIron & Steel, Tobacco, Cotton & Textiles

E. Life in the South

5. Voting Restrictions for FreedmenA) Literacy TestsB) Poll TaxesC) Grandfather Clauses

E. Life in the South

6. Segregation & ViolenceA) Separation or isolation of races

Legalized in public in Southern states by “Jim Crow” laws

Upheld by the US Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson

B) Ku Klux KlanSecret group that used violence to intimidate African-Americans and

whites that supported themLynching - method of public hanging used by the KKK

F. The Election of 1876 - Reconstruction Ends

F. The Election of 1876 - Reconstruction Ends

1. What is the Electoral College & how do you win?A) What is it?

The official method of electing the President

B) How do you win?Each state has an assigned # of electoral votes based on their state’s representation in the

US Congress

# of Reps (population) + # of Senators (2) = # of Electoral Votes

Candidates win electoral votes by winning the popular vote of a state

Popular Vote: votes cast by individual voters

538 total electoral votes

270 Electoral Votes needed to win the election

F. The Election of 1876 - Reconstruction Ends

2. The Election of 1876A) Tilden (Democrat) narrowly won the popular voteB) Electoral vote was disputed in 3 Southern statesC) Commission was created by Congress to

determine a winnerD) Hayes (Republican) declared the winner

Republicans agree to withdraw soldiers from theSouth