reconstruction between 1865 and 1877, the federal government carried out a program to repair the...
TRANSCRIPT
Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government carried out a program to repair
the damage to the South and restore the southern states to the Union. This program was
known as ReconstructionReconstruction. FreedmenFreedmen (freed slaves) were starting out
their new lives in a poor region with slow economic activity.
Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $3 billion.
Poor white Southerners could not find work because of new job competition from
FreedmenFreedmen. The war had destroyed two thirds of the South’s shipping industry and about 9,000
miles of railroad.
The Taste of FreedomFreedom of movement: Enslaved people often walked away
from plantations upon hearing that the Union army was near. Exodusters: moved to Kansas and Texas
Freedom to own land: Proposals to give white-owned land to freed people got little support from the government. Unofficial land redistribution did take place, however.
Freedom to worship: African Americans formed their own churches and started mutual aid societies, debating clubs, drama societies, and trade associations.
Freedom to learn: Between 1865 and 1870, black educators founded 30 African American colleges.
1865, Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau to help former
slaves get a new start in life. This was the first major relief agency in United
States history.
Bureau’s AccomplishmentsBuilt thousands of schools to educate
Blacks. Former slaves rushed to get an education
for themselves and their children. Education was difficult and dangerous to
gain. Southerners hated the idea that Freedmen would go to school.
Importance of Educ to freedmen
Letter by a Teacher teaching freedmen on Letter by a Teacher teaching freedmen on the importance of education, 1869:the importance of education, 1869:
“It is surprising to me to see the amount of suffering which many of the people endure for
the sake of sending their children to school. Men get very low wages here---from $2.50 to $8.00 month usually, while a first rate hand may get $10.00, and a peck or two of meal per week for
rations-----and a great many men cannot get work at all.
The women take in sewing and washing, go out by day to sour, etc. There is one woman who
supports three children and keeps them at school; she says, “ I don’t care how hard I has to
work, if I can only send Sallie and the boys to school looking respectable.”
Freedmen’s Bureau 2
Freedmen’s Bureau 4
Freedmen’s Bureau 5
are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds….to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among
ourselves, and with all nations.”
Lincoln’s speech
“With malice toward none; with
charity for all; with firmness in the
right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to
finish the work we
• State can be brought back into the Union when 10 percent of its voters from the 1860 election take an oath of allegiance to the United States and abide by emancipation.
• Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan”
pardon
• 50 percent of a state’s voters must take oath of allegiance
• Emancipation for slaves
• Congress will administer Reconstruction
• Lincoln pocket-vetoes the bill, and Congress responds by refusing to seat delegates from Louisiana government created by Lincoln’s plan
Amnesty:Amnesty: Presidential pardonPresidential pardon•Rebels sign an oath of allegianceRebels sign an oath of allegiance
•10% of the population10% of the population• Leading Confederates lose right to vote, BUTLeading Confederates lose right to vote, BUT
•Even high ranking Confederate officials can petition for pardonsEven high ranking Confederate officials can petition for pardons
Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•approve the approve the 13th Amendment13th Amendment
•reject secession and state’s rightsreject secession and state’s rights•submit to U.S. Government authoritysubmit to U.S. Government authority
No mention ofNo mention of•Education for freedmenEducation for freedmen
•Citizenship and voting rightsCitizenship and voting rights
•Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil
War.
•Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the
South’s Reconstruction.
•Supported Lincoln’s Plan
•Engaged in a power struggle with Congress
over who would lead the country through Reconstruction.
•Would be impeached but not removed from
office.
•Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil
War.
•Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the
South’s Reconstruction.
•Supported Lincoln’s Plan
•Engaged in a power struggle with Congress
over who would lead the country through Reconstruction.
•Would be impeached but not removed from
office.
John Picture background info
Plans compared
•AmnestyAmnesty : : Presidential pardonPresidential pardon•oath of allegiance---50%
•high ranking Confederate officials•lose voting rights if you don’t sign oath
•Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•Ratify: 13, 14 & 15 Amendments•reject secession and state’s rights
•submit to U.S. Government authority•Help for FreedmenHelp for Freedmen
•Freedmen’s Bureau for education•40 acres and a mule
•Divide the South into 5 military districts
Reconstruction Act of 1867-Reconstruction Act of 1867--76 (Harsh)(Harsh)
Thaddeus Stevens Charles Sumner
•Wanted to see the South punished.
•Advocated political, social and economic equality for the Freedmen.
•Would go after President Johnson through the impeachment process after he vetoes
the Civil Rights Act of 1866.Radical Republicans
Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, 18661866
“Strip a proud nobility of their bloated estates, send them forth to labor and you
will thus humble the proud traitors.”
Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, 18671867
“I am for Negro suffrage in every rebel state. If it be just, it should not be denied: if it be necessary, it should be adopted: if it be a punishment of traitors, they deserve
it.”
As southern states were restored to the Union under President Johnson’s plan, they began to enact black codes, laws that
restricted freedmen’s rights. The black codes established virtual slavery with provisions such as
these:Curfews: Generally, black people could not gather after sunset.Vagrancy laws: Freedmen convicted of vagrancy– that is, not
working– could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor.Labor contracts: Freedmen had to sign agreements in January
for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned.
Land restrictions: Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations.
•President Johnson vetoed the Civil
Rights Act of 1866
•Gave $$$$ to Freedmen’s Bureau
for schools and granted citizenship to the Freedmen
•Congress believed Johnson was working
against Reconstruction and overrode his veto.
•Leads to the 14th Amendment
•President Johnson vetoed the Civil
Rights Act of 1866
•Gave $$$$ to Freedmen’s Bureau
for schools and granted citizenship to the Freedmen
•Congress believed Johnson was working
against Reconstruction and overrode his veto.
•Leads to the 14th Amendment
Johnson’s Veto
An inflexible President, 1866: Republican cartoon shows Johnson knocking Blacks of the Freedmen’s
Bureau by his veto.
An inflexible President, 1866: Republican cartoon shows Johnson knocking Blacks of the Freedmen’s
Bureau by his veto.
Impeachment:Impeachment: Bringing charges against the President. Two steps
involved……
1st Step: U. S. House of Representatives hold hearings to decide if there are crimes committed. They then vote on the charges
and if there is a majority, then, charges are brought against the President.
2nd Step: U.S. Senate becomes a courtroom. The President is tried for the charges brought against him. The Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court is the judge. Once trial is completed, Senators must
vote to remove President with a 2/3’s vote.
Impeachment process
Brought up on 11 charges of high
crimes and misdemeanors.
Tenure in Office Tenure in Office Act:Act: Law Congress passed. President can’t fire any of his cabinet members
without consulting Congress.
fired Edwin Stanton
Missed being removed from office
by 1 vote
Presidency would suffer as a result of this failed
impeachment. President would be more
of a figure-head. Saved the separation of
powers of 3 branches govt.
Civil Rights: What Blacks want
““All persons born in the U.S. are citizens of this country and the state they reside in. No state No state shall make or enforce any law shall make or enforce any law
which deprives any person of life, which deprives any person of life, liberty, or property, without due liberty, or property, without due process of lawprocess of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction to
the equal protection of the lawsequal protection of the laws.”
The CongressCongress shall have power to enforceenforce by appropriate
legislation, the provisions of this article.
14th 14th: Rights of Citizens
““The The right of citizensright of citizens of the of the United States to United States to votevote shall not be shall not be denied or abridged by the United denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account States or by any State on account
of race, color, or previous of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.condition of servitude”.
The The Congress Congress shall have shall have power to power to enforceenforce this article by appropriate this article by appropriate
legislation.legislation.14th
15th: Voting Rights
•13th AmendmentAbolished slavery
(1865)
•14th Amendment Provided citizenship & equal protection
under the law. (1868)
•15th Amendment Provided the right to
vote for all men which included white
and black men. (1870)Voting rights
The 14th and 15th AmendmentsIn 1867 and 1869 Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments,
granting African American males citizenship, equality under the law and the right to vote.
In 1867 and 1868, voters in southern states chose delegates to draft new state constitutions. One quarter of the delegates elected were black.
The new state constitutions guaranteed civil rights, allowed poor people to hold political office, and set up a system of public schools and orphanages.
In 1870, southern black men voted in legislative elections for the first time. More than 600 African Americans were elected to state legislatures, Louisiana gained a black governor, and Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American elected to the Senate.
Black Congressmen
First Black Senators and
representatives in the 42st and 42nd Congress.
Senator Hiram Revels, on the
left was elected in 1870 to
replace the seat vacated by
Jefferson Davis.
First Black Senators and
representatives in the 42st and 42nd Congress.
Senator Hiram Revels, on the
left was elected in 1870 to
replace the seat vacated by
Jefferson Davis.
Once Johnson is impeached,
Congress passes Reconstruction
Act of 1867.
The South would be reconstructed under the Radical Republicans plan.
Republicans would elect Grant as their President
and he would carry out the
Radical Reconstruction.“The Strong
Government”, 1869-1877. Grant
enforcing the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and
“forcing” the South to change.
Military Reconstructio
n
Each number indicates the Military Districts
•Women rights supporters refused to support the 14th Amendment giving African American Men citizenship unless women were added to it.
•Abolitionists would not support women’s rights
Abolitionists vs Women’s rights
New South
New South•Becomes
industrialized
•Cities rebuilt
•Railroads
•Schools, over a thousand
•Hospitals, 45 in 14 states
•Diversify economy.
Funding ReconstructionRebuilding the South’s infrastructure, the public property and
services that a society uses, was one giant business opportunity.
Roads, bridges, canals, railroads, and telegraph lines had to be rebuilt.
Funds were also needed to expand services to southern citizens. Following the North’s example, all southern states created public school systems by 1872.
Congress, private investors, and heavy taxes paid for Reconstruction. Spending by Reconstruction legislatures added another $130 million to southern debt.
Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret society or
an inner circleOrganized in 1867, in Pulaski, Tennessee
by Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Represented the ghosts of dead
Confederate soldiers Disrupted
Reconstruction as much as they could.
Opposed Republicans,
Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and
Freedmen.
Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret society or
an inner circleOrganized in 1867, in Pulaski, Tennessee
by Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Represented the ghosts of dead
Confederate soldiers Disrupted
Reconstruction as much as they could.
Opposed Republicans,
Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and
Freedmen.
Spreading TerrorSpreading TerrorThe Ku Klux Klan
The Klan sought to eliminate the Republican Party in the South by intimidating voters.
They wanted to keep African Americans as submissive laborers.
They planted burning crosses on the lawns of their victims and tortured, kidnapped, or murdered them.
Prosperous African Americans, carpetbaggers, and scalawags became their victims.
The Federal Response President Grant’s War On
Terrorism. The Enforcement Act of
1870 banned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent people from voting.
Other laws banned the KKK and used the military to protect voters and voting places.
As federal troops withdrew from the South, black suffrage all but ended.
kkk
ALL HATED BY THE KKKALL HATED BY THE KKK
CarpetbaggersCarpetbaggers Northerners/Republicans sent to help
reconstruct the South….
ScalawagsScalawags Southerners who helped
Carpetbaggers
Freedmen Freedmen Blacks who tried to vote or were
involved in the reconstruction of their states governments.
During Radical Reconstruction, the Republican Party was a mixture of people who had little in common
except a desire to prosper in the postwar South. This bloc of voters included freedmen and two other
groups: carpetbaggers and scalawags.
Northern Republicans who moved to the postwar South became known as carpetbaggers.
Southerners gave them this insulting nickname, which referred to a type of cheap suitcase made from carpet scraps.
Carpetbaggers were often depicted as greedy men seeking to grab power or make a fast buck.
White southern Republicans were seen as traitors and called scalawags.
This was originally a Scottish word meaning “scrawny cattle.”
Refers to one who is a “scoundrel”, reprobate or unprincipled person.
Some scalawags were former Whigs who had opposed secession.
Some were small farmers who resented the planter class. Many scalawags, but not all, were poor.
kkk
Sharecroppers were Freedmen and poor Whites who stayed in
the South and continued to farm.
Freedmen signed a work contract with their former masters
.Picked cotton or whatever crop
the landowner had. Freedmen did not receive “40
acres and a mule”
•Sharecropping is primarily used in farming
•Landowner provided land, tools, animals, house and
charge account at the local store to purchase necessities
•Freedmen provided the labor.
•Sharecropping is based on the “credit” system.
Sharecroppers
Advantages Part of a business
ventureRaised their social
statusReceived 1/3 to 1/2 of
crop when harvestedRaised their self
esteem
DisadvantagesBlacks stay in SouthSome landowners refused to honor the
contractBlacks poor and in debt
Economic slavery
1. Poor whites and freedmen have no
jobs, no homes, and no money to buy
land.2. Landowners need laborers and have no
money to pay laborers.
4. Landlord keeps track of the money that
sharecroppers owe him for housing, food
or local store.
5. At harvest time, the sharecropper is
paid.
•Pays off debts.
•If sharecropper owes more to the landlord or store
than his share of the crop is worth;
6. Sharecropper cannot leave the
farm as long as he is in debt to the
landlord.
3. Hire poor whites and freedmen as
laborers
•Sign contracts to work landlord’s land
in exchange for a part of the crop.
Sharecroppers
369369 total electoral votes, need 185185 to win.
164
1876 Election
•Tilden did not receive enough electoral votes.
•Special Commission
gives votes to Hayes.
•Hayes wins the election
•Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President
1876 Election
•Tilden did not receive enough electoral votes.
•Special Commission
gives votes to Hayes.
•Hayes wins the election
•Democrats refuse to recognize Hayes as President
*
*Disputed Electoral
votes
The Democrats and Republicans work out a deal to recognize Hayes as PresidentIn return, President Hayes must end
Reconstruction and pull the Union troops out of the South.
Once this happens, there is no protection for the Freedmen and the South will regain their
states and go back to the way it was.
Rutherford B. HayesRutherford B. Hayes Samuel TildenSamuel Tilden
Agreement between
Democrats and Republicans
•Hayes pulls the troops out of the
South.
•Southerners take over their state
governments called “REDEEMERS”
•Successes FreedmenFreedmen would be lost because
Southerners would take over their state
governments.
•Jim CrowJim Crow laws kept Blacks from voting
and becoming equal citizens.
Agreement between
Democrats and Republicans
•Hayes pulls the troops out of the
South.
•Southerners take over their state
governments called “REDEEMERS”
•Successes FreedmenFreedmen would be lost because
Southerners would take over their state
governments.
•Jim CrowJim Crow laws kept Blacks from voting
and becoming equal citizens.
Cartoon of Hayes: end of Reconst
social reality
After Reconstruction, 1865 to 1876, there were several ways that Southern
states kept Blacks from voting and segregated, or separating people by
the color of their skin in public facilities..
Jim Crow laws, laws at the local and state level which segregated whites
from blacks and kept African Americans as 2nd class citizens and
from voting.poll taxesliteracy tests grandfather clause
social reality
The systematic practice of discriminating against
and segregating Black people, especially as
practiced in the American South from the end of
Reconstruction to the mid-20th century
Derogatory name for a Black person, ultimately from the title of a 19th-century minstrel song.
Goal: Take away political and constitutional
rights guaranteed by Constitution: Voting and
equality of all citizens under the law.
JC laws
Jim Crow Laws:Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks in
public facilities became the law after Reconstruction:
Jim Crow Laws:Jim Crow Laws: segregated Whites and Blacks in
public facilities became the law after Reconstruction:
•Used at the Used at the local, state local, state levels and levels and
eventually the eventually the national to national to
separate the separate the races inraces in
•kept Blacks, minorities and poor
whites from voting and as 2nd class citizen
status
•kept Blacks, minorities and poor
whites from voting and as 2nd class citizen
status
schools, schools, parks, parks,
transportationtransportation, restaurants, , restaurants,
etc….etc….
Poll Taxes:Poll Taxes: Before you could vote, you had to pay taxes to vote. Most poor Blacks could not pay the tax so they
didn’t vote.
Literacy Test:Literacy Test: You had to prove you could read and write before you could vote…. Once again, most poor Blacks
were not literate.
Grandfather clause:Grandfather clause: If your grandfather voted in the 1864 election than you could vote…..Most Blacks did
not vote in 1864, so you couldn’t vote….
Reconstruction EndsThere were five main factors that
contributed to the end of Reconstruction.•Corruption: Reconstruction legislatures & Grant’s
administration symbolized corruption & poor government.
•The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt.
•Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to regain control of the state governments.
•The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned ex-Confederates combined with other white Southerners to form a new bloc of Democratic voters known as the Solid South. They blocked Reconstruction policies.
•The Country: The Civil War was over and many Americans wanted to return to what the country was doing before the war.
Successes and Failures of Reconstruction
Successes Failures
Union is restored. Many white southerners bitter towards US govt & Republicans.South’s economy grows and
new wealth is created in the North.
The South is slow to industrialize.
14th and 15th amendments guarantee Blacks the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage.
After US troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny Blacks the right to vote.Freedmen’s Bureau and
other organizations help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling.
Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty.
Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education.
Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North.
Quote by Frederick Douglass 1
Quote by Frederick Douglass 2
Social equality vs. legal equality
Which way would the scale tip?Which way would the scale tip?
social reality
Supreme Court decision Supreme Court decision which legalized segregation which legalized segregation
throughout the nation.throughout the nation.•““Separate but Equal”Separate but Equal” as as
long as public facilities were long as public facilities were equalequal
•Problem:Problem: Black facilities Black facilities would never be equal to would never be equal to
White facilitiesWhite facilities
•Our nation would be Our nation would be segregated until the 1960’s.segregated until the 1960’s.
Booker T. WashingtonBooker T. WashingtonHow do Black Americans overcome How do Black Americans overcome
segregation?segregation?Southern PerspectiveSouthern Perspective
•Former slaveFormer slave•Wrote a book/Wrote a book/Up From SlaveryUp From Slavery
•Before you are considered Before you are considered equalequal in in society--must be self sufficient like most society--must be self sufficient like most
AmericansAmericans•Stressed Stressed vocational educationvocational education for Black for Black
AmericansAmericans•GradualismGradualism and economic and economic self-sufficiencyself-sufficiency
•Founder of Founder of Tuskegee InstituteTuskegee Institute
W.E.B. DuboisW.E.B. DuboisHow do Black Americans overcome How do Black Americans overcome
segregation?segregation?Northern PerspectiveNorthern Perspective
• Fought for immediate Black equality in society
• Talented 10%: Demanded the top 10% of the talented Black population be placed into the “power positions”
• Gain equality by breaking into power structure
• Founder of NAACP National Association for the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored PeopleAdvancement of Colored People