the rebuilding years chapter 15. timeline march 3, 1865 freedmen’s bureau created april 9 1865...

The Rebuilding YearsChapter 15

Timeline

March 3, 1865 Freedmen’s

Bureau created

April 9 1865 General Lee surrenders at

Appomattox Courthouse VA

1877 Compromise resolves disputed

US and SC elections

1877 Compromise ends

Reconstruction Era

1876 Alexander Graham Bell invents the

telephone

December 24, 1865 1st meeting of the Ku

Klux Klan

1867 Reconstruction

Acts

April 9, 1868 14th

Amendment Ratified

1868 President Johnson

Impeachment and trial

1869 Ulysses S Grant inaugurated

as President

February 3, 1870 15th Amendment

Ratified

1872 Yellowstone National Park

created

1876 South Carolina’s governor’s election

ends with two governors and two state legislatures

December 8, 1865 13th Amendment

Ratified

April 14 1865 Abraham Lincoln

assassinated; Andrew Johnson

becomes president

• Why was much of the work of rebuilding left to the Southerners?

Civil War Damage

After the Civil War, South Carolina had to rebuild its destroyed state and economy. The federal government did not believe it was their responsibility to rebuild the South economically Left much of the work to the Southern states themselves.

Damage to the Confederate capitol, Richmond, VA.

1. What was South Carolina responsible for rebuilding?

2. What problems did individuals and state governments have with rebuilding?

Civil War DamageSouth Carolina was responsible for rebuilding Towns, factories, farms, Towns, factories, farms, and transportation systemsand transportation systems

The problem with this was The problem with this was that… that… Individuals & state Individuals & state government government did not did not have have the money to rebuildthe money to rebuild

Because… Because… The economy was The economy was destroyed now that slave destroyed now that slave labor was gonelabor was gone

Damage to Archdale Hall plantation in Dorchester County

• The federal government created reconstruction plans to ensure that the hundreds of thousands of free slaves in SC received what?

The Freeing of Slaves

The federal government created reconstruction plans that focused on the South’s social and political roles. The federal government wanted to make sure that hundreds of thousands of freemen living in SC received fair treatment from the white Southerners.

Emancipation did not guarantee equal treatment

• After the Civil War, how did the labor on farms change?

The Freeing of SlavesReconstruction did little to help the South’s economic recovery

The economy continued to rest on agriculture and cotton But now depended on sharecropping rather than slave labor.

s).Freedmen working in the fields in Port

Royal, South Carolina.

The national government did not rebuild the war-torn region economically

It did not have an active role in managing the economy until the 20th century.

The South remained in a state of economic depression well into the 20th century (1900)

• What were the former slave owners’ reactions to slaves that left the plantation?

The Freeing of SlavesAs a result of the war and the 13th amendment, SC plantation owners lost their labor force and a very large part of their wealth.Many were astonished that their former slaves, who they thought were loyal to them, left the plantations. Feeling betrayed and resentful of the former slaves’ attitudes, many former slave owners became more hostile to the freedman.

Abandoned plantation in Louisiana.

• Why did former slaves not leave the South as soon as they had the opportunity?

The Freeing of SlavesAt the end of the war, many freedmen left the plantation looking for relatives sold “down the river” or seeking a taste of freedom.

Most soon returned to the area that they knew best, their former plantations.

Former slaves did not often leave the South as soon as they had the opportunity to escape because they had no where else to go.

They worked to consolidate their families and communities and establish a network of churches and other self-run institutions.

Freedmen’s school

The Freedman’s Bureau

The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, known as the Freedman’s Bureau, was established by Congress prior to the end of the Civil War.

One of the promises of the Bureau to the

freedmen was 40 acres and a mule.

1. Who did the Freedmen’s Bureau help?

2. What did the Freedmen’s Bureau do?

The Freedman’s Bureau1. The Bureau was the first line of assistance to

everyone affected by the war, including whites, as well as destitute freedmen.

2. Under the control of the United States army this agency provided food, clothing, medical care, education and some protection from the hostile white environment.

2. The Freedman’s Bureau helped many freedmen find jobs and established courts to protect the illiterate workers.

• What happened to the land promised to freedmen?

The Freedman’s BureauoPromised “40 acres and a mule.”oThey were to be given land that had been abandoned during the war or that had been confiscated to punish Confederates. oThe Bureau was forced to take these lands back from the freedmen when President Johnson pardoned the white owners & returned their property to them. oCongress would not pass legislation granting lands to freedmen because they respected the constitutional rights of Southern whites to their landed property.

Land that had been given to freedmen to start new lives had to

be given back.

• What was the most important contribution of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

The Freedman’s BureauThe most important contribution of the Freedman’s Bureau was the establishment of over 1,000 schools throughout the South.

•The Northern Aid Society created the Penn School in Beaufort.

•Religious denominations and Northern philanthropists also provided support for the establishment of colleges for African Americans in South Carolina.

•Both men & women traveled to the South to serve as teachers at the schools that were established. Top: inside view of Penn School

Above: School children from Penn School

• Why did many freedmen go to the privately supported freedom schools?

The Freeing of SlavesThe missionaries that came to the South to teach made a significant contribution to the education of African Americans. African Americans flocked to the privately supported freedom schools and the new public schools, anxious for the opportunity to learn to read and write denied them during slavery. Most freedmen, young and old, desperately wanted to learn. Prior to the end of slavery, some blacks had established schools.

Children from a Freedman’s School

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction

1.Overall Purpose:

2.Main Parts of the Plan:1. ___

2. ___

3. ___

4. ___

5. ___

3.Political Purpose:

Next 3 slides

Reconstruction in SCThe overall purpose of Pres.

Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction was to end the war as quickly as possible & was formulated before the end of the fighting.

He hoped to convince southern states, including SC, to surrender.

The 1st part of his plan required that only 10% of the population swear allegiance to the Union before they could reform their state governments and send representatives to Congress.

In this illustration, published after Abraham Lincoln's assassination,

reconciliation is offered in Lincoln's memory to the secessionist South. -

Library of Congress

Reconstruction in SCThe political purpose of Lincoln’s plan was to restore the southern states into full political union with the other states.The other parts of Lincoln’s plan were:

• Remove the government officials of the Confederate States of America and replace them with officials loyal to the Union

• Punish high ranking Confederates by removing their right to vote.

Reconstruction in SC

The other parts of Lincoln’s plan were:

• Confederates who took oath to the constitution and Union laws would receive a pardon and get their land back

• State governments were to impose significant social change by recognizing the end of slavery.

Lincoln’s assassination did not significantly change this Presidential Reconstruction plan.

Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction

1.Overall Purpose:


2. ___

3. ___

4. ___

5. ___

Next 2 slides

Reconstruction in SCPresident Johnson basically continued Lincoln’s plan with the additional purpose of humiliating the southern elite.

The main parts of his plan were:

• State would be readmitted when 10% of men took oath of allegiance to Union. Same as Lincoln

• Southern elite had to request a pardon from the president

President Andrew Johnson as published in

Harper’s Weekly magazine.


The main parts of his plan:• Approve the 13th amendment

made slavery illegal

• Nullify the Ordinance of Secession

• South had to repay people and institutions that helped finance the Confederacy

President Andrew Johnson as published in

Harper’s Weekly magazine.

Radical Republican Plan for Reconstruction

1.Overall Purpose:

2.Political Purpose:


2. ___

3. ___

4. ___

5. ___

Radical Republican Plan Overall – written to

protect the rights of newly freed slaves

Political – protect the Republican’s political power.

Main parts – The Confederacy would

be split into 5 military districts, under the command of a military governor

Main parts cont. – New state legislatures had to

approve the 14th amendment Voting rights (suffrage) were

given to black MALES and taken away from white males who participated in war.

No person who participated in war could hold public office.

State constitutions had to be approved by Congress

While the US Congress was not in session, what did South Carolina do concerning representatives and freedmen?


While the US Congress was not in session, the SC legislature elected former Confederates to Congress and passed Black Codes, which led to increased violence towards freedmen.

This, along with President Johnson’s opposition veto of the Freedman’s Bureau bill and his opposition to the 14th Amendment, significantly changed the course of Reconstruction policy.

• Because of the black codes, how did Congress treat South Carolina’s elected Southern officials?


Because of the Black Codes

Congress refused to admit returning Southern officials to their elected positions in Congress.

“Radical Republicans” won a majority in the congressional elections of 1866 and passed their own plan for Reconstruction.

This plan, known as the Radical Republican plan, was written to protect the rights of the newly freed slaves, as well as protect the Republican’s political power.

Manuscript of the South Carolina Black Codes


Map of the five military districts of the Radical Republican plan

(Tennessee was not included in a district).

Reconstruction in SCThe Southern white population had little social change in the beginning. Social classes remained fairly stable despite the loss of economic status by the planter elite. White South Carolinians resented most actions of African Americans.

A Library of Congress image entitled “The Black Codes”

1. What did the white Southerners fear that the newly freed slaves would do?

2. What did the “black codes” show about white South Carolinians’ attitudes after the Civil War?


1. Some white southerners feared retaliation by their former slaves, who were now free of the abuses of slavery.

2. Racial tensions escalated. When the Black Codes were developed, it showed that white South Carolinians were unwilling to recognize the social and political rights of the newly freed slaves.

1. After the war, how did the role of white women in South Carolina change?


The impact on women of the Reconstruction period depended on their social class.

The wives of both elite plantation owners & small farmers shared their husbands’ loss of social status and fear of economic competition from the freedmen.

Elite white women had to negotiate household services from former slave women or perform household tasks themselves.

The large number of men killed, and others physically & mentally impaired during the Civil War meant that many elite white women took on non-traditional roles.

Men who lost limbs during the war were unable to help on the farms

afterward, leaving much of the work to the women.

• Which groups supported more rights for women?


•Former slaves, carpetbaggers and scalawags also pushed for some women’s rights.

As a result of the constitution of 1868, women achieved some rights, including the right to own property in their own name after marriage.

A copy of the 1868 South Carolina Constitution

• The 13th Amendment to the Constitution:

Radical ReconstructionBefore they could form new state governments, Southern states had to ratify and assure that they would honor the 13th Amendment.

The 13th Amendment was the constitutional amendment which officially abolished slavery, which had a major social impact on Southern African Americans. •Freedmen worked to bring together their families and communities, establish a network of churches and other self-supporting institutions, claim equal citizenship, got an education and carve out as much independence as possible in their lives.

A signed copy of the 13th Amendment.

Radical Reconstruction

A political cartoon showing African Americans ‘ civil rights finally being

recognized.


The 14th Amendment was designed to protect the political & social rights of freedmen from intimidation of the Southern governments and people.

The 14th Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision & recognized the citizenship of African Americans

It upheld the right of all citizens to “equal protection” before the laws and “due process” of law.

The 14th Amendment•Required that 2/3 of the Congress vote to grant amnesty (forgiveness) to ex-Confederates before they could hold public office.•It included a provision that was designed to force states to grant political rights to freedmen by reducing representation for states that did not allow African Americans to vote. •This provision proved ineffective

Document showing both black and white representatives in the first state

legislature after the war.

The 15th Amendment

Passed to ensure that the right to vote was given to all male citizensoIn the North as well as in the South oNo would be denied based on “race, creed or previous condition of servitude.” oThe amendment was also motivated by the desire of the Republican Party to secure its political power in the South. oThe Southern vote, largely made up of the vote of African Americans, contributed to Grant’s election in 1868.

A color version of a Harper’s Weekly image showing African Americans voting for the first

time.

• Describe South Carolina’s reaction to…

1.The 14th and 15th Amendments.

2.The Constitutional Convention.

3.The freedom of African Americans.

Radical Reconstruction1. South Carolina refused to ratify

the 14th and 15th amendments. o As a result of Congressional

Reconstruction, the military governor of Military District 2 required SC to hold a convention to write a new state constitution.

2. However, whites boycotted the election of delegates to the constitutional convention.

3. This showed the refusal of white society to accept the freedom of African Americans and the authority of the federal government.

A Harper’s Weekly image showing the political feelings in 1868, it is

entitled “This is a white man’s government.”

• Why did Congress impeach Andrew Johnson?

Radical ReconstructionCongress impeached Johnson to ensure that as commander in chief he could not undermine its efforts.

–Impeaching is bringing charges against someone in office to determine if they need to be removed from their position.

Although he was not removed from office, Johnson’s power was limited. The Union army attempted to enforce the Reconstruction policy and the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.

Image from the impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• What group of South Carolinians had the most representatives in the 1868 constitutional convention?


During the constitutional convention to write the 1868 state constitution1868 state constitution, most whites boycotted the election of delegates to this constitutional convention.

The African American majority The African American majority of the population, resulted in more than half of the delegates to the convention being African American and half of those were newly freed slaves.

Recent immigrants to South Carolina were also selected to write the document.

Robert Brown Elliot was a Reconstruction-era Congressman and a delegate to the 1868 Constitutional

Convention.http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/elliott-robert-brown-

1842-1884

• How did the new constitution change government in South Carolina?

a)-

b)-

c)-

d)-

e)-

The 1868 Constitutiona) Based representation in the state

legislature on population alone, not on population and wealth

b) Abolished property qualifications for holding office

c) Gave the right to vote to all males

d) Created county governments for the first time, giving South Carolinians more direct control over local government

e) The state also recognized its responsibility for providing for public education for the first time.

Freedmen voting in 1868 in South Carolina

• How did this constitution change African Americans’ involvement in political office?

Reconstruction in SCExpansion of democracy = many groups

being able to participate in state government

African American African American men men were allowed were allowed to vote and hold officeto vote and hold office

Did so in large numbersAfrican Americans had greater political greater political power in SC than they did in any other southern state. Reflecting their numbers in the population, African Americans held every office in the state with the exception of the governorship Were a majority in the state legislature throughout the Reconstruction period.

Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero, served five terms in the US House

of Representatives

Harper’s Weekly political cartoon that portrays African American representatives as

unruly.

• Describe the South Carolina African Americans who served in the House of Representatives.

Reconstruction in SCSouth Carolina sent 6 African Americans to the United States House of Representatives. White propaganda often characterized the African-American elected officials as ignorant ex-slaves.Although they were inexperienced in governance, as were many whitesas were many whites…Most African Americans who served were literate (educated) members of the middle class, most of whom had been free before the Civil War.

• Carpetbaggers:

Radical ReconstructionNortherners, who immigrated to South Carolina after the war, also played a significant role in the governing of the state.

They were derisively called “carpetbaggers,” by white South Carolinians because they allegedly came to the South with all of their belongings in a carpetbag.

Carpet bags from the 1870s

The Rebuilding Years “B”

What were the reasons some Northerners came to South Carolina?

a)_

b)_

c)_

d)_

Radical ReconstructionThere were both men and women who came to SC as…

a)Teachers, missionaries or entrepreneurs

b)Some came as Union soldiers and stayed

c)Some found political opportunity in the Reconstruction governments

d)Others found economic opportunity


A political cartoon of a carpetbagger

1.South Carolinians accused carpetbaggers of coming to the South to do what?

2.Why did African Americans support the Republican Party?

Radical ReconstructionoAlthough many came to help, the carpetbaggers were not accepted by most of the white SC society.

1.They were accused of coming to the South to plunder and to encourage African Americans to vote for the Republican Party. oThey may have encouraged voting for the Republican Party, but this political connection was in the best interests of the African American community.

2. After Reconstruction, those African Americans who were able to continue to vote consistently selected the the Republican Party of Lincoln, which gave them liberation Republican Party of Lincoln, which gave them liberation and political empowerment.and political empowerment.


A political cartoon depicting the South as

being the laborer for the rich carpetbagger.

• Who were the people labeled “scalawags”?

Radical ReconstructionWhite South Carolinians who previously had little political voice in the state were another group that benefited from the new constitution that gave more freedom to the freedmen. Many of these men came from the Upcountry Called “scalawags” by other white South Carolinians They joined the Republican Party because they supported its position on economic growth and public schools. They wanted to rebuild the South in cooperation with the Reconstruction governments and to have a voice in the government.

1. Instead of giving freedmen land, what type of work did the Freedmen’s Bureau help former slaves get?

2. In what type of economic position did sharecropping place African Americans?

Radical ReconstructionThe great majority of African Americans did not receive land that would have given them economic independence.

1.Instead of having their own land, the Freedman’s Bureau helped African Americans to establish the sharecropping relationship with the workerless plantation owner.

2.This system mired African Americans, as well as landless poor whites, in economic dependence and poverty for generations

It did provide a role in the economic reconstruction of South Carolina.

Sharecroppers harvesting cotton, which remained the biggest US export after the

Civil War.

• How did sharecropping develop?

Radical ReconstructionFormer slave owners were now forced to perform all of the normal household and farm duties themselves or pay their workers, but their investments in Confederate dollars were worthless. Former slave owners had land, and no labor. Freedmen were willing to provide labor, but had no land.

Many African Americans entered into agreements with southern landowners, who were land rich & cash poor, known as sharecropping.

Freedmen working as a sharecropper

1. What was the landowner’s role in sharecropping?

2. What was the freedmen/sharecropper’s role in sharecropping?

3. What kind of relationship developed between the landowner and the sharecropper?

Radical Reconstruction1. In this sharecropping

arrangement, the landowner supplied the seed, tools and land and…

2. The sharecropper supplied the labor. – Both then shared the crop that

was produced

3. The landowners reestablished their former position as master through a new method.

• Although the sharecropper was able to move away from the old slave quarters, the sharecropper remained remained economically dependent on the economically dependent on the

landownerlandowner. .

How did sharecropping end up hurting the freedmen/sharecropper? – hint: describe crop liens


•In bad years the amount of In bad years the amount of crop shared might be very crop shared might be very little and sharecroppers little and sharecroppers would take out a loan in the would take out a loan in the form of lien on the next form of lien on the next year’s crop to buy supplies year’s crop to buy supplies to last until the next harvest. to last until the next harvest. This crop lien system placed the freedmen in a cycle of debt and dependence on the landowners.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/players/vb_sharecrop_rm.html

Percentage of farmland that was sharecropped



1. How were small farmers who had not owned slaves affected by the emancipation of slaves?

2. How did small farmers react when they felt their social “superiority” threatened?

Radical ReconstructionSmall farmers who had not owned slaves were not directly affected financially by their liberation.

1.However, now they had to now they had to compete with African American compete with African American sharecroppers when they marketed sharecroppers when they marketed their crops. their crops.

Many who had felt a sense of social superiority to slaves now felt that superiority being threatened.

2. They reacted with anger and reacted with anger and resentment and joined the ranks of resentment and joined the ranks of the vigilante groups that terrorized the vigilante groups that terrorized African Americans.African Americans.

Vigilante groups, such as the KKK, started during the Reconstruction Era

1. How did the planter elite try to hold onto slave-like conditions?

2. When Congress ended the planter’s political control, what was the white middle class response towards African Americans?

Radical Reconstruction1. The planter elite tried to hold onto

slave-like conditions through the Black Codes & control over the government of the state through the constitution of 1865

o But Congressional Reconstruction brought a temporary end to their political control of South Carolina.

However…

2. Plantation owners & the middle class engaged in violence and intimidation against African Americans throughout Reconstruction.

Intimidation by Southern whites was common as they tried to maintain the

control the had during slavery.

• The KKK was a reflection of the white population’s determination to do what?

Radical ReconstructionoBoth whites & African Americans preferred to maintain a social distance that slavery had not allowed. oAfrican Americans left the white churches for congregations of their own. oThey moved from the slave quarters to plots away from the Big House & established their own communities. oThis separation and loss of control over African Americans caused anxiety among whites to escalate. oThe formation of terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan reflected racial tension & the determination of the the determination of the white population to keep the African American white population to keep the African American population in ‘its place’ socially, politically, and population in ‘its place’ socially, politically, and economicallyeconomically..


A Harper’s Weekly image showing the oppression of African Americans after the Civil

War.

• In spite of white violence, how did the African American population act?

Radical ReconstructionAlthough African Americans suffered from white violence and intimidation throughout the Reconstruction period…They continued to claim equal citizenship & carve out as much independence as possible in their lives.

With the restrictions of slavery now gone, freedmen went to school and college, and were

legally able to marry.

• Against whom did Southerners carry on a reign of terror?


Harper’s Weekly illustration portraying Klan violence.

While African Americans made significant progress in politics, their efforts created a backlash among white South Carolinians.

Outnumbered by the African American political majority, white South Carolinians refused to participate in government.Instead they carried on a campaign of terror against African Americans and the white Republicans (carpetbaggers and scalawags) who were perceived as assisting them.

• Name some of the vigilante groups engaged in harassment, intimidation, and murder.

Radical ReconstructionWith federal troops withdrawn and the state militia disbanded after the 1868 constitution, vigilante groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Riflemen, & the Red Shirts, were free to engage in harassment, intimidation, and murder. •The federal government responded by passing the Ku Klux Klan Act & President Grant sent federal soldiers to make an example of SC. •Although some Klansmen surrendered and were brought to trial, the federal government’s feeble efforts only had the effect of encouraging the insurgency.

By 1876, the white insurgents were ready to contest the political control of the Republicans in an election.

Harper’s Weekly illustration comparing Klan violence to

the Confederacy.

• Why was corruption a problem in South Carolina?

Democrats Return to PowerSouth Carolina’s state government, like both the national government and most other state governments throughout the United States, was plagued by corruption. Officials who were desperate for money in the poor economy accepted bribes. The South Carolina statehouse, like the city hall in Philadelphia, was a testament to the inflated costs brought by bribery.

Harper’s Weekly illustration showing New York’s Boss Tweed, who was

well known for corruption.

• Despite the corruption, what programs did the Republicans establish?

Democrats Return to PowerDespite the corruption of individuals, the Republican government during Reconstruction left an enduring legacy. They established social service programs such as state-supported institutions for the blind and the deaf and made public health care a concern of the government in South Carolina. Most importantly, they established public schools for all children for the first time.South Carolinians claimed that the new public schools were bankrupting them.

Public schools like this one in Colorado were opened around

the state.

• What did SC legislators say about the taxes started by the Republicans?

Democrats Return to PowerWhite SC legislators played on Northern racism.

–They exaggerated the corruption of the inexperienced African-Americans, and were able to manipulate the Northern press with propaganda about the lack of ability of the Republican government.

They blamed the rising tax rate on corruption when it was really largely due to new state services such as public schools.

Consequently, the Northern public tired of Reconstruction and gave up hope of changing Southern attitudes and way of life.

This political cartoon from 1869 proclaims “The rich growing richer, the poor

growing poorer.”

1. What happened at the Hamburg Massacre of 1876?

2.2. What did this incident show?What did this incident show?

3. Who were the Red Shirts in the election of 1876?

Democrats Return to PowerReconstruction ended in South Carolina with violence and controversy.

The Hamburg Massacre of 1876

1. Took place in a predominantly African-American town in Aiken County. 6 black militia members were killed by a white mob.

2. This incident marked an intensification of the white campaign to “redeem” South Carolina’s government.

3. White Democrat “Red Shirts” coordinated a campaign of violence, intimidation and fraud in order to win the election of 1876.

Redshirt worn by white democrats on display at the SC State Museum.

• Why were two governments (both Democratic and Republican) established?

Democrats Return to PowerPresident Grant sent more federal troops but they could not could not assure a free and fair election. Voting irregularities threw the governor’s election to the General Assembly but there were also disputes about who was elected to the state legislature.

Two rival governments were established, one RepublicanRepublican and one white DemocratDemocrat.

There was a stand-off as white taxpayers refused to support the Republican government.

President Ulysses Grant

•

1. Describe the compromise that solved the problems with the election of 1876.

2.2.What problems did this What problems did this compromise create for African compromise create for African Americans in South Carolina?Americans in South Carolina?

Democrats Return to PowerDemocrats and Republicans reached a compromise:Democrats would recognize the election of Republican President Hayes in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South.

President Hayes withdrew the last of the federal troops from SC, Florida & Louisiana.

The Conservative Democratic Party under former Confederate General, now Governor, Wade Hampton III took control of the government of SC African Americans were left to fend African Americans were left to fend for themselves in a hostile for themselves in a hostile environment.environment.

Gov. Wade Hampton III

the rebuilding years chapter 15. timeline march 3, 1865 freedmen’s bureau created april 9 1865...

Documents

south carolina responsible

individuals state government

national government

slave labor

civil war damagesouth

civil war damageafter

sc plantation owners

work of rebuilding