Opposition of Reconstruction from the South

1. Opposition of Reconstruction from the South By: Ruston Keene, Jack Maxwell, Adam Norman, and DarrienTan OUR CLAIM: The South expressed its opposition of Reconstruction through oppression towards the freed slaves, who threatened the white community’s existing economic hierarchy of society.

2. Black Codes • Restricted newly acquired freedom • Mississippi and South Carolina were the first states to have Black Codes • Prohibited African Americans from basic rights. • A labor contract was only valid for a year, and if the employee got fired during that time, they had to give up all money previously earned. • In Mississippi, black men could only own land in cities. • All Southern states didn’t allow access to state funded education • Black Codes placed controls on blacks' property ownership, employment, sexual behavior, and voting rights.1 • This effected Reconstruction because it slowed down the national government’s attempts to give rights to African Americans and it enabled the South to gain power back over them, who wanted to retain the existing social order. ___________________ 1. Nancy A. McCaslin, "Black Codes," ABC-CLIO, accessed October 9, 2013, http://africanamerican.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1477940?terms=black+codes.

3. White Supremacy Groups Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacy groups prevented African Americans from making economic and political progress. • Early on, violence was mostly local and unorganized • Freedmen were killed for simple disagreements • As freedmen received more rights, “secret societies” emerged in attempts to prevent them • Ku Klux Klan (KKK) • Consisted of just about any white male in the South • Claimed themselves to be the“respectable citizens” • “African-Americans--local political leaders, those who managed to acquire land, and others who in one way or another defied the norms of white supremacy--bore the brunt of the violence.”2 _____________________ 2. Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty!: An American History, 2005, in Reconstruction, comp. Social Studies Department (Wellesley, MA: Wellesley High School, 2013), 35.

4. Primary source: Grand Jury Report on Ku Klux Klan from 1871 • Grand jury report on the actions of the Ku Klux Klan from October 1871 • Purpose was to investigate the actions of the Klan and to make a decision regarding stopping and limiting Klan aggression. • The jury decided that “vigorous persecution” was required to stop these crimes against black individuals. • Feared potential bloodshed if they did not impose government intervention of the Klan’s actions.3 _____________ 3. Federal Grand Jury Report on the Ku Klux Klan, Rep. No. 42-House Report No. 22, 2d Sess., at 48-49 (1871).

5. Economic Tension between Freedmen and Elite Planters • While elite planters in the South lost their free labor, they retained nearly all of their land during reconstruction • At the same time, this prevented freedmen from obtaining land • Had to work for the rich white planters with little other choice • Illustrates the tensions between the two, as each were not satisfied • Some freedmen were educated & could hold office • Horrified the white community; they did not think blacks should hold any political or economic standing • Whites revolted and protested that Reconstruction should end in order “to allow the planters to reassume power.”4 ___________ 4. H. Goodson, "Reconstruction in the South," Reconstrucion, last modified June 7, 2012, accessed October 14, 2013, http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/Reconstruction.htm.

6. Works Cited • Danzer, Gerald A., Jorge Klor de Alva, Larry S. Krieger, Louis E. Wilson, and Nancy Woloch. “The Collapse of Reconstruction.” In The Americans, 393-400. N.p.: McDougal Littell, 2005. • Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History. 2005. In Reconstruction, compiled by Social Studies Department, 35-36. Wellesley, MA: Wellesley High School, 2013. • Goodson, H. "Reconstruction in the South." Reconstrucion. Last modified June 7, 2012. Accessed October 14, 2013. http://www.westga.edu/~hgoodson/Reconstruction.htm. • McCaslin, Nancy A. "Black Codes." In The American Mosaic: The African American Experience. ABC-CLIO, 2010-.Accessed October 9, 2013. http://africanamerican.abc-clio.com/. • Primary source: Federal Grand Jury Report on the Ku Klux Klan, Rep. No. 42-House Report No. 22, 2d Sess., at 48-49 (1871). http://america.eb.com/america/article?articleId=386297&query=white+supremacy+groups (Pardon the lack of indentations, the formatting did not cooperate)