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Reconstruction

Reconstruction. Congress Takes Control p. 373 - 379. Texas Elects Ex-Confederates to Office. Southerners elected many former Confederate officials and soldiers to top state government posts.

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Reconstruction

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  1. Reconstruction Congress Takes Control p. 373 - 379

  2. Texas Elects Ex-Confederates to Office • Southerners elected many former Confederate officials and soldiers to top state government posts. • Now walking the halls of Congress were the leaders who had encouraged the people to secede from the Union – an act of treason to many Northerners. • The Texas legislature refused to ratify, or approve, two amendments to the Constitution. • It rejected the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, and the Fourteenth Amendment, which granted citizenship to former enslaved people.

  3. Texas Elects Ex-Confederates to Office • Southern state governments restricted the rights of African Americans. • Black codes, laws limiting the rights of African Americans, differed from state to state but had certain features in common. • African Americans were not allowed to vote, testify in court against whites, nor serve on juries. • If African Americans did not have a home or job, the laws forced them to work for plantation owners.

  4. Radical Republicans Take Charge • Radical Republicans disagreed with President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction and drew up their own plan. • The Radical Republicans pushed for several goals in their plan: • Set stricter standards for admitting the Southern states back into the Union • Protect the freedom of African Americans in the South. • The Radical Republicans gained control of both the House and Senate. • Now having the power to override any presidential veto, they launched their own ideas for Reconstruction.

  5. Radical Republicans Take Charge • President Johnson refused to give up and fought against the Radical program. • In 1868, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson by bringing charges of misconduct in office. • The president’s accusers failed by one vote to convince him. • Johnson served the rest of his term, but he lost most of his influence.

  6. New Requirements for Statehood • The military would rule districts in the South until the states met certain requirements. • Among these requirements was the adoption of new state constitutions that gave African American men the right to vote and to hold office. • Congress also required the states to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. • Some states were required to ratify the 15th amendment, which guaranteed African American men the right to vote. • States also had to repeal the black codes.

  7. New Requirements for Statehood • Many voters had to take what became known as the Ironclad Oath, saying they had not voluntarily served in the Confederate army or given aid to the Confederacy. • This oath kept thousands of Southerners from voting.

  8. Southerners Oppose Reconstruction • Southern whites who supported Reconstruction were called scalawags. • Northerners who often came to the South during this period were called carpetbaggers. This name came from the belief that carpetbaggers carried all their possessions in traveling bags made of carpet. • Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan used violence and threats to prevent African Americans from voting. • They whipped and hanged African Americans who tried to exercise their right to equality.

  9. A New Constitution and Elections • New elected delegates completed a new constitution in February 1869. • The Constitution provided that no one should be excluded from voting because of race or color. • It extended several rights to African Americans and protected public lands. • On March 30, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation that Reconstruction in Texas was ended.

  10. A Republican Governor • Radical Republican candidate Edmund J. Davis was elected governor. • Davis was an active and powerful governor and often provoked controversy. • In 1873 Davis ran for reelection against the Democratic candidate, Richard Coke. • Coke won twice as many votes as Davis.

  11. Reconstruction Ends • Different interpretations of the law under which the election had been conducted plunged Texas into a crisis. • Democrats claimed that Richard Coke should take office in January. • Republicans maintained that Davis should remain governor until April 1874. • The Supreme Court decided in favor of the Republicans. • On January 15, 1874, Democrats supporters occupied the halls of the legislature on the second floor of the capitol.

  12. Reconstruction Ends • On January 15, 1874, Coke was sworn in as governor with the help of state militia. • Governor Davis appealed to President Grant, but Grant would not send troops to Austin. • Finally, the governor left office on January 17, 1874. • The period of Reconstruction was over.

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