Reconstruction Vocabulary

1. Reconstruction Vocabulary Amnesty Radical Freedmen Impeach Poll Tax Literacy Test Segregation Sharecropping

2. Reconstruction Archer, Smith, McAfee

3. Lincoln’s Plan • Americans faced many difficult issues over how Reconstruction, or rebuilding the South, should be carried out. • Before the war was over, Lincoln proposed in 1863 the Ten Percent Plan for accepting Southern states back into the Union. • When ten percent of the voters of a state took an oath of loyalty to the Union, the state could form a new government and adopt a new constitution banning slavery.

4. Lincoln offered amnesty to all white Southerners who were willing to swear loyaltyto the Union, except Confederate leaders. • He supported giving educated African Americans or those who served in the Union army the right to vote. • Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee established governments under Lincoln’s plan in 1864

5. Reconstruction Debate • A more radical plan proposed by Radical Republicans called for a tougher approach to Reconstruction. • Since the “Radical Republicans” controlled Congress, they voted to deny seats to any state reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan • Reconstruction led by Radical Republicans that favored harsh treatment of the south, and quick incorporation of freedmen into citizenship with full privileges and voting rights, and seizure of land from planters • Reconstruction Act of 1867 – Military occupation of the former confederate states, strict guidelines on representation and requirements for readmission to Union

6. The Wade Davis Bill • Congress developed its own harsh plan in July 1864 by passing the Wade-Davis Bill: 1. A majority of white males had to swear loyalty. 2. Only white males who swore they had never fought against the Union could vote for delegates to a state convention. 3. Former Confederates were denied the right to hold public office. 4. If a new state constitution abolishing slavery was adopted at a convention, then the state could be readmitted to the Union. (Lincoln refused to sign the bill but knew he was going to have to compromise with the Radical Republicans)

7. Helping Freed Slaves • A new government agency, the Freedmen’s Bureau, was established to help former enslaved persons. • It distributed food and clothing, provided medical services, and established schools staffed mostly by teachers from the North • It helped African Americans buy land and get jobs and receive fair wages

8. Lincoln’s Assassination • When Lincoln was assassinated the new President was Andrew Johnson • He called his plan for the South “Restoration” 1. Before a state could reenter the Union, its constitutional convention had to denounce secession and abolish slavery 2. States had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment passed in January 1865 that abolished slavery

9. 13th amendment - abolished slavery in the U.S. • Black Codes: laws passed in the South during Reconstruction to limit the opportunities for blacks • Jim Crow Laws: they passed these in order to override the laws being passed by the federal government. Led to segregation and violence 14thAmendment- gave full citizenship to all born the U.S. • Congress declared that Southern states must ratify the amendment in order to be readmitted to the Union. 15th Amendment– gave African American men the right to vote • "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

10. Civil Rights act of 1866 • Granted citizenship to all born in the United States except Native Americans

11. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers • Southerners who worked with Republicans and were viewed as traitors by the southerners scalawags or scoundrels. • Many Northern whites who moved to the South, supported the Republicans were called carpetbaggers by their critics. They got the name because they carried suitcases made of carpet fabric with all their belongings.

12. White Supremacy - Anti-Negro Groups • The Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865 by veterans of the Confederate Army. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the American Civil War. The Klan resisted Reconstruction by intimidating freedmen and white Republicans, members of the abolitionist movement. The KKK quickly adopted violent methods. The increase in murders finally resulted in a backlash among Southern elites who viewed the Klan's excesses as an excuse for federal troops to continue occupation. • The Klan wore white robes and hoods to conceal their identity while they were torturing their victims. • Set out to destroy the Republican Party in the south

13. Presidents During Reconstruction • Andrew Johnson – Took over after Lincoln’s assassination April 15, 1865 to March 1869. He was President for one term of office. • Ulysses S. Grant – was elected in November 1868 and took office in March of 1869 and served two terms. • Rutherford B. Hayes – the election of 1876 was disputed. To settle the dispute Hayes was selected as the President on the condition that the U.S. military was completely removed from the South. Officially ending Reconstruction. He took office in March of 1877 and served for only one term of office.

14. After Reconstruction • The Republicans did not have any political power in the south for over 100 years. Democrats ruled the South for 100 years after the Civil War There was a transition: slaves to citizens • Freedmen’s Bureau - the bureau’s chief focus was to provide food, medical care, help with resettlement, administer justice, manage abandoned and confiscated property, regulate labor, and establish schools. Over 1,000 schools were built and some services were provided but most people were not given what they were promised. Some were able to take advantage of the opportunities given to them by the government but most organizations created to help freed slaves were underfunded and most freed slaves ended up working on plantations or sharecropping much like they had before