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Reconstruction & Its Effects

Reconstruction & Its Effects. What is Reconstruction ?. Reconstruction is the period of time during which the U.S. began to rebuild the South following the Civil War. 1865 – 1877. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction.

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Reconstruction & Its Effects

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  1. Reconstruction & Its Effects

  2. What is Reconstruction? • Reconstruction is the period of time during which the U.S. began to rebuild the South following the Civil War. • 1865 – 1877

  3. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • Use your text book to read about and summarize President Lincoln’s plan for reconstructing the South • pg. 185 • Why was this plan never implemented?

  4. Who were the Radical Republicans? • The Radical Republicans were a small group within Congress. • Wanted to punish the South for the War • Wanted African-Americans to be given full citizenship and the right to vote.

  5. President Johnson’s Plan • Johnson’s plan is very similar to Lincoln’s • made it relatively easy for ex-confederate states to rejoin the union • Pardoned many former confederates • Wants to ensure that the South is still run by white men

  6. Johnson Clashes with Radical Republicans • Radical Republican’s don’t like Johnson’s plan: • viewed as being too lenient on the South; • Doesn’t support civil rights for African-Americans; • Angered many by vetoing legislation such as the Freedman’s Bureau and Civil Rights Acts of 1866.

  7. President Johnson is Impeached • Impeach – to remove from public office • Moderate and Radical Republicans in Congress want to take control of Reconstruction; • They believe that Johnson is blocking Reconstruction; • The House impeaches Johnson, but the Senate does not convict; • Message received; Johnson backs down. • Congress takes charge of Reconstruction • Freedman’s Bureau Act (1866) • Civil Rights Act (1866) • 14th Amendment (1866) • 15th Amendment (1870) ** Define/Describe each piece of legislation (pg. 184 - 186) **

  8. The Post-War South • The Southern economy and population is devastated by the war; • Many small farms ruined, economy devastated; • Hundreds of thousands of men killed • Southern Politics – dominated by the Republican Party after the war: • African Americans • Scalawags* • Carpetbaggers* *Define these terms (p. 186)*

  9. Life for African-Americans • 15th Amendment grants voting rights to African-Americans • Many vote for the first time and run for public office • Hiram Revels – 1st African-American senator • The first public schools and universities are opened for African-Americans • Many AAs forced into tenant farming or sharecropping because they did not own their own land

  10. Reconstruction Collapses • White Southerners resent reconstruction; • Ku Klux Klan – a violent vigilante group whose goal was to destroy the Republican party and end reconstruction • Killed as many as 20,000 men, women and children in the South • Used intimidation to prevent African-Americans from exercising their political rights

  11. Reconstruction Collapses, cont. • The Republican Party looses power in the South; • Amnesty Act (1872) • Freedman’s Bureau expires • Panic of 1873 – economic concerns divert attention away from the South • Democrats “redeem” the South in the election of 1876

  12. Summarizing: • How did Radical Republicans try to reconstruct the South? • How successful was reconstruction?

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