Ch.5 - Reconstruction

1. Ch.5 - Reconstruction Sections 3 & 4

2. Birth of the “New South” • Sharecropping: a family farmed some portion of a planters land. As payment, the family was promised a share of the crop at harvest time. Landowner provided housing • Tenant Farming: Like sharecroppers, tenant farmers did not own the land they farmed. Unlike sharecroppers, tenant farmers paid to rent the land.

3. Sharecropping & the Cycle of Debt 1. Poor whites and freedmen have no jobs, no homes, and no money to buy land. 2. Poor whites and freedmen sign contracts to work a landlord’s acreage in exchange for a part of the crop. 5. Sharecropper cannot leave the farm as long as he is in debt to the landlord. 4. At harvest time, the sharecropper owes more to the landlord than his share of the crop is worth. 3. Landlord keeps track of the money that sharecroppers owe him for housing and food.

4. Effects on the South • Labor force: Before the war, 90% of cotton was harvested by slave; After the war, white laborers picked 40% of the crop • Cash crops were grown  South had to import much of its food • Homestead Act of 1866: attempted to break the cycle of debt by offering low-cost land to southerners (white & black).

5. Growth • Major focus was the rebuilding of southern railroads. • By 1872, all tracks had been rebuilt and 3,300 miles more had been added • Factories produced items that were sent to the north to be finished products • Most of the money came from levying taxes on individuals

6. Ku Klux Klan • Spread rapidly in the South • Pledged to “defend the social and political superiority” of whites against what they called the “agressions of an inferior race.” • Sought to eliminate the Republican Party in the South by intimidating black and white voters • Long-term goal: keep African Americans in the role of submissive laborers.

7. Stopping the Klan • President Grant passes the Enforcement Act of 1870 • banned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent people from voting because of their race

8. Reconstruction Ends • Corruption • The economy: Legislatures taxed and spent heavily • Violence: KKK • Democrats return to power • Republicans = for reconstruction • Democrats = against reconstruction

9. Compromise of 1877 • Presidential Election of 1876 • Republicans vs. Democrats, can’t agree on who won the popular vote • Compromise of 1877 • Democrats agree to give Rutherford B. Hayes the Presidency • In return, Hayes removes the remaining federal troops from southern states

10. Successes Failures Union is restored. Many white southerners remain bitter toward the federal government and the Republican Party. The South’s economy grows and new wealth is created in the North. The South is slow to industrialize. 13th Amendment: Free 14th Amendment: Citizens 15th Amendment: Vote After federal troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny African Americans the right to vote. Freedmen’s Bureau help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling. Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty. Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North. Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education.