Ch. 16: Reconstruction

1. Ch. 16: Reconstruction American History (CHA3U1)

2. Introduction • Confederate war veterans returned to devastated land • African Americans quickly learned that freedom didn’t mean equality • Readmitting Southern states to the Union difficult because of white Southern bitterness & Radical Republicans in Congress

3. Sec. 1: After Slavery (pgs. 440 – 44) New Ways of Life • The Plight of Landowners  some slaves agreed to stay and work the land for housing, food and cash after crops harvested  Many lost land because Confederate money worthless therefore couldn’t pay taxes or debts • The Plight of Workers  poor whites / African Americans  tenant farmers / sharecroppers

4. Sharecroppers

5. Sec. 1: After Slavery • From Slavery to Freedom  strengthened family ties • Chose new surnames • Left for cities or farmland in the West

6. Sec. 1: After Slavery The Freedmen’s Bureau • Education  taught former slaves to read / write • Jobs  encouraged former slaves to sign labour contracts with planters • Land  land given to former slaves returned to previous white owners

7. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South (pgs. 445 – 51) Presidential Reconstruction • Lincoln’s Plan  amnesty / pardon to all Southerners who pledged an oath of loyalty to the United States  African Americans could return to Africa or colonize Caribbean • The Radical Republicans’ Plan  harsher than Lincoln’s plan  military rule

8. Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination

9. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South • Johnson’s Program  President after Lincoln assassinated tried to implement Lincoln’s generous plan but Radical Republicans refused to co-operate • White Men & Black Codes  states allowed to create their own laws that denied African Americans many basic rights such as voting or gov’t education

10. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South Presidential Reconstruction • The North Responds  April 1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill giving citizenship to African Americans and all the rights entailed • The Fourteenth Amendment  defined citizenship to include African Americans who were guaranteed equal protection under the law

11. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South Radical Reconstruction • Reconstruction Plans  appreciative African Americans would vote for Radical Republicans • Reconstruction Legislation  March 1867 Reconstruction Act passed putting the South under five district military rule until the states gave African Americans the right to vote

12. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South Carpetbag Government  Scalawags (Union sympathizers) and carpetbaggers (Northerners) despised • The Radicals in Power  reduce Pres. power • Challenging the Tenure Law  Pres. Johnson twice fired Edwin Stanton a supporter of Radicals

13. Sec. 2: Reconstructing the South Carpetbag Government • Johnson Impeached  May 16, 1868 Senate voted 35 to 19 to convict Pres, one vote shy • The 1868 Election  General Grant won as a Radical Republican to become new President

14. Andrew Johnson & Ulysses S Grant

15. Sec. 3: Restoring Southern Power(pgs. 453 – 56) Opponents of Reconstruction set up secret societies (e.g. KKK)  wore out Radicals The Compromise of 1877 • Electoral Commission  disputed Pres vote in 1876 given to Republican candidate Hayes • Reaching an Agreement  Democrats outraged so Republicans promised South power, funds and removal of federal troops

16. Sec. 3: Restoring Southern Power After Reconstruction • Segregation  separation of races made legal by Supreme Court ruling Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional  Jim Crow laws follow • The “New South”  industrialization with Northern financing brought railroads, factories • Few Gains for African Americans  temporary gains soon gone with economic slavery

17. Conclusion • Civil War devastated the South but in the long run the abolition of slavery helped the South to industrialize and diversify its economy • Unfortunately it would take another 100 years for African Americans to gain political and economic equality