Reconstruction and NC

1. Reconstruction and NC Radical Republicans, Democrats, and life after the Civil War

2. Vocab and such • Civil War Amendments • 13th Slavery is outlawed • 14th American citizens of all races are guaranteed basic rights. No state can take these rights away • 15th Black men have the right to vote • Disenfranchise – to exclude a group of people purposefully • Gilded Age – A period of time characterized by wealth but not moral substance • Grandfather Clause – A law stating you could not vote unless your grandfather voted before 1864 (used to discourage blacks from voting

3. More vocabulary • Imperialist - One who believes in the right to claim other properties or lands • Literacy test – an exam given as a requisite for voting. Used to discourage blacks from voting • Martial law – The law imposed by military forces when the regular civil authority has broken down • Poll tax – A few people had to pay in order to vote. Used to discourage blacks from voting • Reconstruction – the time after the Civil War when the country was being rebuilt

4. And more vocabulary • Resurgence – a rising or gaining strength • Sharecropping – farming the land as a tenant for the owner and being paid a share of the crops • Tycoon - a very wealthy person • Vagrancy – the state of wandering with no permanent place to live • Vigilante – a person who takes it upon himself or herself to punish others

5. Pictures of the South Richmond after the Civil War

6. destruction • Notice the chimney where a house was

7. Another Southern city • Rubble

8. Richmond • Richmond train depot

9. Atlanta • Potter House

10. Atlanta • Railroad depot before Sherman…

11. Atlanta • And after

12. Charleston, South Carolina • Sherman hit the “home” of secession hardest

13. Southern problems after the War Shortage of horses and mules Most were killed or missing in War Little or no available credit Banks are in the North Roads and railroads Destroyed during the War Deflated prices for crops Prices for crops fell after War Higher taxes Only way the government can “make” money Decreased value of farm land Land is in poor state after War, not worth as much $$

14. Reconstruction The steps taken to restore the southern states to the Union and rebuild the South Strong division over what to do with the southern states, former Confederate States of America In NC, the period between 1865-1871

15. What is Reconstruction? • The Readmission of Southern (Confederate States to the Union and rebuilding the South) • Lincoln began working on a plan to readmit the southern states before the Civil War ended. • He wanted the Union reunited quickly. • Ultimate irony • John Wilkes Booth’s revenge, assassinates the President • Congress gets to decide on Reconstruction • They punish the South

16. Lincoln’s Funeral Car • Took the President’s body to Illinois for burial

17. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • A.K.A – “The Ten Percent Plan” • Begins planning before the war is over • Pardon Confederate officers • Restore southerners’ property, except slaves • Required only 10% of the voters in each Confederate state to pledge an oath then the state can begin the process of readmission to the Union • BUT, Lincoln is assassinated and his plan for Reconstruction dies too

18. “Presidential Reconstruction” • V.P Andrew Johnson becomes President and he too is sympathetic to the South • Appoints a temporary governor to each State • White Southerners have to take an oath of loyalty to the Union • State voters had to agree that secession had been illegal • States had to refuse to pay wartime debts owed to Confederate governments • States had to abolish slavery by ratifying the Thirteenth Amendment

19. Forty Acres and a Mule • Freedmen wanted land they had been farming • Never officially promised by the government • Sherman divided plantations into 40 acres parcels and settled former slaves on them • Government could not buy land or take it unlawfully from its owners • In the end the government did nothing

20. The State Convention • All white delegation • Wanted to return to the Union BUT make as few changes to the state as possible • Nullified state’s decision to secede • Agreed secession was illegal • Voted to pass the Thirteenth Amendment • Voided the state’s war debt

21. Black Codes • White believed they were superior to blacks. • Legislature met and passed new laws; restrictions on blacks were called Black Codes. Freedmen could not: • testify in court • Serve on juries • Own guns without special permission • Or vote • Blacks without jobs could be arrested and forced to work for whites.

22. Congress gets mad…and even • President Johnson did not challenge Black Codes in any state • Vetoed a law that would have backed black civil rights • Congress was furious, refused to allow former CSA states back into the Union • Overrode a Presidential veto and passed the Fourteenth Amendment giving constitutional protection to blacks’ citizenship rights

23. Congressional Reconstruction • Northern Republicans won ¾ of the seats in Congress; crafted Congressional Reconstruction Plan • Divided the South into five military districts and sent military commanders to help register new voters – especially blacks • Former Confederates could vote only after requesting and receiving a federal pardon • Southern states had to ratify the 14th Amendment giving blacks full citizenship rights • The Southern states were strongly encouraged to revise their constitutions to allow blacks to vote

24. What’s Going on in NC? • The Freedmen’s Convention • Abraham Galloway helped organize black delegates • Met in Raleigh at a church • Over 100 delegates met, developed three goals • Wanted legal rights, especially the right to testify in court • Wanted laws that would enforce labor contracts • Wanted the right to vote

25. The Rise of NC’s Republicans • William Holden along with white and black leaders formed a Republican Party • Black voters joined • white voters who had opposed the war • Northern Republicans who came to the state • Popular in the mountains where Union sympathies were great

26. Carpetbaggers • After the War, white Northerners came south to help with Reconstruction • Organized schools and churches, worked in government and politics • Southerners called them carpetbaggers after the cheap luggage made of carpet that they carried; Southerners saw them as good-for-nothings who came south to make quick money

27. Carpetbagger Picture of a carpetbagger

28. Carpetbagger Northern carpetbagger accompanied by Union troops. Heavy bag is crushing the “solid South, suggesting the North’s determination to destroy the South.

29. Scalawags White Southerners also helped blacks by joining the Republican Party or allying with the Freedmen They were called scalawags, a term used to describe skinny worthless cattle

30. Constitutional Convention of 1868 • New Constitution established: • Universal manhood suffrage – all men could vote, regardless of color or economic status (over 21) • Increased the number of public offices chosen by the people • Required that the state provide more services – counties had to provide public education for all children

31. Changes in NC’s government • New voters elected a Republican government, William Holden, governor • Legislature ratified the 14th Amendment • NC readmitted to the Union in July 1868 • Republicans work to make changes in the state • Republicans faced opposition from former Confederate supporters

32. The Governor Governor William Holden

33. Theme 2 Political Parties

34. Conservative-Democrats Fight Back • Powerful men who governed the state prior to the war joined forces, created Conservative Democrat Party • Believe wealthy whites should be running the state • Discouraged whites from voting and worked to draw whites to their party • Used economic influence to press their cause • Caused Republicans to lose their jobs • Owned banks – kept Republicans from borrowing money • Owned newspapers – published articles attacking Republicans and their policies • Drew support from a newly formed group, the Ku Klux Klan

35. The Klan • The Union League – political group aimed at keeping blacks loyal to the Republican party, would use “strong arm” tactics, talk, threaten, etc. • KKK - political move to counter the Union League and use “strong arm” tactics to keep blacks and others FROM supporting the Republican Party.

36. Early Klan • Harper’s Weekly Showed this image of Klansmen in 1860s

37. KKK Formation and Practices • Began in Tennessee by a group of Civil War veterans • Choose Nathan Bedford Forrest as their first leader called the Grand Wizard • Ku Klux Klan from the Greek kuklos meaning circle • Membership was secret (thus the hoods) boasted many of the states wealthiest and most respectful citizens as members & law enforcement • Dressed as ghosts (white sheets) to “spook” former slaves who were easily scared • Rode horses at night through woods to intimidate blacks.

38. Klan cont’d • Justified beatings as punishment for crimes they claimed local authorities had ignored • Klansmen delivered their own brand of justice to white men as well. If they heard of a man who was a drunk, beat his wife and/or children or who was having an extra-marital affair they would come to his home at night, take him out and beat the blazes out of him as punishment for his actions

39. Nathan Bedford Forrest Celebrated CSA General and first Grand Wizard of the KKK

40. The Klan in NC • Initially a political organization; targeted black and white resistance • All members had to commit to the Democratic Party • Areas that experienced Republican growth soon saw Klan activity increase (Alamance/Caswell Counties) • Where Republicans were less active, so was the Klan • Faded in 1871, returned in 1920s and 1950s

41. Stephen’s murder and Kirk Holden War • KKK murdered a white Republican, John Stephens in Caswell County • Governor Holden imposed martial law in Caswell and Alamance Counties • More than 100 men were arrested and Klan activity died down but • Locals were unhappy with how it was handled

42. Conservative Democrats gain power • Angry over • martial law, • higher taxes for schools and other programs, • railroad scam that cost the state millions • Democrats used white supremacy and scare tactics • Party won a large majority in legislature

43. Conservative-Democrats Take Over • Impeached, convicted and removed Holden from office • Gained more control over freedmen • Chose justices of the peace in each neighborhood • Required segregated schools • Zeb Vance elected governor leads the state back to Democratic rule

44. The End of Reconstruction • The national election of 1876 brought an official end to Reconstruction. • Issue with popular election vs. Electoral College • Democrats and Republicans agreed to compromise, Hayes is President if he would remove the remaining federal troops from the South. • Northerners • did not support slavery but did not support equal rights for blacks • Tired of the issue and agreed to the bargain

45. Political Effects • Reconstruction did NOT accomplish all that designers wanted • Few blacks reached economic independence • White landowners still held the upper hand • Blacks lost political influence • Did accomplish: • Voting and civil rights for blacks • Black schools • Freedmen formed their own political, social and religious institutions • Some blacks and whites had learned to work together • End gave control back to white Democrats

46. An Industrial South • South needs economic changes, too agrarian? Rural? • New South – based on trade and industry • NC • Has natural resources • Near Northern markets • businessmen are encouraged to start new industries

47. Railroads • Shift to industry depends on railroads • Companies built more railroads • Gave the whole state access to more markets • Made cities along the tracks very important • Cities gave land away • Raised public money • And bribed railroad officials • Lots of scandals

48. Agricultural Decline • Family farms in trouble • Tried to grow cotton or tobacco for market • Crop prices remained low • Supplies and transportation costs rise • As a result • Many lost their land due to debts • Large number of available workers • New factory owners had cheap labor

49. New agricultural system Sharecropping/tenant farming Freedmen and poor whites Plantation and large land owners use sharecropping to farm the land that was once worked by slaves Becomes the dominant farming system

50. Sharecropping • Family signs a contract to farm a piece of land owned by another • Owner provides seed, fertilizer, and a house • Family supplies the labor • When crop is sold profits are split between the landowner and sharecropper • By 1890 1/3 of white farm families and ¾ of black farm families were sharecroppers