Reconstruction Notes

Reconstruction Notes -After the Civil War -Rebuild Society -

Reconstruction • Refers to the political process by which the 11 rebel states were restored to a normal constitutional relationship with the national government. • It lasted 12 years after the Civil War. • The rebuilding of Society

Helping Free People • Many questions faced the US government about how to help the former enslaved people • Many had no education or jobs • Faced continued poverty and Racism

Freedman’s Bureau • Established by Congress • Purpose of providing medical, educational, and financial assistance for the millions of impoverished southern Blacks. • Gave out clothing • medical supplies • millions of meals • Establishment of schools for African Americans-250,000 received their first education.

13th - 15th Amendments X

Constitutional Amendments • 13th Amendment-Abolishes slavery in the US • 14th Amendment-Make AA citizens and guarantees due process of law and equal protection • 15th Amendment-Guarantees that voting right will NOT be denied on the base of race

1.What else besides “slavery” was abolished by the 13th Amendment? 2. What exception was made in the 13th Amendment where slavery might be? 3. In your view, is there a “loophole” in the amendment that might have allowed? 4. Next, look at the text of the 14th Amendment. How did the creators of this Amendment wish to achieve “equal protection under law”? 5. How did the provisions of the 14th Amendment punish the former Confederates? Give at least three examples.

6. Did the creators of the 14th Amendment provide any method to “forgive” those who might have “engaged in rebellion” against the United States? 7. What do you believe the creators of the 14th Amendment meant by “privileges and immunities” as described in Section 1? 8. Next, look at the text of the 15th Amendment. According to the text of the amendment, under what conditions were the states and federal government not allowed to deny a person the right to vote? 9. Speculate why the creators of the 15th Amendment did not use language similar to that in the 14th Amendment, which stated that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” were entitled to the right to vote.”

Black Codes X

List some of the restrictions placed on black citizens.

Why were these black codes so restrictive?

Speculate about how these laws were enforced.

What impact would these laws have had on the black community?

Black Codes • BECAUSE OF JOHNSON’S SOFT APPROACH TO RECONSTRUCTION, SOUTHERN STATES PASSED RACIST LAWS DESIGNED TO UNDERMINE AFRICAN AMERICAN’S RIGHTS. • MANY FORMER CONFEDERATE OFFICIALS WERE ELECTED TO STATE GOVERNMENT POSITIONS AND PASSED A SERIES OF LAWS KNOWN AS THE BLACK CODES. • THESE LAWS CREATED THE FOUNDATION FOR THE LEGAL SEGREGATION OF PUBLIC FACILITIES AND THE TREATMENT OF AFRICAN AMERICANS AS SECOND CLASS CITIZENS THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH. X

EXCERPT FROM A MISSISSIPPI BLACK CODE LAW 1865 • Section 10. It shall be lawful for any freedman, free negro, or mulatto, to charge any white person, freedman, free negro or mulatto by affidavit, with any criminal offense against his or her person or property, and upon such affidavit the proper process shall be issued and executed as if said affidavit was made by a white person, and it shall be lawful for any freedman, free negro, or mulatto, in any action, suit or controversy pending, or about to be instituted in any court of law equity in this State, to make all needful and lawful affidavits as shall be necessary for the institution, prosecution or defense of such suit or controversy.

Black Codes • Law that severely restricted the rights of freed people • EXAMPLE: • Curfew • No meetings • Can’t carry a weapon • No serving on juries • No marrying whites • No starting their own business • No traveling without permits • Not rent or lease farmland

Black Codes • As southern states were restored to the Union, the black codes established virtual slavery with provisions such as these: • Curfews: Generally, black people could not gather after sunset. • Vagrancy laws: Freedmen convicted of vagrancy– that is, not working– could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor. • Labor contracts: Freedmen had to sign agreements in January for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned. • Land restrictions: Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations. X

Sharecropping & Tenant Farming Sharecropping • A family farmed a portion of a planter’s land • As payment, the family was promised a share of the crop at harvest time • After the harvest, some planters evicted the sharecroppers without pay or charged them for housing and other expenses, so that they were always in debt • Many were in dept to the planters and trapped Tenant Farming • Tenant farmers did not own the land they farmed • The tenant farmer paid to rent the land and chose which crops to plant and how much to work • Tenant farming created a class of wealthy merchants who sold supplies on credit • Encouraged planters to grow cash crops meaning the South had to import food X

Sharecropping Debt 1. Poor whites and freedmen have no jobs, no homes, and no money to buy land. 5. Sharecropper cannot leave the farm as long as he is in debt to the landlord. 2. Poor whites and freedmen sign contracts to work a landlord’s acreage in exchange for a part of the crop. 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. X

KKK • How some whites attacked reconstruction • Organization began as a social club • GOAL: to intimidate both AA and sympathetic whites so that they became silent and submissive • Harass • Beat • Abuse • Whipping • murder

A president impeached • Andrew Johnson was the 1st president impeached • It is the process specified in the Constitution for trial and removal from office of any federal official accused of misconduct. • Why: Nine charges were because he removed Stanton-Secretary of War- from office

Johnson’s Defense • Only a clear violation of the law warranted his removal. • He felt he didn’t violate any laws. • Major Problem: No Vice President because of Lincoln’s death, next in line was a unpopular businessmen

Senate Votes • May of 1868-35 Senators voted to convict-1 vote short of the required 2/3 majority. • 7 republicans had jumped party lines and found Johnson not guilty.

The End of Reconstruction X

Reconstruction Ends • There were four main factors that contributed to the end of Reconstruction: • Corruption: legislatures and Grant’s administration came to symbolize corruption, greed, and poor government • The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt • Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to regain control of the state governments • The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned ex-Confederates combined with other white Southerners to form a new bloc of Democrats known as the Solid South X

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. Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments guarantee African Americans the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage. After federal troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny African Americans the right to vote. Freedmen’s Bureau and other organizations 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. Impact of Reconstruction X

Reconstruction Notes