The Reconstruction Era

1. The Reconstruction Era Mrs. Excell

2. Intro to Reconstruction • April 14th, 1865- Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth @ Ford Theatre • Andrew Johnson (VP) succeeded Lincoln • Presidential Reconstruction Plan • A state could rejoin the Union once it had: • written a new state constitution • Elected a new Govenor • Repealed its act of secession • Canceled its war debt • Ratified the 13th Amendment (abolishing slavery)

3. End of Slavery • “Freedmen”- African Americans who had been set free from slavery • Positives of being set free: • New name and a new life • Marriage that was legal and forever • Reuniting scattered family • Negatives of being set free: • Began new lives with nothing

4. End of Slavery continued… • Freedman’s Bureau established by Congress • Assisted former slaves • Provided food, medical care for both blacks and whites in the South • Built schools • Forty Acres and a Mule • Congressman Stevens attempted to get Congress to break up plantations and give it to freedmen • Congress voted NO

5. End of Slavery continued… • The Black Codes: • Laws passed to control former slaves • Spelled out the rights of freedman • Help planters find workers to replace their slaves • Required freedman to work or they were arrested and hired out anyway • Limited freedmen to farm work or jobs with few skills; no trade jobs or businesses • Kept freedmen at the bottom of the Social Pyramid • Segregation in public places • Kids could not attend public schools

6. Congressional Reconstruction • By 1865- Johnson felt that all Southern states were ready to return to the Union • Congress did not agree. They felt that the Union needed to: • Extend the life of the freedmen’s Bureau • Establish the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (gave full rights as a citizen to African Americans • Johnson vetoed their suggestions and passed the 14th Amendment (declaring former slaves to be citizens with full rights)

7. Congressional Reconstruction continued… • Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 • Divided the South into five military districts, each governed by a general who was backed by federal troops • Southerners who had supported the Confederacy were denied the right to Vote • Southerners not so happy about the president’s new power over them so… • Command of the Army Act: limited the presidents power over the army • Tenure of Office Act- barred him from firing certain federal officials without Senate’s permission • Johnson ruled the two acts UNCONSTITUTIONAL and proved his power

8. Congressional Reconstruction continued… • Because of Johnson’s push-back, House of Representatives tried to impeach Johnson for “contempt, ridicule, and disgrace.” • Johnson was not impeached BUT lost his power MEANWHILE: • Sharecropping became a means of survival • African Americans wanted land but had no money or jobs to get money • White farmers had land but no one to farm it and no money to pay for it to be farmed SO…. White farmers divided land into small plots & rented plots and African American farmers rented land and paid for the land by working it • Sharecropping led to a lifetime of poverty and debt for African Americans • Used debt to by tools, seeds, etc and never made enough off the land to pay the debt back

9. Southern Reconstruction • 1867- Federal Army returned to the South and started registering people to vote • Freedmen, white Southerners who opposed the war, and Northerners who moved South after the war • African Americans joined the Republican Party • Largest group in the South • White Southerners opposing the War • Second largest group • Mostly poor white farmers, became known as Scalawags • Northerners who moved South after war • 3rd largest group, became known as “Carpet baggers”

10. Southern Reconstruction continued… • 1868 Election • Ulysses S. Grant for the Republicans • Supporter of Reconstruction • Promises to protect the rights of African Americans in the south • Horatio Seymour for the Democrats • Wanted to end reconstruction • Wanted to return south to traditional WHITE leaders • GRANT WINS!!!!

11. Southern Reconstruction continued… • 15th Amendment- urged by Grant • “Citizens right to vote shall not be denied… on account of race, color, and previous condition of servitude.” • Because of the new right to vote states elected new delegates (1/4 elected were African America) • Created new state constitutions that were very progressive

12. Southern Reconstruction continued… • New State Governments • Republican Governments (1/2 were African Americans) • Ratified 14 and 15 Amendment • By 1870 all states rejoined the Union • Started working on damage cause by the war (damage on roads, bridges, railroads, schools and hospitals) • Taxes increased up to 400% due to need to rebuild • African Americans in office • ½ officeholders- 22 in State Congress, 20 in the House of Representatives, and 2 in Senate

13. End of Reconstruction • Southerners resented Reconstruction governments • Tax payers blamed increased taxes on corruption • White Terrorism • Tried winning black voters with charm, then legal tricks to keep them from voting, and then with terrorism and violence • Ku Klux Klan (KKK)- dressed in long hooded robes and armed with guns; worked at night, used methods from threats to beatings to tar and feathering, to murder.

14. End of Reconstruction continued… • Enforcement Acts (1870 and 1871) • Illegal to prevent another person from voting by bribery, force, or scare tactics • GRANTS ARMY ENFORCED THIS • Amnesty Act of 1872 • Amnesty (forgiveness) • Allowed most former Confederates to vote once again • Hayes (R) succeeded Grant • Forced to remove all troops from the South due to back door deals • Ended Reconstruction

15. Reconstruction Reversed • “New South” with textile mills, factories, and cities • Textile mills increased in South • Losing Ground in Education • Old southern Democrats regained control and started cutting spending on education • Funding dried up so schools shut down OR those that stayed open had a fee • Losing Voting Ground • Voters pay a poll tax- which most African Americans could not afford • Made voters pay tax or pass literacy test • Whites “grandfathered in”- father or grandfather voted on Jan. 1, 1867 THEN they could vote without tax or test

16. Reconstruction Reversed continued… • Drawing a “color-line’: • Established Jim Crown Laws enforcing segregation of blacks and whites in the South after the Civil War. • “Jim Crow” was a black character from entertainer's at in the mid-1800s • Plessy V Ferguson • African Americans argued that the Jim Crow Laws violated the 14th Amendment • Homer Plessy, arrested for refusing to obey a Jim Crow Law • Plessy lost • More Jim Crow Laws passed • Jim Crow Laws (White Only Labels) • Blacks and whites attended different schools • Played at different parks • Separate theatre sections • Back of bus

17. Responding to Segregation • Open Protest • Attacked by whites • Lynched • Murdered (often hung) • Migration • Left South • Some to Africa founding Liberia (liberty) by freed American slaves • Northern Cities • Competed for jobs with recent immigrants from Europe • West • Worked as cowboys or as India fighters

18. Responding to Segregation continued… • Self Help • Worked hard in families, churched, and communities to improve their lives • Banded together to build schools and colleges for black children • Literacy rose rapidly • 1865- 5% read • 1900- 50% read and wrote • Started businesses