Chapter 17 Reconstruction and the New South (1865-1896)

Chapter 17 Reconstruction and the New South (1865-1896) Section 3 The South During Reconstruction

Section 3-Polling Question • A • B In your opinion, should President Johnson have been removed from office? A.Yes B.No

Essential Question In what ways did government in the Southern states change during Reconstruction?

African Americans in Government • African American voters played an important role in Reconstruct • Contributing to Republican victories in the South • Some African Americans were able to win seats as elected officials • In South Carolina, African Americans held a majority in the lower house of the legislature • In other states, African Americans held important positions, but never in proportion to their numbers

At the National Level • 16 African Americans served in the House of Representatives (1869-1880) • 2 African Americans served in the Senate (1869-1880) • One was Hiram Revels- an ordained minister • Revels had recruited African Americans for the Union army • He also started a school for freed African Americans in Missouri • He also served as chaplain of an African American regiment in Mississippi • Revels stayed in Mississippi and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1870

Blanche K. Bruce • The other African American senator • Also from Mississippi • A former escaped slave • Taught in a school for African Americans in Missouri • In 1869 he went to Mississippi, entered politics, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1874

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers • Some Southern whites backed the Republicans • Former Confederates called them scalawags (scoundrel or worthless rascal) • Some Northern whites moved to the South after the war and supported the Republican party • Critics called these Northerners carpetbaggers • Some were dishonest, but many were reformers who wanted to help the South • Many Southerners accused the Reconstruction governments of corruption

Section 3 • A • B • C • D Southern whites who supported Republicans were called A.scalawags B.sharecroppers C.carpetbaggers D.freedmen

Resistance to Reconstruction • Most Southerners opposed efforts to expand African Americans’ rights • Most white landowners refused to rent land to freed people • Store owners refused them credit and employers would not hire them • Secret societies, such as the Ku Klux Klan, used fear and violence to deny rights to freed men and women • The KKK wore white sheets and hoods

The KKK • Klan members killed 1000s of African Americans and their white friends • Wounded many more • Burned African American homes, schools, and churches • Many southerners, especially planters and the Democrats, back the KKK • They saw violence as a defense against Republican rule • 1870 and 1871- Laws were passed to stop the violence of the Klan • But most Southerners refused to testify against those who attacked African Americans and their white supporters

Education • During Reconstruction, African Americans created their own schools • The Freedmen’s Bureau also helped spread education • 1870s- Reconstruction governments created public schools for both races • Within a few years about 50% of white children and 40% of African American children in the South were enrolled • Northern missionary societies set up academies • These academies grew into African American colleges and universities • Fisk University in Tennessee and Morehouse College in Georgia • Only a few states required that schools be integrated, but the laws were not enforced

Farming • Some African Americans purchased land with the help of the Freedmen’s Bank • Most were unable to get land • The most common form of farmwork for freed people was sharecropping • A landowner rented a plot of land to a sharecropper • An a crude shack, some seeds, and tools (also maybe a mule) • In return, sharecroppers shared a percentage of their crops with the landowners • After paying the landowner, sharecroppers often had little left to sell • For many, sharecropping was little better than slavery

Section 3 • A • B • C • D What was the relationship between sharecroppers and landowners? A.Landowners owned sharecroppers. B.Landowners sold small parcels of land to sharecroppers. C.Sharecroppers rented a parcel of land from a landowner. D.Sharecroppers worked the landowner’s land for a small annual salary.

Essential Question In what ways did government in the Southern states change during Reconstruction? -Before the Civil War, only whites could vote or hold office in the South - During Reconstruction, African American men gained these rights -African American voters mostly supported Republicans, helping Radical Republicans take control of Southern state governments -Several African Americans were elected to office

Chapter 17 Section 3 Quiz

African American voters were supporters of the Republican Party. • True • False

Hiram Revels was a plantation owner. • True • False

A carpetbagger was a poor person from the South who tried to make money in the North. • True • False

Many Democrats supported the actions of the Ku Klux Klan. • True • False

The Freedmen's Bank lent money to help African Americans buy land. • True • False

Southern whites who supported Republican policy throughout Reconstruction were called • carpetbaggers. • Republican hostages. • scalawags. • freedmen.

Northerners who moved to the South and supported the Republicans were called • carpetbaggers. • Republican hostages. • scalawags. • freedmen.

One way some Southerners made life difficult for freed African Americans was to • keep them from holding government positions. • keep them out of schools. • refuse to give them work. • supply them with diseased food.

What did Southerners who had the most to gain from the reestablishment of white supremacy see as a defense against Republican rule? • voting rights • violence • cooperation • Democratic Party

What did African Americans find to be little better than slavery? • integration • moving to the North • sharecropping • land ownership

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Chapter 17 Reconstruction and the New South (1865-1896)