Instructional Focus Document Notes Grade 8/Social Studies

1. Instructional Focus Document NotesGrade 8/Social Studies UNIT: 12 TITLE: Reconstruction Part 1: Reconstruction (1865-1877)

2. Reconstruction • After the Civil War, the North experienced a brief economic downturn, but was able to recuperate quickly mainly because most of the destruction that came with the war occurred primarily in the South. • The South was devastated. Their financial system was ruined, and many southern banks had been forced to close, because that had made loans with Confederate money which was now worthless

3. Reconstruction • The South would need rebuilding, and Southern state governments would need to be restored and this was called reconstruction. • There were different strategies in Congress on how to handle reconstruction

4. Ten Percent Plan • This was Lincoln’s plan to allow southern states to form their own governments after 10% of the population swore an oath of loyalty to the United States. • It also would allow amnesty to former Confederate soldiers

5. Wade-Davis Bill • This was a rival plan that was more severe than Lincoln’s 10% Plan. • It would have required a majority of white men to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States and it barred any former Confederate soldier from serving in public office • Lincoln refused to sign this bill

6. Freedman’s Bureau • This was a plan to help former slaves after the war • The Bureau would provide food and clothing and help African Americans find jobs. It allowed for schooling as well by expanding education opportunities • It was intended to help impoverished whites as well

7. Lincoln is Assassinated • Lincoln never got the chance to push his reconstruction plans through Congress • While attending a play a play a Fords Theatre in Washington D.C. on April 14th, 1865, he was assassinated

8. Lincoln is Assassinated • John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Southern sympathizer, crept into Lincoln’s balcony and shot him in the head. • Lincoln died the next morning • Booth escaped but was later apprehended and killed along with his conspirators

9. The 13th Amendment • Andrew Johnson, who had been Lincoln’s Vice President, became the new President. • Johnson passed a plan that required the Southern states to pass the 13th Amendment which outlawed slavery everywhere in the United States and no compensation was to be given to former slave owners.

10. The 13th Amendment • The southern states did pass the 13th Amendment, so Johnson allowed them to have their own state governments back. • This angered many Radical Republicans in Congress, who felt Johnson was being too lenient with the South

11. The 13th Amendment • Andrew Johnson (who was a Democrat) believed that Reconstruction in the South should not be cruel nor harsh, so that a better relationship could be formed between the regions of the country

12. Radical Republicans • Radical Republicans like Thaddeus Stevens, became outraged when southern states began electing former Confederate Congress members to the U.S. Congress

13. Black Codes • Southern legislatures also began to pass “Black Codes” which were intended on preventing freedmen from voting or gaining economic power. Many who attempted to defy these codes could be arrested and sentenced to work on plantations.

14. Civil Rights Acts • Radical Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 to combat the “Black Codes” • President Andrew Johnson (Democrat) vetoed the bill, but the Radical Republican controlled Congress overrode his veto

15. The 14th Amendment • The 14th Amendment was passed by Congress to give citizenship to all persons born in the United States. Including newly freed former slaves. • It also guaranteed equal protection of the law to all citizens.

16. The 14th Amendment • The Republicans were hoping to secure basic rights for freedmen in the South • All the former Confederate States except Tennessee refused to ratify the 14th Amendment • The Radical Republicans then abolished all the southern state governments and split the south into 5 military districts. • They would not be allowed to rejoin the United States until they ratified the 14th amendment and rewrote their state constitutions

17. Military Redistricting

18. Ratification of 14th Amendment

19. 15th Amendment • In 1869, Republicans in Congress came up with the 15th Amendment, which would forbid any state to deny African Americans the right to vote

20. 15th Amendment • Many Republicans knew that the majority of African Americans would probably vote Republican • The addition of the 13th 14th, and 15th amendments during reconstruction had a great effect on the country

21. Reconstruction • There were few white people in the South who supported the Republican party. They were mainly businessmen who had opposed secession in the first place • Many other Southerners referred to these white Republicans as “scalawags” and considered them to be traitors • There were Northerners who came down to the South to help in the Reconstruction

22. Carpetbaggers • Many Southerners accused these Northerners of scheming to take advantage of the situation and get rich off the misery of the Southerners. They referred to these men as “Carpetbaggers” since they came down in cloth suitcases. • Southern Democrats hated carpetbaggers

23. Reconstruction • Another major voice in politics was the voice of the African Americans. • Now that they could vote, many began running for office. Several were even elected to Congress • Hiram Revels became the first African American Senator in 1870. (He was elected to finish Jefferson Davis’s term)

24. Hiram Revels

25. Reconstruction • Many Conservatives in the South resisted all the change brought on by Reconstruction. Most of these Conservatives were Democrats. They began t wage a personal war with anyone who supported the Republican Party. • Secret societies began to form to keep African Americans from voting and prevent Republicans from gaining power

26. Ku Klux Klan • The most dangerous and violent of these secret societies was the Ku Klux Klan

27. Sharecropping • Poverty was beginning to take hold of the South during Reconstruction • Former slaves who left the plantations found little opportunities elsewhere and many wound up returning to work on the plantations. • They rented the land they worked on and were provided tools, seed, fertilizer, etc. by the land owners in return for a share in the profits from the crops.

28. Sharecropping • Many sharecroppers spent their time trying to repay the loans and became locked in a cycle of poverty. • Many white Southerners who had lost everything wound up becoming sharecroppers as well

29. Reconstruction Ends • Radical Republicans eventually began to lose their influence in Congress as many had been exposed of corruption. • Even President Grant was seen as corrupt

30. Reconstruction Ends • When the Amnesty Act of 1872 was passed, Southerners were once again allowed to vote for their own governments. Most all of them voted overwhelmingly Democrat. • Republican domination of Congress soon gave way to an even split • The Democratic Party would rule the politics of Southern states for a century following the Civil War

31. Election of 1876 • In the election of 1876, Democrats chose Samuel Tilden to run for President • Republicans chose Rutherford B. Hayes as their candidate. • The election was extremely close.

32. Election of 1876 • Tilden won the popular vote, but 20 electoral votes were too close to call. • A commission of mostly Republicans handled the recount and gave the election to Hayes. • Hayes began to remove all federal troops from the South thus bringing an official end to Reconstruction

33. Homestead Act • The Homestead Act was passed by Congress in 1862. It gave land west of the Mississippi River to anyone who had not taken up arms against the U.S. government and who agreed to improve the land • This caused the settlement of western territories to accelerate

34. Morrill Act • The Morrill Act allowed for the creation of land grant colleges whose studies focused on agriculture and mechanical arts • Many states began to build their first public colleges

35. Dawes Act • The Dawes Act was passed by Congress in 1887. It divided Indian Tribal land into lots for individual ownership to help assimilate Native Americans into American Society • This disrupted tribal way of life by enforcing individual ownership.

36. Plessey v. Ferguson • Segregation- the legal separation of races became the law of the land in the South. The South passed state laws to keep African Americans out of white schools, theatres, restaurants, hospitals, and even cemeteries. • These were known as “Jim Crow” laws. • African Americans challenged these laws in the Plessey v. Ferguson case.

37. Plessey v. Ferguson • The supreme court ruled that segregation was legal as long as the separate Black and White facilities were equal. They were hardly ever equal

38. New South • When Reconstruction ended the South began to build its own industry instead to relying on the North. • Many new businesses started up I this “New South”, such as mining and oil refineries

39. New South • It would take over 100 years before the South was able to catch up to the rest of the Nation in development and in some cases surpass the other regions in industry