RECONSTRUCTION

POLITICAL CHANGES IN THE SOUTH  Republican party grows stronger …Increased corruption in Republican party  African Americans elected to state office  More opportunities for women  Scalawags & Carpetbaggers are active in the South

SOCIAL CHANGES IN THE SOUTH  Women have new roles  Blacks move to cities  Schools & colleges built  Black churches built throughout the South  Ku Klux Klan  Increased discrimination …Black codes …Jim Crow Laws …Grandfather clauses

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SOUTH  Sharecropping system set up  Tenant farming  Corrupt railroad speculators

Who: landowners and sharecroppers When: after the Civil war Where: in the South What: a system to share land and plant crops that didn’t use money How: landowners provided land, and dictated what crop was grown, in exchange for seed, tools and a place to live How: sharecroppers gave share of harvested crop to landowner, usually bought supplies on credit with high interest rates Consequences: Sharecropper always in debt Sharecropper must promise larger share of next year’s crop, making it impossible for the sharecropper to ever leave

PLANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION Lincoln’s Plan  Called 10% Plan (Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction)  10% of a state’s voters had to take a loyalty oath to the Union  New state constitution must abolish slavery and give education to African Americans …Didn’t require social or political equality for African Americans  Willing to pardon former Confederates Johnson’s Plan  Offered pardons and restoration of land to ANY Confederate who swore allegiance to the Union and the Constitution  Each state must ratify 13 th amendment and draft a new constitution that abolishes slavery  Confederate leaders had to write Johnson personally to apply for a pardon

CONGRESS’ PLAN FOR RECONSTRUCTION  Called Wade-Davis Bill …Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner pushed for it’s passage  Majority of state’s prewar voters must swear loyalty to Constitution  Demanded guarantee of African American equality  Favored harsh punishments for South  Supported idea of confiscating Confederate land and giving it to freedmen

Congress Takes Over Reconstruction Violence against African Americans in the South increases Many southerners do not accept the end of slavery Southern governments enact black codes

FEDERAL RECONSTRUCTION LEGISLATION  Wade-Davis Bill: Congress’ version of Reconstruction – vetoed by Lincoln  13 th amendment: abolished slavery (1865)  Freedmen’s Bureau: first federal relief agency in U.S. history; designed to aid black southerners

 Civil Rights Act of 1866: guaranteed citizenship to blacks  14 th amendment: made African Americans citizens, provided for equal protection for ALL  Reconstruction Act of 1867: radical reconstruction plan from Congress  Tenure of Office Act: law passed by Congress that limited Johnson’s presidential power; he violated this law by firing his Secretary of War

 15 th amendment: gave black men the right to vote  Enforcement Act: banned use of terror, force or bribery to keep people from voting  Civil Rights Act of 1875: guaranteed equal rights in public places

END OF RECONSTRUCTION  Northern support evaporates  Corruption in President Grant’s administration  Tweed Ring steals millions from NYC treasury  Economic Panic of 1873

END OF RECONSTRUCTION  Supreme Court chips away at African American freedoms …Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) …U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876)

END OF RECONSTRUCTION  Southern whites gain power  Klan intimidation  Redeemers  1874 – Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives and of Federal Reconstruction

EFFECTS OF RECONSTRUCTION African Americans  Could vote and own land  Had choice of where to work  Reunited with family  13 th, 14 th, and 15 th amendments gave hope for full inclusion in society  Literacy promoted within African American communities

EFFECTS OF RECONSTRUCTION Women’s Suffrage  Gave vote to black men, but fragmented the women’s movement  Disagreement over 15 th amendment including a clause to give women suffrage  1869 – Wyoming Territory became first political unit to extend vote to women

EFFECTS OF RECONSTRUCTION State and National Parties  African Americans embrace Republican party, while white Southerners shun it  Democratic party dominates the south  Republican party becomes the party of big business

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SOUTH Labor  Loss of slave labor  Workers attempt to find higher-paying jobs, such as jobs on railroads  Few laborers available to pick cotton

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SOUTH Farming  Sharecropping emerges, resulting in cycle of debt  Tenant farming emerges  Emphasis on cash crops  Rise of merchants

ECONOMIC CHANGES IN THE SOUTH Industry  Railroads rebuilt and extended  Cities grow, along with commerce and population  Focus on early, less profitable stages of manufacturing

SUCCESSES OF RECONSTRUCTION  Union restored  Economic growth  14 th amendment  15 th amendment  Freedmen’s Bureau  Education

FAILURES OF RECONSTRUCTION  Bitterness in south remains  Industrialization is slow  African Americans denied the right to vote  Cycle of poverty remains  Racist attitudes continue