Reconstruction Period The biggest issue facing the nation after the war was how to best repair the damage done throughout the country. Many southern cities were completely destroyed during the war.

Total War The idea of Total War was to defeat the enemy completely. Leave no doubt in the minds of your opponents that you have won. Complete destruction.

Charlestown, SC

Richmond, VA

Harper’s Ferry, VA

Reconstruction Plans Presidential Reconstruction Lincoln’s Plan “With malice towards none” 10% Plan – Ten percent of Southern voters in each state had to swear loyalty to the United States before that state could be re-admitted to the Union Each southern state had to ratify the 13 th and 14 th amendments Congressional Reconstruction Radical Republican Plan Punish the South Majority Plan- A majority of southern voters in each state had to swear loyalty to the United States before that state could be re-admitted to the Union Each southern state had to ratify the 13 th and 14 th amendments

Reconstruction Act of 1867 Passed by the Radical Republicans in 1867  Divided The South into 5 military districts  Each “sector” was controlled by a Union general  Congress wanted to make sure that the southern states were not depriving freedmen of their rights

The Civil War Amendments The 13 th Amendment The 14 th Amendment The 15 th Amendment

The 13 th Amendment “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…..shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” - ratified December 6, 1865

The 14 th Amendment “All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States…No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” - ratified July 9, 1868

The 15 th Amendment “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” -ratified February 2, 1870

Freedmen Men and women living in the South who had once been slaves  there were four million freedmen  as slaves they were not permitted to own property or read and write What would become of them???

The Freedmen’s Bureau The Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help ex-slaves and poor whites after the Civil War gave food and clothing provided medical care for over 1 million people tried to help freedmen find jobs set up schools for over 300,000 ex-slaves The Freedmen’s Bureau was the most important accomplishment of the Reconstruction period

Segregation Segregation is the separation of people of different races in public places. After 1877, segregation became a way of life for southern Blacks

Legalizing Segregation Black Codes Laws which severely limited the rights of Blacks  Blacks couldn’t own guns  Blacks couldn’t vote  Blacks couldn’t serve on juries “Jim Crow” Laws Laws which legalized segregation – This was not yet illegal under the 14 th Amendment.  Separate schools  Separate churches  Separate hospitals  Separate parks  Separate cemeteries  Separate restaurants SEPARATE EVERYTHING As a result of the 14 th Amendment, Black Codes were declared Unconstitutional.

Jim Crow

The KKK (Ku Klux Klan) A secret society founded in 1869 whose purpose was to restore “white Christian supremacy” in The South. Members used terror and violence to keep Black men from voting. Their “calling card” was a burning cross; their “signature” method of punishment was “lynching”

Sharecropping Freedmen had very few opportunities after The Civil War, so many became sharecroppers. Sharecroppers lived and farmed the land provided by “planters.” They were given seed, fertilizer and tools. In return, the “planters” received a share of the crops at harvest time. Sharecroppers barely had enough food for their own families and often became locked in a “cycle of poverty”

Carpetbaggers Carpetbaggers were northerners who went to the South after the Civil War hoping to profit from the South’s misery These “fortune hunters” were called carpetbaggers because they carried their belongings in cheap suitcases. These individuals became a hated symbol of Reconstruction

Scalawags Scalawags were white southerners who supported the new Republican governments in the South. Many ex-Confederates considered them “traitors” because they wanted to forget the war and go on with rebuilding the South Scalawags were named after small, scruffy horses

Amnesty Government “pardon” (forgiveness) to those who swore loyalty to the United States Lincoln wanted to make it easy for The South The “Radical Republicans” wanted to punish The South

What If???? Would life in The South have been different if Abraham Lincoln had lived???? Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s vice president, was not well liked and couldn’t carry out Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction

Impeach Impeach- to bring charges against The Constitution states that a president can be impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors” Andrew Johnson was “framed” by the Republicans in Congress

The Tenure of Office Act The Tenure of Office Act stated that the president could not “fire” a cabinet member – only Congress could. When Johnson fired Secretary Stanton, Congress impeached Johnson A 2/3 vote of the Senate is needed to convict a president The vote in Congress was Congress was one vote short of conviction

The Election of 1876 There were 4 “disputed” states: -Florida -Louisiana -South Carolina -Oregon which totaled 20 Electoral votes whoever won the 20 votes would be the next president……

…and the winner is Hayes was a democrat who needed all 20 electoral votes to win. A compromise was reached: Hayes won all 20 votes and became president. In return, HE AGREED TO END RECONSTRUCTION

suffrage The right to vote Black men were given the right to vote in the 15 th amendment. Or were they?????

voting restrictions poll taxes literacy tests grandfather clauses

racism was further legalized by…..  Poll Taxes – Blacks had to pay a fee each time they voted. Poor freedmen could not afford to vote  Literacy Tests- Blacks had answer questions about The Constitution. Freedmen had very little education  Grandfather Clauses- Those southerners whose grandfathers had been eligible to vote on January 1, 1867, did not have to take the literacy tests. This was insurance that only white men would vote

Plessy v. Ferguson Plessy v. Ferguson was a Supreme Court case which, in 1896, legalized segregation Homer Plessy was a Black man who was arrested in Louisiana for sitting in the “white” car of a train The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court which declared that segregation was legal as long the different facilities were “separate but equal” Which car is the white car? Which car is the black car? but were they really equal?????

The Legacy of Reconstruction “Union! I can more easily conceive of the Lion and Lambs lying down together, than of a union of the North and South” - Massacusetts teacher in the South, 1866