Reconstruction Rebuilding the South

Starter – February 27th What were the effects of the Civil War?

Reconstruction 1865-1877 To REBUILD the South after the Civil War South was destroyed Lincoln’s assassination hurt South Radical Republicans in Congress gained control over Reconstruction Lincoln was going to be LENIENT, the Radicals were going to be extreme, led by Thaddeus Stevens Established 5 military districts in South, Reconstruction Act Amnesty Act: pardoned former Confederates and returned the right to vote and hold public office Freedmen’s Bureau: organization set up to help poor people in South after Civil War, food, clothing, education

Johnson’s Presidency Andrew Johnson, planned to carry out Lincoln’s lenient plan of Reconstruction Black Codes/ Jim Crow Laws implemented in South by legislatures to limit the lives of the former slaves, curfew, social laws Former slaves voted Republican, plantation owners voted Democratic

Reconstruction Amendments 13th: Abolished Slavery 14th: Equal protection under the law, if you’re born here, you’re a citizen 15th: guarantee of right to vote regardless of race or ethnicity

Limits on Freedom Black Codes Jim Crow Laws: undermined the 14th and 15th Amendments Grandfather Clause Restricted rights of former slaves Ku Klux Klan established during Reconstruction to intimidate African Americans from voting, voting empowers people

Civil Rights Act of 1866 All persons born in U.S. (except Indians) were national citizens. All citizens enjoy rights equally without regard to race -- rights to make contracts, be parties in lawsuits, enjoy benefits of "all laws and proceedings for the securing of person and property." No state law or custom could deprive any citizen of the "fundamental rights belonging to every man as a free man." States were still responsible for enforcement of the law. There was no national police force, and the burden of enforcing the law laid primarily with the courts. The federal government would only step in if the state violated the law.

Impeachment 1st president ever to be IMPEACHED Impeach means “to question” for wrongdoing (not throw out of office!) Radicals impeached him for firing an official he wasn’t supposed to fire, said he violated the TENURE OF OFFICE ACT He was acquitted and spared by 1 vote He was followed in office by Ulysses S. Grant whose term was marked by scandal and corruption

The End of Reconstruction Lasted 12 short years Compromise of 1877 North was tired of sinking money into a difficult South, change was slow Former Confederates wanted the Northerners out of the South so HOME RULE could return (redemption) 1876 election, North said that if the South would elect Rutherford Hayes to office, they would end Reconstruction in South and withdraw all troops (Compromise of 1877) Deal was successful and it all ends in South by 1877 Former slaves left in a position of servitude and poverty with no federal protection or guarantee of equality, most became tenant farmers or sharecroppers Civil War and Reconstruction proved to be a test of the supremacy of the NATIONAL GOV’T, no state has ever seceded again!!

Reconstruction Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJLBrDSTgng

Fitzgerald Video Questions 1. Why did Robert Fitzgerald move to NC? 2. What was his profession after the war? 3. In what ways did the Freedmen’s Bureau help people in the South? 4. Describe his students (their willingness to learn). Describe students today? Are there similarities or differences? Explain. 5. Based on your study of Reconstruction, would you argue that it was a SUCCESS or a FAILURE?