Lesson 1: Presidential Reconstruction Ch17 Reconstruction Lesson 1: Presidential Reconstruction

Terms to know

defining 1. What was Reconstruction?

Reconstruction was the effort to reorganize the seceded states and bring them back into the Union after the Civil War.

Marking the text Highlight the features of Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan. Underline the features of Johnson’s plan.

Students should highlight “The president offered a pardon to all Southerners who were willing to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States. When 10 percent of state’s voters' had taken the oath of loyalty, the state could form a new government and return to the Union”. Students should underline “Each state was required to : nullify, or cancel, its act of secession; acknowledge that the U.S. government would not pay its Civil War debts; ratify the Thirteenth Amendment.”

defining 3. What does nullify mean?

Nullify means to cancel.

Reading progress check 4. How were the Reconstruction plans of Lincoln and Johnson similar?

Both plans were: forgiving toward the South both, required Southerners to pledge loyalty to the Unites States and accept the end of slavery.

defining 5. What is Juneteenth?

Juneteenth is June 19, the date celebrated as the anniversary of Texas Emancipation Day for enslaved people in Texas.

explaining 6. Why did some freed people move away immediately from their former slaveholders?

They wanted to demonstrate that they were really free to live where they wanted to. Some also left to find lost family members.

Marking the text 7. Underline the reasons why the work of the Freedmen’s Bureau was challenging in Texas.

Students should underline “Texas’s size and poor transportation and communications systems made the work of the Freedmen’s Bureaus challenging. In addition, many whites resented the aid the Freedmen’s Bureau gave African Americans.”

Reading progress check 8. How did the federal government help newly freed African Americans?

Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau: which helped freed people find jobs provided food and clothing and founded schools to educate freed people and their children

Marking the text 9. Highlight what the amendments added to the pre-war constitution of Texas.

Student should highlight “The amendments nullified secession and the state’s war debt and abolished slavery.”

explaining 10. How was the Reconstruction era a time of opportunity?

There was still cheap public land available in Texas, so many African Americans and whites from the older Southern states, as well as European immigrants, went to Texas to start a new life and own their own land after the war.

Reading progress check 11. How did conditions for freed people change after the Constitution of 1866 went into effect?

The new state constitution and the government elected under it limited freed people’s rights by passing black codes and denying them the right to vote, hold public office, or serve on juries.

Writing: check for understanding Expository: what voting requirements did President Johnson set for former Confederates? (to be able to vote again, most white Southerners had to swear an oath of loyalty to the U.S. However, Confederate leaders and wealthy Southerners needed a special pardon from the president.) Expository: What were the black codes and what was their purpose?