Reconstruction Part 2

Constitutional Convention of 1867 Georgia was required to rewrite its state constitution The delegates that met to rewrite it: 9 delegates were carpetbaggers (northerners who moved south after the war); 37 were black; most were scalawags (southern Republicans considered traitors) Republican and African American delegates were denied hotel rooms in Milledgeville, so the convention was moved to Atlanta. (The next year voters decided to move the capital here.) They wrote a new Constitution (civil rights to all) Approved free public education for all children Allowed married women to control their own property

1867 African Americans vote in Georgia for the 1st time! 29 black representatives and 3 black senators were elected to the General Assembly (Henry McNeal Turner, Tunis G. Campbell, Aaron A. Bradley) The General Assembly expelled them on the grounds that they did not have the Constitutional right to hold office.

Ku Klux Klan Formed in 1865 as a social club for soldiers and as a way to get democrats elected to office It became a secret group that used terror and intimidation to keep blacks from voting.. Georgia was placed under military control for the 3rd time because of the KKK. Georgia Act– 1869 Federal law that returned Georgia to military rule until they passed the 15th amendment

States were required to ratify the 15th amendment (voting rights) in order to get rid of military control and be readmitted to the Union.

Reconstruction Amendments #29 Work in your group to complete #29--summarize each amendment under the flap. Also include the reasons for each amendment.

Reconstruction Amendments 13th – abolished slavery 14th – granted citizenship (response to the Black Codes) 15th – granted voting rights (partially in response to the KKK)

Not much different than slavery! Sharecropping-landowners provided land, house, farming tools, animals, seed, fertilizer; workers received a share of the crops (1/3 to 1/2) Often the workers borrowed money on credit for medicine, food, clothing, etc until their crops came in – this caused huge debt that most never recovered from. Tenant farming – similar to  except workers owned some equipment, animals and paid for tools, seed etc. and sometimes paid rent. Usually they made a small profit.

End of Reconstruction 1870 Georgia met all requirements and was readmitted to the U.S. (the last state to do so). Do you think Georgia’s reconstruction is a success? In 1872 Southern Democrats (“redeemers”) were voted back into office.