Reconstruction, 1865 to 1877 Government Action & Disorder United States History Reconstruction, 1865 to 1877 Government Action & Disorder
President Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s Successor Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, and his vice president took over. Terrible for freed slaves, since Johnson supported former slave owners & opposed black suffrage. When Congress passed laws to support black rights, Johnson vetoed them.
President Andrew Johnson
Radical Republicans Wanted to stamp out all hint of slavery. Slave owners, though a minority, had run the South. The RR’s wanted to punish them; they wanted to give full citizenship to African Americans. Charles Sumner
Freedmen’s Bureau Set up by Congress to provide food, clothing, hospitals, legal protection & education for former slaves and poor whites.
Reconstruction Act of 1867 Divided the South into 5 military districts Got rid of state governments (except Tennessee) Forced states to give black men the vote.
14th Amendment 15th Amendment 9 July 1868 Made African Americans citizens. Asserted federal control of states. First of the 2 “Reconstruction Amendments” 3 February 1870 Gave African Americans the right to vote.
The Ku Klux Klan Bands of white supremacists attacked, terrorized & murdered southern blacks & their white allies from 1865 to 1871. Klansmen, mostly veterans of Confederate army, wore hoods & attacked at night.
Black Codes Southern governments passed laws to control former slaves and protect the plantation economies. It became very hard for African Americans to move freely, and they had to sign annual labor contracts.
Key Dates 1865, March: Freedmen’s Bureau created. 1866: Civil Rights Act passed. 1868, July: 14th Amendment. 1869, March: Pres. Grant takes office. 1870, February: 15th Amendment. 1871: KKK terminated. (It later reappeared.)