Reconstruction Rebuilding the South

Effects on Southern Economy Before the war (antebellum period) Economy based on agriculture Leading cotton producer Reliant on slave labor After the war: Land destroyed: difficult to farm on No slave labor: difficult to produce enough cotton to trade Economic disaster

Black Codes Laws in the South passed to limit African American rights in post-Civil War times Examples: Not allowed to vote, not allowed to serve on a jury, yearly work contracts The South being able to do this with no repercussions showed how lenient President Johnson’s plan was, and pushed Congress to take control

Reconstruction Radical Republicans, group in Congress, in charge of making a plan to rebuild the South because President Johnson was too lenient: Very harsh against the South (punishment for the war): Divided into military districts Many Republicans put into governor positions is the South (primarily Democratic area) Had to approve 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments State that secession was illegal Pledge loyalty to the USA

Video Summary Write a 20 word summary after watching the video (you can watch it more than once if needed). http://video.pbs.org/video/2179593589 Note: Some students had trouble getting this video to play last year. I tried it again this year (in Chrome) and had no trouble—if it won’t work, skip it and come back to it!

Ku Klux Klan Goal was to keep former slaves powerless Rode on horses dressed in white robes Burned homes, beat people White supremacist group Political cartoons: Click on the link below and answer the questions that follow about the political cartoon  The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was a secret organization of White Southerners formed after the US Civil War to fight Black emancipation and Northern domination: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstruction/nast/sf_nast_07.html (you might have to zoom in)

Freedman’s Bureau Organization designed to help former slaves adjust to daily life Worked to provide food, jobs, medical assistance, education, etc. Johnson did not like the Bureau and vetoed its charter, citing it as unconstitutional

“This Land is Your Land…” Homestead Act Morrill Act Dawes Act 1862: Any U.S. citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. Government could file an application and lay claim to 160 acres of surveyed Government land. For the next 5 years, the homesteader had to: live on the land, build a home, make improvements, farm Soldiers who had served in the Union army could take their time served off of the residency requirements After 5 years, the homesteader could apply for the title to the land Land set aside for each state to be used for colleges focused on agriculture and mechanical arts Can you think of a college in Texas that would have been created because of this act? Took Natives land and divided it to give individual Natives a piece of the land Idea was to make the Natives more civilized Americans Destroyed the community established by the Natives living in tribes

Mini-biographies: I have listed a few people below that played an important role in Reconstruction. Write a mini-biography about each person, answering the questions below (you do not need to include anything they did before the Civil War). (Do NOT copy and paste—put this into your own words!) Who is this person? What is he best known for? Why is he important during this time period? What impact did he have on history (Texas or US)? EJ Davis: http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/term_ej_davis.html   Hiram Revels: http://www.biography.com/people/hiram-r-revels-9456129 Thaddeus Stevens: http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/thaddeus-stevens.html Charles Sumner: http://www.shmoop.com/reconstruction/charles-sumner.html