Reconstruction and daily life Chapter 18-2 By: Bryson Unkrich

Responding to freedom Most African Americans’ first reaction to freedom was to leave the plantations. Former slaves went looking for economic opportunity, while others travelled just because the could. Freedom allowed African Americans to marry and raise families knowing their children couldn’t be sold.

Freedmen’s schools African Americans no longer had to work for an owners benefit. They could now provide for their families. Many African Americans went to freedmen’s schools or schools that educated African Americans to learn to read or write. The schools were started by the Freedmen’s Bureau, Northern Missionary Groups, and other African American organizations. The classes were held in warehouses, billiard rooms and former slave markets. In rural areas they were held in churches and private homes.

Freedman’s schools By 1869, more than 150,000 African American student were attending 3,000 schools. 20% or African American adults could read. Racists even killed teachers or burned schools in some parts of the south

Working the land More than anything else, freed people wanted land. To them land meant economic independence. As one freedman said: “give us our own land and we take care of ourselves, but without land the old masters can hire us or starve us, as they please”

Forty acres and a mule As the civil war ended, General Sherman suggested that abandoned land was split into 40 acre sections and given to freedmen. The army also had extra mules that Sherman wanted to loan. The rumor spread and most freed people thought that they deserved at least that much. (see primary source page 579) in the end, however, most freedmen received no land Those who did own land often had to return it to the lands former owners- planters pardoned by President Johnson.

Forty acres and a mule Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner pushed for a land reform. Stevens proposed a plan that would give free people land from plantation owners. However many Republicans argued against the plan because they thought that Plantation owners had the right to keep their plantations. Therefore the vote didn’t pass

The contract system After the civil war, planters needed workers to raise cotton- the South’s main cash crop. Many African-Americans accepted contracts for plantation work. The contract system was far better then slavery– African Americans got paid and got to decide whom to work for. But they were paid very low wages and the African Americans were often cheated. As a result most African Americans turned to Sharecropping.

The economics of sharecropping In the sharecropping system, farmers rented land on credit. The landowner provided tools and seed. At harvest farmers gave a share of their crops to the landowner. Farmers wanted to grow food for their families but landowners wanted to grow cashcrops. By the time sharecroppers had shared their crops and paid their debts they had little to no money left. Most sharecroppers had little to no hope of escaping poverty.

Violent racism African Americans in the South faced problems besides poverty- Violent racism. Many planters and former confederate soldiers didn’t want African Americans to have equal rights. Including a group called the Ku Klux Klan

The ku klux klan In 1866 racism in the South spurred the rise of a terrorist group called the Ku Klux Klan It was made up of poor farmers and former Confederate Soldiers. Its goal was to restore Democratic control to the south and keep former slaves powerless. By 1868, the Klan existed in nearly every southern state.

Terrorism by the ku klux klan The Klan attacked blacks and White Republicans. Klansmen road on horseback and dressed in robes and hoods to hide their faces. They beat, tortured and killed people while burning schools, churches and houses. They even lynched victims- killed them by hanging without a trial. Targets of the Klan had little protection. Military governors often ignored the violence. President Johnson had appointed most of these authorities and were against reconstruction. The Klan’s violence kept Republicans away from the polls and strengthened the Democrats’ power.

Works cited Dallak, Robert, and Littell McDougal. "Chapter 18 Reconstruction." American history. Evanston, Ill.: McDougal Littell, 2008. 577-581. Print.