Reconstruction

Reconstruction Reconstruction was the process of reuniting the nation and rebuilding the southern states without slavery following the Civil War.

Lincoln’s Plan Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly as possible after the war. He wanted to offer southerners amnesty (an official pardon) for supporting the Confederacy. To receive amnesty, southerners had to take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. and accept a ban on slavery. Once 10% of voters in each state made these pledges, the state would be readmitted to the U.S. This became known as his Ten Percent Plan.

Freedmen’s Bureau Task of feeding and clothing former slaves Find work for them Negotiate labor contracts Began education

Thirteenth Amendment "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” Adopted on December 6, 1865 (8 months after the Civil War ended and Lincoln’s assassination) Outlaws slavery in America

Thirteenth Amendment Barriers Southerners fought back against the 13th Amendment in 2 main ways. They instituted “Black Codes” almost identical to “Slave Codes to control African American behavior and freedoms. They set up sharecropping- which kept freed African Americans working on the plantations. It was like slavery and freedmen had little chance of being truly free.

Lincoln Assassination April 14, 1865- Lincoln attends the play “our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre. John Wilkes Booth and conspirators plan to kill Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward at the same time Lincoln dies at 7:30 am on the April 15,1865 Wilkes Booth succeeded in his effort to kill President Lincoln

Andrew Johnson Becomes 17th president after Lincoln dies Wanted to continue Lincoln’s plan for rebuilding the nation Southerner, was seen as too easy on the South President Johnson was the first president Impeached (brought up on charges for high crimes and misdemeanors) One vote shy of being kicked out of office

Johnson’s Plan Johnson’s plan established a system for setting up new state governments in the south. He appointed a governor for every state Voters elected new state officials and representatives to U.S. congress in each state Each new state government was required to declare that secession was illegal Each southern state had to refuse to pay Confederate debts By 1865, all southern states except Texas, had created new governments and had been readmitted into the U.S., however, Congress refused to recognize that these states had been readmitted.

Radical Republicans Wanted to punish the South for the war, wanted the Southern states to really change before they came back into the union. After the war, Southern states instituted laws to control the freed African Americans almost exactly like slave codes The Radical Republicans believed that African Americans should have all citizenship rights and shouldn’t have black codes placed on them.

Radical Republicans Plan (Congressional Plan) Radical Republicans believed that African Americans should have complete political equality. They wanted southern states to change much more than they already had before they could be readmitted to the U.S. They believed that Black Codes were cruel and unjust. They wanted the federal government to be much more involved in Reconstruction because they feared southern leaders would remain loyal to the Confederacy.

14th Amendment All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

14th Amendment Adopted on July 9, 1868. If the 14th Amendment was the law, that anyone born or naturalized as a citizen has all the rights and privileges of a citizen, then why do we need the 15th Amendment (1870), 19th (1920), Native Americans were not counted as citizens until 1924.

14th Amendment Barriers Southerners hated the 14th Amendment because it proclaimed equality of white and black. It excluded ALL women at the time. The Southerners fought back against this amendment by: Instituting “Jim Crow” laws- laws that legalized segregation of the races. White people still ran the courts, justice in the South was not just.

15th Amendment The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Applied only to African American males. Adopted February 3, 1870.

15th Amendment Barriers For a brief time during reconstruction African American Males were allowed to vote in the South. Southerners found ways to deny Black men the right to vote. Literacy Tests- African Americans had to prove they could read a hard part of the constitution in order to vote. Poll Taxes- Tax African Americans had to pay to vote. The Grandfather Clause- The only the people who could vote were people who’s grandfathers had the right to vote before the Civil War. The intent and effect of such rules was to prevent poor and illiterate African American former slaves and their descendants from voting

Radical Republicans During the early part of reconstruction African Americans voted, were elected to office (including the Senate-Hiram Revels) and had some power. 1868 U.S. Grant elected President

Vocabulary Carpetbaggers- Northerners who went South to make money. Carried belongings in a bag made from old carpet. Scalawag- nickname given to these Southerners means “mean fellow” Ku Klux Klan- Group started to terrorize free blacks in the South in 1866, founded by Nathan Bedford Forrest Civil Rights act 1875- laws that were supposed to guarantee African American equal rights in public places, people ignored it. Ruled unconstitutional in 1883

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court ruling that segregation was legal as long as “separate but equal” facilities were provided. Landmark case

Sharecropping System of farming practiced where both blacks and whites on a farm share the crops. Landowner would supply the land and tools while the sharecropper provided the labor and purchased their supplies. When the crop was sold it would be split between the two but not always equally. Landowners kept the power over the former slaves by keeping them in debt and not letting them leave.

Ku Klux Klan Started in 1866 by Nathaniel Bedford Forrest Secret society Mostly former Confederate soldiers

Goals of the KKK Drive out carpetbaggers Regain control of the South for the Democratic Party Use terror

Tactics of the KKK Broke up Republican meetings Harassed Freedmen’s Bureau workers Burned homes, churches, schools Kept Republicans (white and black) from voting

End of Reconstruction The election of 1876 pitted Rutherford B. Hayes against Samuel Tilden. It was virtually a tie and the electoral college was deadlocked. Hayes made a back room deal that he would end reconstruction if he was given the presidency. Hayes was declared the winner and reconstruction ended.

End of Reconstruction April 1877 Hayes pulled federal troops out of the South Southern Democrats took control of all state legislatures

Jim Crow Laws Southern states create laws to segregate public space