Section 3: The South During Reconstruction

Southern Republicans Support for the Republican Party in the South came from 3 main groups: African Americans White Southerners who supported Republican policies White settlers from the North

African Americans in Government Between 1869-1880… 16 African Americans served in the House of Representatives 2 African Americans served in the Senate The two senators were: Hiram Revels – ordained minister, former African American regiment chaplain Blanche K. Bruce – former runaway slave, later superintendent of schools

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers Scalawags were pro-Union Southerners, often former Unionists and Whigs, whom Southern Democrats accused of plundering the resources of the South in collusion with Republican governments after the Civil War. Carpetbaggers were Northern businessmen and politicians who came to the South after the Civil War to work on Reconstruction projects or invest in Southern infrastructure.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Founded in 1866 in Tennessee, this “Invisible Empire of the South” dressed in white bedsheets would harass black citizens. Fear and violence were utilized against both blacks and whites. In response to the KKK, Congress passed the Enforcement/Force Acts of 1870 and 1871, sending in federal troops to stamp out the KKK. There were technically three acts: The Enforcement Act of 1870 (Section 18 reenacted the 1866 Civil Rights Act The Enforcement Act of 1871 The KKK Act of 1871

Educational Improvements Many African Americans created their own schools Northern women and African Americans taught in Southern schools established by the Freedmen’s Bureau Reconstruction governments created a public school system for white and African American children (> 50% of white children and 40% of black children attended)

Integration Most southern public schools were segregated - white children went to white schools and black children went to black schools Some required integration (both white and black children in the same schools): Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida This was not really enforced at the time

Sharecropping Both blacks and poor whites had to resort to “sharecropping.” The most basic element is that wealthy landowners would hire workers to work their land and provide the owners with the vast majority of the crop; in return, the owners would give a vastly smaller amount to the workers. Since many former slaves had no choice but to opt for this job, it left them in a similar condition of dependency to their previous slave status.

Section 3 Assessment 1) scalawags – name given by former Confederates to Southern whites who supported Republican Reconstruction of the South. carpetbaggers – name given to Northern whites who moved South after the Civil War and supported the Republicans. corruption – dishonest or illegal actions. integrate - to end separation of different races ad bring into equal membership in society sharecropping - System of farming in which a farmer works land for an owner who provides equipment and seeds and receives a share of the crop.

Section 3 Assessment 2) How did Southerners try to maintain control over freed people? - Some told freed slaves they could not leave their plantations; many refused to rent land or given them work; stores refused credit to African Americans; some whites resorted to violence and intimidation. 3) How did the state governments under Reconstruction reform education? - They created public school systems for both races.

Section 3 Assessment 4) Why was voting and owning land so important to newly freed African Americans? - Voting gave them a voice in government and made them fully participating citizens; owning land gave them economic independence. 5) Re-create the diagram below and identify the three groups that made up the Southern Republican Party. Southern Republican Party 1) African Americans 2) white Southerners who supported Republican policies 3) white settlers from the North