Ch.5 - Reconstruction Sections 3 & 4

Birth of the “New South” zSharecropping: a family farmed some portion of a planters land. As payment, the family was promised a share of the crop at harvest time. Landowner provided housing zTenant Farming: Like sharecroppers, tenant farmers did not own the land they farmed. Unlike sharecroppers, tenant farmers paid to rent the land.

Sharecropping & the Cycle of Debt 1. Poor whites and freedmen have no jobs, no homes, and no money to buy land. 2. Poor whites and freedmen sign contracts to work a landlord’s acreage in exchange for a part of the crop. 3. Landlord keeps track of the money that sharecroppers owe him for housing and food. 4. At harvest time, the sharecropper owes more to the landlord than his share of the crop is worth. 5. Sharecropper cannot leave the farm as long as he is in debt to the landlord.

Effects on the South zLabor force: Before the war, 90% of cotton was harvested by slave; After the war, white laborers picked 40% of the crop zCash crops were grown  South had to import much of its food zHomestead Act of 1866: attempted to break the cycle of debt by offering low- cost land to southerners (white & black).

Growth zMajor focus was the rebuilding of southern railroads. yBy 1872, all tracks had been rebuilt and 3,300 miles more had been added zFactories produced items that were sent to the north to be finished products zMost of the money came from levying taxes on individuals

Ku Klux Klan zSpread rapidly in the South zPledged to “defend the social and political superiority” of whites against what they called the “agressions of an inferior race.” zSought to eliminate the Republican Party in the South by intimidating black and white voters zLong-term goal: keep African Americans in the role of submissive laborers.

Stopping the Klan zPresident Grant passes the Enforcement Act of 1870 ybanned the use of terror, force, or bribery to prevent people from voting because of their race

Reconstruction Ends zCorruption zThe economy: Legislatures taxed and spent heavily zViolence: KKK zDemocrats return to power yRepublicans = for reconstruction yDemocrats = against reconstruction

Compromise of 1877 zPresidential Election of 1876 yRepublicans vs. Democrats, can’t agree on who won the popular vote zCompromise of 1877 yDemocrats agree to give Rutherford B. Hayes the Presidency yIn return, Hayes removes the remaining federal troops from southern states

SuccessesFailures Union is restored. Many white southerners remain bitter toward the federal government and the Republican Party. The South’s economy grows and new wealth is created in the North. The South is slow to industrialize. 13 th Amendment: Free 14 th Amendment: Citizens 15 th Amendment: Vote After federal troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny African Americans the right to vote. Freedmen’s Bureau help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling. Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty. Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education. Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North.