Rebuilding Alabama Chapter 6

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1 Think about a time when you and another person got into an argument. How did you resolve it? Did you ever regain your friendship? TURN and TALK

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1 Think about a time when you and another person got into an argument. How did you resolve it? Did you ever regain your friendship? Much like an argument you may have gotten in, the northern and southern states disagreed, physically fought, then eventually reunited. Even though the actual “fight” was over…many consequences followed. Though we may make up with our friends, there are always apologies that need to be made and trust must be earned back. This was the also the situation with Alabama becoming a part of the U.S. after the Civil War.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1 The end of the Civil War brought many changes to Alabama, but the most dramatic was the end of slavery. Before the war, almost half of the people in Alabama were in slavery. But after the war, everyone was free. White Alabamians who had supported the Union were excited about a new and different state.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Picking Up the Pieces No one knows for sure how many Alabamians died in the war, but 20,000 of the 90,000 that served never returned home. Another 20,000 came back wounded. Alabama’s economy was in terrible condition; confederate money was worthless, large cities had been destroyed, many goods had not been available before the war, crops had not been planted, animals were lost, stolen, or eaten, and there were no slaves to work large farms and plantations. There also wasn’t much government. Local officials, judges, and sheriffs weren’t sure how much authority they had.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Picking Up the Pieces President Lincoln announced his plan for Reconstruction (remaking the governments of the Confederate states so that they could be readmitted to the Union. Lincoln’s plan: nullify the Ordinance of Secession (cancel the succession), ratify the 13 th Amendment (to follow the law that ended slavery), swear an oath of loyalty to the United States though they could not vote, and promise to pay back any debts from the war. April 14, John Wilkes Booth, who supported the southern cause, assassinated President Lincoln. He was shot while attending a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. After Lincoln’s death, no one was sure if his plan for Reconstruction would ever go into effect, but Vice President Andrew Johnson announced that Lincoln’s plan would still be followed.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Black Alabamians and Reconstruction During the Reconstruction, slaves began to find out what freedom meant, but needed help. Congress created Freedmen’s Bureau, which distributed food and clothing to former slaves as well as poor whites. It also opened school and found former slaves jobs. Some northerners came to the south to make money. They came with their belongings in a suitcase made of carpet, so they were called carpetbaggers. Many carpetbaggers came to invest money in the state and became good citizens, but others were dishonest. Freedmen became allies with the white Alabamians that had opposed the war. They hoped that blacks would help them keep the wealthy planters form controlling the state government. These white Alabamians were known as scalawags.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Politics After the War President Johnson appointed Lewis Parsons as governor. He took office in June 1865 and met to draw up a constitution that would allow Alabama to be readmitted into the Union. 6 months later, Robert Patton was sworn into office as governor. Most Alabamians thought the state was reconstructed, but a group called the Radical Republicans believed that the southern states were still under the control of the Confederates that were not doing much to protect the freedmen. To fix the problem, March 1867 the Radical Republicans passed the 1 st Reconstruction Act that removed elected officials from office and placed the state under military rule.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Politics After the War The act stated that black and white men who had not been leaders in the Confederate military would create a new constitution for the state. It had to be approved by US Congress. Finally, the voters had to obey the 14 th Amendment. This amendment made former slaves citizens if the United States. October 1867-citizens (even freed men) voted on having a constitutional convention. The vote favored a convention and 18 blacks were a part of the 100 delegates elected. This convention wrote the constitution of In this constitution, many northern ideas were express, women gained some rights, and it required that one fifth of all the state’s revenue($) support public education. ALABAMA RETURNED TO THE UNION!!!

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Freedom and Politics Congressmen could now be elected and sent to Washington D.C. to serve in the U.S. Congress. Some blacks were even voted into these positions. James Thomas Rapier: – born November 13, 1837 – son of a free black barber – educated in Canada; lawyer – came back to Al. to write for a northern newspaper – became a successful cotton planter and got involved in politics – served in the 1 st Republican convention – representative to the U.S. Congress

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Freedom and Politics Congressmen could now be elected and sent to Washington D.C. to serve in the U.S. Congress. Some blacks were even voted into these positions. Jeremiah Haralson: – born April 1, 1846 – born into slavery – educated himself ; minister – moved to Alabama and elected to state house of representatives and state senate and later worked for the federal government – he must have felt the tug of adventure because he moved all around the southern states, then to Oklahoma, and then to Colorado where he was killed by wild beasts.

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Freedom and Politics Congressmen could now be elected and sent to Washington D.C. to serve in the U.S. Congress. Some blacks were even voted into these positions. Benjamin Turner: – born 1825 – born into slavery in North Carolina – he managed a hotel in Selma for his owner – by the end of the Civil War, he had over $10,000 in savings – 1870 he became the 1 st black man from Alabama to be elected to Congress

Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Review Questions 1.About how many Alabamians died during the Civil War? 2.Who were the freedmen? 3.Name 2 requirements that Alabama had to meet to reenter the Union. 4.Why is the 13 th Amendment important? 5.How did carpetbaggers get their name?

1.About 20,000 Alabamians died during the Civil War. 2.The freedmen were former slaves that now had their freedom. 3.Some requirements that Alabama had to meet to reenter the Union were ratify the 13 th Amendment, swear an oath of loyalty, and pay back debts 4.The 13 th Amendment is important because it outlawed slavery in the United States. 5.Carpetbaggers got their name because they came from the north to the south carrying all their belongings in a suitcase made of carpet. Chapter 6:Rebuilding Alabama Lesson 1- Review Answers