RECONSTRUCTION AND REPUBLICAN RULE THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION

LEARNING TARGETS Know what “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags” were. Understand what African Americans’ role in government was. Know what “graft” refers to. Understand the role that churches played in the South for African Americans. Discuss the effects of the Enforcement Acts. Discuss the cause and effects of the Panic of Understand President Hayes’ plan for the South. Know what “sharecroppers” were.

REPUBLICAN RULE IN THE SOUTH -Carpetbaggers and scalawags A large number of Northerners traveled to the South and were eventually elected into public office. Southerners, particularly supporters of the Democratic Party, referred to these newcomers as carpetbaggers. White Southerners who worked with the Republican and supported Reconstruction. They called these people scalawags.

REPUBLICAN RULE IN THE SOUTH -African Americans Enter Politics Thousands of formerly enslaved people took part in governing the South. Hundreds of formerly enslaved people served as delegates to the conventions that created the new state constitutions. During reconstruction, dozens of African Americans served in Southern state legislatures. (14 were elected to the House of Representatives and 2 in Senate)

REPUBLICAN RULE IN THE SOUTH -Republican Reforms in the South Repealed the black codes, established state hospitals and institution for orphans, built roads, railways, and bridges. Many state governments were forced to borrow money and to impose high property taxes to pay for repairs and new programs. Many property owners lost their lands to high taxes they couldn’t pay Graft, or gaining money illegally through politics, was common in the South, just as it was in the North at the time.

AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITIES African Americans worked to improve their lives in other ways during Reconstruction. The number of both African American students and teachers increased. Churches served as the center of many African American communities, as they housed schools and hosted social events and political gatherings.

SOUTHERN RESISTANCE African Americans faced intense resentment from many Southern whites. In 1870 and 1871, Congress passed three Enforcement Acts, one of which outlawed the activities of the KKK. Throughout the South, local authorities and federal agents, acting under the Enforcement Acts, arrested more than 3,000 Klan members.

THE TROUBLED GRANT ADMINISTRATION Ulysses S. Grant believed that the President’s role was to carry out the laws and leave the development of policy to Congress. Throughout Grant’s first term, a growing number of Republicans expressed concerns that men who were in office to take money and sell influence were begging to dominate the Republican party. In 1873, when a series of bad railroad investments forced the powerful banking firm of Jay Cooke and Company to declare bankruptcy, a wave of fear known as the Panic of 1873 quickly spread through the nation’s financial community.

A “NEW SOUTH” ARISES In March 1877, President Hayes expressed his desire to move the country beyond the quarrelsome years of Reconstruction. Southern leaders called for a “New South.” They were convinced that the region had to develop a strong industrial economy. The South remained agricultural. Sharecroppers did not pay their rent in cash. Instead, they paid a share of their crops, often as much as one-half to two-thirds, to cover their rent as well as the cost of the seed, fertilizer, tools, and animals they needed.

REVIEW QUESTIONS What were “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags”? What was African Americans’ role in government during reconstruction? What was “graft”? What role did churches played in the South for African Americans? What were the effects of the Enforcement Acts? What were the causes and effects of the Panic of 1873? What was President Hayes’ plan for the South? What were “sharecroppers”? What was life like for them?