Reconstruction

The Reconstruction Period Reconstruction is the name given to the period of American history after the civil war. It is also known as the “Tragic Era,” as blacks did not fully benefit from their freedom

The Reconstruction Period 14 th Amendment was in 1866, which granted blacks equal civil rights 15 th Amendment was in 1870, which granted blacks the right to vote

Voting Rights 3 ways that black Americans were stopped from voting: A.Poll tax: A tax on every person that many poor blacks could not afford to pay. B.Literacy Tests: People had to explain the meaning of a legal document in order to qualify to vote. Many blacks could not read and those who could almost always failed it because the tests that were given to them were more difficult C.Grandfather Clause: If your grandfather was a slave, you lost the right to vote

Reconstruction State land in the South was opened up to black settlers The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) operated hospitals and schools for blacks.

Sharecropping Many blacks did not want to work for wages because it kept them under the direction of whites and reminded them of slavery A new agricultural system known as sharecropping emerged

Sharecropping Plantation-owners broke up their estates into small parcels of land for sharecropping In return for seed and equipment, the sharecropper would give the landowner a 1/3 or ½ of his crop They could never raise enough cash to buy their own land and equipment, which trapped them into debt and poverty

Black Codes Southern rules Blacks could not own guns They could only own property in the ‘black’ part of town (less desirable areas). Not allowed to testify in court They could be arrested for being rude to whites or for not having a job.

Black Convicts

The Ku Klux Klan

W.A.S.P W = White A = Anglo S = Saxon P = Protestant

KKK Formed in Pulaski, Tennessee in A white underground terrorist group Most of the leaders were former members of the Confederate Army and the first Grand Wizard was Nathan Forrest, a general during the American Civil War. They wanted revenge for the defeat of the South

KKK The group adopted the name Ku Klux Klan from the Greek word kuklos, meaning circle, and the English word clan.

KKK They became known as the Invisible Empire as it grew and spread rapidly

KKK Many important politicians, officials and even police officers supported them Their main objective was to ensure white supremacy It was a campaign of terror: they stole and destroyed black crops; stopped them from voting; threats of violence and murder It was outlawed in 1872, but it emerged again in the early 20 th Century and is still active today

Nathan Bedford Forrest

Lynching When black people were accused of crimes (most were innocent) and were hanged and burned

Jim Crow Laws

Jim Crow was a character in a 1828 song that was made popular by a white comedian, Thomas (Daddy) Rice This song made fun of black people The term Jim Crow was then used for a set of laws that were passed by the Southern States

Jim Crow "Weel about and turn about And do jis so, Eb'ry time I weel about And jump Jim Crow."

Jim Crow These laws discriminated against blacks and established segregation Segregation meant that black people were kept separate from whites Blacks were not allowed to use the same public facilities as whites and were treated as 2 nd class citizens

Jim Crow Laws Homer Plessey, a black man, challenged a Louisiana railroad company because they made him sit in a ‘coloured only’ carriage The Supreme Court supported the railroad company and in 1896 declared the laws legal This allowed the Southern States to make up more laws

Jim Crow Laws Marriage between blacks and whites was illegal in some states They were not allowed to use the same hotels, theatres and restaurants as whites There were black only carriages on trains and they had to sit in the back of buses

Jim Crow Laws There was segregation in the armed forces There were separate residential areas and schools The American Red Cross kept black people’s blood segregated in blood banks until the 1940s.