Reconstruction in MS MS Studies Mrs. Bailey

So What Happens Now? Reconstruction- to re-build Why would the southern states need to re- build after the Civil War? Whole towns & cities had to be rebuilt from the ground up! Many politicians had no clue where to start, & many didn’t agree on how to begin the process Death of Lincoln- assassinated at Ford’s Theater while watching an opera with his wife

Syria after a civil war… Atlanta after the Civil War The assassination of Lincoln

Life After the War in MS Damage done to cities, roads & bridges impassable, buildings & homes burned! Extreme poverty for blacks & whites 1/3 white males died in the war Relationship between blacks & whites were now changed? Why?

Freedmen To help blacks adjust to new-found freedom, the Freedmen’s Bureau was formed Purpose: Help former slaves with food, shelter, education, healthcare, finding jobs & obtain fair wages Who are freedmen? Former slaves They were homeless, uneducated Whites didn’t know how to treat blacks now, they certainly didn’t consider them as equals! Blacks feared being made a slave again Blacks were excited about the opportunity to own land, vote, and get an education!

Freedmen’s Bureau Did blacks get land they thought they would? Mostly, NO! Even though thousands of acres were abandoned or confiscated during the war, President Johnson ordered it be given back to former plantation owners! By 1870, only 12% of blacks owned land in MS Document giving land over The law enacting the Freedmen’s Bureau

Presidential Reconstruction Lincoln’s plan of Reconstruction of the South had 2 steps: 1. all southerners would be pardoned(except high-ranking Conf. officers) after taking an oath of loyalty to the US, 2. 10% of population takes oath of loyalty, then the state has to set up a legal gov’t to rejoin the US. Andrew Johnson’s plan: 1. ALL southerners could be pardoned, but the Conf. officers & gov’t officials & those who owned property worth more than $20,000 had to apply directly for a Presidential pardon 2. Southern states: must write a new constitution that abolished slavery, 3. repeal their secession ordinances, void their war debt, & ratify the 13 th Amendment Why did Johnson add the last few requirements???

Reconstruction in MS a new Constitution (we were the 1 st state to do so) The delegates DIDN’T want to write a new constitution that gave political rights to blacks, nor abolish slavery. Pres. Johnson encouraged them to give blacks that were educated & owned property suffrage, but they refused to do so What did it include then? 1.*voided their ordinance of secession, 2. accepted abolition of slavery! They wanted NO black participation in MS’s government!

Constitutional Convention of 1865 President Andrew Johnson pleaded with MS to accept blacks as equals, and give them rights in the new constitution

Governor’s Election of 1865 Candidates :: Fisher, Humphreys, & Patton Humphreys opposed secession, but served in the Conf. army (Brig. Gen.) Fisher also opposed secession, but stayed loyal to the Union Major issue of the campaign was what rights would blacks have now in MS. Humphreys WON, and most state offices had elected officials that opposed black suffrage & other rights. Benjamen S. Humphreys

Black Codes MS Legislators passed a series of laws that dealt with the rights of blacks. These laws were called Black Codes These laws included harsh economic & social restrictions on blacks In other words, what did these laws do for whites?? (gave them CONTROL OVER BLACKS!) 1. Civil Rights Act of legalized marriage for blacks, right to sue in state courts, forbade interracial marriage, blacks couldn’t testify against whites in court, limited black ownership of land (could rent or lease land in towns & cities) 2. Other provisions: forbade blacks to carry firearms, blacks couldn’t assemble without permission from employer or those that didn’t hold a job In 1866, Congress passed the 14 th Amendment: said blacks had full rights of citizenship of the US & in the states they lived in!! This was meant to take away some of the power of the Black Codes!

Congressional Reconstruction Since MS was not complying with the government, and issuing the Black Codes, Congress took action against them and other southern states They refused to seat MS delegates Passed the 14 th Amendment- made blacks FULL citizens of the US & gave them full rights of citizenship (1866) Passed the Reconstruction Act (1867)- set the south up into districts & set up new requirements for a civil gov’t Part of the Rec. Act was to register all eligible voters. Result= MOST males in MS registered to vote! (black & white)

Politics in the “new” MS There was 3 groups of Republicans: Scalawags: a Southern Republican Carpetbaggers: a Northern Republican that came to the south during this time period & blacks The Republicans won the approval to form a new constitutional convention the group made of Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, blacks, & Democrats to write a new constitution for MS Included: universal male suffrage, free public education for all children, forbade discrimination in public transportation, eliminated property qualifications, & allowed for married women to own land. The Dem’s didn’t like it, the public didn’t either, especially the Ku Klux Klan! Finally in 1868, it was passed!

Politics in the “new” MS Republicans now held control of the state 1870, MS finally ratified the 13 th & 14 th Amendment February 23,1870 MS was readmitted to the US! Under our new gov’t, the economy flourished again, land value increased, public schools expanded, and our laws were revised to be more democratic write this out to the side of your outline somewhere!

MS had a black man elected to the Senate- Hiram Revels The KKK used fear & intimidation to dissuade whites & blacks from voting

Black Politics in MS Blacks began to be elected to state positions 1869, John R. Lynch was elected Secretary of State in MS

Democrats Fight Back Democrats were tired of the Reconstruction “nonsense”, so they decided to take back control of the state First, they put fear in whites to vote for Dem’s in election of 1875: using fears of an economic collapse, becoming social outcasts, & physical abuse Second, they used threats & violence against blacks, riots all over the state, many were killed Result= Dem’s won most seats in Congress, won most state offices

Presidential Election of 1876 Rutherford B. Hayes The Dem’s got Hayes to remove federal troops from MS in exchange for receiving the votes to win the presidency This meant Reconstruction was over, violence & discrimination against blacks, & democrats took back complete control of MS

Constitution of 1890 Included: Literacy Test $2 poll tax *These changes decreased the # of black voters from 142,000 (1890) to 8,615 (1892).

Constitution of 1890 Constitutional Convention of 1890 The convention consisted of Democrats, and 1 black man Their goal was to eliminate blacks from politics in MS Included:1. voters must register to vote 4 months prior to an election, 2. live in state for 2 yrs. 3. pay a $2 poll tax every yr. 4. read & understand a section of the constitution “Understanding Clause”