RECONSTUCTION

WHAT PROBLEMS EXIST NOW THAT THE CIVIL WAR IS OVER?

GROUP WORK DIRECTIONS  Read the description of your phase as a group.  For each event listed in your phase, use American Nation glossary to define the event. History Alive to further explain the event – What was it? What did it do? How did it impact (positively or negatively) former slaves? If the box is shaded in, you can skip that box.

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION th Amendment Abolished slavery States needed to ratify it to rejoin the Union 2. Freedmen’s Bureau Provided food and medical care Helped freedmen bargain for wages and good working conditions distributed 40 acre plots of land Education – build public schools 3. Black Codes Limited rights of freedmen – couldn’t vote or serve on juries Required freedmen to work or they could be arrested or hired out Segregation of public places to keep freedmen at the bottom of the social order

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION 4. Civil Rights Act of 1866 Struck at the black codes by declaring freedmen to be full citizens with the same rights as whites th Amendment Declared former slaves to be citizens with full rights Cannot be treated as less than equal 6. Military Reconstruction Act Divided the south into 5 military districts, each governed by a general backed by troops New state governments were to be formed by southerners loyal to the United States 7.Sharecropping Former slaves wanted land to farm; former owners needed workers Few freedmen were ever able to pay back any money they owed, leading to a life of debt & poverty

SOUTHERN RECONSTRUCTION th Amendment Forbids the right to vote based on race Most abolitionists felt their work was done 9. New state constitutions/new state governments New state constitutions were very progressive and advanced Right to vote was granted to all males Ended imprisonment for debt Called for the establishment of public schools Taxes were raised (increased 400%!) to fix war damages Schools and hospitals were built. 10. African American Officeholders 1/5 of new officeholders were African American

END OF RECONSTRUCTION 11. Ku Klux Klan Secret societies to drive African Americans out of political life Dressed in long hooded robes armed with guns and swords Started by threatening office holders, led to beating, tarring and feathering and murder 12. Enforcement Acts Three laws to combat terrorism against African Americans Made it illegal to prevent another person from voting by bribery, force or scare tactics 13. Amnesty Act of 1872 Allowed most former Confederates to vote Democrats began to regain control in the South 14. Election of 1876/Compromise of 1877 A Republican controlled Congress gave 20 disputed electoral votes to Hayes, the Republican presidential candidate In return, Hayes agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South

RECONSTRUCTION REVERSED 15. Poll Tax A luxury many black southerners couldn’t afford 16. Literacy Tests Tests were rigged to fail African Americans, regardless of education Grandfather Clause – taxes and tests did not apply to any man whose father or grandfather could on on 1/1/ Jim Crow Laws After Democrats returned to office, blacks and whites were segregated in public life 18. Plessy v. Ferguson Homer Plessy was arrested for not obeying Jim Crow laws, arguing the violated “equal protection of laws” Court ruled that separate facilities were okay as long as they were equal More Jim Crow laws were passed: separate schools, parks, theaters African American facilities inferior to those of whites