1. Reconstruction & Transition
MS Studies Ch. 6
Reconstruction & Transition

2. After the War MS went from very wealthy to ruins
Cities, roads, bridges, towns, buildings, all were
destroyed
1/3 of white males were killed or injured during
the war
400,000 freedmen (former slaves) now existed
Homeless, uneducated, jobless
MS social order was gone
Blacks were free
Whites had hard time accepting them as equal

4. Freed Slaves Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help former
slaves with food, shelter, work, education and
assimilate to freedom.
Rumors stated that every black male would receive
40 acres of land and a mule.  This never happened.
Most land was confiscated during the war was
returned to the owners.

6. Chapter 6 (Reconstruction)

8. Presidential Reconstruction
Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction
All Southerners, except high ranking
Confederate officials, would be pardoned
after signing oath of loyalty
When 10% of people signed oath, they could
create a state government and be readmitted.
Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction
Same as Lincoln’s except high ranking
military and Confederate officials and those
owning more than $20,000 worth of property
were not pardoned.

9. Congress wanted tougher requirements and
pressured Johnson to add the following:
States must repeal Secession Ordinances
Void their War Debt
Ratify 13th Amendment

10. Lincoln & Johnson

11. Constitutional Convention 1865
William L. Sharkey named temporary governor by
President Johnson
MS was first to hold convention and everyone was
watching.
100 men met on Aug. 14, 1865.  Most were pre-
war leaders.
They created a government just like the one before
the war.
Blacks were not given voting rights.
Most white Mississippians agreed with the
delegates at the convention.

12. William Sharkey

13. Herschel Johnson led the state constitutional convention in 1865.

14. MS’s Post War Government
Benjamin Humphrey’s was elected governor
(former Confederate general).
Most elected officials had served in the
Confederate government and refused to grant rights
to blacks.
Legislature passed the Black Codes to control
blacks.
Black marriages legal, but interracial
marriage was illegal.
Blacks could sue in court, but blacks could
not testify against whites.

15. Black could only rent or lease land in cities or
towns.
Blacks had to have employment contracts and
were arrested if contract was broken.
Blacks could not carry firearms or weapons.
Blacks could not assemble without permission.
Jailed blacks could be rented out to anyone
who paid their jail fine.

18. Benjamin Humphreys

19. U.S. Congress U.S. Congress refused to seat MS Representatives
and passed the 14th Amendment guaranteeing all
people their rights “white or black”.
March 2, 1867 Congress passed the Reconstruction
Act which divided the South into 5 military districts
and made readmission to the Union much harder.
MS was in the 4th district and Major Gen. Edward
O. Ord became military governor in MS.

20. 14th Amendment

21. Reconstruction Map

22. MS During Reconstruction
All eligible males registered to vote regardless of race.
MS Politics included:
Democrats – white southerners who did not support
black rights
Republicans – whites and blacks who supported
black rights.
Scalawags – southerners who supported the
Republican Party
Carpetbaggers – northern whites who were
Republicans and moved to MS.
The Republican Party used their majority of votes (black
and white) to call for a new state constitutional
convention.

24. Carpetbagger

25. Constitution of 1868 100 delegates – 17 black, 29 scalawags, 25
carpetbaggers, 17 Democrats
They created the states 3rd and most democratic
constitution.
Universal male suffrage granted
Free public education for ages 6 – 18
No discrimination in public transportation
Property qualification for voting or holding
office eliminated
Property rights granted to women

26. Disfranchised all persons who supported
secession and helped Confederacy
Whites had to sign oath stating “all men are
created equal”
This constitution was not ratified at first because
of the disfranchising clause and equality
oath. When President Grant eliminated those
provisions in 1869, the Constitution was ratified.

28. President Ulysses S. Grant

29. Primary School in Vicksburg

30. Freedmen school

31. Republican Rule Republicans ruled MS
1869 James Alcorn was elected governor.
Republicans had majority in state legislature.
State ratified 14th (citizenship/rights) and 15th
(male voting rights) amendments and was
readmitted to the Union on Feb. 23, 1870.
Hiram Revels became the first black to serve in
U.S. Senate when he was appointed to fill Jefferson
Davis’ unexpired term
Adelbert Ames was elected to the other Senate seat.
Ames defeated Alcorn for governor in 1873.

32. James Alcorn

33. Adelbert Ames replaced James Alcorn as governor in 1873
Adelbert Ames replaced James Alcorn as governor in He was a Union General in the Civil War.

34. Hiram Revels born free in NC apprenticed as a barber
Attended a seminary school and became a Methodist Episcopal preacher
Served as principal to a black high school in Baltimore
Fought in the Siege of Vicksburg
Became a minister for Natchez, MS
Founded schools for black children
1st black to serve in U.S. Senate and Congress

35. Black Political Power
Blacks served as early as 1868 in political roles.
1868 Benjamin Montgomery became justice of the
peace and is believed to be first black to hold public
office in MS.
Many blacks served in the MS House and Senate.
A.K. Davis was elected Lieutenant Governor in
1873.
John Lynch served as MS’s only black member in the
U.S. House of Representatives.
Blanche K. Bruce of MS was the first black elected
to the U.S. Senate and the first to serve a full term.

36. John R. Lynch

37. Blanche K. Bruce

38. 1st African Americans in Congress

39. Education Constitution of 1868 created free public schools (tax based)
State supported them with funding and elected a state
superintendent who appointed county superintendents.
The following colleges were created:
University of MS (whites) expanded 1871
Alcorn State College (blacks) 1871
MS Agricultural and Mechanical College (whites).
Now MS State University 1877
Jackson State (blacks) 1877
MS University for Women (whites) 1884
Millsaps College (whites) 1892
Mississippi College (whites) expanded 1907

40. University of MS

41. Alcorn College

42. MS University for Women

43. Millsaps College

44. Mississippi College

45. End of Republican Rule From the beginning of Reconstruction, white
Democrats tried to regain political power in MS.
Those who wanted to return control of the state to
the Democrats were called redeemers.
The election of 1875 was the turning point.
White Republicans were threatened with violence
and became social outcasts if they did not become
Democrat.
Blacks were driven from voting polls with violence
or forced to vote Democrat by their employers.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the terror group
used to intimidate voters.

46. Republicans won 4 of 6 congressional seats and
claimed the majority in the state congress.
Republican senators were later replaced by
Democrats.
Republican Governor Adelbert Ames was
threatened with impeachment and resigned.

47. Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Chapter 6 (Reconstruction)

52. 1925
Chapter 6 (Reconstruction)

53. Presidential Election of 1876
Democrat candidate – Samuel Tilden
Republican candidate – Rutherford B. Hayes
Neither candidate won a majority.  Some electoral
votes were contested.
Commission was formed to pick a winner.
Southern Democrats used a filibuster (continuous
speechmaking to delay action) to slow the
commission.
If Hayes promised to withdraw troops from the South,
Democrats agreed to stop the filibuster and support
Hayes.
Hayes won the election and military occupation ended

54. Rutherford Hayes & Samuel Tilden

56. Constitution of 1890 MS called Constitutional convention in 1890
MS reapportioned (redrew district lines) to give
white majorities power over black populated areas
Delegates met in Jackson in Aug. 1890
One black (Isaiah Montgomery) attended
New voting requirements:
Register at least 4 months before election
Live in the state for 2 years before voting
Live in voting district for 1 year

57. Pay a $2 poll tax
Pass literacy test.  Had to read any section
of the state constitution or “understand it
when read to them”.  This was the
understanding clause.
Black voters dropped from 142,000 to 8,615
White voters dropped 30,000

58. Isaiah Montgomery