1. Reconstruction
US History

2. Reconstruction ( )
At the end of the war, the South was in ruins economically and politically.
Refugees and freed slaves needed assistance.

3. Presidential Reconstruction
President Johnson’s Plan
Amnesty for those who took loyalty oath to U.S.
Required states to abolish slavery

4. Radical Republicans Thaddeus Stevens led the Radical Republicans
They wanted to punish the South

5. Congressional Reconstruction (aka “Radical Reconstruction”)
Passed the “Civil War” Amendments:
13th – Freed all slaves and abolished slavery
14th - Granted citizenship and equal protection to African-Americans
15th - Gave African-American men the right to vote

6. Congressional Plan
Divided the South into 5 military districts where the military enforced laws (Reconstruction Act).

7. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
Scalawag: Southern supporter of Reconstruction
Carpetbagger: Northerner who moves south for Reconstruction

8. Freedman’s Bureau
The Freedman’s Bureau was established to help feed and clothe war refugees in the South, and help them find work and education.

9. Sharecropping
Many former slaves worked as sharecroppers or tenant farmers.

10. Freedman’s Bureau
The Freedman’s Bureau helped open over colleges and universities in the South

11. Southern Reaction
Many ex-Confeds had been banned from working for the government. Others refused to participate.
Some formed secret societies (KKK) and intimidated freedmen.

12. U.S. Grant’s Presidency
Political scandals and economic problems marred Grant’s two terms
Made Reconstruction tensions worse in the South

13. Election of 1876: Rutherford B. Hayes (R - red) vs. Sam Tilden (D-blue)

14. Reconstruction Ends .
Rutherford B. Hayes was elected President in (compromise of 1877), and he pulled troops out of the South, ending Reconstruction and creating a “New South.”

15. Reconstruction Ends
Without military protection, many African-Americans again became intimidated.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)”Jim Crow” Laws.
The Southern economy rebounded with some industry (RRs, iron, and cotton mills/textiles), but still mostly agricultural

16. Efforts to Disenfranchise
Poll Taxes
Literacy Tests
(for Af-Ams…poor Whites got to use the “grandfather clause”)

17. Anything similar today?
Strict Voter ID Laws fewer people (esp. poor, elderly, Black, and Hispanic) are voting
4th Circuit court ruled (July 2016) that North Carolina’s voter ID law
“targets African-Americans with almost surgical precision”

18. TWO APPROACHES to FREEDOM: Booker T. Washington vs. W.E.B. DuBois
The Souls of Black Folk
“Atlanta Compromise”