1. 8-5.1-5.4 Reconstruction Study Guide
8-5.1 Focus Question:
What was the impact of Reconstruction policy in South Carolina?

2. 1. What was the goal of Reconstruction?
To reunite the nation and rebuild the South

3. 2. What was Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction?
A Confederate state could re-enter the Union whenever 10 % of its voters took a vow of allegiance to the United States.

4. 3. What was Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction?
Lincoln’s Plan plus any southern elite had to ask for pardon, ratify 13th amendment.

5. 4. Why did Congress dislike both Lincoln’s & Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans?
Congress thought that they were too lenient, or easy, on the Southern states that had rebelled against the Union.

6. 5. What was the purpose of the 13th amendment?
to abolish slavery

7. 6. What was the purpose of the 14th amendment?
to give all American citizens equal protection under the law

8. 7. What was the purpose of the 15th amendment?
to give African American men the right to vote

9. 8. The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution are often referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments. What is the central theme of these three amendments?
Equal treatment for all American citizens

10. 9. How did southern states attempt to keep African-Americans from gaining their rights?
Passage of Black Codes

11. 10. Why did the Radical Republicans try to impeach President Johnson?
Johnson tried to veto several bills aimed at helping the newly freed slaves

12. 11. Describe the impact of the Civil War on South Carolina.
Economy, property, transportation systems destroyed – large population of newly freed slaves with no job skills or place to go

13. 12. How did most South Carolinians feel after the Civil War?
Angered by the policies of Reconstruction

14. 13. What was the primary goal of the Freedman’s Bureau?
provide newly freed slaves with food, shelter, work, and education.

15. 14. Describe racial relations in South Carolina during Reconstruction?
Racial relations got worse as African Americans gained more political power.

16. 15. Why did why South Carolinians despised the carpetbaggers so much?
The used the destruction of the South for political and financial gain.

17. 16. What types of people were described as "scalawags" during the Reconstruction Era?
Southern Republicans who were sympathetic to the Northern politicians in the South.

18. 17. Describe the “sharecropping” system.
A sharecropper is a farm worker who does not receive any money for his work. Instead, he is paid with a share of the crops that he helped grow.

19. 18. Why did many African Americans accept this kind of an arrangement during the late 1800s?
There were so few paying jobs for African Americans that they were willing to accept any kind of work they could find.

20. 19. Under the tenant farming system started in the late 19th century, the major contribution that the tenant farmer gave was what?
His labor

21. 20. Why did Southern landowners like the sharecropping system?
Kept slave-like conditions while providing labor on farms

22. 21. Why was South Carolina required to write a new constitution?
Constitution of 1865 contained black codes
did not ratify 14th & 15th Amendments
did not address voting rights
representation still based on white population & property ownership

23. 22. Who participated in the Constitutional Convention?
a. newly freed slaves & former free blacks
b. Southern Republicans (scalawags)
c. new immigrants from the North (carpetbaggers)

24. 23. What were the major provisions of the Constitution of 1868?
a. voting rights
b. rights for women (property & divorce)
c. representation based on population alone
d. public education
e. set up county governments

25. 24. How did the Constitution of 1868 impact daily life in South Carolina?
a. allowed more people to participate in government
b. Broke Lowcountry control of state government
c. educational opportunities

26. 25. Why did African Americans have greater political power in South Carolina than any other state?
It was the only state where African Americans made up a majority of population

27. 26. Describe the feeling the Radical Republicans towards the South.
proposed that the federal government should preside over the South, and the freed African slaves should be helped at the expense of the white population.

28. 27. Strict punishment of Confederate veterans and financial assistance to African Americans were policies pushed by what group during the Reconstruction Era?
Radical Republicans

29. 28. Which political party did most African-Americans support? Why?
Republicans – had outlawed slavery – granted civil rights & voting rights

30. 29. What was the Ku Klux Klan?
a group formed in the South to fight against the rising influence of African Americans in the South - members of this group often turned to violence and intimidation to keep African Americans “in their place”

31. 30. Why did organizations like the Ku Klux Klan develop?
Backlash against the growing political power of African Americans

32. 31. How did the Freedman’s Bureau help the citizens of South Carolina?
Provided food, clothing, shelter, educational opportunities – help negotiate labor contracts – job skills

33. 32. What was the most important contribution of the Freedman’s Bureau?
Building schools – providing educational opportunities

34. 33. What was most immediate and important outcome of the Civil War?
slavery was ended in the United States.

35. 34. The election of Wade Hampton as governor in 1876 marked what turning point in South Carolina's history?
The end of Reconstruction and the return of the Democrats to political power in South Carolina

36. 35. Why did Hampton’s supporters refer to themselves as "Redeemers"?
They claimed that they had "redeemed" the state from the fraud and dishonesty of the Republican Party during Reconstruction.

37. 36. What event marks the official end of the Reconstruction Era in South Carolina?
President Hayes withdrew Federal troops from Columbia.

38. 37. Who were the “Red Shirts?”
Supporters of Wade Hampton III

39. 38. What was the Compromise of 1877?
a. Wade Hampton III recognized as governor of SC
b. SC would support Hayes for president
c. Hayes would remove federal troops from SC

40. 39. Why did many Northerners lose interest in Reconstruction?
a. economic depression
b. westward expansion
c. high taxes
d. southern resistance

41. 40. What positive changes occurred in South Carolina as a result of reconstruction?
Public education

42. 41. What was the purpose of the new set of "Black Codes", or Jim Crow Laws, that existed in South Carolina during the late 19th century?
To restrict the rights of African Americans.

43. 42. What was the purpose of "poll taxes" and "literacy tests?"
To make it difficult for poor African Americans to vote.

44. 43. Describe South Carolina Governor Wade Hampton's policies towards African Americans during the late 1870s?
Wade Hampton did not completely favor equality for African Americans, but his policies were less violent and hurtful than most other Conservatives.

45. 44.In 1896, what controversial Supreme Court case set the country back several decades because it upheld the laws of Segregation?
Plessy v. Ferguson

46. 45. What was the most radical feature of the new state Constitution in 1895?
Jim Crow Laws

47. 46. For more than fifty years, the citizens of South Carolina refused to make revisions to the state Constitution of Why did so many people fear changing the constitution?
A new constitution might end the white-supremacy in South Carolina that was safeguarded by the 1895 constitution.

48. 47. What was the purpose of the Eight-Box Law?
To reduce the African-American vote.

49. 48. Who were the main supporters of "Pitchfork" Ben Tillman?
Poor, white farmers

50. 49. Describe the key goals of the Populist Party.
create more money (to help cash flow) and regulate the railroads. The party promised to look out for the needs of farmers and laborers

51. 50. What is lynching?
racially motivated attacks that often resulted in the death of the victim

52. 51. Describe Benjamin Tillman's views on race during the 1890 election for governor of South Carolina.
Tillman did not believe that blacks were equal to whites, and the law should not treat them that way.

53. 52. Tillman became one of the most influential men in SC by supporting what issues?
the construction of an agricultural college, annual meetings for farmers, and new laws that helped farmers get out of debt

54. 53. The People's Party—or the Populist Party—appealed mainly to which group of people?
Farmers