1. Reconstruction
Rebuilding the South

2. Starter – February 27th
What were the effects of the Civil War?

3. Reconstruction 1865-1877 To REBUILD the South after the Civil War
South was destroyed
Lincoln’s assassination hurt South
Radical Republicans in Congress gained control over Reconstruction
Lincoln was going to be LENIENT, the Radicals were going to be extreme, led by Thaddeus Stevens
Established 5 military districts in South, Reconstruction Act
Amnesty Act: pardoned former Confederates and returned the right to vote and hold public office
Freedmen’s Bureau: organization set up to help poor people in South after Civil War, food, clothing, education

4. Johnson’s Presidency
Andrew Johnson, planned to carry out Lincoln’s lenient plan of Reconstruction
Black Codes/ Jim Crow Laws implemented in South by legislatures to limit the lives of the former slaves, curfew, social laws
Former slaves voted Republican, plantation owners voted Democratic

5. Reconstruction Amendments
13th: Abolished Slavery
14th: Equal protection under the law, if you’re born here, you’re a citizen
15th: guarantee of right to vote regardless of race or ethnicity

6. Limits on Freedom Black Codes
Jim Crow Laws: undermined the 14th and 15th Amendments
Grandfather Clause
Restricted rights of former slaves
Ku Klux Klan established during Reconstruction to intimidate African Americans from voting, voting empowers people

7. Civil Rights Act of 1866
All persons born in U.S. (except Indians) were national citizens.
All citizens enjoy rights equally without regard to race -- rights to make contracts, be parties in lawsuits, enjoy benefits of "all laws and proceedings for the securing of person and property."
No state law or custom could deprive any citizen of the "fundamental rights belonging to every man as a free man."
States were still responsible for enforcement of the law. There was no national police force, and the burden of enforcing the law laid primarily with the courts. The federal government would only step in if the state violated the law.

8. Impeachment 1st president ever to be IMPEACHED
Impeach means “to question” for wrongdoing (not throw out of office!)
Radicals impeached him for firing an official he wasn’t supposed to fire, said he violated the TENURE OF OFFICE ACT
He was acquitted and spared by 1 vote
He was followed in office by Ulysses S. Grant whose term was marked by scandal and corruption

9. The End of Reconstruction
Lasted 12 short years
Compromise of 1877
North was tired of sinking money into a difficult South, change was slow
Former Confederates wanted the Northerners out of the South so HOME RULE could return (redemption)
1876 election, North said that if the South would elect Rutherford Hayes to office, they would end Reconstruction in South and withdraw all troops (Compromise of 1877)
Deal was successful and it all ends in South by 1877
Former slaves left in a position of servitude and poverty with no federal protection or guarantee of equality, most became tenant farmers or sharecroppers
Civil War and Reconstruction proved to be a test of the supremacy of the NATIONAL GOV’T, no state has ever seceded again!!

10. Reconstruction Video

11. Fitzgerald Video Questions
1. Why did Robert Fitzgerald move to NC?
2. What was his profession after the war?
3. In what ways did the Freedmen’s Bureau help people in the South?
4. Describe his students (their willingness to learn). Describe students today? Are there similarities or differences? Explain.
5. Based on your study of Reconstruction, would you argue that it was a SUCCESS or a FAILURE?