1. Flip Learning TASK: For this lesson you need to:
You will need to use the timeline for today’s lesson to:
Explain what the Freedmen’s Bureau was and what it provided
Explain how the role of the Bureau grew under Johnson
2. Research what happened to the Freedmen’s Bureau under Grant. Explain why.
3. Make a revision timeline using the timeline you have been using today and also the link below (in the notes section) to complete it.
It should be brief and also colour code and categorise different elements, such as anything in relation to the Freedmen’s Bureau.
For this lesson you need to:

2. Was Reconstruction doomed under Grant?
Over the next 2 lessons we will be looking at the different acts and amendments Grant brought in during his time in office. We will think about whether these acts were supported, especially in the South and also what impact the had on different groups in society, especially African Americans.
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican party

3. FLIP LEARNING: What was the Freedmen’s Bureau
Task 1: I am going to start by passing someone the ball of string and when it comes to you, you will have to say one fact your have found out about the Freedmen’s Bureau. The string will then be passed on and the aim is for everyone to hold it at some point!
Distributed 15 food million rations to freedmen
Provided basic health care
Set up schools and black churches
Reunited families
Gave some freedmen land
Checked the contracts freedmen made with land owners and helped freedmen find work
Set up a Freedman’s Savings Bank
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party

4. How effective was the Freedmen’s Bureau?
Task 2: Based on your research I would like you to come up with some ways you think the Bureau was effective and some ways it wasn’t. Start to record your information on a grid like the one below:
Task 3: You have now been given an evidence pack for you to add more information to your grid. Once completed, you will then need to come to a conclusion about how effective it was.
Interpretation 1
The Freedmen’s Bureau was effective in providing for the wants and needs of formerly enslaved persons
Interpretation 2
The Freedmen’s Bureau was ineffective in providing for the wants and needs of formerly enslaved persons
Points for counter argument: The Freedman’s Savings Bank Collapsed and the savers lost their money, The Bureau face accusations of corruption, It’s agents faced violence and intimidation and It was closed down by Grant in 1872.
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party
CHALLENGE: What factors are having an impact on its success?

5. RECAP: What was the Reconstruction situation when Grant became President?
Last lesson we looked at the Reconstruction Acts which emerged under Johnson. Some of the key points we need to take forward in to this lesson are:
With the help of Congress and the Fourteenth Amendment, former Confederate States had to accept the citizenship of ex-slaves in order to be accepted back in to the Union. This meant that they could vote too and thus had a big impact on the 1868 election.
There was support in the South in the form of Scalawags and Unionists who needed black votes to maintain any control and faced intimidation from the KKK and similar groups. They were also tainted with accusations of corruption against them but also the wider corruption scandals involving Republicans tainted them.
This also helped to put the Scalawags and Unionists in a strong position in the south, which helped the Republicans keep control in the South in 1868.
The Freedmen had a large impact on the South as they brought education, a bank, distributed rations, created churches, reconnected families, helped to check contracts between ex slaves and landowners, provided representations and courts.
As far as Government and Congress were concerned the legislation, amendments and bureau had all done their part in giving ex-slaves a fair chance at improving their position. They believed in self reliance and rugged individualism - free citizens, with the vote should not need propping up by the state, normal for people to arrive in America at this point with just the clothes they were wearing and a bag of possessions and make a like for themselves. Thus the impact of previous acts had not gone away, such as the increased government intervention which could be seen through the like of the 5 military districts created under the First Reconstruction Act 1867.
There was an increase in the threat of violence and intimidation from groups like the KKK who vowed to keep black people in their place.

6. What Reconstruction Acts did Grant introduce?
Whilst many of the measures remained in place from Johnson’s term in office, Grant also introduced some of his own measures to help make Reconstruction work.
Task 1: On your worksheet and using the information you have been provided with, I would like you to complete the following tasks:
Complete the table to help you answer the question on ‘How far do you agree that the need to control the intimidation and violence in the South was the key motive behind Grant’s Reconstruction Acts?’
What impact did the military intervention have?
Support is pretty obvious with the different acts put in place, but the counter would be the 1875 Civil Rights Act as this shows there is still a desire to reform, the Amnesty Act and letting the freedmen’s bureau (both in 1872) collapse would suggest he is trying to bring an end to federal government involvement in the South and ready to build bridges with white southerners.
South deeply resented it and therefore became more determined to ‘redeem’, this pushed further in to the democrats and the fact that they needed 3 enforcement acts would also suggest it wasn’t working. Also the 1875 act is a complete failure. However, it did pretty much destroy the KKK
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party

7. Was Reconstruction doomed under Grant?
Number each reason (1 being
the main reason) for bringing
about the downfall of the
Republican party. You will
need to explain your scores.
Grant’s policies were not necessarily gaining him the support he so desperately needed to counteract some of the issues going on under his presidency, such as the corruption and depression.
Factors
Corruption and Scandal
Violence
Economic Depression
Split on the Republican Party (pg )
Not able to unite black people and poor white people (pg. 212)
Task: Expand on the mind map that has been started for you to explain what impact this is having on the following:
Grant and the Republican party
Reconstruction in the North and South
Government organisations like the Freedmen’s Bureau
Democrats
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party

8. What impact did all these issues have on the Grant administration: The South ‘redeemed’.
Radical Reconstruction was a limited process. In many southern states it was over almost before it began. Tennessee was under Democrat control by 1869; Virginia and North Carolina was redeemed in 1870, Georgia in 1871, Texas in 1873, Arkansas and Alabama in 1874, and Mississippi in In 1876 there were only Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina which were still theoretically under Republican control. The Democrats aims:
Reduce the political, social and economic power of black people.
Reduce the scope and expense of government
Reduce taxes
Task: One example where we can see this is how they try to undermine the 15th Amendment. They did this by:
Poll taxes
Literacy Tests (that needed to be passed to vote)
The grandfather clause (you could only vote in the state if your grandfather did)
Explain how each one of these facts would stop black people from voting
CHALLENGE: What impact will this have on the Scalawags and Unionists in the South
Map found on page 211 in textbook
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party
Task: Using this information write down what is meant by the term ‘redemption of the South’.

9. ‘……………… was the biggest factor leading to the downfall of the Republican Party.’ Assess the validity of this view.
Task: You have already identified what you feel is the key reasons for the downfall of the Republican party. I would now like you to complete the planning grid for this question.
Create a list of all the different factors that could apply to this question
2. Define the key words in relation to this question
3. Create a criteria for how you will assess this question
4. Create a list of 3 arguments to show why the argument is valid
5. Create a list of 3 reasons as to why this view is not valid
6. In a different colour add specific examples to each argument you have made
7. In a different colour explain how each point (now with evidence) makes the view valid or not using your criteria.
8. Write down your answer to this question
9. Justify why your answer your answer is the justified
Good learning:
Understand how effective the Freedmen’s Bureau was
Great learning:
Explain the what acts Grant put in place during his administration and the impact they had
Even better:
Evaluate the downfall of the Republican Party

10. Flip Learning TASK: For next lesson you will need to:
Finish planning your answer to the question on the previous slide
2. Research the following about the 1872 election:
What happens in the run up to this election?
What impact does it have on the election process?
How does Grant win the election?
What does this election show us about the Republican Party during this time?
3. Research and create a top trump card for each of the following groups:
Ku Klux Klan (1865)
Knights of the White Camellia (1867)
White League (1874)
Red Shirts (1875)
You should look at what their aims are, how the carry out their violence and intimidation and how effective they are/impact they have.
Flip Learning
For next lesson you will need to: