1. Reconstruction II

2. Radical Republicans at Their Peak
Black citizens demanding their rights
Congress passes the 15th Amendment
Guaranteed all citizens the right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”
Texas v. White
made secession illegal
Upheld the right of Congress to restructure the southern governments

3. Freedmen influence
Freedmen registered to vote under the Reconstruction Act of 1867
Voted integrated delegations to the constitutional conventions
Louisiana and South Carolina had majority black delegations
Electing Black leaders
P.B.S. Pinchback served as governor of the state of Louisiana in 1872
Hiram R. Revels was the first black U.S. Senator
P.B.S. Pinchback
Governor of Louisiana, 1872
Sen. Hiram R. Revels
(R-MS)

4. Republicans In the South
Carpetbaggers – Republicans who moved into the post war south looking to prosper during Reconstruction
Named after the cheap suitcases made of carpet scraps that they carried
Perceived by southerners as greedy and opportunistic people looking to profit from the south’s demise
Scalawags – White southern Republicans
Poor disenfranchised white people
Viewed as traitors by their neighbors

5. Sharecropping and Tenant Farming
Sharecropping – Living on and farming someone else’s land in exchange for a portion of the crops
Often times, it was simply another form of slavery
The farmer’s portion often times didn’t cover the expenses incurred by the farmer (rent, expenses)
Only option for several Freedmen and Poor whites
Another way for white southerners to control free African Americans
Tenant Farming – land that is actually rented by the farmer, who controls what is grown, and the working conditions
Better for the farmer
Higher social standing

6. Sharecropping Cycle of Debt

7. The End of Reconstruction
Ku Klux Klan
Secret society that was created to avenge the southern soldiers who died in the war
Wore robes and hoods in order to resemble the ghosts of the dead Confederate soldiers
Pledged to defend the superiority of the white race
Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, first Grand Wizard

8. Ku Klux Klan idiots at a cross burning
Sought to eliminate Republican voters, either by intimidation or outright murder
Long term goal was to keep African Americans in servitude
Targeted many different groups
Africans Americans
Jews
Catholics
Carpetbaggers
Scalawags
The Enforcement Act of 1870
Prohibited the use of terror, force or bribery to prevent people from voting
Ku Klux Klan idiots at a cross burning

9. Reconstruction Ends in the 1870s
Democrats return to power in the south
As more troops were removed from the south, the terror tactics of the Klan and other groups increased
New blocs of Democratic voters form the solid south
Blocked many Republican attempts at reform
Reverse many Reconstruction policies
Election of 1876
Tilden wins the popular vote, and Hayes wins the Electoral college
Tilden was supported by the solid south
Compromise of 1877 – Hayes wins the Presidency in exchange for removal of federal troops from the south