1. Reconstruction
The period in U.S. history in which the nation tried to adjust to the new conditions created by the Civil War.

2. Economic problems after the war:
Severe property damage
Crops not planted, fields in ruin
Transportation routes had been destroyed
Many adult males killed or disabled during the war
Reduction in workforce
Freed slaves needed economic help

3. Important Reconstruction Terms:
Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the South after the war to make money and help freed slaves.
Scalawags – Southern whites who became Republicans after the war for political and economic gain.
Sharecropppers – Farmers who grew crops on someone else’s land and used their supplies in return for goods and/or a share of the profit.
Tenant Farmers – Farmers who would pay cash and rent land to grow crops – they would keep all the profits.
Ku Klux Klan – Southern hatred group whose goal was to intimidate blacks.

4. Reconstruction ends in 1877
It was considered a failure, because the legislation created as a result of the Civil War does not actually become reality until several years later.
African Americans, women, farmers, and factory workers all face difficulties even after Reconstruction.

5. Assignment
Reconstruction timeline. See handout!