1.
Reconstruction
12 Pages…

2. Homestead Act 1862
The first of these acts was signed into effect by Abraham Lincoln
Anyone who had never taken up arms against the U.S. government could apply
Granted adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee
Required to “improve” the plot by building a dwelling and cultivating the land
After 5 years on the land the original filer was entitled to the property, free and clear
This accelerated the settlement of the western territory

3. Abraham Lincoln
President Lincoln was concerned that the Emancipation Proclamation would be seen as a temporary war measure
He wanted to offer southerners amnesty for all illegal acts supporting the rebellion

4. 1865 cartoon showing Lincoln and Johnson using their talents as rail-splitter and tailor to repair the Union

5. Freedmen’s Bureau
Established in the War Department, originally by Abraham Lincoln to help freed slaves after the war.
Supervised all relief and education activities relating to refugees and freedmen
Issued rations, clothing and medicine
Assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in the former Confederate states, border states, District of Columbia and Indian Territory
The Bureau encouraged former plantation owners to rebuild their plantations
Urged African Americans to gain employment
Pushed both whites and blacks to work together as employers and employees rather than as masters and as slaves

6. Freedmen’s Bureau
Main focus: (for black and white people in the South)
Provide food
Medical Care
Help with resettlement
Administer justice
Manage abandoned and confiscated property
Regulate labor
Establish schools – educational opportunities for newly-freed slaves

8. 13th Amendment Outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude
Abolished slavery without compensation to owners
First of three reconstruction amendments adopted after the Civil War
All enslaved people were freed as a result

9. 13th Amendment
President Lincoln had first proposed compensated emancipation as an amendment in December 1862
His Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free in the Confederate states in rebellion but did not extend to border-states.
After Lincoln’s assassination, President Andrew Johnson declared his own plan for Reconstruction which included the need for Confederate states to approve the 13th Amendment.

10. Lincoln’s Assassination

11. Andrew Johnson 17th President 1865-1869 Democrat
He wanted to carry out Lincoln’s plan of leniency toward the South.
He believed Reconstruction should not be cruel and harsh.

12. Problems in the South
Over 1,000 schools were built and some services provided, but most people did not get what they were promised
People took advantage of the rebuilding of the South
Scalawags – Southern Whites who supported the Reconstruction – Seen as traitors
Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the South to take advantage of the plight, political and economic

13. Freed Slaves
Some were able to take advantage of the opportunities given to them by the government
Most organizations created to help freed slaves were underfunded
Most freed slaves ended up working on plantation or sharecropping, much like they had before
Sharecropping – People were provided housing, tools and seed. When harvest time came, they were given a share of the crop. Many people used this method, not just freedmen.

14. Civil Rights Act of 1866
Granted citizenship to persons born in the U.S. except Native Americans
This extended citizenship to blacks.
President Johnson opposed and vetoed the legislation but Congress overruled his veto and then proposed the 14th Amendment

15. 14th Amendment
All persons born in the U.S. (except Native Americans) were citizens and all citizens were entitled to equal rights regardless of their race (Newly-freed slaves became citizens)
Their rights were protected under law
This amendment did not extend the right to vote to black men but it encouraged states to allow them to vote by limiting the Congressional representation of any state that did not extend the right.
This disappointed women’s rights advocates because it defined the right to vote as a male right

16. Trouble in the South
Southerners were finding ways to circumvent federal laws that were designed to protect freed slaves
Freed slaves were guaranteed rights but had to follow laws passed by the states that they lived in. These laws greatly limited their opportunities.

17. Trouble in the South Black Codes: 1866
Laws passed in the South to limit the opportunities for blacks.
Reflected the unwillingness of southern whites to accept blacks as equals
Jim Crow Laws:
Laws passed to bypass laws created by the Radical Republicans and any other federal law that Southerners did not agree with concerning African-Americans
“Separate but equal”

18. Trouble in the South Ku Klux Klan:
Created by those who did not agree with the opportunities given to freed slaves
Secret society that gained support in 1868
Sought to destroy the Republican Party in the South
Used harsh intimidation tactics on African-Americans and other groups that helped African-Americans
They terrorized any who tried to help African-Americans

19. Alaska Purchase The first Russian settlement was in the 17th century
The Russians never fully colonized Alaska and it wasn’t very profitable
William H. Seward, the United States Secretary of State, negotiated the Alaska Purchase (also known as Seward's Folly) with the Russians in 1867 for $7.2 million
(It became a state in 1959)

20. Radical Republicans
Reconstruction of the South was led by Radical Republicans that favored harsh treatment of the South
Quick incorporation of the freedmen into citizenship with full privileges including voting rights and the push for seizure of land from planters
States were organized into military districts
They wanted to restrict the actions of Southern congressional leaders in the national government

21. Reconstruction Act of 1867
Military occupation of the former confederate states
Strict guidelines on representation and requirements for readmission to the Union
Required that all seceded states ratify the 14th Amendment as a condition of their readmission to the Union and grant voting rights to black men
Each state would have to draft a new constitution which would have to be approved by Congress
Congress eventually sought to safeguard the vote for black men by proposing the 15th Amendment

22. Impeachment

23. Andrew Johnson
The amount of vetoes applied throughout his career as president and the differences in view from Congress made him a target for impeachment
President Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives on February 24, 1868
The Senate tried the case in a trial that lasted from March to May 1868.
In the end, the Senate voted to acquit President Andrew Johnson by a margin of 35 guilty to 19 not guilty - one vote short of the two-thirds needed to convict.

24. Ulysses S. Grant 18th President 1869-1877 Republican
Was a war hero to many Northerners
Supported Reconstruction
Ran under the slogan, “Let us have peace.”

25. 15th Amendment Granted black men the right to vote in all states
Many black men were not allowed to vote in Northern states
Women’s rights activists opposed the amendment because it continued to deny the vote based on gender
Fifty more years would pass before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote.

26. Hiram Revels Rhodes First African-American Senator
Mississippi state legislature chose Revels to fill a seat in the Senate that had been vacant since the start of the Civil War
He served briefly, but established a precedent by just taking his seat against objection by white Southerners
Won notice for speaking out against racial segregation
After him, 22 African American men were elected before the turn of the century

27. Compromise of 1877
After the election of 1877 Congress formed the Electoral Commission to resolve disputed Democratic Electoral votes from the South
It was an unwritten and informal compromise between the Republicans and Democrats
Included measures to appease the South – removal of all federal troops
Appointed at least one Southern Democrat to Hayes’s administration
Construction of a second Transcontinental Railroad in the South
Legislation enacted to help industrialize the South

28. Compromise of 1877 Known as the “Great Betrayal”
Settled the disputed election of 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes became president in exchange for federal troops removed from the South
Ended Reconstruction in the South
A political cartoon by Joseph Keppler depicts Roscoe Conkling as a character (the devil) while Rutherford B. Hayes strolls off with the prize of the “Solid South” depicted as a woman.

29. Rutherford B. Hayes
19th President
Republican

30. Morrill Act 1862 & 1890
This act made it possible for new western states to establish colleges for their citizens
The new land-grant institutions which emphasized agriculture and mechanic arts opened opportunities to thousands of farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education
The Morrill Act of 1890 established sixteen higher education facilities dedicated to African Americans
Many states built their first public colleges

31. Morrill Act Major universities were charted as land-grant schools
When Texas rejoined the Union after the Civil War the state legislature authorized the first Texas Public College
State colleges brought higher education within the reach of millions of students

32. Dawes Act
Allowed the president to break up reservation land into small allotments for individuals
American Indians registered on a tribal “roll” were granted allotments of land
This act also provided that the government would purchase Indian land “excess” to that needed for allotment and open it up for settlement by non-Indians

33. Dawes Act
Supposed to protect Indian property rights, particularly during the land rushes of the 1890s
The land allotted to the Indians included desert or near-desert lands unsuitable for farming
Techniques of self-sufficient farming were much different from their tribal way of life
Many Indians did not want to take up agriculture, those who did, could not afford the tools, animals, seeds, and other supplies necessary to get started
It forced ownership of Indian lands among individual members, leading to a significant disruption of their way of life

34. A Scar left on our Nation
After Reconstruction was over, Democrats ruled the South for over 100 years
For over 100 years there was a clear division between North and South