1. Chapter 23: The Reconstruction Era
To what extent did Reconstruction bring African Americans closer to full citizenship?

2. 23.1 Preview
Suppose that you are an emancipated slave in the South at the end of the Civil War. What changes do you hope for your new life? On a separate sheet of paper/Moodle, write about three ways you imagine your life will change now that you have your freedom.
Emancipated Slaves: N. Carolina, 1863.

3. 23.1 Key Terms
As you complete the Reading Notes, use these terms in your answers.
Reconstruction Black Codes
Fifteenth Amendment Thirteenth Amendment
Civil Rights Jim Crow laws
Freedmen’s Bureau Fourteenth Amendment

4. 23.1: Introduction: Read 23.1 to yourself and answer these questions on the back page of your packet.
In your own words, rewrite Lincoln’s excerpt from his 2nd inaugural address in 1865.
What date was Lincoln shot?
What was the location of the assassination?
Who assassinated Lincoln?
Why did he assassinate Lincoln?
Who became President?

5. 23.2: Presidential Reconstruction
What were President Johnson’s two major aims for Reconstruction? Circle the aim that was achieved by the 13th Amendment.
Southern states had to create new governments that were loyal to the Union.
Slavery had to be abolished.

6. 23.2 Presidential Reconstruction
2. Who established the Freedmen’s Bureau, and what was its purpose? List three activities of the bureau that helped it carry out its purpose.
Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau to assist former slaves.
Possible activities: Provided food, provided medical care, helped freedmen arrange for wages and good working conditions, distributed land, provided public education.

7. 23.2: Presidential Reconstruction
Black Codes Enacted During Presidential Reconstruction.
Purpose
Example
To limit the rights of freedmen.
Blacks could not vote or serve on juries.
To help planters find workers to replace their slaves.
Freemen were required to work. If they were unemployed they could be arrested and hired out to planters.
To keep freedmen at the bottom of the social order in the South.
Blacks and whites were segregated in public areas.

8. 23.3: Congressional Reconstruction
How did the Radical Republican’s aim for Reconstruction differ from President Johnson’s? What two laws passed by Congress helped them achieve this aim?
Answer: Radical Republicans wanted freedmen to be granted the full rights of citizenship. Congress extended the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau and enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which gave blacks the same civil rights as whites.

9. Military Reconstruction Districts, 1870

10. 23.3: Congressional Reconstruction
Congress and President Johnson had a/an ________________ relationship.
adversarial
Johnson opposed the 14th Amendment and wanted Republican lawmakers thrown out of office.
Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Act over Johnson’s veto.

11. 23.3: Congressional Reconstruction
3. Why did the House of Representatives impeach President Johnson? What was the outcome of the impeachment trial?
President Johnson was impeached because he fired an official who was protected under the Tenure of Office Act and because the House felt he had brought the office of president into disgrace.
He was spared removal from office by ONE vote.

12. 23.3: Congressional Reconstruction
4. Why did many sharecroppers end up in poverty and debt?
Sharecroppers had to borrow money from plantation owners to buy the supplies they needed. Few earned enough money to pay back what they owed.

14. 23.4: Southern Reconstruction
1. Who was banned by Congress from voting, and who were the three groups of new voters in the South? Write each answer on top of the appropriate symbol.
Northerners who had moved South after the war.
White southerners who opposed the war.
Freedmen
Confederates

15. 23.4 Southern Reconstruction
2. What important lesson did Republicans learn in the 1868 presidential election of Ulysses S. Grant?
Republicans learned that for a political party to keep control of the White House, it needed African American votes.

16. 23.4 Southern Reconstruction
New state constitutions were written throughout the South guaranteeing such rights as voting and free public education.
This constitutional amendment guaranteed every male citizen the right to vote, regardless of race.
New State Constitutions
15th Amendment
Changes Under Southern Reconstruction.
New State Governments
African Americans in Office
New state governments were composed primarily of Republicans, including many African Americans, who ratified the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments and built roads, hospitals, and schools.
African Americans served in every Southern state legislature and in both houses of Congress and held high offices in three states.

17. Reconstruction Video Link
Reconstruction - American Civil War - HISTORY.com

18. 23.5: The End of Reconstruction
Many southerners hated seeing blacks voting & holding public office.
Southern Democrats tried to use legal means to keep blacks from voting or taking office.
Whites used violence to drive blacks from political life.
Congress passed the Enforcement Acts, making it illegal to prevent someone from voting through bribery, force, or scare tactics.
President Grant sent troops to the South to enforce the acts, but people were still afraid to speak out against the violence being directed at blacks.

19. 23.5: The End of Reconstruction
2. What was the dispute in the presidential election of 1876? How was it resolved?
Republican candidate Hayes received more electoral votes than Democratic candidate Tilden. Twenty electoral votes were in dispute, and Congress awarded these to Hayes, which outraged Democrats.

20. 23.5: The End of Reconstruction
2. How was it resolved?
The election was resolved by compromise: Hayes was allowed to take office if he promised to withdraw remaining federal troops from the South.

21. 23.5: The End of Reconstruction
2. How was it resolved?
The compromise was a DISASTER for blacks. Democrats quickly returned the South to “white man’s rule.”

22. Compromise of 1877 Video Link

23. 23.6: Reconstruction Reversed
How did Southern Democrats reverse gains made during Reconstruction in each of these areas?
EDUCATION
Spending for public schools was cut, many schools closed, and others charged fees.

24. 23.6: Reconstruction Reversed
How did Southern Democrats reverse gains made during Reconstruction in each of these areas?
Voting Rights
Many Southern states required citizens to pay a poll tax and pass a literacy test in order to vote. Both requirements excluded many African Americans from voting.

25. 23.6: Reconstruction Reversed
How did Southern Democrats reverse gains made during Reconstruction in each of these areas?
Segregation
Democrats reintroduced segregation laws, which kept blacks and whites separate in public.

26. 23.6: Reconstruction Reversed
2. Make a sketch to illustrate the results of Plessy vs. Ferguson. Include a caption that explains the Supreme Court’s decision in the case and the consequences of that decision.
Sketches might show some form of segregation. Possible caption: In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that separate facilities, as long as they were equal, did not violate the Constitution. However, these separate facilities often favored whites over blacks.

27. 23.7: Responding to Segregation
List two factors that pushed African Americans out of the South after Reconstruction and two factors that pulled them toward the North.
Attacks and lynching by white mobs; racism; poverty
Push
better opportunities; more equal treatment
Pull

28. 23.7: Responding to Segregation
The North: African Americans still faced racism but could find employment.
The West: African Americans faced discrimination as they moved west, but found work as cowboys and Indian fighters.
The South: African Americans relied on families, churches, and communities to build businesses, provide education, and improve their lives.