Reconstruction and its aftermath 1865 1896 Reconstruction Lincoln

Reconstruction and its aftermath 1865 -1896

Reconstruction: Lincoln Style • The Civil War saved the Union but shook the nation to its roots. It left the South with enormous problems. • The period of rebuilding after the war is called Reconstruction. • Lincoln offered the first plan for accepting the Southern states back into the Union. In his Ten Percent Plan: • 10% of voters had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union • States needed to write new constitutions banning slavery • Lincoln argued that punishing the South would serve no useful purpose and would only delay healing the nation.

Radical Republicans • The “Radical Republicans” in the U. S. Congress led by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, found Lincoln’s plan too mild. They wanted to punish the South. • • The federal government created the Freedmen’s Bureau to help former slaves. They distributed food and clothing and provided medical assistance. • The Freedmen’s Bureau’s greatest success was in the area of education. They created many new schools and colleges for African Americans.

Lincoln Assassinated • On April 14, 1865, Abraham Lincoln went to Ford’s Theater to watch a play. • He was shot in the back of the head by John Wilkes Booth. He died the next day. • Booth was part of a larger conspiracy made up of Confederate sympathizers. • Secretary of State William Seward was stabbed but recovered. Another man was supposed to shoot vice-president Andrew Johnson, but he failed. • Booth was later trapped in a barn and killed. The others involved were hung in public.

A new President-the th 13 Amendment • Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln’s assassination. He was a Democratic senator from Tennessee. • His reconstruction plan was called “Restoration. ” • Johnson offered no equal or voting rights for African Americans. • Before they could reenter the Union, Southern states had to 1. 2. Create a new state constitution banning slavery Ratify the 13 th Amendment • The 13 th Amendment abolished slavery in all parts of the United States. • Northerners felt that Johnson’s plan was too easy. They also argued that treatment of African Americans in the South was not improving.

Black Codes • In 1865 and early 1866 new state legislatures passed Black Codes in order to control freed men and women and exploit African American workers. • Some black codes were: • Unemployed African Americans could be arrested and fined. • African Americans were banned from owning or renting farms • Black Codes reestablished slavery in disguise.

Civil Rights for th All-14 Amendment • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted citizenship to all African Americans. It • Overturned black codes • Went against the Dred Scott decision • President Johnson vetoed this act. But Congress had enough votes to override his veto. • Congress then passed the 14 th Amendment, which granted full citizenship and equal protection to all people born in the United States. (Did not apply to Native Americans. ) • States had to ratify the 14 th Amendment to rejoin the Union. • Out of 11 Southern states, only Tennessee ratified the amendment.

Johnson vs. Congress • In 1867, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act -divided the south into military districts -gave black men the right to vote -prohibited former Confederate officers from public office • This was followed by the Second Reconstruction Act which required military leaders to register voters. • Johnson then fired his Secretary of War because of political differences. • An outraged Congress voted to impeach the president (charge with wrongdoing). • President Johnson was found not guilty by only one vote (Kansas) and allowed to serve out the remainder of his term as president.

The th 15 Amendment • In 1868 the Republican party abandoned Andrew Johnson. They chose Ulysses S. Grant instead. • Grant won the election of 1868 easily. • After Grant’s election, Congress passed its last piece of Reconstruction legislature. • The 15 th Amendment was ratified in February of 1870, giving African American males the right to vote. • Despite the hardships, there were two African. Americans that were elected to the U. S Senate: • Hiram Revels and Blanch K. Bruce, both from Mississippi.

The Ku Klux Klan • Some Southerners supported Reconstruction. They were referred to as scalawags, meaning “scoundrel” or “worthless rascal. ” • Northern whites who moved to the South during Reconstruction were called carpetbaggers. • Many thought carpetbaggers were taking advantage of the situation in the South. • Violence against African Americans became common. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was the most violent of the secret societies. • They kept African Americans from exercising their rights by burning homes, churches, and schools as well as killing African Americans.

Education and Land • Despite violence, many important changes occurred during Reconstruction, especially regarding education. • Within a few years, 50% of Southern whites and 40% of Southern African Americans were enrolled in public schools. • Most of these schools were segregated. • A rumor started that African Americans would receive 40 acres of land a mule. However, freed slaves never received land. • Most freedmen were forced to go into sharecropping. They rented land, seeds, and tools from white landowners. • This led to a cycle of poverty they could not get out of. Sharecropping was not much better than slavery.

I Declare Reconstruction Over! • Northerners began to lose interest in Reconstruction. They wanted the South to solve their own problems. • Southern Democrats used violence to keep African Americans from voting. • In the election of 1876, Rutherford B. Hayes was elected president only after a compromise was reached. • In the Compromise of 1877: 1. The North would withdraw all troops from the South 2. Democrats in the South promised to protect African Americans’ rights • In his inaugural address in 1877, Rutherford B. Hayes declared that Reconstruction was now over.

Who Gets to Vote? • Many Southerners hated Republicans because of Reconstruction. • While the 15 th Amendment said people could not be kept from voting because of their race, Southerners found ways around this law. 1. Poll Tax: A tax must be paid to vote (most African Americans could not afford to pay this tax) 2. Literacy Test: A reading test of the Constitution must be passed to vote (most African Americans could not read) 3. Grandfather Clause: If a person’s father or grandfather voted before Reconstruction, they could vote. (African Americans did not have the right to vote before 1870. )

Separate But Equal • Jim Crow laws kept African Americans separate from whites in most every public place. • In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled in Plessy vs. Ferguson that segregation was legal as long as African Americans had access to public facilities equal to those of whites. • The problem was, the facilities were never equal. • Plessy vs. Ferguson allowed for “separate but equal” for more than fifty years. • The violence against African Americans increased. Mobs lynched African Americans often just because they didn’t behave the right way.

Reconstruction: A Review • Reconstruction was both a success and a failure. • It was a success because: – It helped the South begin to rebuild its economy – African Americans gained greater equality • It was a failure because: – The South was still a very poor rural economy – It didn’t keep the promise of true freedom for African Americans • The Three Reconstruction Amendments-Review • 13 th Amendment (1865): Ended slavery forever in the entire U. S. • 14 the Amendment (1868): declared all people born in the U. S. citizens with full and equal protection of the law • 15 th Amendment (1870): right to vote cannot be denied because of race; gave all black males the right to vote