RECONSTRUCTION PoliticalEconomicSocialPhysical 1865 1877 U S President Abraham

RECONSTRUCTION Political-Economic-Social-Physical 1865 -1877

-U. S. President Abraham Lincoln n Wanted to reunite the country quickly Did NOT want to punish the Southern states Assassinated on April 15, 1865 – six days after General Robert E. Lee’s surrender

Confederate President Andrew Johnson Favored rapid & lenient Reconstruction also n States must write a new constitution n Declared secession illegal n Abolished slavery n Could not repay outstanding Confederate debts n

RECONSTRUCTION Presidential n n n Lenient on South Put Southern state gov’ts under civilian control (lenient = easygoing; not too harsh; mild) Congressional n n n Punish the South Put Southern state under military control States had to resubmit constitutions & swear oath of allegiance to USA

RECONSTRUCTION CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS: 13 th: Made slavery illegal n 14 th: Granted citizenship & civil rights to n former slaves (freedmen) n 15 th: African American men given voting (suffrage) rights

Freedmen’s Bureau • Government Agency that: • • Provided food, clothing, medical Established schools Searched for lost family members Made slave marriages legal

“Black Codes” (aka) Jim Crowe Laws Southern state laws that controlled the lives & civil rights of freedmen n n Could not hold public office or serve on juries Could not travel freely Must have a job or be fined or jailed Required races to be segregated Separate facilities

Ku Klux Klan n Secret group of plantation owners and confederate soldiers who terrorized freedmen to prevent them from registering and voting

Carpetbaggers Northerners that moved to South to take advantage of economic opportunities Southerners hated these two groups Political-Economic-Social-Physical

Texas Constitution n n States had to ratify the 13 th, 14 th, and 15 th Amendments and elect a NEW government again. Anyone who had not taken oath of loyalty to the Union could not vote. In March of 1870, Texas was admitted back into the Union. In 1876, after Democrats regained control of Texas, the Texas constitution was re-written to give the central government some of the power lost during Radical Reconstruction

End of Reconstruction n Military enforcement left Southern states. Jim Crow Laws enforced segregation – separation of races in public places. Agriculture became the power again, most freedpeople could not afford land – had to become tenant farmers or share croppers.

Sharecropping / Tenant Farming • Plantation owners provided livestock, tools and land to freedmen in exchange for a share or percentage of their crop OR • Landowners rented land to tenant farmers • Plantation owners printed their own paper $ (rather than cash) that could be used at plantation stores that overcharged for basic necessities …more oppression

Summary: n n n Presidential Reconstruction: lenient Congressional Reconstruction: strict Southerners hates Scalawags & Carpetbaggers Sharecropping & Tenant Farming – never-ending cycles LAND OWNERS HAD THE POWER.