The Reconstruction Period 1865 1877 Reconstruction What is

The Reconstruction Period 1865 -1877

Reconstruction • What is Reconstruction? – Write 4 -5 observations from the video.

Reconstruction Begins • Reconstruction-process of Fed. To RE-admit former Confederate states. • After the Civil War, debate… – How to bring back the South. – What to do with freed slaves. – Could the Southern economy survive without slavery?

From Lincoln to Johnson • Lincoln assassinated at Ford’s Theatre 1865. • VP Johnson takes office, Southern Democrat and slaveholder • Stubborn and uncompromising, continued Lincoln’s policies

Who’s Involved? • Radical Republicans: create new order in the south, full citizenship former slaves. • Freedmen’s Bureau: set up schools and hospitals for freed slaves, distributed food and clothing.

“Reconstruction Amendments” • 13 th Amendment: officially outlaws slavery in all states. • 14 th Amendment: all people born in the United States are citizens, have the same rights. “Equal protection under law” • 15 th Amendment: Cannot deny the right to vote based on race, color or previous servitude.

Southern Response • Jim Crow Laws: enforced segregation. • Examples… • Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme court upholds Jim Crow “separate but equal” • Prevented blacks from voting with literacy tests, grandfather clauses • Scare tactics, KKK

Remembering Reconstruction • Tonight, you’ll be asked what you know about the Reconstruction Era. You will tell your parents/friend/grandma that it was…(use your notes).

Radical Reconstruction South divided into 5 military districts to supervise Reconstruction.

Radical Reconstruction • Southern voters choose new state reps. • Active confederates no-vote unless they pledge loyalty. • Republicans rule state legislatures. – “Scalawags”-poor white farmers – “Carpetbaggers”-white Northerners who’ve come to the South. – “Freemen”-African-American men.

New State Legislatures

Johnson Impeached • Johnson fought many reforms of Republican congress • Vetoed freedmen’s bureau and Civil Rights Act (Congress able to override) • Congress created the “Tenure of Office Act”. – Pres. cannot fire gvt. officials without permission • Johnson fires his Secretary of War, Hof. R voted to impeach • Johnson acquitted by a single vote

Hardships of former slaves • Former slaves leave plantations-reunite with family. • Rumor-Freemen will get “ 40 acres and a mule” • Congress votes against. Freedom and Voting Rights were enough.

Sharecropping • Many returned to work on plantations as “sharecroppers” • Ended up in debt to landowners, was often de-facto slavery

Sharecropping Explained