US History
Fort Burrows
Reconstruction
18.1 Early Steps to Reunion
Read pgs 514 – 520
Timeline:
April 12, 1861 thru April 9, 1865 – Civil War
1863 – Lincoln proposes a mild Reconstruction Plan for readmitting Southern
states after the Civil War
1865 – Lincoln is assassinated 5 days after the end of the Civil War
1867 – Radical Reconstruction begins; Republican leaders in Congress call for
harsh measures against the South
Civil War Amendments – 13th , 14th , & 15th Amendments
13th Amendment – Abolition of Slavery
14th Amendment – Rights of Citizens ( includes ALL freedmen )
15th Amendment – Voting Rights ( for former slave males )
Presidents:
1st 1789
2nd 1797
3rd 1801
4th 1809
5th 1817
6th 1825
7th 1829
8th 1837
9th 1841
10th 1841
11th 1845
12th 1849
13th 1850
14th 1853
15th 1857
16th 1861
17th 1865
18th 1869
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1797
1801
1809
1817
1825
1829
1837
1841
1841
1845
1849
1850
1853
1857
1861
1865
1869
1877
BE READY !!!!
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2 terms
1 term
2 terms
2 terms
2 terms
1 term
2 terms
1 term
Died
1 term
1 term
Died
1 term
1 term
1 term
2 terms
1 term
2 terms
George Washington – 57
John Adams – 61
Thomas Jefferson – 57
James Madison – 57
James Monroe – 58
John Quincy Adams – 57
Andrew Jackson – 61
Martin Van Buren – 54
William Henry Harrison – 68
John Tyler –51
James K Polk – 49
Zachary Taylor – 64
Millard Fillmore – 50
Franklin Pierce – 48
James Buchanan –65
Abraham Lincoln –52, assassinated in office
Andrew Johnson – 50, replaced Lincoln
Ulysses S. Grant – 47
US History
Fort Burrows
Why this matters to my students in 8th grade students Today:
While many people believe a single vote cannot possibly affect the outcome of a
presidential election, there have been some very close calls. In the presidential
elections of 1876 and 2000, the Democratic candidates, Samuel Tilden and Al Gore,
respectively, won the popular votes but lost the elections. Because the Gore-Bush race
hinged on a few hundred votes in Florida, the outcome of the election was ultimately
decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the Hayes-Tilden presidential race of 1876, 20
disputed votes ultimately forced the contest to be decided by an electoral commission.
That race had a profound effect: The election of Rutherford B Hayes marked the end
of Reconstruction.
Main Idea:
After the Civil War, the country had to repair the damage done by the fighting and
find a way to rebuild.
Vocabulary:
freedmen – men and women who had been slaves
Reconstruction – rebuilding of the South after the Civil War
Ten Percent Plan – Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction that allowed a southern state
to form a new gov’t after 10% of its voters swore an oath of
loyalty to the United States
amnesty – government pardon
Wade-Davis Bill – 1864 plan for Reconstruction that required a majority of white
men in each southern state to swear loyalty to the Union and denied the right to
vote or hold office to anyone who had volunteered to fight for the Confederacy
Freedmen’s Bureau – US government agency founded during Reconstruction to
help former slaves
Thirteenth Amendment – 1865 amendment to the US Constitution that bans
slavery throughout the nation
Setting the Scene:
At the end of the Civil War, the future looked bleak to many Southerns. Susan
Dabney Smedes described the scene facing her father, once a wealthy planter:
“My father had come home to a house stripped of nearly every article of furniture and
to a plantation stripped of the means of cultivating…it. A few mules and one cow were
all that were left of the stock.”
Susan Dabney Smedes, Memorials of a Southern Planter
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Across the South, cities and farms lay in ruins. All southerners, black or white, faced
an unfamiliar new world. At the same time, a shattered nation had to face a way to
become whole again.
Postwar Problems
After four years of war, both the Northerners and the Southerners, had to adjust to a
changed WORLD. At the same time, a shattered Union had to find a way to become
whole again.
The Victorious North
Љ despite the victory, the North faced economic problems
Љ 800,000 returning soldiers needed a JOB!
Љ factories were laying off workers…but,
Љ boom times returned quickly
Љ more Northern soldiers died than did Southern soldiers
Љ less battles in the North, less destruction of land and property
The Defeated South
Љ horses, barns, bridges, land, fields… DESTROYED
Љ too many battles on the Southside
Љ 2/3’s of the railroads… DESTROYED
Љ Columbia, Richmond, & Atlanta… LEVELED
Љ Confederate money was worthless
Љ banks closed… all deposits, savings accounts… GONE
Љ 4-million Freedmen…never owned land…could not read or write
Љ they were FREE… free to do what ?
Љ a truly defeated ex-country
¿¿ TAKS 8.30B ¿¿ List the 4 main ideas of the postwar problems…
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
4.________________________________________________________________________
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US History
Fort Burrows
Early Steps Toward Reconstruction
President Lincoln was worried about Reconstruction, the rebuilding of the South. He
wanted to make it fairly easy for Southerners to rejoin the Union. The sooner the
nation was reunited, Lincoln believed, the faster the South would be able to rebuild.
Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan
Љ Ten Percent Plan for Reconstruction
Љ a ‘new’ government could be created if 10% of voters SWORE an
oath of loyalty to the United States
Љ southern states had to abolish slavery
Љ voters could elect new Congressmen/Senators to serve in the national gov’t
Љ amnesty was given to Confederates that would SWEAR loyalty to the Union
Љ amnesty would not apply to Confederate leaders
A Rival Proposal
Љ Wade-Davis Bill; a Republican alternative to the Ten Percent Plan
Љ the majority of white men had to SWEAR loyalty to the Union
Љ denied them from the right to vote or be elected to Public Office
Љ Lincoln refused to sign the Wade-Davis Bill; TOO HARSH
The Freedmen’s Bureau (FB)
Љ a gov’t agency to help former slaves
Љ passed by Congress and signed by Lincoln; 1 month before Lee’s surrender
Љ Freedmen’s Bureau gave food and clothing and HOPE for a job to former slaves
Љ provided medical care to more than 1-million poor whites
Љ most important TASK was to set up schools; teachers were volunteers
“It’ is wonderful how a people who have been so long crushed to the earth…can
have so great a desire for knowledge, and such a capacity for attaining it.”
From Charlotte Forten’s, an African American volunteer, article in the Atlantic Monthly
Љ this laid the foundation for the South’s Public School System
Љ created African American colleges like Howard, Morehouse, and Fisk
Љ many African American graduates became teachers
“Here, at the stroke of the pen, was erected a government
of millions of men,--and not ordinary men, either, but black men
weakened by a peculiarly complete system of slavery, centuries old;
and now, suddenly, violently, they come into a new birthright, at a
time of war and passion, in the midst of the stricken, embittered
population of their former masters. Any man might well have
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hesitated to assume charge of such work, with vast responsibilities,
indefinite powers, and limited resources…for Congress had
appropriated no money for salaries and expenses.”
W.E.B. DuBois, “The Freedmen’s Bureau”
Lincoln Is Assassinated
On April 14, 1865, just 5 days after Lee’s surrender, the President attended a play at
Ford’s theatre in Warshington, D.C. A popular actor from the South, John Wilkes
Booth, crept into the President’s box and shot Lincoln in the head. Lincoln died the
next morning. Booth was later caught and killed in a barn outside the city.
“Now he belongs to the ages.” Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton
The New President
Vice President Andrew Johnson was now President. Johnson had represented
Tennessee in Congress. When his state seceded, Johnson had remained LOYAL to the
Union.
Johnson’s Plan
Љ fellow Republicans in the Congress thought new President Johnson would
support a strict Reconstruction plan; he did not
Љ Johnson’s plan called for a majority of voters, in each southern state, to pledge
loyalty to the United States
Љ each of those states had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendment, banning slavery
throughout the entire nation
Љ the Emancipation Proclamation did not ban slavery in the states that remained
loyal to the Union
¿¿ TAKS 8.17B ¿¿ What was the Thirteenth Amendment ?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Congress Rebels
Љ Southern states take advantage of Johnson’s ‘mild’ plan
Љ approval of the ‘new’ southern states gov’t came in late 1865
Љ many of those elected held office for the former Confederate States of America
Љ the former vice-president of the confederacy was elected to be a Senator from
Georgia
Љ Republican were outraged; the same men that originally led the South to leave
the Union was now being elected to serve in the House and Senate
Љ no Southern states allowed African Americans to vote in the elections
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Љ when the new Congress met, Republicans set up a Joint Committee on
Reconstruction
Љ the stage was set for a show down between the angry Congress and the new
President
1. Why were postwar problems more severe in the South than in the North ?
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
2. What early Steps were taken toward reconstruction ?
1.________________________________________________________________________
2.________________________________________________________________________
3.________________________________________________________________________
3. How did the assassination of Lincoln and the inauguration of a new president lead
to conflict ?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Setting up schools was one of the Freedmen’s Bureau’s most important tasks
because the schools provided…
A. job training for almost 300,000 African Americans
B. employment for many women volunteers
C. the foundation for a public school system in the South
D. jobs as teachers for ex-soldiers
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