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Chapter 18 Reconstruction
Section 1: Rebuilding the South
Reconstruction was the process of reuniting the nation and rebuilding the southern states without
slavery. It lasted from 1865 to 1877. Politicians disagreed about the conditions southern states would
have to meet in order to be allowed back into the Union.
1. Why do you think politicians disagreed about the conditions?
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Congress passed the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. It made slavery illegal throughout
the United States. Some abolitionists and former slaves were not satisfied. They wanted voting rights
and all the other rights and freedoms that white men enjoyed.
2. Why were some abolitionists and former slaves not satisfied with the Thirteenth Amendment?
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In 1865 Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau. Its purpose was to provide help for all poor
people in the South. It distributed food, helped people find jobs, and established schools and
universities. Lincoln was assassinated, and Vice President Andrew Johnson (Democrat-Tennessee)
was sworn into office. He took over Reconstruction. He established a system for setting up new
southern state governments. However, members of Congress refused to accept many of the new
southern representatives. They had been leaders in the Confederacy, and many Republicans felt they
could not be trusted to be loyal citizens of the United States.
3. Why did members of Congress refuse to accept many of the new southern representatives?
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Section 2: The Fight over Reconstruction
Free African Americans faced prejudice and persecution in the South. Every southern state passed
Black Codes. These were laws that limited the freedom of African Americans and denied them their
civil rights. Radical Republicans became angry. They believed the South was returning to its old
ways. They wanted the southern states to change much more than they already had before they could
return to the Union.
1. What were the Black Codes? __________________________________________________
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Republicans in Congress proposed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This act gave African Americans the
same legal rights as white Americans. President Johnson vetoed it. Congress overrode his veto and
followed up by proposing the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment gave
African Americans citizenship and all the protections of the law that came with it.
2. What was the Civil Rights Act of 1866? Was it passed? ________________________
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In the 1866 congressional elections, Republicans won a majority of both houses of Congress. They
used their power to pass a series of Reconstruction Acts. These acts required southern states to write
new state constitutions supporting the Fourteenth Amendment. They were also required to give
African Americans the right to vote. Until they did so, Union forces would remain in their states and
they would not be allowed back into the Union.
3. What were the Reconstruction Acts? __________________________________________
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President Johnson opposed Congress’s actions and broke one of their newly passed laws. Congress
impeached him but did not remove him from office. In the election of 1868, Republican war hero
Ulysses S. Grant took the presidency. African Americans in reconstructed states had voted for Grant
and helped him win the election. Congress then passed the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
This amendment gave African American men the right to vote. Women were still denied the right to
vote, which upset many women’s rights activists.
4. Do you think that the South will follow the Fifteenth Amendment? Why or why not?
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Section 3: Reconstruction in the South
Southerners were not happy about Republican control of the South. They called northern
Republicans who came to the South carpetbaggers. They called southern Republicans
scalawags. But reconstruction governments did much for the South. They built schools,
hospitals, and prisons. They helped build or repair railroads, bridges, and buildings.
1. Why would southerners not be happy about Republican control of the South?
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African Americans were soon elected to public offices. Many white southerners disapproved
of African American officeholders and opposed Reconstruction in general. A group of white
southerners formed the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan used violence and terror against African
Americans, white Republicans, and public officials. Congress passed laws to control the
Klan, but racial violence continued in the South.
2. What groups of people did the Ku Klux Klan target? ____________________________
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The Republican Party eventually began losing its power. Scandals in Grant’s presidency and
a poor economy hurt Republicans in the elections of the 1870s. President Hayes was a
Republican, but he had to compromise with Democrats about Reconstruction. He removed all
federal troops from the South.
3. What do you think might happen in the South once federal troops are gone?
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Southern governments began passing Jim Crow laws. These laws required segregation, or the
forced separation of whites and African Americans in public places. They also used violence
and poll taxes to try to keep African Americans from voting. In the Supreme Court case of
Plessy v. Ferguson, the Court ruled that segregation was allowed if “separate-but-equal”
facilities were provided for African Americans.
4. What do you think life was like in the South for an African American? ___________
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Section 4: The New South
Many African Americans became sharecroppers. In this system, a landowner provided the
land, tools, and supplies. Sharecroppers provided the labor. They had to give most of the
crops to the owner. Whatever was left was theirs. Most sharecroppers remained poor and in
debt. They depended on cotton crops to survive.
1. Is this system much different from slavery? Why or why not? ___________________
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The southern economy went up and down with cotton prices. Some business leaders wanted
to strengthen the southern economy. The wanted to create a “New South.” They built textile
mills to produce cotton fabric. These factories attracted workers from farms. Working
conditions were difficult and dangerous. The pay was low. Many factory workers were
women and children.
3. How would mills create a “New South?” _______________________________________
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The New South movement brought new appreciation for the arts and music. Southern
literature developed a unique style. Authors such as Mark Twain and Joel Chandler Harris
wrote colorful stories about life in the South. Southern music also became more popular after
the Civil War.
4. Who were two famous authors that wrote colorful stories about the South?_____________
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CONCLUSION:
1. If you had been president after the Civil War, what would your Reconstruction plans
have been for the following groups of people:
a. The freedmen (former slaves) ____________________________________________
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b. Former slave owners ___________________________________________________
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c. Confederate Generals and Politicians ______________________________________
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