The Nation Breaks Apart
Reconstruction
What Was Reconstruction?

Reconstruction was the
reorganization and rebuilding of
former Confederate states after the
Civil War.

It was Abraham Lincoln’s desire to
see the country united once again
after the conclusion of the Civil War.

Reconstruction – the period when
the South rejoined the Union.
Why was Reconstruction needed
for the South?

The war had left the South with
enormous problems.

A) Most of the major fighting had
happened in the South.

B) Towns and cities were in ruins.

C) Plantations were burned, and
roads, bridges, and railroads were
destroyed.

D) Many Southern families faced the
task of rebuilding lives with few
resources and without the help of
men.
How did the views on
Reconstruction differ in the Union?

Some wanted to make it easy
for the southern states to
rejoin the Union.

Others wanted the South to
suffer for their succession from
the Union. They blamed the
South for the Civil War.
What was Lincoln’s Ten Percent
Plan?

Lincoln’s plan for a southern
state’s admittance back in the
Union was called the Ten
Percent Plan.

Ten Percent Plan
a) if ten percent of a state’s voters
agreed to Union loyalty it could
join the Union.
b) The final stipulation was that the
state had to adopt a new
constitution that banned slavery.
Lincoln’s Approach to Reconstruction.

Lincoln wanted to encourage
Southerners who were loyal to
the Union to take charge of
state governments.

He believed that punishing the
South would serve no purpose
and keep the country torn
apart.
Who said the following?

1) If I were two-faced, would I
be wearing this one?

2) Better to remain silent and be
thought a fool than to speak out
and remove all doubt.

3) You can fool some of the
people all of the time, and all of
the people some of the time, but
you can not fool all of the people
all of the time.
Lincoln’s Offering for Unity

Lincoln offered amnesty to all
white Southerners, except
Confederate leaders.

Amnesty - is pardoning a large
group of people from an illegal
act.

He supported granting the right
to vote to educated African
Americans.

He didn’t force Southern states
to give up rights held by white
Americans to African Americans.
The Radical Republicans

A group of Republics felt that
Lincoln’s plan was kind.

They believed that Congress should
control the policy of Reconstruction,
not the president.

These Republicans were given the
name radical because of their
approach to Reconstruction.

Radical – one who favors making
extreme changes.
The Radicals Reaction

Thaddeus Stevens, a Radical
Republican, affirmed that
institutions ”must be broken up
and relaid, or all our blood and
treasure have been spent in vain.”

With the power being with the
Radical Republicans, Congress
voted to refuse seats to
representatives from any state
reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan.

Congress began to create their
own plan.
The Wade-Davis Bill

The Radical Republicans passed a
bill countering Lincoln’s plan.

Four requirements under the
Wade – Davis Bill.
a)
50% of white men in a state had
to swear loyalty to the Union.
b)
Only white males who sworn
loyalty and did not fight against
the Union could vote at the
constitutional convention.
c)
A state had to adopt a new
constitution.
d) Former Confederates couldn’t vote.
Lincoln’s Reaction

Lincoln declined to sign
the bill into law. He
wanted to encourage the
formation of new state
governments so that
order could be restored.

Lincoln realized he would
have to compromise with
the Radical Repulicans.
Who said the following?

Honesty is the best policy -when there is money in it.

Of all the things I've lost, I
miss my mind the most.

Don't go around saying the
world owes you a living. The
world owes you nothing. It
was here first.
The Freedmen’s Bureau

The Freedmen’s Bureau – was an agency
designed to help former slaves.
What did the Freedmen’s Bureau do?
 Distributed Food and clothing
 Provided Medical Services
 Open Schools

The bureau also helped Southerners who
supported the Union.
Lincoln is Assassinated

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth.

He and his wife were attending the play
“Our American Cousins at Ford’s Theater
when he was shot.
Johnson Becomes President

Andrew Johnson became president after
the death of Abraham Lincoln.
Johnson wanted to pass a plan that called
for “Restoration”.
 The plan would have granted amnesty to
most Southerners.

The Reconstruction Amendments

13th Amendment – abolished slavery in the
United States.

14th Amendment – made a black men
citizens of the United States.

15th Amendment – Gave black men the
right to vote.
The Radicals in Control

After the war the South held legislative
elections. Under Johnson’s requirements it
was a legal election.

However when they made their way to
Washington D.C. they were not permitted
to take their respective seats.
Black Codes and the Civil Rights Act

Black codes – laws created in the South to
control freedmen and exploit former
slaves.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 – grants
granted full citizenship to former slaves
and allowed the Federal Government to
intervene in state affairs.
The Reconstruction Acts

First Reconstruction Act – called for the
creation of new governments in 10
Southern states.

Second Reconstruction Act – divided 10
Southern states into 5 military districts.
Taking Advantage of
Reconstruction

Carpetbaggers were Northerners who
went to the South during Reconstruction
to make money.

Scalawags - was a nickname for southern
whites who supported Reconstruction
following the Civil War.
Tenure of Office Act

Tenure of Office Act – law that prohibited
the president from removing government
officials without the Senates approval.

Ulysses S. Grant won the presidential
election of 1868.

Sharecropping is a system of agriculture in
which a landowner allows a tenant to use the
land in return for a share of the crop produced
on the land.

The Amnesty Act of 1872 was a United States
federal law that removed voting restrictions and
office-holding disqualification against most of
the secessionists who rebelled in the United
States Civil War

The Compromise of 1877 occurred after
the Presidential Election of 1876, when
Congress formed the Electoral Commission
to resolve disputed Democratic Electoral
votes from the South.

Rutherford B Hayes won the presidential
election of 1876.