Reconstruction Outline KEY
Reconstruction: Rebuilding of the South after the Civil War
I.
Federal Government-Reconstruction Plans
a. Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan – Lincoln’s Plan that when 10% of the voters in a
state took an oath of loyalty to the Union, the state could form a new government
and adopt a new constitution (banning slavery)
b. Civil Rights Act of 1866-- Act that granted full citizenship to African
Americans and gave the federal government the power to intervene in state
affairs to protect their rights. U.S. federal troops (army) was sent to enforce the
law. The law overturned the black codes.
c. Reconstruction Act of 1867– Called for creation of new governments in 10
Southern states and placed them under authority of a military commander until
new governments were formed. Military commanders were to begin registering
voters and to prepare for the new state constitutional conventions
d. Amnesty Act of 1872– Act passed in 1872 that pardoned most former
Confederates, including ROBERT E. LEE, who became President of
Washington College, which became Washington and Lee University. Lee also
urged the South to reunite as Americans
II.
Toward Equality
a. Freedman’s Bureau – government agency that helped African Americans make
the transition to freedom, also set up schools to help freed slaves
b. The 13th Amendment – 1865 - abolished slavery in all parts of the United States
c. The 14th Amendment – 1866 - granted full citizenship to all individuals born in
the United States. Since most African Americans had been born here, they were
given full citizenship
d. The 15th Amendment – 1869 - Prohibited state and federal governments from
denying the right to vote to any male citizen because of “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude”
III.
A Segregated Society
a. Black Codes – laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866 to control freed
men and women and allow plantation owners to exploit African American
workers, to keep freedmen from having full rights
b. Ku Klux Klan – a secret society, formed in 1866, which often used violence
toward African Americans
c. Jim Crow Laws – Southern laws that required the separation of white and
African Americans in almost every public place where they might come into
contact with each other
d. Voting Restrictions – restrictions used by Southern states to keep African
Americans from voting (literacy test and poll tax)
e. Election of 1876 – Reconstruction ends, when Federal Troops are moved from
the South. The rights that African Americans gained were lost through “Jim
Crow” laws.
IV.
Southern Economy
a. Southern Industry – advances were made in southern industries of textiles,
tobacco, and lumbering
b. Sharecropping – system where a landowner rented a plot of land to a farmer
with a shack, some seeds and tools, and maybe a mule. In return, sharecroppers
shared a percent of their crop with the landowner. Began because most freedmen
had very little money to rent farmland. Most common work for freedmen.
c. Cash Crops – crops that could be sold for money, such as cotton
d. The Redeemers (Democrats) – By 1874, the Democrats had gained seats in the
Senate and had control of the House of Representatives. They were viewed as
“Redeemers” because they had saved the South from Republican rule
V.
Important People
a. Robert E. Lee- Urged Southerners to reconcile at the end of the war and reunite
as Americans when some wanted to fight on, Became president of Washington
College which is now known as Washington and Lee University.
b. Frederick Douglas – Former slave, spokesperson for the rights and freedom of
African Americans, wanted constitutional amendments that guaranteed full
voting rights for freedmen
c. Booker T. Washington- Believed equality could be achieved through vocational
education; he accepted social segregation for the time being
d. W.E.B. Dubois – Believed in full political, civil, and social rights for African
Americans; he did not accept segregation
VI.
The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
a. The Tenure of Office Act – March of 1867 - prohibited the President from
removing government official, even from his own cabinet, without the approval
of the Senate
b. The House of Representatives impeachment – In August 1867, Johnson
removed is Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, without the Senate’s approval. The
House of Representatives impeached him (“officially charged him with
wrongdoing”)
c. The trial – the trial in the Senate began in March 1868 and lasted almost 3
months
d. The vote – the senators voted twice and each time the vote was 35-19, one vote
shy of the 2/3 majority required by the Constitution for conviction
VII.
Supreme Court Decisions
a. Dred Scott Decision (1857) – Slave taken to Illinois (a free state) and later back
to Missouri (a slave state). Sued under Missouri’s “once free, always free”
principle. However, the Supreme Court found that Dred Scott was an enslaved
person and considered “property”, so he had no right under the Constitution,
since he was not a citizen.
b. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – Homer Plessy was part African American and part
white. He tried to board a “white-only” train car, but was kicked off for being
“African American”. The Supreme Court found that it was ok for whites and
African Americans to have separate facilities, as long as they were equal
(“Separate but equal”)