Reconstruction & the New
South
Key Questions
Key Questions
• How do nations recover from war?
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Form state governments
Reconcile people that fought on opposing sides
Rebuilding infrastructure & replenishing food supplies
• What were the effects of the Civil War on the South?
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Cities, plantations, & transportation systems were destroyed.
Economy was in shambles.
Southerners were upset that the confederate cause had been lost.
Key Questions
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Why did President Lincoln favor a lenient policy toward the South? Where have we
seen evidence of this before?
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Lincoln wanted to reconcile Southerners with the Union rather than punish them for
treason. His goal was always to preserve the Union & therefore he wanted to bring the
seceded states back quickly.
To make the South’s return as easy as possible
He came up with the 10% plan; States could be re-admitted if 10% of voters took an oath.
Evidence is seen in Lincoln’s speeches throughout the war including the Gettysburg Address
& his 2nd Inaugural Address.
Key Questions
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How did Abraham Lincoln’s Assassination impact the post-Civil War United States?
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Lincoln was unable to carry out his lenient Reconstruction plan due to his death. He was
also not able to provide his wisdom & leadership in reconstructing the nation.
Lincoln’s assassination increased the Radical Republicans resolve to punish & exact revenge
on the South.
What key issues caused disagreements about how Reconstruction should take
place?
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Under what conditions Southern states could organize state governments
Oaths of loyalty
Amnesty for high-ranking Confederates
Protection of the rights of freedman
Key Questions
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What did the Radical Republicans want from Reconstruction? What were their
goals?
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For the South to be punished
To prevent Confederate leaders from returning to power
To gain power for the Republican Party in the South
To help African Americans achieve political equality via suffrage (the right to vote)
How did the views of President Lincoln & President Johnson on Reconstruction
differ from the views of the Radical Republicans?
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Both Presidents favored a lenient approach to Southerners, while the Radicals wanted to
punish the South severely & wanted to grant freedman civil rights including the right to
vote.
Key Questions
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Compare & contrast Presidential &
Congressional Reconstruction?
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Presidential
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Executive branch should lead Reconstruction
Return the South to the Union quickly
States to rejoin the Union if they withdrew
secession
Swear allegiance to the Union
Annul Confederate war debts
Ratify the 13th Amendment
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Congressional
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Punish slaveholders
Congress should lead Reconstruction
Freedman needed land, the vote, & legal
protection
Passage of the 14th & 15th Amendments &
Reconstruction Act (military rule of the South)
KEY Questions
• What were the purposes of the Freedman’s Bureau? What services did they
provide?
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To help newly freed African-Americans obtain food, find work, & get an education.
• How did Black Codes help bring about the passage of the Civil Rights Act of
1866?
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They convinced Congress that the freedman needed federal laws to protect them.
• What were the main benefits that the 14th Amendment offered AfricanAmericans?
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It made them citizens, promised them due process of law, & tried to discourage states
from denying them suffrage.
Key Questions
• What effect did the election of 1866 have on Republicans’ ability to carry out
their plan for Reconstruction?
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The election gave them a majority large enough to pass laws & override vetos.
• What was the primary focus of Reconstruction legislation (i.e. Freedman’s
Bureau, Civil Rights Act, 14th Amendment, 15th Amendment, etc.)?
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Granting & providing legal protection of African Americans’ civil rights.
Key Questions
• How & why did the Radical Republicans reduce the presidential power of
Andrew Johnson?
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The Radical Republicans overrode Johnson’s vetos
They did not agree with his policies regarding Reconstruction of the South
Key Questions
• How did the politics of Reconstruction affect African Americans?
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Corruption
Influx of Northerners
Prominence of African-American churches
Rise of African-American politicians
Rise of the Ku Klux Klan
Key Questions
• Why did the Radicals want to impeach President Johnson?
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They believed he was obstructing Reconstruction Efforts
• What were the main postwar problems Reconstruction governments in
the South had to solve?
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Repairing physical damage
meeting social needs such as education
raising money
Key Questions
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What were some similarities in the goals of the Scalawags & Carpetbaggers? Of
Carpetbaggers & African-Americans?
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Some shared the goal of making a profit
Some shared the goal of improving African-American lives
How did free African-Americans try to improve their lives or exercise their
freedom?
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They searched for missing family members
Sought an education
Formed churches & volunteer groups
Built their political power through elected office & the right to vote
Key Questions
• What caused land reform proposals to fail?
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Republicans in Congress thought it was wrong to take private property
Land set aside was unsuitable for farming
Former slaves lacked farming supplies
What factors contributed to the South’s stagnated economy?
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Confederate debt
Sagging demand for & falling prices of cotton
The ongoing impact of Civil War devastation
Key Questions
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How did the Civil War weaken the South’s economy?
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It destroyed the South’s infrastructure including bridges & roads
Devastated the population
Devalued property
Increased personal & government debts
Limited land available for freedman
Thaddeus Stevens believed that giving land to the freedman was more
important than giving them the right to vote. Do you agree or disagree?
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Agree – because freed persons needed their own land to gain economic independence
Disagree – because the right to vote gave freedman the power to change society’s laws
Key Questions
• Which accomplishment of African Americans during Reconstruction is
most significant?
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Churches controlled by African Americans; ministers emerged as leaders
Schools were formed that increased African American literacy
Increased political involvement led to the power to attain equal rights
• What three groups made up the Republican Party in the South?
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Former slaves, white southerners called Scalawags, & Carpetbaggers who traveled
to the South after the Civil War
Key Questions
• How did white landowners in the South reassert their economic power in
the decade following the Civil War?
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They paid freedman low wages & trapped them in the sharecropping & tenant
farming cycle of poverty