Fri, 9/15/15
In response to reading the Gettysburg Address:
Questions:
(1) What does it mean, “Four score and seven years ago … a new
nation conceived in liberty?”
(2) Why do you suppose he says, “The world will little note nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did
here?”
(3) What does it mean when Lincoln says, “last full measure of
devotion?”
(4) What does it mean when Lincoln says, “a new birth of freedom;
and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall
not perish from the earth?”
Interesting Facts About the War
• 2/3’s of Southerners did not own slaves.
• By the war’s end, the Confederacy lost ¼ of all its
men.
• In 1860, if the Confederacy were an independent
nation, it would have had the fourth largest
economy in the world.
• However, by 1865, its exports of cotton dropped
by 95%.
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Destruction of the South
Sherman’s “March to the Sea”
• “The devils seem to have a determination that
cannot but be admired. No amount of poverty or
adversity seems to shake their faith – niggers
gone – wealth and luxury gone, money worthless,
starvation in view within a period of two or three
years, are causes enough to make the bravest
tremble, yet I see no sign of let up – some few
deserters – plenty tired of war, but the masses
determined to fight it out.”
– General William Tecumseh Sherman
Major Consequences of the
U.S. Civil War
• (1) Destruction of the South
– ¼ of white, male Southerners killed
– Southern wealth decreases by 60% during 1860’s
– 1860, total South’s share of national wealth was 30%; by
1870, it’s 12%
– 1860, average Southerner’s income was 2/3’s of
Northerners; by 1870, it’s 2/5’s of a Northerner
• (2) 620,000 casualties because of the war in a nation
of 50 million people
• (3) Slavery no longer existed in the nation
Fri, 9/15/15
Writing Task:
• Textbook, Ch. 3, Sec. 3: (1) What was the
Freedmen’s Bureau, and what were this
agency’s tasks (three major ones, pages 142
& 146)?
• Textbook, Ch. 3, Sec. 3: (2) Summarize,
what were the various plans for
Reconstruction?
Essential Learning Questions
• Was Reconstruction an “unfinished revolution?”
• What were the freedoms African-Americans gained
during Reconstruction?
• What were the different plans for Reconstruction?
• How did life in the South change during
Reconstruction?
• What was the Freedmen’s Bureau, and
what were this agency’s tasks (three
major ones, pages 142 & 146)?
Freedmen’s Bureau
Freedmen’s Bureau
• A part of the U.S. Dept. of War
• Assisting freed slaves adjust to a life of freedom:
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Food, water, and other essentials
Help find lost family members
Establish schools for education
Health care services
Provide legal services
Encourage former slaves to stay on plantations and establish
working agreements with former owners
– Establish labor contracts
– Encourage African Americans and whites to work together as
“employers and employees instead of masters and slaves”
Freedmen’s Bureau and Education
Freedmen’s Bureau and Education
• Education:
• No state-supported, mandatory school system existed in the
American South.
• By 1865, 90,000 former slaves enrolled in schools
• Attendance rates were between 79% - 82%
• By 1870, 1,000 schools established in American South
• By 1876, 40% of all African American children attended school.
• An inspector for the Bureau reported the freedmen “have a natural
thirst for knowledge” and are excited by “the special study of books.”
• Established 11 colleges in Southern states
• The Bureau spent $5 million to establish schools.
• Summarize, what were the various plans
for Reconstruction?
Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan”
• As soon as 10 percent of a
state’s voters took the oath,
• Pardoned all Southerners
except high-ranking military
officers who took an oath
pledging loyalty to the Union
and support for emancipation.
• Each state must affirm
abolishing slavery
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
• Moderate Republicans’ plan to
do the following:
– Majority of Southerners in each
state needed to take an oath of
loyalty to the Union
– All delegates to state conventions
needed to take an “iron-clad” oath
– Each state would have to abolish
slavery and reject all Confederate
government debts
President Johnson’s Plan
• 10% loyalty oath by a
Southern state’s
population
• Pardoned all Southerners taking an oath of loyalty
to the Union, except high-ranking Confederate
government leaders, officers in Confederate Army,
and Southern property owners over $20,000 in
property value.
• Anyone could apply for a pardon individually.
Radical Republican’s Plans
• Major objectives:
– (1) Prevent former Confederate
leaders from gaining leadership
of American South again.
– (2) Help African Americans gain
right to vote (already freed)
– (3) Establish equality in
American South, including
voting rights and possibly
property rights
• This last objective was not
completely achieved.
• How does the Election of 1866 and the
violence in the American South change the
Era of Reconstruction?
• http://www.lizcollinshistoryclasses.com/reconstruction.html