Reconstruction
1865 - 1877
Rebuilding the South
Reconstruction
 rebuilding the South
 bringing the South back into
the Union
Unifying a Divided Nation
 Forgiveness & Unification or Punishment
 Lincoln = amnesty
 Radical Republicans = punish!
Lincoln’s Assassination
 April 14, 1865 (5 days after the war
ended)
 Lincoln = first president to be
assassinated
 Assassinated at Ford’s Theater in D.C.
 by John Wilkes Booth – Confederate
supporter – who hoped this would
create chaos within govt. and help
Confed. win war!
Lincoln… Johnson’s Plan
 Granted amnesty to all white
southerners, except leaders
 Right to vote to all blacks who were
educated or served in military
 10% Plan
– when 10% of voters of state took a
loyalty oath, state could form a new
govt. with new constitution (without
slavery)
Struggle for Control of
Reconstruction
 Battle between
President Johnson
and Congress
 Johnson’s policy =
easy on the south:
amnesty
Struggle for Control of
Reconstruction (contd.)
 Congress
enacts bills to
help freedmen
(14th Amend.,
Freedmens’
Bureau, and
Reconstruction
Act of 1867 –
martial law)
Impeachment of
Johnson
 Johnson was 1st
President impeached
by Congress because
of his ideas on
Reconstruction & his
“slap on the wrist”
actions
 Not convicted &
stayed in office
Long Term Effects of the Civil
War
 Impeachment = precedent set
 Civil War Amendments (13, 14, 15)
 Jim Crow Laws
 KKK
 Compromise of 1877
 Republican State governments in the South
– Every state except VA
– Scalawags took control of Southern
government
Scalawags
Southerners who sided with the
Republicans & their policies for
Reconstruction
Carpetbaggers
 Northerners who
settled in the
South after the
war
 Supported the
Republicans
Civil War Amendments
 13th – freed the slaves
 14th – gave all freed men
citizenship
 15th – gave all citizens the right to
vote (not women)
Jim Crow Laws
 Laws enforcing segregation of
blacks & whites in South after Civil
War
 black codes (control former
slaves/restrict freedom with
customs)
Ku Klux Klan
 Resistance Movement
 White Supremacist
organization set up in South
to scare blacks away from
voting & seeking equal
rights
 claimed to be “the Ghosts of
the Confederate Soldiers”
 Segregation & Oppression
continue
Freedmen’s Bureau
 Govt. agency to
help former
enslaved people
President Grant (1869-1877)
 enforced civil rights laws & fought KKK
violence
 did not have an entourage of political
advisors; instead relied on Army buddies
 Whiskey Ring – scandal involving distillers &
corrupt officials making millions of $$$ off
of tax evasion on liquor
– Grant not directly involved in “ring”
Compromise of 1877
 Debate on presidential election between
Hayes (Republican) & Tilden
(Democrat)
 Hayes would get presidency IF…
– Republicans agreed to withdraw remaining
fed. troops from the south
– Because they leave, Reconstruction comes
to an end!
SUMMARY
QUIZ TIME
1. What does Reconstruction
refer to?
2. Who was Lincoln assassinated
by?
3. Name Lincoln’s successor.
4. What amendment freed the
slaves?
5. What amendment gave all
male citizens, of age, the right to
vote?
6. Name the laws in the south
that enforced segregation.
7. Name the terrorist
organization that started during
Reconstruction to fear blacks
away from voting and keep them
oppressed.
8. Name the Commanding
General who became President
amidst the battle for
Reconstruction.