Quotes
With malice toward
none, with charity for
all…let us bind up the
nation’s wounds.. and
achieve a just and
lasting peace.
Abraham Lincoln,
Second Inaugural
Address
“We hold it to be the duty
of the government to
inflict punishment on the
rebels… The whole fabric
of southern society must
be changed.
Thaddeus Stevens,
“Radical Republican”
leader of Congress
Reconstruction
The southern states were left embittered
and devastated by the war.
What kind of things were destroyed in
the war?
What problems did the nation have to
solve?
Quick Clip
A group of escaped slaves that gathered on the former
plantation of Confederate General Thomas Drayton. After
Union troops occupied the area, these former slaves began to
harvest and gin cotton for their own profit, circa 1862-1865, South Carolina.
Photograph: Corbis
Charleston & Richmond - 1865
Reconstruction
At the end of the war, there was no agreed-upon plan
for Reconstruction
 Lincoln -“charity for all” – States had never really
left the Union, so quickly restore loyal state govts in
the South and move on
 Congress’s Radical Republicans – “punish the
South” and guarantee rights to former slaves
After Lincoln’s assassination, Andrew Johnson
becomes president. Johnson’s plan let the South in
quickly, but did not protect rights of freed blacks
What did the Black Codes do?
“All freedmen, free negroes, and
mulattoes in this State, with no lawful
employment or business, or found
unlawful assembling themselves together
either in the day or night shall be fined
fifty dollars”
How were African-Americans controlled in
the South?
Battles over Reconstruction
Congress battles with President Johnson on
Freedman’s Bureau – social, legal help
 Civil Rights Act – made racial discrim. illegal

Congress passes bills  Johnson vetoes them
 Congress overrides the vetoes

14th Amendment – legal eq. and citizenship
Johnson tries to defeat the 14th Amendment–
he fails! Republicans take over Congress!
Impeachment of the President
Why was President
Johnson impeached?
What was the outcome of the trial?
Reconstruction Report Card
With your group, read the competing plans
for each issue and give each one a grade.
Why did you give the grade you did? What
were the strengths and weaknesses of each ?
Can your group come up with an A+ plan?
The Civil War Amendments- read
the amendments on pgs 168-170 and
in your own words write what the
amendments accomplished.
13th Abolished slavery
14th Citizenship and equal legal protection
th
15 Voting rights
Can you find the flaw in the 15th Amendment?
Reconstruction Act of 1867: Congress
divides the South into military districts
How do you think Southerners responded to having “yankee
troops” watching over them?
Election of 1868
Ulysses S. Grant wins a close
election
 Confederates were not
allowed to vote!
 Support from carpetbaggers
and scalawags
 And for the 1st time…freed
African-Americans
carpetbaggers – Northerners
who came South after the war
to help, or to make money
Scalawags – Southerners who
supported Reconstruction
Hiram Revels is the first AfricanAmerican Senator. He served as
the US Senator from Mississippi.
Which of these changes do you
think was the most important?
African Americans were no longer slaves
African Americans gained the right to vote
African Americans attended schools
African Americans were elected to
government office
The Redeemers
If you are a former Confederate, how do
you feel about these changes?
Opposition to Reconstruction
Who were the Redeemers? What
did they do to oppose
Reconstruction?
Redeemers were Southern
Democrats who wanted to retake
control of their state governments
–wanted Home Rule
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
“Of course he wants to vote for
the Democratic ticket”
The Failure of Federal Enforcement
The End of Reconstruction
Why does support for Reconstruction end?
Northerners have moved on
scandals in Grant’s administration
 Economic problems: Panic of 1873
 After the 15th Amendment, many think the
work is done
 Political
Supreme Court weakens the Amendments
The South regains control…
Compromise of 1877
The END of Reconstruction
No one clearly wins the Presidential election
Congress makes a deal:
 Republicans get Rutherford B. Hayes as
president if the South gets:
 federal
troops removed
 money for rail, rebuilding, projects
 to govern themselves without Northerners
Life in the South after 1877
Southern States enact Jim Crow laws that
deny African Americans civil rights for
nearly 100 years.
Allowed legal segregation and
discrimination in public places
Plessy vs Ferguson (1896)
 – “separate but equal” is OK
Jim Crow Laws
Sharecropping
What economic problems did freedmen
(and poor whites) in the South have to
solve?
What economic problem did the plantation
owners have to solve?
Possible Solution?
Sharecropping – p.391
What do
you see
here?
What year
do you
think this
was taken?
1898
Conclusion
The North and Midwest
industrialized, but the
South would remain a
backward, agriculturebased economy and the
poorest section of the
nation for many
decades.
Recap: Ulysses S. Grant
Urged radical Republicans not to be harsh
with former Confederates
Was elected president and served during
most of Reconstruction
Advocated rights for the freedman
Opposed retribution directed at the
defeated South
Robert E. Lee
Urged Southerners to reconcile and rejoin
the United States
Served as president of Washington College
(Washington & Lee University today)
Emphasized the importance of
education to the nation’s future
Frederick Douglass
Supported full equality for African
Americans
Advocated for the passage of the 14th and
15th Amendments
Encouraged federal government actions to
protect the rights of freedmen in the South
Served as ambassador to Haiti and in the
civil service
Wrap Up: 3-2-1. Write down
3 ways that life improved for African
Americans during Reconstruction
2 problems that African Americans still
faced
1 reason that white southerners were upset.