CH 22 Insights- Reconstruction
Government attempts to help ex-slaves fit into
American society
• Goal Questions• 1) Identify three ways Freedmen (ex-slaves)
tried to assert their new independence and
move up economically
• 2) Identify and explain two new hardships for
ex-slaves in their new independence
• 3) Explain the difference between President
Johnson and the Republican plan for
Reconstruction
Ch 22 Insights
• ID- Educating Young Freedmen and Women (482)
• Summary 1- Why was education so important to freed
slaves?
– Way to improve life through ed. And read bible
• OI- Freedmen Define Freedom
• 1) Identify one way slaves demonstrated their freedom
– Looking for family members, last name
• 2) Who were the “Exodusters”?
– Af/Am. That moved to Kansas
• 3) Why was the church so important for Freedmen (Exslaves)?
– It was the only institution ran by Af/Am (trust)
• ID- Excerpt P. 484 (Women from the North…)
• Summary 2- What group of people enthusiastically embraced the
opportunity to help blacks in the South?
– Women from north
• OI- Freedman’s Bureau
• 4) What was the problem that whites realized blacks were facing with
their new found freedom?
– No skills, education, or property
• 5) What was the purpose of the Freedman’s Bureau?
– Help ed. Blacks, provide welfare/help for blacks f. gov.
• 6) What were two reasons blacks wanted to learn to read?
– Read bible, improve life
• 7) What was one failure of the Freedman’s Bureau?
– 40 acres and a mule (never came to pass where Af/Am. Would have been given
land confiscated from planters in return for years in slavery)
– Many whites were racist
– Disbanded too early to really help (US not ready gov. purpose to help people)
• ID- Sharecroppers Picking Cotton (487)
• Summary 3- Even though ex-slaves still worked for their former
masters, what was a new found benefit in their work?
– Choose hours, partial owner of what was grown
• Summary 4- What was the problem most ex-slaves developed
working for their former masters?
– Stuck in a cycle of poverty/debt (owners could change
contract/rent)
• OI- The Baleful Black Codes
• 8) What was the primary purpose of the Black Codes?
– To return blacks to slavery (take away any civil rights)
• 9) Identify one penalty of the Black Codes?
– Arrested and forced to work for former master instead of prison
• 10) Why did many slaves slip into the status of Sharecropping?
– They had no other way to make a living (sharecropping allowed
freemen ability to rent some land, only skill Freemen had was
farming)
Reconstruction Plans- goal of Federal government is how to bring back
Southern states but ensure Freedmen had rights
• Lincoln’s Plan- did not want to punish S.
– 10% Plan- only 10% of whites had to pledge loyalty to US
• Lincoln is shot putting Reconstruction in hands of Johnson
• Radical Republicans- in Congress want to punish South
– Wade-Davis Bill- 50% plan (of whites had to pleade loyalty to US)
• Vetoed by Lincoln
• Pres. Johnson’s Plan- racist, wants to gain favor of rich Southern
whites, vetos any plans that give Freedmen equal rights
– Enacts Lincoln’s 10% Plan- black codes are enacted, exconfederates are elected to Congress,
Election of 1866- Republicans win 2/3s majority in Congress (can
override Pres. Johnson’s veto, enact Military Reconstruction Act
• Summary 5- What group of people is President Johnson
denying rights and protection to?
– Freemen (Af/Am)
• OI- Johnson Clashes w Congress
• 11) Civil Rights Bill (define)
– Made Af/Am. Citizens and ended black codes
• 12) What was President Johnson’s response?
– Veto (shot down bill after Congress passed it)
• 13) What was the Republican solution to possible repeal of
Civil Rights Bill?
– 14th Amendment
• 14) What right did the solution place on Freedmen?
– Citizenship (anyone born in US)
– Due Process and Equal Protection- all people have equal rights
(no more black codes)
• ID- Military Reconstruction 1867 (491)
• Summary 6- Identify what happened to the status of Southern states?
– States dissolved and turned into districts ran by army
• OI- Reconstruction by the Sword
• 15) How was the South divided by the Military Reconstruction Act
– 5 military districts commanded by a general and policed by Army
• 16) Identify 1 condition for a state to reapply for admission
– Ratify/accept the 14th Amendment giving Af/Am. rights
• 17) What law gave blacks suffrage (right to vote)
– 15th Amendment (stated the right to vote can not be deprived
due to race)
– ?What is another way the South could prevent Af/Am from voting
• Poll taxes, literacy tests, Grandfather clauses
• ID- Black Reconstruction (494)
• Summary7- Where will these black leaders serve their
constituents (supporters)?
– Washington DC (Congress
• OI- The Realities of Radical Reconstruction in the South
• 18) Who were Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce?
– First two Af/Am Senators
• 19) What was a carpetbagger? Why were they hated by
Southerners?
– Northerner who moved south (Supported/helped Af/Am, often
corrupt and inept)
• Scalawag- Southerner who supported the North
• 20) Identify an example of political corruption?
– One carpetbagger “saved” $100K while earning a salary of $8K
– Legislative supplies (perfume, fine meats, alcohol, coffin)
• ID- The Ku Klux Klan
• Summary 8- Identify an identifiable trait in the Klansman uniform?
– Covered face (w. sheet)
• OI- The Ku Klux Klan
• 21) Who would Klansmen try to pretend to be in order to scare freed
blacks?
– Civil War Confederate GHOSTS
• 22) What was a most grotesque example of how the Klan would
intimidate blacks?
– Lynching (group murder of Af/Am usually hanging and/or burning)
• 23) What kind of people were attracted to the Klan?
– Thieves, murderers
• 24) What were some of the tactics used to try and prevent blacks
from voting?
– Intimidation, literacy tests
• Gov reaction (Klan Act- said a county could lose Habeas
Corpus if blacks prevented from voting)
• ID- Impeachment Drama
• Summary 9- What event is this ticket for?
– Impeachment of Pres. Johnson
• OI- Johnson Walks the Impeachment Plank, A Not so Guilty
Verdict
• 25) What did Johnson do to cause Republicans in Congress
to begin impeachment proceedings?
– Fired Edwin Stanton (last Rep. in Johnson’s cabinet)
• ?Why is there a Dem. In Johnson’s Cabinet?
• Does the President have the right to fire his Cabinet
members?
• 26) What was the vote in the House of Rep. to impeach
Johnson?
– 126 impeachment- 47 against
• 27) After Johnson was impeached by the house, where would
Johnson find himself next to see if he would be removed from office?
– Senate
• 28) By how many votes was Johnson saved from being impeached?
– 1 vote
• 29) How many Republican Senators voted not to impeach Johnson?
– 7 Senators
• 30) Identify one reason Johnson was not impeached
– Pres. Johnson did not commit a crime
• 31) Explain why impeachment would have been a “Dangerous
Precedent”
– President’s should only be removed for committing a crime, not
political reasons b/c the party in control does not like the
President
• ?Why were Republican’s so upset at Johnson?
– Blocking equal rights legislation for blacks passed by Rep.
• ID- Alaska and the Lower 48 States
• Summary- Approximately, how big is Alaska in comparison with the
lower 48 states ?(use a fraction)
– 1/5 size of US
• OI- The Purchase of Alaska
• 32) Who and why was Alaska sold?
– Russia, b/c it could not defend Alaska is Canada or US attacked
• 33) How much did Alaska cost?
– $20 million
• 34) What was the reaction by Americans?
– “Seward’s Folly”- Alaska was a major waste of money
• 35) Why was the purchase of Alaska seen as a good investment?
– Natural resources- fish, timber (later gold and oil)
– Access to Asia for US ships to refuel