Chapter 18
The Reconstruction Years
Drill
What was “the Reconstruction”?
“The Reconstruction” is the name for the period
after the end of the Civil War. It lasted from
1867 to 1877.
At the end of the Civil War the
South was destroyed.
People wanted to
build a “new
South.”
At the end of the Civil War the U.S. government
was controlled by the Republicans, but the
Republicans were divided.
Some Republicans followed President Lincoln.
They wanted to forgive the South.
Another group was called the Radical Republicans.
They wanted to punish the South. They also
wanted to change the South.

If you were alive then, which side would
you support? Lincoln? Or the Radical
Republicans?
President Lincoln was Assassinated.
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President Lincoln
was assassinated
four days after the
Civil War ended.
Vice President,
Andrew Johnson,
became the
President.
Andrew Johnson was very
unpopular.
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Johnson wanted to
follow Lincoln’s plans.
Johnson could not
stop the Radical
Republicans.
The Radical Republicans had some good
reasons for disagreeing with President Johnson.
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Southerners had elected Confederate leaders
to lead their state governments and be their
federal congressmen.
The Southern States had passed laws called
the Black Codes that treated African
Americans like slaves.
The Black
Codes said
that Blacks
could not
vote or
travel freely.
Blacks were
only allowed
to work as
servants or
farmers.
The Radical Republicans took control and
started their own “reconstruction” plans.
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The Radical Republicans ended the Black Codes. They
passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This law said that
African Americans were citizens and had full rights under
the law.
The Radical Republicans passed the Fourteenth
Amendment. This Amendment said that all people born
in the United States were citizens and that states could
not take away their rights.
Finally, in 1867, Republicans passed the Reconstruction
Act.
The Reconstruction Act changed
the government in the South.
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Federal troops were sent to rule the South.
Confederate leaders and soldiers were not
allowed to vote or hold public office.
African Americans would be allowed to vote.
Federal troops watched elections.

What was the Reconstruction?

When did the Reconstruction take place?

Why was it called the Reconstruction?

How did Andrew Johnson become President?

What sort of reconstruction plans did Johnson have?

Why did the Radical Republicans disagree with his
plans?

Which side got their way?
During the Reconstruction, African Americans
could vote, but Confederates could not. So
everything changed.
In 1868, General Grant became
President.
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Grant was popular
among Northerners
and African Americans
because he had been
the main General for
the North in the Civil
War.
Southerners were
very unhappy about
this election.
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Under Grant, the Fifteenth Amendment was
passed. This Amendment guaranteed all male
citizens the right to vote, regardless of race.

During the Reconstruction, the South was
controlled by carpetbaggers, scalawags,
and African Americans.
carpetbaggers
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The carpetbaggers were people who came
from the North. Some wanted to help, but
others just wanted to get rich. Many of
the Southerners hated the carpetbaggers.
They were called carpetbaggers because
they arrived in the South with suitcases
that were made of carpet material.
carpetbaggers
scalawags

The scalawags were from the South.
They were poor white people. They
wanted to take the land, money, and
power away from the rich plantation
owners.
African Americans elected AfricanAmerican politicians.

While the federal troops were watching the
elections, African Americans elected many
African Americans to state and federal
government positions. Some of these African
American politicians did great work They
helped the poor, immigrants, and Native
Americans.

The federal government set up the Freedmen’s
Bureau. It helped poor Whites and freed black
slaves. It started hospitals and schools for the
poor and for the African Americans.
In many parts of the South, there were
riots by angry Whites.
Memory Check
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How did the Reconstruction change the
South?
What were carpetbaggers and scalawags?
What could blacks do once they were free?
Most African-Americans did
not have any education
or skills. So, they had to
work as sharecroppers.
Sharecroppers are farmers
that do not own the land.
They work hard and give
most of the crops to the
boss.
They usually didn’t have
enough money or food.
It was not very different
from slavery.
The beginning of the K.K.K.
White Southerners
started a secret
organization called
the Ku Klux Klan. The
goal of the K.K.K. was
to stop the blacks
from voting and
regain control of the
South. They
terrorized and
murdered blacks.
The K.K.K. fought to reclaim the South for
White supremacy.
Memory Check

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How did life change for Southern blacks
during the Reconstruction?
How did the White supremacists fight to
regain control of the South?
The end of Reconstruction
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In 1872, Confederates were allowed to
vote again. They started winning
elections in the South.
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In 1876, there was a new election for
President for the United States.
There were so many problems and so
much corruption. Nobody knew who won.
People started arguing about the election.
Finally, the Democrats and the Republicans made a
compromise. The Democrats would let the
Republicans win the election if they would agree
to remove the federal troops from the South.
Rutherford B. Hayes became the
President, but now the AfricanAmericans had no protection.
Memory Check

How did the Reconstruction finally end?

Who won the election of 1876?
The federal troops left the South.
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The African Americans had no protection
from groups such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Racists in the South made new
ways to stop African-Americans
from voting.
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One way was a “poll tax.” Poll taxes meant
that people had to pay money when they
voted. African Americans did not have
enough money, so they could not vote.
Another way was literacy tests. People who
wanted to vote had to pass a reading test.
Most African Americans couldn’t read, so they
couldn’t pass those tests and vote.
Segregation
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Segregation laws
called the Jim Crow
laws were passed.
These laws separated
blacks and whites.
Blacks were not
allowed to use the
same facilities that
Whites used. These
facilities included
schools, libraries,
hospitals, and even
bathrooms.
Memory Check
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What happened when Reconstruction
ended?
Was the Reconstruction Act good or bad?