Chapter
16 Section 3
Objectives:
• Explain why support for Reconstruction declined.
• Describe how African Americans in the South
lost many newly gained rights.
• Describe the sharecropping system and how it
trapped many in a cycle of poverty.
• Identify the signs that the South began to
develop a strong economy by the 1880s.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Terms and People
• poll tax – a personal tax to be paid before
voting
• literacy test – a test to see if a person can
read and write
• grandfather clause – a provision that allowed
a voter to avoid a literacy test if his father or
grandfather had been eligible to vote on
January 1, 1867
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Terms and People (continued)
• Homer Plessy – an African American man
arrested for sitting in a coach marked “for
whites only”
• sharecropper – a laborer who works the land
for the farmer who owns it in exchange for a
share of the value of the crop
• segregation – enforced separation of races
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
What were the effects of Reconstruction?
The reforms of the Reconstruction era did not
last.
By the end of the era, African Americans were
subjected to new hardships and injustices.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
After the Civil War, many northerners lost
faith in the Republicans for these reasons:
President Grant’s
administration
included corrupt,
poorly chosen
individuals.
The End of Reconstruction
Americans began
to forget the war
and focused on
bettering their
own lives.
Chapter
16 Section 3
Reconstruction was the central issue in the
presidential election of 1876.
Republican
Rutherford B.
Hayes wanted
to continue
Reconstruction.
The End of Reconstruction
Democrat
Samuel J.
Tilden wanted
to end
Reconstruction.
Chapter
16 Section 3
The election was close. It came down to 20
disputed electoral votes.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Congress appointed a
15-person commission,
mostly Republicans, to
settle the election results.
The commission decided
to give Hayes, the
Republican, all 20
electoral votes.
Rutherford B. Hayes
In return, Hayes agreed to end Reconstruction.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
With Reconstruction over, African Americans
began to lose their rights in the South.
Southern whites passed laws to keep African
Americans from voting.
One law required
voters to pay a poll
tax. This kept many
poor freedmen from
voting.
The End of Reconstruction
Another law required
voters to pass a
literacy test. It
included a
grandfather clause
that allowed illiterate
whites to vote.
Chapter
16 Section 3
Southern states also created laws requiring
segregation, known as Jim Crow laws.
White
Black
Hospitals
Cemeteries
Playgrounds
Restaurants
Schools
Streetcars
Hospitals
Cemeteries
Playgrounds
Restaurants
Schools
Streetcars
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld segregation
laws.
Homer Plessy
was arrested
for sitting in a
coach marked
“for whites
only.”
The court ruled
that a law could
require “separate
but equal” facilities
for blacks and
whites.
This rule remained in effect until the 1950s.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Many poor African Americans were forced to
become sharecroppers.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Sharecropping only continued the cycle of poverty.
Landowners gave land, seed, and tools in exchange for a
share of the crop. The tenant bought other supplies on
credit.
Landowners sold the
crop. The tenant got
a share, minus what
he owed for supplies.
The End of Reconstruction
Most sharecroppers
owed more than
they earned.
Chapter
16 Section 3
Sharecropping was common in the South.
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Chapter
16 Section 3
The South’s economy began to gradually
recover.
The cotton,
tobacco, and
textile
industries
thrived.
Factories
developed
iron, timber,
and oil.
The End of Reconstruction
Southern leaders
spoke of a “New
South” that would
no longer depend
only on cotton.
Chapter
16 Section 3
Reconstruction had many successes but also
some failures.
African Americans were finally citizens, but they
were far from full equality.
Laws passed during this time became the basis of
the civil rights movement 100 years later.
The End of Reconstruction
Chapter
16 Section 3
Section Review
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