United States History & The Constitution
Unit 5.1: Reconstruction
Ch. 12.1 Notes
Politics of Reconstruction
Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator
Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how
regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding
of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.
USHC-3.3: Analyze the effects of Reconstruction on the southern states &
on the role of the federal government, including the impact of the thirteenth,
fourteenth, & fifteenth amendments on opportunities for African Americans.
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Lincoln’s 10% Plan:
- Lenient on the South.
- Pardon Confederates except high-ranking officials/accused of
crimes against prisoners of war = swear allegiance to the Union.
- 10% of states eligible voters had to vote to re-enter the Union.
- form new state government & get representation in Congress.
- Radical Republicans (Goals):
- Destroy ex-slaveowners power.
- Give Af. Americans voting & citizenship rights.
Wade-Davis Bill:
- Proposed Congress, (not president) responsible
for Reconstruction.
- Proposed a majority, not 10%, of 1860 eligible
voters, required to establish a state government.
- Lincoln “killed” it (pocket veto).
Radical Republican Leader
Thaddeus Stevens (R. – PA)
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Pres. Johnson’s Plan (Presidential Reconstruction):
- Aim: punish ex-confederate leaders (military & landowners):
- Remaining 7 CSA states had to:
1.) Withdrawal secession.
2.) swear allegiance to the Union.
3.) annul Confederate war debts.
4.) ratify the 13th Amendment.
- Failed (like Lincoln’s) to help ex-slaves: land, voting, legal protection.
- Freedmen’s Bureau Act:
- Helped ex-slaves & poor whites (clothing & food)
- 40 hospitals, 4,000 schools, 61 ind. institutes, & 74 teachertraining centers.
- Civil Rights Act of 1866:
- Af-Americans citizenship.
- Banned discriminatory “black codes”.
- Pres. Johnson vetoed the Freedmen’s & Civil Rights Acts:
Ch. 12.1 Notes
- Radical Republicans overrode Johnson’s veto.
- Reconstruction Amendments:
- 13th amendment = abolished slavery.
- 14th Amendment =
- Persons born/naturalized in the U.S. are citizens.
- Equal protection of the law.
- Constitutional basis for Civil Rights Act of 1866.
- 15th Amendment = suffrage to African Americans (males).
- Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Radical Reconstruction):
1.) Abolished governments in former CSA states.
2.) Divided states into 5 military districts.
3.) Set up readmission requirements to the Union.
Reconstruction Military Districts
Daily “Bell Ringer” Warm Up
2nd Nine Weeks
Bell Ringer #6 (5 & 6 Dec)
6.) Despite the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th, & 15th),
why did African Americans experience continued discrimination?
a.) Southern governors declared the amendments null & void.
b.) Southern state legislatures passed a series of Jim Crow Laws.
c.) State governments were now aware these amendments were ratified.
d.) The amendments did not address political rights.
CORRECT ANSWER: B
Today’s Lesson Standard / Indicator
Standard USHC-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of how
regional and ideological differences led to the Civil War & an understanding
of the impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on democracy in America.
USHC-3.4: Summarize the end of Reconstruction, including the role of anti–
African American factions & competing national interests in undermining
support for Reconstruction; the impact of the removal of federal protection
for freedmen; & the impact of Jim Crow laws & voter restrictions on African
American rights in the post-Reconstruction era.
United States History & The Constitution
Unit 5.2: Reconstruction
Ch. 12.2 & 12.3 Notes
Reconstructing Society &
The Collapse of Reconstruction
Political Terms:
- Republicans in the South:
a.) Carpetbaggers – northern Republican (missionaries, teachers, or
entrepreneurs) = moved South after the war.
b.) Scalawags – white southerners; didn’t
participate in the Confederacy
- Supported Republicans views on
economic growth & public schools.
c.) Freedmen – former slaves.
- Southern Democrats:
a.) Redeemers (redemption): ex- planters/
ex-confederates = “redeemed” the
South by removing the Republicans &
returning “home rule”.
African Americans in Congress
Sen. Hiram Revels,
First African American Congressman
(Republican – Mississippi)
First black Senator & Representatives:
Sen. Hiram Revels(R-MS), Rep. Benjamin S.
Turner(R-AL), Robert DeLarge(R-SC), Josiah
Walls(R-FL), Jefferson Long(R-GA), Joseph
Rainey(R-SC), Robert B. Elliott (R-SC)
The Rise of Vigilante Groups
The Goals of the Ku Klux Klan, the Riflemen, & the Red Shirts
- Intimidate carpetbaggers & freedmen = force away from voting polls &
southern politics = hope they return north.
- Forced closing of freedmen’s schools
through intimidation & violent tactics.
- Lynching, beatings, & cross-burnings =
used to achieve Klan objectives.
- Ku Klux Klan Act = sent troops to the South
to protect freedmen. (weakly enforced).
Freedmen & Reconstruction
Freedmen in the Post-War South
- Est. 2.3 million slaves freed by the 13th Amendment (displaced & liberated).
- Most freedmen couldn’t read or write; jobs were scarce.
- Thousands left plantations =
started fresh in cities or searched
for family members.
- Problems = hunger, disease,
& lack of shelter.
- Some remained on plantations
to work for wages.
Freedmen in Post-Civil War
Richmond, VA
Freedmen & Reconstruction
Creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau (1865):
- Operated by the US Army (federal gov’t)
- Provided food, clothing, medical supplies, etc.
- Supervised work contracts & helped find jobs.
- Set-up schools & military courts.
Freedmen’s Bureau
The Freedmen’s Bureau Cont.
Failures of the Freedmen’s Bureau:
- 2+ million freedmen needed help; very limited resources.
- Issues working with resentful cash-poor planters.
- “Forty Acres & a Mule”
- Bureau promised more
than it could deliver.
“Freedmen’s Bureau”
Economic Changes in the South
Sharecropping: main job & lifestyle for poor southern whites & blacks.
- Ex-planters re-gained old role as “master”.
- Poor farmers economically dependent on the
land owner = cycle of debt.
- Worked land for a share of the crop (landowner
supplied land, tools & seeds).
- Poor farmers relied on crop liens.
Post-Reconstruction Era
Sharecropping in the South
Exodusters Leaving the South
Election of 1876 & Compromise of 1877
- Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep) v. Samuel Tilden (Dem)
- Compromise of 1877: Deal struck over 20 contested electoral votes.
- Democrats cede election to Hayes, in exchange…
…federal troops pulled out of the South
in 1877 = Reconstruction ended
(1865-1877).
- Power returned to Southern
Democrats (redeemers).
Successes & Failures of Reconstruction
Successes
Failures
- Blacks played a role in politics
through Reconstruction’s end.
- Race relations didn’t improve.
(increased) black/white tensions.
- Public schools opened by the
Freedmen’s Bureau = open to all.
- Ku Klux Klan grew.
- Thousands of free blacks learned
to read & write.
- Gov’t corruption increased.
- Race riots occured in the South.
- “Redeemers” (Ex-Confederate
Democrats) regained control)
Beginnings of “Jim Crow”
- 1877: Conservative-Democrat’s control of the South.
- Disfranchised (took away) the black vote.
- Eight Box Law (1881): had to put your vote in the right ballot box.
- Poll Taxes: pay a tax to vote.
- Literacy Tests: read part of the Constitution & answer questions..
Poll Tax Receipt
“Jim Crow” Cont.
- Tactics designed to stop poor & illiterate blacks & whites from voting.
- 1876 = ex: 90,000 people in SC voted Republican.
- 1888 = less than 14,000 voted Republican.
- Had to own land in some states in order to vote.
“Jim Crow” Cont.
- Grandfather Clause: If grandfather voted before the Civil War, then you
could.
- Plessy vs. Ferguson (1896): Supreme Court; established principle
of “separate but equal” facilities for blacks & whites (rarely equal).
- Led to de jure segregation.