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The Reconstruction Era (1865–1877)
Witness History: All is Now Lost
Rival Plans for Reconstruction
Reconstruction in the South
The End of Reconstruction
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Rival Plans for Reconstruction
The Issues of Reconstruction
Main Idea: During the era of Reconstruction (1865–1877), the federal government struggled
with how to return the eleven southern states to the Union, rebuild the South’s ruined
economy, and promote the rights of former slaves.
Lincoln Sets a Moderate Course
Main Idea: Even while the war was in progress, Union politicians had debated programs for
repairing the nation’s political structure and economy. For President Lincoln, one of the first
major goals was to reunify the nation.
Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
Main Idea: Lincoln’s death thrust his Vice President, Andrew Johnson, into the presidency.
Like Lincoln, Johnson wanted to restore the political status of the southern states as quickly
as possible. However, Johnson was against federal intervention to advance African American
political and civil rights.
Congressional Reconstruction
Main Idea: As violence against African Americans in the South increased, moderate and
Radical Republicans blamed the rising tide of lawlessness on Johnson’s lenient policies. For
the first time ever, with the required two-thirds majority, Congress passed major legislation
over a President’s veto. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 became law.
Continued…
Rival Plans for Reconstruction (continued…)
Witness History: Nothing Left But the Bare land
Note Taking: Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
Color Transparencies: Rebuilding the Union
Decision Point: Who Controls the Readmission of States?
Geography Interactive: Military Districts in the South
Quick Study: Major Reconstruction Legislation, 1865-1870
Progress Monitoring Transparency
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
TRANSPARENCY
Rebuilding the Union
DECISION POINT
Who Controls the Readmission of States?
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Major Reconstruction Legislation, 1865-1870
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TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency
Reconstruction in the South
Republican Governments Bring Change
Main Idea: The Republican Party dominated Confederate states’ newly established governments
and consisted of black men, men who previously lacked access to politics, and northerners who
moved to the south to make their fortunes.
Freed People Build New Communities
Main Idea: For the first time, many African American men and women could legalize and
celebrate their marriages, create homes for their families, and make choices about where they
would reside. However, their choices were restricted by black codes.
Remaking the Southern Economy
Main Idea: Many of the South’s problems resulted from the uneven distribution of land. After the
war, the millions of landless southern white people were competing with millions of landless
black people for work as farm laborers on the land of others.
Violence Undermines Reform Efforts
Main Idea: The struggle to make a living in a region devastated by war led to fierce economic
competition. Economic uncertainty in turn fueled the fire of white southerners’ outrage, and white
southerners from all economic classes were united in their insistence that African Americans not
have full citizenship.
Continued…
Reconstruction in the South (continued…)
Witness History: An African American in the Senate
Note Taking: Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
Political Cartoons: The Burden of Reconstruction
Color Transparencies: The Cycle of Sharecropping
Quick Study: Freedmen’s Bureau Schools, 1865-1870
Chart: Sharecropping Cycle of Poverty
Map: Percentage of sharecropped farms by county
Color Transparencies: Corruption in the Grant Administration
Progress Monitoring Transparency
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
ANALYZE
Political Cartoons: The Burden of Reconstruction
TRANSPARENCY
The Cycle of Sharecropping
QUICK STUDY
Freedmen’s Bureau Schools, 1865-1870
CHART
Sharecropping Cycle of Poverty
MAP
Percentage of sharecropped farms by county
TRANSPARENCY
Corruption in the Grant Administration
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TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency
The End of Reconstruction
The Nation Considers Other Matters
Main Idea: Aside from the long-standing issue of regional strife, other social, political, and
economic issues cried out for attention.
Why Did Reconstruction End?
Main Idea: Ever since the Radical Republicans failed to convict President Johnson, their
power and crusading zeal had faded. By 1871, a generation of white reformers, had passed
away. And, northern racial prejudice reemerged.
Evaluating Reconstruction’s Effects
Main Idea: Reconstruction failed to heal the bitterness between North and South or to provide
lasting protection for freed people. However, it did raise African Americans’ expectations of
their right to citizenship, and it placed before Americans the meaning and value of the right to
vote.
Witness History: A Stormy Election
Note Taking: Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
History Interactive: To learn more about political cartoons
Continued…
The End of Reconstruction (continued…)
Color Transparencies: The Effects of Reconstruction
Geography Interactive: Presidential Election of 1876
Note Taking: Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
Chart: African Americans Elected to the U.S. Congress
Quick Study: Effects of Reconstruction
Progress Monitoring Transparency
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
TRANSPARENCY
The Effects of Reconstruction
NOTE TAKING
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas
CHART
African Americans Elected to the U.S. Congress
QUICK STUDY
Effects of Reconstruction
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TRANSPARENCY
Progress Monitoring Transparency