DO NOW
• Imagine for the past 14 years of your life (in
1865) you have been enslaved. You are now
Free!!!!! Explain what you would do with
your newly found freedom. Would you stay
in the South or move North? What kind of
job would you try to get? Would you try to
find family members that were sold due to
slavery. Etc….
GRAFFITI ARTISTS!
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Read the section assigned to you!
Create a graffiti mural to describe your section
Use symbolism and graphics to describe the main ideas.
Try to use very little words!! If any!!
This will be completed on chart paper and needs to be
colored!
• You will present!
RECONSTRUCTION AND
TRANSITION
AFTER THE WAR
• Mississippi faced many challenges after the Civil War
• The state’s cities were severely damaged and many
buildings and stores had been burned
• Our previous wealth before the war no longer existed
• Many men returned back home unable to work due to
injury or others just did not return
FREEDMEN
• 400,000 freedmen faced greater hardships
• They were homeless, uneducated, and free
for the first time
– Many wandered town to town looking for jobs
– Searched for family members lost due to slavery
• New relationships between whites and
blacks had to be developed
– Blacks feared that old masters would try to reenslave them
– Whites found it difficult to accept blacks as free
and equal
• Freedmen looked forward to practicing their right
to vote and hold a political office
• Whites wondered how they would be treated as
well… Would they be punished for their war
efforts???? Would they be allowed to vote in new
governments?????
• The right to own land, vote, and get an education
was a freedmen’s way to independence
• Congress created the agency the Freedmen’s
Bureau which helped former slaves with food,
shelter, education, health care, and find jobs
FREE LAND??????
• Blacks felt that the land that was seized or
confiscated during the war would be sold or leased
to them
• However, President Johnson ordered for all
confiscated land to be returned to its former owners
PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
• Abraham Lincoln created a plan to rebuild the South
and restore the Union before the war was over
• Known as Reconstruction, had two simple steps:
– 1. All southerners, except high ranking Confederates,
would be pardoned after taking an oath of loyalty
– 2. When 10% of voters took oath, the state would be
permitted to form a legal government and rejoin the
Union.
• Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865 at Ford’s
Theater
JOHNSON AND RECONSTRUCTION
• Much like Lincoln, though Johnson expanded the group of
southerners who were not covered by the general pardon
• Johnson required that states write new state constitutions that
abolished slavery.
• Republicans were disappointed with both plan… they wanted
stronger requirements
• Due to pressure from Congress, Johnson added three more
requirements
– 1. repeal secession ordinances
– 2. Repudiate their war debt
– 3. Ratify the 13th Amendment
• Reconstruction began in MS in June 1865
• William Sharkey who opposed secession became temporary
governor
CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1865
• Mississippi was the first state to hold a constitutional
convention to write a new constitution
• They made few changes to state government
• Most delegates were apart of MS prewar ruling class
• Though the president urged Mississippians to give
suffrage to educated blacks and those who owned
property, they delegates ignored his request.
• They made it clear that they did not want any black
participation in MS’s government
BLACK CODES
• When new legislature met, legislators passed four acts
that became known as Black Codes
– Placed harsh economic and social restrictions on blacks
– Became clear that the Codes were designed to give the state
control over blacks
• First act: Civil Rights Act of 1865, provided two benefitsLegalized marriages and Gave blacks the right to sue in
state courts, however it:
– Prohibited interracial marriages
– Prevented blacks from testifying in court cases with whites
– Limited black land ownership
• Could not carry firearms and any other
weapons
• Blacks could be arrested for assembling with
permission
• If they could not pay fine, they were hired out to
anyone who would pay fine for them
• When MS did not ratify the 13th Amendment
it troubled the freedmen and angered many
northern whites
• As a result of these black codes, Congress
refused to seat MS’s Congressional delegates.
• Congress then passed laws designed to
weaken the Black Codes and guarantee
blacks rights
• 14th Amendment- made blacks full
citizens of the United States and in the
individual states
• Could not prohibit any person the right of
life, liberty, or property
DO NOW
• Read the article “Reconstruction in Mississippi”
• Analyze the article as you read and answer the following
question.
• Analyze the efforts of white defiance in Mississippi during the
Reconstruction Era. Justify your claims using evidence from the
text.
CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
• When Mississippi and other southern states refused to
ratify the 14th Amendment, Congress took control of
Reconstruction
• On March 2, 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction
Act. This carved the south into five military districts and
set new, strict requirements for restoring the civil
government.
• Mississippi was placed in the Fourth military district
under the control of Major General Edward Ord.
• His task was to register all eligible voters.
• Out of 160,000 adult males in MS, 137,000 were qualified
to vote.
• The Republican party was formed in MS in 1867 which
included white Mississippians who supported
Congressional Reconstruction, northern whites, and
black leaders.
• Scalawags were native whites who supported the
Republican party
• Carpetbaggers were northern whites who came to the
south carrying suitcases made of carpet
• The 1868 convention was made up of: 17 blacks, 29 native
whites (scalawags), 25 Northern Republicans
(carpetbaggers), 17 conservative democrats
• Two resolutions to the constitution made in Convention
• Provided Universal male suffrage-male citizens any race & color
• System of free public education for all children between ages 6
& 18
• Conservative democrats in Mississippi objected to the provision
of the constitution that stated the disfranchisement of all
persons who supported secession or gave aid to Confederacy
• Disfranchise means to take the right of vote away from
someone/group
• The new constitution failed in 1868 when it went to the voters
because conservative whites refused to vote and organizations
like the KKK used violence and intimidation to keep blacks from
the polls
• The new constitution was ratified in 1869 because it was
submitted without provision of disfranchising former
Confederates
• With the new constitution, the Republican party now had control
over the states.
• James Alcorn was elected governor
• The 15th Amendment was passed and it guaranteed
universal male suffrage
• Mississippi was readmitted to the Union February 23,
1870
• Black participation began in the Republican party with
the election of 17 black delegates to the Constitutional
Convention of 1868
• In 1873, 55 blacks were elected to the House of
Representatives and 31 were elected to the Senate in the
state.
• In 1869, James Lynch was elected Secretary of the State.
• The major accomplishment of Mississippi’s
Reconstruction government was it established a
system of tax supported public schools.
• In 1877, Mississippi A & M (Mississippi State) was
established as a segregated school for whites
• The MS University for Women was the first and
oldest public institution for women in the United
States
• Conservative Democrats opposed Reconstruction
because of the presence of Union troops, Republicans
were corrupt, taxes were too high, resisted public
schools especially for blacks, carpetbaggers controlled
blacks
• White democrats considered themselves redeemers,
white Mississippians who wanted to return control of
state government to native whites
• Many white Republicans joined the Democrats because
of threats of economic reprisals and physical abuse and
fear of becoming social outcasts
• The KKK used intimidation to prevent blacks from voting
or to frighten them into voting for Democratic
candidates.
• With the election of November 4th, 1875 the
Democrats won four of the six congressional seats
• The final blow of Reconstruction was the
presidential election of 1876
• Hayes(Republican) would become president on the
Compromise of Federal troops would leave the South
and the Democrats would take control again in South
• A filibuster is continuous speechmaking to delay
action by legislative body
• The Democrats agreed to end the filibuster if Hayes
agreed to withdraw all troops from the South
• In 1881, 38% of eligible blacks voted in the
governor’s election.
PRESIDENTIAL VS. CONGRESSIONAL
• In a Venn Diagram, Compare and Contrast
the efforts of Presidential Reconstruction
and Congressional Reconstruction
• Once you have information in Venn Diagram,
create a two paragraph essay. Written
properly and the work of a 9th grader.
• Do not use improper language, run-ons,
choppy sentences, etc…..
• Turn in when finished!!!
DIALOGUE STRIP
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Create a dialogue strip of four boxes to display your topic.
Use TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support your dialogue strip.
You must color this and it must include talking!!!!!
CAN NOT USE STICK PEOPLE!!!
Your box should look like the following:
Textual Evidence
Textual Evidence
Textual Evidence
Textual Evidence
• Graphic with dialogue
to explain topic
• TE: (Back up the
picture with textual
evidence)
CONSTITUTION OF 1890
• Mid 1880s- call for a new constitutional convention
• Wanted to replace Constitution of 1868
• Did not want to be governed by laws drafted by blacks
and carpetbaggers
• Whites wanted a reapportionment (redrawing of
the lines of voting districts)
• To give majority white counties more power
• Convention was made up of mostly conservative
Democrats and there was only one black
delegate… Remember the last convention?? What
did it look like???????
• Scheme in constitution to eliminate blacks from
political scene
• Adult males who wanted to vote had to:
• 1. Register at least 4 months before election
• 2. Live in the state for two years and in voting district for
one year
• 3. Pay an annual poll tax ($2)
• 4. Read any section of the state constitution or understand
it when read to them (Understanding Clause)
• Black registered voters dropped from 142,000 to
8,615
• 30,000 whites who were poor could not pay tax
were eliminated from voting.
ESSAY
• Pick two of the four Mississippi Constitutions and
analyze the effect of the passing of the
constitutions on society. Use textual evidence
(from your book and/or notes) to support your
claims.
• Organize like this:
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Introduction
Constitution 1
Constitution 2
Conclusion