The Rebuilding Years
Chapter 15
Unit 4 Timeline
March 3, 1865
Freedmen’s
Bureau
created
April 9 1865 General
Lee surrenders at
Appomattox
Courthouse VA
1867
Reconstruction
Acts
April 14 1865
Abraham Lincoln
assassinated;
Andrew Johnson
becomes president
April 9, 1868
14th
Amendment
Ratified
1868 President
Johnson
Impeachment and
trial
1876 Alexander Graham
Bell invents the
1872 Yellowstone
telephone
National Park
created
December 8, 1865
13th Amendment
Ratified
December 24, 1865
1st meeting of the
Ku Klux Klan
1869 Ulysses S
Grant inaugurated
as President
February 3, 1870
15th Amendment
Ratified
1876 South Carolina’s
governor’s election
ends with two
governors and two
state legislatures
1877 Compromise
resolves disputed
US and SC
elections
1877 Compromise
ends
Reconstruction
Era
Civil War Damage
After the Civil War,
South Carolina had to
rebuild its destroyed
state and economy.
1.The federal
government did not
believe it was their
responsibility to rebuild
the South economically
and left much of the
work to the Southern
states themselves.
Damage to the Confederate capitol, Richmond, VA.
Civil War Damage
Damage to Archdale Hall plantation in Dorchester County
South Carolina was
responsible for
rebuilding 2.their towns,
factories, farms, and
transportation systems.
The problem with this
was that individuals and
state government 3.did
not have the money to
do this because the
economy was destroyed
now that slave labor was
gone.
The Freeing of Slaves
The federal government
created reconstruction plans
that focused on the South’s
social and political roles,
although each plan had a
slightly different purpose.
Now that there were
hundreds of thousands of
freemen now living in South
Carolina, the federal
government wanted to make
sure 4.that they received fair
treatment from the white
Southerners.
Emancipation did not guarantee equal treatment
The Freeing of Slaves
Freedmen working in the fields in Port
Royal, South Carolina.
Reconstruction did little to help the
South’s economic recovery from the
devastation of the Civil War. The
economy continued to rest on
agriculture and cotton, 5.but now
depended on sharecropping rather
than slave labor. The national
government did not see its role as
taking an active hand in managing
the economy until the 20th century
and so the national government did
not rebuild the war-torn region
economically. The South remained
in a state of economic depression
well into the 20th century (1900s).
The Freeing of Slaves
As a result of the war and the
13th amendment, South
Carolina plantation owners lost
their labor force and a very
large part of their wealth. Many
were astonished that their
former slaves, who they
thought were loyal to them, left
the plantations. 6.Feeling
betrayed and resentful of the
former slaves’ attitudes, many
former slave owners became
more hostile to the freedman.
Abandoned plantation in Lousiana.
The Freeing of Slaves
Freedmen’s school
At the end of the war, many freedmen
left the plantation looking for relatives
sold “down the river” or seeking a taste
of freedom. Most soon returned to the
area that they knew best, their former
plantations. Former slaves did not often
leave the South as soon as they had the
opportunity to escape because 7.they
had no where else to go. With the
assistance of the Freedman’s Bureau
and their own determination, they
worked to consolidate their families and
communities and establish a network of
churches and other self-run institutions.
The Freeing of Slaves
One of the
promises of the
Bureau to the
freedmen was 40
acres and a mule.
The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, known
as the Freedman’s Bureau, was established by Congress prior to the
end of the Civil War. The Bureau was the first line of assistance to
8.everyone affected by the war, including whites, as well as destitute
freedmen. This federal agency under the control of the United States
army 9.provided food, clothing, medical care, education and some
protection from the hostile white environment. The Freedman’s
Bureau helped many freedmen find jobs and established courts to
protect the illiterate workers.
The Freeing of Slaves
Land that had been given to freedmen
to start new lives had to be given back.
The bureau was also promised
freedmen “40 acres and a mule.”
They were to be given land that had
been abandoned during the war or
that had been confiscated to punish
Confederates. However, 10.the
Bureau was forced to take these
lands back from the freedmen when
President Johnson pardoned the
white owners and returned their
property to them. Congress would
not pass legislation granting lands
to freedmen because they
respected the constitutional rights
of Southern whites to their landed
The Freeing of Slaves
The most important contribution of
the Freedman’s Bureau, however,
was the facilitation of the
11.establishment of over 1,000
schools throughout the South. The
Northern Aid Society created the
Penn School in Beaufort. Religious
denominations and Northern
philanthropists also provided
support for the establishment of
colleges for African Americans in
South Carolina. Both men and
women traveled to the South to
serve as teachers at the schools
that were established.
Top: inside view of Penn School
Above: School children from Penn School
The Freeing of Slaves
Children from a Freedman’s School
The missionaries that came to
the South to teach made a
significant contribution to the
education of African Americans.
African Americans flocked to the
privately supported freedom
schools and the new public
schools, 12.anxious for the
opportunity to learn to read and
write denied them during slavery.
Most freedmen, young and old,
desperately wanted to learn.
Prior to the end of slavery, some
blacks had established schools.
Reconstruction in SC
In this illustration, published after Abraham Lincoln's
assassination, reconciliation is offered in Lincoln's
memory to the secessionist South. - Library of
Congress
The overall purpose of President
Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction
was to end the war as quickly as
possible and was formulated
before the end of the fighting.
He hoped to convince southern
states, including South Carolina,
to surrender. The first part of his
plan required that only 10% of
the population swear allegiance
to the Union before they could
reform their state governments
and send representatives to
Congress.
Reconstruction in SC
The political purpose of Lincoln’s plan was to restore the southern
states into full political union with the other states. The other parts
of Lincoln’s plan were:
• Remove the government officials of the Confederate States of
America and replace them with officials loyal to the Union
• Punish high ranking Confederates by removing their right to
vote
• Confederates who took oath to the constitution and Union
laws would receive a pardon and get their land back
• State governments were to impose significant social change
by recognizing the end of slavery.
Lincoln’s assassination did not significantly change this
Presidential Reconstruction plan.
Reconstruction in SC
President Andrew Johnson as
published in Harper’s Weekly
magazine.
President Johnson basically continued
Lincoln’s plan with the additional purpose of
humiliating the southern elite. The main parts of
his plan were:
• State would be readmitted when 10% of
men took oath of allegiance to Union.
Same as Lincoln
• Southern elite had to request a pardon
from the president
• Approve the 13th amendment made
slavery illegal
• Nullify the Ordinance of Secession
• South had to repay people and
institutions that helped finance the
Confederacy
Reconstruction in SC
While the US Congress was not
in session, the South Carolina
legislature 14.elected former
Confederates to Congress and
passed Black Codes, which led
to increased violence towards
freedmen. This, along with
President Johnson’s opposition
veto of the Freedman’s Bureau
bill and his opposition to the 14th
Amendment, significantly
changed the course of
Reconstruction policy.
Reconstruction in SC
Manuscript of the South Carolina Black Codes
Because of the Black Codes,
15.Congress refused to admit
returning Southern officials to their
elected positions in Congress. As a
result of the violence in the South
against African Americans and the
actions of President Johnson, the
so-called “Radical Republicans” won
a majority in the congressional
elections of 1866 and passed their
own plan for Reconstruction. This
plan, known as the Radical
Republican plan, was written to
protect the rights of the newly freed
slaves, as well as protect the
Republican’s political power.
Reconstruction in SC
The main parts of the congressional plan
were:
• The Confederacy would be split into five
military districts, under the command of a
military governor
•New legislatures had to approve the
14th amendment
•Voting rights (suffrage) were given to
black males and taken away from white
males who participated in the war.
•No person who participated in the war
could hold a public office
•State constitutions had to be approved
by Congress
Map of the five military districts of the
Radical Republican plan (Tennessee was
not included in a district).
Reconstruction in SC
A Library of Congress image entitled “The
Black Codes”
The Southern white population had little
social change in the beginning. Social
classes remained fairly stable despite
the loss of economic status by the
planter elite. White South Carolinians
resented most actions of African
Americans. Some white southerners
16.feared retaliation by their former
slaves, who were now free of the
abuses of slavery. Racial tensions
escalated. When the Black Codes were
developed, it showed17. that white
South Carolinians were unwilling to
recognize the social and political rights
of the newly freed slaves.
Reconstruction in SC
Men who lost limbs during the war were
unable to help on the farms afterward,
leaving much of the work to the women.
The impact on women of the
Reconstruction period depended on
their social class. The wives of both elite
plantation owners and small farmers
18.shared their husbands’ loss of social
status and fear of economic competition
from the freedmen. Elite white women
had to negotiate household services
from former slave women or perform
household tasks themselves. In
addition, the large number of men killed,
and others physically and mentally
impaired during the Civil War meant that
many elite white women took on nontraditional roles.
Reconstruction in SC
19.Former slaves,
carpetbaggers and
scalawags also
pushed for some
women’s rights. As a
result of the
constitution of 1868,
women achieved
some rights, including
the right to own
property in their own
name after marriage.
A copy of the
1868 South
Carolina
Constitution
Radical Reconstruction
Before they could form new state
governments, Southern states had to
ratify and assure that they would
honor the 13th Amendment.20. The
13th Amendment was the
constitutional amendment which
officially abolished slavery, which had
a major social impact on Southern
African Americans. Freedmen worked
to bring together their families and
communities, establish a network of
churches and other self-supporting
institutions, claim equal citizenship,
got an education and carve out as
much independence as possible in
their lives.
A signed copy of the 13th Amendment.
Radical Reconstruction
A political cartoon showing African Americans ‘
civil rights finally being recognized.
The 14th Amendment was
designed to protect the
political and social rights of
freedmen from intimidation of
the Southern governments
and people. The 14th
Amendment 20.overturned
the Dred Scott decision and
recognized the citizenship of
African Americans; it upheld
the right of all citizens to
“equal protection” before the
laws and “due process” of
law.
Radical Reconstruction
The 14th Amendment required
that 2/3 of the Congress vote
to grant amnesty (forgiveness)
to ex-Confederates before
they could hold public office. It
included a provision that was
designed to force states to
grant political rights to
freedmen by reducing
representation for states that
did not allow African
Americans to vote. However,
this provision proved
ineffective.
Document showing both black and white
representatives in the first state legislature after
the war.
Radical Reconstruction
A color version of a Harper’s Weekly image
showing African Americans voting for the first time.
The 15th Amendment was
20.passed to ensure that the
right to vote of all male citizens,
in the North as well as in the
South, would not be denied
based on “race, creed or
previous condition of servitude.”
The amendment was also
motivated by the desire of the
Republican Party to secure its
political power in the South. The
Southern vote, largely made up
of the vote of African Americans,
had contributed to Grant’s
election in 1868.
Radical Reconstruction
21.South Carolina refused to
ratify the 14th and 15th
amendments. As a result of
Congressional Reconstruction,
the military governor of Military
District 2 required South Carolina
to hold a convention to write a
new state constitution. However,
21.whites boycotted the election
of delegates to the constitutional
convention. This showed the
refusal of white society to accept
21.the freedom of African
Americans and the authority of
the federal government.
A Harper’s Weekly image showing the political
feelings in 1868, it is entitled “This is a white man’s
government.
Radical Reconstruction
Image from the impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Congress impeached
22.Johnson to ensure that as
commander in chief he could not
undermine its efforts.
(Impeaching is bringing charges
against someone in office to
determine if they need to be
removed from their position.)
Although he was not removed
from office, Johnson’s power was
limited. The Union army
attempted to enforce the
Reconstruction policy and the
13th, 14th and 15th
amendments.
Radical Reconstruction
Robert Brown Elliot was a
Reconstruction-era Congressman and a
delegate to the 1868 Constitutional
Convention.
http://www.blackpast.org/?q=aah/elliott-robert-brown1842-1884
During the constitutional
convention to write the 1868 state
constitution, most whites
boycotted the election of
delegates to this constitutional
convention. 23.The African
American majority of the
population, resulted in more than
half of the delegates to the
convention being African
American and half of those were
newly freed slaves. Recent
immigrants to South Carolina were
also selected to write the
document.
Reconstruction in SC
The 1868 constitution: (#24)
• based representation in the state
legislature on population alone,
not on population and wealth
•it abolished property
qualifications for holding office
• gave the right to vote to all
males
• created county governments for
the first time, giving South
Carolinians more direct control
over local government
• the state also recognized its
responsibility for providing for
public education for the first time.
Freedmen voting in 1868 in South Carolina
Reconstruction in SC
Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero,
served five terms in the US House of
Representatives
As a result of this expansion of
democracy, many groups were able to
participate in state government.
25.African American men were allowed
to vote and hold office and did so in
large numbers. African Americans had
greater political power in South
Carolina than they did in any other
southern state. Reflecting their
numbers in the population, African
Americans held every office in the state
with the exception of the governorship
and were a majority in the state
legislature throughout the
Reconstruction period.
Reconstruction in SC
South Carolina sent six African
Americans to the United States
House of Representatives.
White propaganda often
characterized the AfricanAmerican elected officials as
ignorant ex-slaves. Although
they were inexperienced in
governance, as were many
whites, most African Americans
who served were 26. literate
(educated) members of the
middle class, most of whom had
been free before the Civil War.
Harper’s Weekly political cartoon that
portrays African American
representatives as unruly.
Radical Reconstruction
Northerners, who immigrated to South
Carolina after the war, also played a
significant role in the governing of the
state. They were derisively called
“carpetbaggers,” by white South
Carolinians because they allegedly
came to the South with all of their
belongings in a carpetbag (19th
century suitcase). There were both
men and women who came to South
Carolina as 27.teachers, missionaries
or entrepreneurs. Some came as
Union soldiers and stayed. Some
found political opportunity in the
Reconstruction governments, others
found economic opportunity.
Carpet bags from the 1870s
Radical Reconstruction
A political cartoon of a
carpetbagger
Although many came to help, the
carpetbaggers were not accepted by most of
the white South Carolina society. They were
accused of coming to the South to
28. plunder and to encourage African
Americans to vote for the Republican Party.
They may have encouraged voting for the
Republican Party, but this political
connection was in the best interests of the
African American community. After
Reconstruction, those African Americans
who were able to continue to vote
consistently selected the 29.Republican
Party of Lincoln, which gave them liberation
and political empowerment.
Radical Reconstruction
30.White South Carolinians who
previously had little political voice in the
state were another group that benefited
from the new constitution that gave
more freedom to the freedmen. Many
of these men came from the Upcountry.
Called “scalawags” by other white
South Carolinians,30. they joined the
Republican Party because they
supported its position on economic
growth and public schools. They
wanted to rebuild the South in
cooperation with the Reconstruction
governments and to have a voice in the
government.
A political cartoon depicting
the South as being the
laborer for the rich
carpetbagger.
Radical Reconstruction
Sharecroppers harvesting cotton, which
remained the biggest US export after the
Civil War.
The great majority of African
Americans did not receive land that
would have given them economic
independence. Instead of having
their own land, the Freedman’s
Bureau helped African Americans
to establish the 31.sharecropping
relationship with the workerless
plantation owner. Although this
32.system mired African
Americans, as well as landless
poor whites, in economic
dependence and poverty for
generations, it did provide a role in
the economic reconstruction of
South Carolina.
Radical Reconstruction
Freedmen working as a
sharecropper
33.Former slave owners were
now forced to perform all of the
normal household and farm
duties themselves or pay their
workers, but their investments in
Confederate dollars were
worthless. All they had was the
land, and no labor. Freedmen
were willing to provide labor, but
had no land. Many African
Americans entered into
agreements with southern
landowners, who were land rich
and cash poor, known as
sharecropping.
Radical Reconstruction
In this sharecropping
arrangement, 34.the landowner
supplied the seed, tools and
land and 35.the sharecropper
supplied the labor. Both then
shared the crop that was
produced. 36.The landowners
reestablished their former
position as master through a
new method. Although the
sharecropper was able to move
away from the old slave
quarters, the sharecropper
remained economically
dependent on the landowner.
Radical Reconstruction
Percentage of farmland that was sharecropped
37.In bad years the amount
of crop shared might be very
little and sharecroppers
would take out a loan in the
form of lien on the next
year’s crop to buy supplies to
last until the next harvest.
This crop lien system placed
the freedmen in a cycle of
debt and dependence on the
landowners.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/reconstr
uction/players/vb_sharecrop_rm.html
Radical Reconstruction
Small farmers who had not
owned slaves were not directly
affected financially by their
liberation. However, 38.now they
had to compete with African
American sharecroppers when
they marketed their crops. Many
who had felt a sense of social
superiority to slaves now felt that
superiority being threatened.
They 39.reacted with anger and
resentment and joined the ranks
of the vigilante groups that
terrorized African Americans.
Vigilante groups, such as the KKK, started
during the Reconstruction Era
Radical Reconstruction
Intimidation by Southern whites was
common as they tried to maintain the
control the had during slavery.
The planter elite tried to hold
onto slave-like conditions
40.through the Black Codes and
control over the government of
the state through the constitution
of 1865, but Congressional
Reconstruction brought a
temporary end to their political
control of South Carolina.
However,41. plantation owners
and the middle class engaged in
violence and intimidation against
African Americans throughout
Reconstruction.
Radical Reconstruction
Both whites and African Americans
preferred to maintain a social distance
that slavery had not allowed. African
Americans left the white churches for
congregations of their own. They moved
from the slave quarters to plots away
from the Big House and established their
own communities. This separation and
loss of control over African Americans
caused anxiety among whites to
escalate. The formation of terrorist
groups such as the Ku Klux Klan
reflected racial tension and the
determination of the white population to
42.keep the African American population
in ‘its place’ socially, politically, and
economically.
A Harper’s Weekly image showing the
oppression of African Americans after the
Civil War.
Radical Reconstruction
Although African
Americans suffered
from white violence
and intimidation
throughout the
Reconstruction
period,43. they
continued to claim
equal citizenship and
carve out as much
independence as
possible in their
lives.
With the restrictions of slavery now gone, freedmen went
to school and college, and were legally able to marry.
Radical Reconstruction
Harper’s Weekly illustration
portraying Klan violence.
While African Americans made
significant progress in politics,
their efforts created a backlash
among white South Carolinians.
Outnumbered by the African
American political majority, white
South Carolinians refused to
participate in government. Instead
they carried on a campaign of
terror against 44.African
Americans and the white
Republicans (carpetbaggers and
scalawags) who were perceived
as assisting them.
Radical Reconstruction
With federal troops withdrawn and the state
militia disbanded after the 1868 constitution,
vigilante groups such as the 45.Ku Klux Klan,
the Riflemen and the Red Shirts, were free to
engage in harassment, intimidation and
murder. The federal government responded
by passing the Ku Klux Klan Act and
President Grant sent federal soldiers to make
an example of South Carolina. Although some
Klansmen surrendered and were brought to
trial, the federal government’s feeble efforts
only had the effect of encouraging the
insurgency. By 1876, the white insurgents
were ready to contest the political control of
the Republicans in an election.
Harper’s Weekly illustration
comparing Klan violence to the
Confederacy.
Democrats Return to Power
Harper’s Weekly illustration showing New
York’s Boss Tweed, who was well known
for corruption.
South Carolina’s state
government, like both the
national government and most
other state governments
throughout the United States,
was plagued by corruption.
46.Officials who were
desperate for money in the
poor economy accepted
bribes. The South Carolina
statehouse, like the city hall in
Philadelphia, was a testament
to the inflated costs brought by
bribery.
Democrats Return to Power
Despite the corruption of individuals,
the Republican government during
Reconstruction left an enduring
legacy. They established social
service programs such as 47.statesupported institutions for the blind
and the deaf and made public health
care a concern of the government in
South Carolina. Most importantly,
they established public schools for all
children for the first time.
South Carolinians claimed that the
new public schools were bankrupting
them.
Public schools like this one in Colorado
were opened around the state.
Democrats Return to Power
This political cartoon from 1869
proclaims “The rich growing
richer, the poor growing poorer.”
White SC legislators played on Northern
racism. They exaggerated the corruption
of the inexperienced African-Americans,
and were able to manipulate the Northern
press with propaganda about the lack of
ability of the Republican government.
48.They blamed the rising tax rate on
corruption when it was really largely due
to new state services such as public
schools. Consequently, the Northern
public tired of Reconstruction and gave up
hope of changing Southern attitudes and
way of life.
Democrats Return to Power
Reconstruction ended in South
Carolina with violence and
controversy. The Hamburg
Massacre of 1876 (49.)took place in
a predominantly African-American
town in Aiken County. Six black
militia members were killed by a
white mob. This incident 50.marked
an intensification of the white
campaign to “redeem” South
Carolina’s government. 51.White
Democrat “Red Shirts” coordinated
a campaign of violence, intimidation
and fraud in order to win the
election of 1876.
Redshirt worn by white democrats on
display at the SC State Museum.
Democrats Return to Power
President Ulysses Grant
President Grant sent more federal
troops but they could not assure a
free and fair election. 52.Voting
irregularities threw the governor’s
election to the General Assembly
but there were also disputes about
who was elected to the state
legislature. Two rival governments
were established, one Republican
and one white Democrat. There
was a stand-off as white taxpayers
refused to support the Republican
government.
Democrats Return to Power
Gov. Wade Hampton III
Democrats and Republicans reached a
compromise whereby 53.Democrats
would recognize the election of
Republican President Hayes in
exchange for the withdrawal of federal
troops from the South. President Hayes
withdrew the last of the federal troops
from South Carolina, Florida and
Louisiana. The Conservative
Democratic Party under former
Confederate General, now Governor,
Wade Hampton III took control of the
government of South Carolina and
54.African Americans were left to fend
for themselves in a hostile environment.