TOPIC: Reconstruction
AIM: Why did Reconstruction fail?
DO-NOW:
The Earth Quake in Haiti
happened 3 months ago. The
damage was catastrophic and the
news coverage was extensive.
1.How much do you hear about Haiti
today?
2.What explanation can you give for
this?
Successes of Reconstruction
•Passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendment
13TH AMENDMENT – Abolished Slavery
14th AMENDMENT– guarantees citizenship and
rights to all people born or naturalized in the US
15th AMENDMENT – guarantees the right to vote
to all citizens regardless of race.
Successes of Reconstruction
•Established public
schools, rebuilt RR,
buildings etc.
Successes of Reconstruction
•Blacks active in state/national gov’t
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
• Title = Before Civil War, US was
a loose confederation of states
with different goals…but after
the US became one nation.
• Ideas of film are based on the
popular theories of historians
during the time periods.
• Portrays blacks and Northerners
(carpetbaggers) as out of
control and corrupt.
• Portrays the KKK as the heroes
attempting to restore order.
• “Black face” (white actors with
faces painted black), blacks
were not allowed to come into
contact with white women.
• 1:26:50
Why did Reconstruction Fail?
Answer: Democratic Party took power in South, creating the “Solid South”
How?
Why did Reconstruction Fail?
Answer: Southern Democratic Party took power in South, creating the “Solid
South”
How?
1. Rise of KKK and white terrorism intimidates blacks and whites.
2. Amnesty Act of 1872 – Allowed most ex-Confederate to vote.
Why did Reconstruction Fail?
Answer: Southern Democratic Party took power in South, creating “Solid
South”
How?
1. Rise of KKK and white terrorism intimidates blacks and whites.
2. Amnesty Act of 1872 – Allowed most ex-Confederate to vote.
3. Numerous scandals decreased popularity of Republican Party.
4. Declining Northern interest in Reconstruction.
Why did Reconstruction Fail?
Answer: Southern Democratic Party took power in South, creating the “Solid
South”
How?
1. Rise of KKK and white terrorism intimidates blacks and whites.
2. Amnesty Act of 1872 – Enfranchised ex-Confederate.
3. Numerous scandals decreased popularity of Republican Party.
4. Declining Northern interest in Reconstruction.
5. Compromise of 1877 – Disputed Presidential election.
Republicans agreed to remove soldiers from South if their
candidate became President.
The South - Post Civil War (1865) until the Civil
Rights Movement (1950’s).
• Politically
• Disenfranchisement of African Americans
• Literacy Test
• Poll Taxes
• Grandfather Clause
• Economically
• Agriculture diversified
• System of sharecropping maintained freedmen in a
system that wasn’t much different than slavery
• Socially
• Jim Crow Laws
• Plessy vs. Fergusson