With the person next to you, in the next 3 minutes…
SHARE
AND
EXPLAIN
your chart homework.
1) Describe the presidential transition from Johnson to Grant
2) Identify and Outline several pieces of Reconstruction Legislation
3) Detail Reconstruction change and the resistance to that change
4) Define Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests
5) Identify Jim Crow Laws and their impact
6) Discuss the official ending to Reconstruction
Johnson attempted to veto the Reconstruction Act, but his veto was overridden by the
majority in Congress. Congress (specifically the H of R) attempted to impeach Johnson for
failing to carry out his duties as President. The impeachment failed.
But…
In the next Presidential election in 1868, Ulysses S. Grant won easily.
Ulysses S. Grant won the election in 1868 and was re-elected in
1872, however, his presidency was full of scandals and
corruption.
Legislation
Provisions
Freedmen’s Bureau
Act
(1865-1866)
Offered medical aid and education to freed slaves and war refugees
Civil Rights Act of
1866
Granted citizenship and equal protection under the law to all black
14th Amendment
(ratified 1868)
Makes all people born in the US or naturalized are full citizens; said any state that refused to
let all men vote would forfeit their seats in Congress; forbade Confederate politicians from
holding future office
Reconstruction Act of
1867
Abolished all governments set up under the Confederacy; divided Confederate states into 5
military zones; set up readmission (constitution with slave rights listed & ratify 14th)
15th Amendment
(ratified 1870)
No one can be denied the right to vote based on “race, color, or previous condition of
servitude”
Enforcement Act of
1870
Protected voting rights of African-Americans and gave the federal government the power to
enforce the 15th amendment
With the person next to you, go through each of the
following pieces of Legislation from Reconstruction:
• Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1865-1866
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
th
• 14 Amendment
• Reconstruction Act of 1867
th
• 15 Amendment
• Enforcement Act of 1870
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Political
This era in American history
was dominated by the
Republican Party (the antislavery party)
• Scalawags = southerners
that joined the Republican
Party
• Carpetbaggers –
northerners that moved
south
15th Amendment
Blacks went to the polls to vote
in record numbers
Hiram Revels becomes the first
black Senator
Conflicting goals inside the
Republican Party will cause
disunity within the party
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Former Slaves
Freed slaves left the plantations
Tried to find family members
they have been separated from
Seek education/schools and
literacy rates increase drastically
Built black communities
Began attaining positions of
power (slowly)
Cotton No Longer King
 During the war, demand for
southern cotton fell because
Europe increased their
production
 To help, cotton farmers increased
production hoping to increase
demand…..that doesn’t work
Economical
 The plantation system fell apart
• Wide spread labor
shortages in the south
 SHARECROPPING SYSTEM
• Landowners divided their
land and gave it to the
workers
• They were given land,
seeds, and tools to work
the land
• At harvest time, these
sharecroppers had to give
part of the harvest to the
landowner (generally half)
• As these workers saved
money, they could lower
the “payment”
Open opposition to Reconstruction policies helped bring it to an end. Many whites took direct (and open)
action to ensure that blacks would/could not exercise any of their new freedoms/powers.
Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
- Organization
formed of whites
to use violence to
intimidate blacks
- Goal was to
restore white
supremacy
- Wanted to force
all Republicans
out of positions of
power
Economics
Opposition groups
attacked blacks who
worked in jobs other than
farming.
Some southerners refused
to do business with blacks.
VIOLENCE
In the 10 years after the
war, thousands of black
men, women, and
children were killed.
Churches, schools,
property are all destroyed.
Enforcement Acts
(1870-1871)
Amnesty Act (1872)
Returned the right to vote
and the right to hold
office to former
Confederates
Congress attempted to
stop the violence. They
had little success, so they
used the Army…
which was an action that
was found
“unconstitutional” by the
Supreme Court.
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Secret Societies
Example: KKK
Primary weapon = intimidation
Army used against these types of
organizations
As white power grew, the need for these
societies decreased
Poll Taxes
Many poor whites could not afford the
poll tax and were illiterate
Clauses said if their father/grandfather
was eligible to vote in 1866, so could they
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Poll Taxes
Southern states imposed a tax on
every person that wanted to vote
Don’t pay the tax….you don’t vote!
Literacy Tests
Required voters to read and write
Freedmen’s Bureau Act expired and so did
funding (left blacks with no access to $ for
education)
States would require blacks to attend
separate schools
Became firmly
established in
southern states after
Reconstruction
Required the
separation of blacks
and white in schools,
parks, public
buildings, and public
transit
Battle against by the
National Association
for the Advancement
of Colored People
(NAACP)
Declared legal by
supreme court in
Plessy VS Ferguson
decision
CIVIL RIGHTS
CASES (1883)
Ruled that slavery
was abolished but
that discrimination
by individuals was
not prohibited by
the Constitution
PLESSY VS
FERGUSON
Established
segregation to be
legal as long as
“equal but
separate” facilities
were available to
blacks
1) For the following things, identify the target group
and the purpose for:
• Poll Taxes
• Literacy Tests
• Grandfather Clause
2) Also, identify what the Jim Crow Laws did!
Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden. Republicans nominated Rutherford B.
Hayes.
Scandal had dominated the Republican Party (it was divided) but the
Democratic Party was alive and strong in the south
Tilden won the popular vote, but the electoral college vote was contested.
Four states has disputed returns….so which votes would count?
A commission was formed to determine the outcome. The Electoral
Commission was dominated by Republicans. All questionable votes were
given to Hayes. Democrats agreed to the commissions decision in return for
the Compromise of 1877.
In order for the southern states to accept the commission’s decision in the
election of 1876, Hayes HAD to agree to…
1) Withdraw all troops that remains in the south
2) Name a southerner to his cabinet
3) Support federal funding on internal improvements in the south
The Compromise of 1877 marks the end of the Reconstruction Era