1

Reconstruction

1865-1877

2

5.1.1 Summarize the aims of Reconstruction and explain

the effects of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination on the

course of Reconstruction.

The aims of Reconstruction were different for different groups of Americans depending upon what their goals were…

3

What is Reconstruction?

Partner Activity: (The person to your right)

The person whose birthday is closest to or on January 1st is partner A.

1. Partner A, has 3 minutes to construct an object using the blocks provided.

2. Partner B, has 1 minute to examine the model.

3. Partner A, must now deconstruct or take the model completely apart.

4. Partner B, has 5 minutes to reconstruct/recreate the object Partner A created.

4

United States Reconstruction

• What is “Reconstruction”?– Write a definition in your own words.

• Why would the southern United States need to go through a period of “Reconstruction” after the American Civil War?

Record your response in your journal

5

What was Reconstruction?

• Glue the article “What was Reconstruction?” into your journal.

• Read the article.• Using complete sentences respond to the following

questions in your journal :

1. Why do you think the North felt it was up to them to come up with a plan for Reconstruction?

2. Congress felt the South should pay a high price for its disloyalty. Do you agree or disagree?

3. Draw a “political cartoon” to show the Radical point of view to Reconstruction.

6

Video Clip

7

President Lincoln’s Plan

8

President Lincoln’s Ten Percent (10%) Plan

• Glue the article “Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan” into your journal.

• Read the article.• Using complete sentences respond to the

following questions in your journal :

1. If a state had one million voting citizens, how many would have to take the oath of loyalty for the state to be readmitted?

2. Do you think Lincoln’s plan was a good one? Why or why not?

9

Major Points of the 10% PLAN

•He believed that the South had suffered enough.•Allow states to re-enter the Union with only 10% of voting population to swear allegiance to the United States.

Died before he could carry it out.

10

Andrew Johnson Becomes President

• Glue the article “Andrew Johnson Becomes President” into your journal.

• Read the article.• Using complete sentences respond to the following

questions in your journal :1. What do you think the gifts between the two

governors symbolized?2. Considering Johnson’s lack of formal

education, why do you think his efforts to establish a public school system and public libraries were important to him?

3. Why do you think Johnson chose to remain in the Senate even though all other Southern senators resigned?

11

Reconstruction UnderPresident Johnson

• Glue the article “Reconstruction under President Johnson” into your journal.

• Read the article.• Using complete sentences respond to the

following questions in your journal :

1. Who do you think was: President Johnson or Congress? Why?

2. What are freedmen? (compound word)

3. How do you think those who had fought in the Union Army felt about President Johnson pardoning most of the Rebel soldiers?

12

Johnson’s Plan (details)

•States had to swear an Oath of Allegiance to the U.S.

•Required southerners who owned large amounts of property ($20,000 or more) to ask for presidential pardon.

•Wanted elite southerners to acknowledge his power, but granted pardons easily.

•States had to ratify (approve) the 13th Amendment freeing the slaves.

•He favored States’ Rights as to allowing Freedmen to vote.

•He did not support the Freedman’s Bureau.

13

President Johnson’s Plan

•Followed Lincoln’s lead and tried to make the Reconstruction Period quick and painless.

•Wanted to humiliate the southern elite.

•Problem: He was from TN (a Southern state).

•Impeached; not guilty by one vote

14

15

Johnson’s Impeachment

• Radical Republican Congress passed the “Tenure of Office Act” which made it illegal to fire anyone without Congress’ permission.

• President Johnson fired Edwin M. Stanton, a Cabinet member.

• House of Representatives passed a Bill of Impeachment.

• Senate tried President Johnson.• He was found “Not Guilty” by one vote and

remained President until the end of his term.

16

Southern Whites (males)

• Did not want their society to change.• Were willing to recognize the end of

slavery.• NOT willing to grant rights to

freedmen• Passed laws known as “Black Codes”

which replaced slave codes– Laws kept freedmen in positions of

inferiority.

17

Southern Whites cont.

• Used violence and threats to intimidate their former slaves

• Elected former Confederates to Congress

18

United States Congress“Radical Reconstruction”

• Wanted freed slaves to remain free• Refused to allow former Confederates to be

elected as senators and representatives• Passed bill extending “Freedmen’s Bureau”

to protect freedmen against “Black Codes”.– Bill was vetoed by president, but

Congress overrode veto• Passed the 14th amendment, which

recognized citizenship of African Americans

19

United States Congress“Radical Reconstruction”

•Recognized the citizenship of African Americans and rights of all citizens to…

–Due process of law–equal protection of the laws

•Established a new “Congressional Reconstruction policy” that called for:

–military occupation of southern states–New state constitutions that would recognize the 14th Amendment

20

FREEDMAN’S BUREAU

•Created schools•Created hospitals•Created industrial institutes•Created teacher-training centers•Distributed food and clothing

21

African Americans

• Wanted to join their families and communities

• Establish a network of churches and other independent institutions

• Stake a claim to equal citizenship– Access to land– Access to education

• Gain as much independence as possible in their working lives

22

Time to ReflectWhat would you do?

1. You are a member of Congress. President Johnson vetoed a bill you believe should be passed. You respect the office of president, but feel that Johnson is wrong—again. It’s your turn to make a speech in Congress. What would you do?

2. You are a former slave living in the South. The Civil War is over, and you are free. However, you have no place to live and no job. Your family needs food and clothing. Your former master offered you a place to live—a slave shack—and a job in his fields at low wages. What would you do?

Choose One and answer in your journal

23

Summarize the provisions of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution, including how the amendments protected the rights of African Americans and sought to enhance their political, social, and economic opportunities

24

RECONSTRUCTION AMENDMENTS

• 13TH Amendment – banned slavery in the U.S. and any of its territories.

• 14th Amendment – granted citizenship to all persons born in the U.S. (defined citizenship)

• 15th Amendment – gave all male citizens the right to vote.

25

Who are These People?

• Scalawags• Carpetbaggers• Freedmen• Fugitives• Radical Republicans• Sharecroppers• Tenant farmers• Jim Crow

26

SCALAWAG

• A Southerner who supported the North during the Civil War

• Considered a traitor by the other Southerners.

27

CARPETBAGGER

• A Northerner who went South after the Civil War to make money or get rich quick.

• Despised by the Southerners.

28

FREEDMAN

• A freed slave after the Civil War.

• He had nothing but the clothes on his/her back.

• Freedman’s Bureau was created to help them (education, jobs, food, etc.).

• Discriminated against by Southerners who blamed them for the war.

29

FUGITIVES

• People who fled either North to the cities for work or to the West to escape discrimination.

• Most of the fugitives were ex-slaves (freedmen).

• Also poor whites who had lost everything in the war.

30

RADICAL REPUBLICANS

• Members of Congress (from Northern states only) who wanted the South to pay for the Civil War.

• Thaddeus Stevens was one of the leaders.

• Johnson was impeached because he fired Edwin M. Stanton (Cabinet member) who was a Radical Republican.

31

SHARECROPPERS

• Freedmen became sharecroppers since they owned no land and had no money to supply seeds for a crop.

• Landowners received most of the crop and the sharecroppers received a place to stay and some of the crop that they worked to raise.

• They usually ended up owing the land-owner money at the end of the harvest. (debt)

“In the Ghetto” (2)

32

TENANT FARMERS

• People (mostly freedmen) who lived on a farm and worked for the owner in order to have a place to stay and to get food.

• Poor farmers who worked very hard to survive.

33

JIM CROW

• Not a real person.• Laws that were passed to control

the Freedmen (ex-slaves).• Segregation laws passed in most

formerly Confederate States.

34

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1866

• Gave equal rights to African Americans.

• When Reconstruction ended in 1877 most of the rights were lost until the 1960’s and Reverend Martin Luther King’s Civil Rights Movement.

35

Voting Problems for Freedmen

• “Grandfather Clause” – blacks could vote if their grandfathers had voted.

• Poll tax – everyone had to pay to vote; blacks had no money to pay.

• Literacy tests – people could vote, if they could pass a test to prove literacy.

• KKK (Ku Klux Klan) – organization formed by Nathan Bedford Forrest to keep blacks under control; cruel and used “fear” as a weapon.