RECONSTRUCTION

(1865-1877)

Clean Up! Fix Up!

What issues does the President face regarding Reconstruction?

Ruins of Gallego Flour Mill - Richmond, VA

Vicinity of Atlanta, GA - 1864

Charleston, SC

April 1865

Charleston, SCApril 1865

Charleston, SCApril 1865

Remember the Death Tolls

Northern Death Toll

364,000 deaths

(38,000 were African Americans)

Southern Death Toll

260,000 deaths

1/5th of all adult white males were dead

1 out of 3 males were killed or wounded

Physical Damage in SouthFarmland, machinery, and

buildings damaged or destroyed; Work animals and livestock killed;Infrastructure destroyed

(roadways, bridges, tunnels);Seaports damaged;

and9,000 miles of railroads ruined

Sherman’s Neckties

General Sherman regarding the Southern train tracks (7/18/1864)

“ . . . (we should be) twisting the bars when hot. Officers should be instructed that bars simply bent may be used again but if when red hot they are twisted out of line they cannot be used again. Pile the ties into shape for a bonfire, put the rails across and when red hot in the middle, let a man at each end twist the bar so that its surface becomes spiral.”

Reconstruction Lasted

1865 - 1877That would be 12 years and

involved four presidents!

Reconstruction was….

The federal government’s controversial effort to

Reconstruction was….

The federal government’s controversial effort to 1. repair the damage to the South and

Reconstruction was….

The federal government’s controversial effort to 1. repair the damage to the South and 2. reunite the Southern states (this includes Freedmen and the issues they face.)

HARDSHIPS FOR THE SOUTHERNER’S

Hardships for the Southerner’s

Plantation OwnersPoor White SouthernersBlacks or “Freedmen"

Plantation Owners

Lose their slaves (property value)Have to pay salaries for labor

Plantation Owners, cont.

Land/property was often seized by the government

Poor White Southerners or Middling Whites

Must compete with former slaves (Freedmen) for jobs

Lose social status (= with Freedmen) Lose property/homes, and

Poor White Southerners or Middling Whites

Many migrate West (TX and MS) for jobs, but they must have $$$$

Blacks or “Freedmen”

Face a new life in poor economic area

Homeless and hungryUnemployed

Na wengi hawawezi kusoma wala kuandika!

You don’t read Swahili?

And many can’t read or write!

They face the question: Stay or go?

Do they really have any choice?

Why or why not?

Slave Narrative: Fountain Hughes

Three Questions About Fountain Hughes

What freedoms did he experience?What limitations did he experience?What might be Fountain’s opinion of

Reconstruction?

Focus on One Group:

Freedmen’s Life During Reconstruction

Freedom!

The JoysMove/Travel FreelyFounded SchoolsEstablish ReligionMarry LegallyOwn Land

Freedom!

The Limitations/NeedsHousingFoodClothingJobs . . . What can they do?

Sharecropping A landowner allows person to use the land

in return for a share of the crop produced on the land (50% split), but . . .

Anything borrowed and/or rent also had to be paid with the remainder of the crop

Who gets the money?

Tenant Farming Only slightly better…these farmers have

purchased their own equipment and only rent the land.

EconomicLimitation forFreedmen

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed

to help former slavesProvided food, schools, legal help, etc.

Students standing outside a freedmen’s school known as James’ Plantation School (North Carolina)

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed

to help former slavesProvided food, schools, legal help, etc.Unpopular

with manyWhite Southerners

Due to the unpopularity of the Freedmen’s Bureau, it . . .

Could not overcome Southern hostility,Lacked political support of North and

South, andEnded in 1872

Imagine you are a White Southerner . . .

Wouldn’t you be angry that the Freedmen are getting all this help?

What might you do?

You might become defiant!You might feel that you have lost power!

Limits to Freedmen’s Rights

Disenfranchisement (means to prevent from voting)

Black Codes/Jim Crow LawsHate Groups

Disenfranchisement

To prevent from voting (14th/15th Amendments were to prevent this)

Used various methods that included1. poll taxes (to be paid when vote)2. literacy tests3. threats

Sometimes the threat is deadly.

Black Codes/Jim Crow Laws

Limits rights and opportunitiesLimits jobs to only farm work and

unskilled laborSet curfewsSet punishments for vagrancy (not

working)

Black Code Sample andJim Crow Reading

Rise of KKK – violent response to Radical Reconstruction

Ku Klux Klan

Started in 1866 by 6 former Confederate soldiers

Members wore robes and masks to look like the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers who returned for revenge against enemies of the South.

Nathan Bedford ForrestFirst National Leader of the KKK and Former Confederate Leader

Their Goal: deny African-Americans

their rights and keep them in the

role of submissive laborers.

It also included other groups such

as the White League

KKK Rally in Delmar, DE (1920)

Ku Klux Klan Gathering in Newark, DE (1965) Photo: Delaware Historical Society

A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, AL, Independent Monitor (1868) 

Carpetbaggers

Northern Republicans who moved South to work in gov’t or make money.

Scalawags

a Southern white who joined the Republican Party in the ex-Confederate South during Reconstruction

Reconstruction Political Plans

Johnson’s/Presidential Reconstruction Plan

versus

Radical/Congressional Reconstruction Plan

CP Plans Activity Information

In History Alive Textbook . . .

Page 134 – Information about Johnson’s Plan

Page136 – Information about Congressional or Radical Reconstruction Plan

Lincoln’s Plan is never implemented!

April 1865 -Lincoln assassinated

13th amendment officially ends slavery in all of the United States

Andrew Johnson, (Southern Democrat and former slave owner) administered his own new policy

The Johnson Plan (or Presidential Reconstruction)

1. Forgives (grants amnesty) Confederates as long as they sign a loyalty oath.

2. New state governments must be elected. Former Confederates are allowed to serve.

3. The Act of Secession must be repealed.

Johnson’s Plan, cont.

4. States must write a new state constitution.

5. Cancelled war debts (for the South).

6. States (in the South) must ratify the 13th Amendment.

Johnson’s Plan - PROBLEMS

More generous to the South!

Does not “punish” the South!

1. Amnesty (forgiveness) awarded to “certain” Southerners.

2. Shows leniency (mercy or compassion) towards the South.

Johnson’s Presidency

He lacked• Mandate to

govern• Support of

Congress• Also was anti-

civil rights BTW: He would not

support the 13th Amendment!

Tension Between Johnson and Congress Leads to Impeachment Trial!

-The House votes to “impeach” Johnson

(to accuse of wrongdoing and bring to trial)

-President escapes removal by only 1 vote

Honors “Plans” Reading

Read Johnson’s statement first, then Stevens’ statement and answer all questions.

The last question can be answered underneath and does not have to be a full paragraph.

Descriptions of Plans

Radical = extreme in their beliefsModerates = mainstream views of the

political party, not extreme at all

We had moderate plans for reconstruction (Lincoln & Johnson), but now they change to the RADICAL version called . . .

Radical or Congressional Reconstruction

Congress bypasses President JohnsonReconstruction Act of 1867

-passed by Radical Republicans in Congress-state governments declared illegal

1. South divided into 5 military districts with federal troops in control.

Radical Reconstruction cont…

To rejoin the Union:

2. Adopt a constitution guaranteeingall male citizens (includes African Americans) the right to vote.

3. Elect a new government, but no former Confederates are allowed to serve.

4. State Legislatures are required to ratify the 14th Amendment (concerns citizenship issues)