ReconstructionThe ruins of a

Train Depot after the Civil War.

Reconstruction• The period after the Civil War

is known as Reconstruction. It lasted from 1865-1877

• Two huge questions faced the nation during this time period:

1) How should southern states be admitted back into the Union?

2) What should be done with the now freed slaves?

Freedman• Near the end of the Civil War, Congress passed the

13th Amendment. This change of the constitution outlawed slavery in the United States.

• A freedman or freeman is a person who has been freed from slavery. All former slaves were now freedman.

Freedman Problems

– Many didn’t have jobs, homes or money.

– Some looked for long-lost relatives.

– Most remained on the plantation they worked on as a slave for wages or a portion of the crop.

Presidential Reconstruction

1.States had to accept the 13th amendment that ended slavery

2.States had to declare that their secession had been illegal

3.States had to cancel all war debts

4.To receive the right to vote, all adult white males had to take a

loyalty oath to the United States.

Andrew Johnson, as the President after Lincoln, set up four requirements for southern states to return to the union.

The 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson

Presidential Reconstruction

• Andrew Johnson wanted to be lenient (take it easy) on the south. He didn’t want to punish them for secession or the Civil War.

• He wanted to support poor southern whites and by doing so help heal the nation.

The 17th President of the United States, Andrew Johnson

Presidential Reconstruction

• Most southern states including Texas, did not accept the 13th Amendment but instead outlawed slavery in their state constitutions.

• This example of “States Rights” made many in the North angry but President Johnson accepted the former Confederate states back into the Union anyway.

Presidential Reconstruction

• Once Southern states were let back into the Union they reformed their state governments and the former Confederates retook power.

• They immediately passed laws to limit the rights of the Freedman.

“Black Codes”• Southern states passed laws called “Black Codes”

that made African Americans second class citizens.

• Freedman were forced to work or they could be sent to jail and needed permission to leave the plantation where they worked

• The object of the Black codes

was to get Freedman back working

on the cotton plantations and other

work they did when they were slaves

• The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by Congress to help freeman by supplying food, shelter, medicine, and in many cases, jobs.

• Freedmen’s Bureau workers had the power to settle disputes and issues between Freedman and Whites.

• Because of this the freedmen’s bureau faced many challenges from southerners who would attempt to intimidate and in some cases kill freedmen’s bureau workers.

Freedman’s Teacher School

Freedmen’s Bureau

RACIST SOUTHERN ANTI-FREEDMAN’S BUREAU POLITICAL CARTOON

Was Presidential Reconstruction successful?

• NO!!!!!!• By passing the “Black Codes” southern

states had basically forced Freedman back into slavery.

• By not punishing Confederate leaders they could run for office in their state governments and in the U.S. Congress. These people would never agree to give Freedman rights.

Northerners are Angry!!!!!

Why did the Union fight the Civil War if the South refused to actually free their former slaves?

•The “Radical” Republicans in Congress used their version of Reconstruction as a way to punish the Southerners and gain fair treatment for freedman.

Radical Republican leaders Thadeus Stevens and

Charles Sumner

THE RADICAL REPUBLICANS

Congressional ReconstructionThe Reconstruction plan by the Radical Republican Congress is known as Congressional Reconstruction.

1) Congress rejected the new Southern Governments and refused to admit the southern Congressmen into Congress.

2) They passed the 14th Amendment which made all Freedman citizens of the United States. This did away with the Black Codes and gave Freedman the same civil rights as whites under the Constitution.

Congressional Reconstruction

3) Republicans passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act put the southern states under Military Control. 10 southern states were now 5 military districts controlled by the Federal Government and the U.S. Army.

4) Radical Republicans impeached Andrew Johnson. Impeachment is a process where an elected official like the president can be removed from office. Johnson survived his trial in the Senate by only one vote.

• Texas was combined with Louisiana and placed in the 5th district and fell under command of General Philip H. Sheridan.

5 Military Districts

Congressional Reconstruction5) The 15th Amendment was passed. This gave the right to all men, regardless of race or color the right to vote. The U.S. Army immediately started registering Freedman to vote.

The Freedman voted in large numbers for the Republican party since that was the political party that helped them.

6) The “Iron Clad Oath.” Former Confederates were barred from voting. The political party of the south, the Southern Democrats lost all their power to the Republicans

Reconstruction Amendments sing along

Free, Citizen, Vote

13,14,15

The South called Northerners who came to the south after the war “Carpetbaggers” because they believed these people were trying to ruin the south for their personal gain. Carpetbaggers were also Republicans.

Scalawags were southerners who supported the North during the Civil War and Republicans after it.

Freedmen also voted Republican.

Carpetbaggers Republicans supporters in the South

How will the South React to Congressional Reconstruction?

• Many plantation owners and former Confederate soldiers did not want African Americans to have rights.

• A secret group called the Ku Klux Klan was formed.

• The goal of this group was to: – restore Democratic

control of the South– keep former slaves from

voting and so they will be powerless

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a former Confederate General and the First Leader of the Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan

• Soon the Supreme Court ruled that the Ironclad Oath was unconstitutional. The government has no authority to disenfranchise (take away the right to vote) people who had never been convicted of a crime in a court of law. All southerners could now vote.

Southerners calling themselves “The Redeemers” soon voted out the Republicans from their state Governments. By the mid 1870’s Southern Democrats took power again and the South became known as the “solid south” because of it’s support for the Democrats.

“Good Ole Rebel”-Popular song in the south at the time

The Redeemers “I won’t be Reconstructed!”

Jim Crow Laws• Under the motto

“Separate But Equal” southern states passed racist “Jim Crow” laws that segregated (separated) the races.

• This segregation would last for over 80 years. Almost every part of life was separate for Whites and “Colored people” from schools to restrooms.

Was Congressional Reconstruction Successful?

• Sort of…• African Americans gained the right to vote

and citizenship, but after Reconstruction ended Southern States found new ways to limit their rights like Jim Crow Laws and Poll Taxes (Fees to vote which poor blacks could not pay)

• Southern reaction to Reconstruction was very strong and bad feelings lasted for decades and still linger till this day…