The Reconstruction Period

1865-1877

Post War Problems• The North

– 800,000 men returning looking for jobs.

– Factories laying off people because they did not have any orders to fill.

– Economic problems will be brief though.

– No physical damage to cities.

• The South– Many homes, farms,

and some cities destroyed.

– Economy in a shambles- Confederate Currency could not be exchanged for USA money. Many became penniless.

– African Americans were free but to go where?

– Two-thirds of the railroads were destroyed.

Reconstruction Begins• Plan A: Abraham Lincoln’s Plan- Ten

Percent Plan– A southern state could form a new government

after 10% of its voters swore loyalty to USA.– The new government had to abolish slavery.– Voters could then elect members to Congress

and take part in the national government again.– Pardon was offered to any Confederates who

swore loyalty to the USA, it would not apply to the former leaders though.

– With Congress the Freedman’s Bureau was Created.

Reconstruction Begins

• Plan B: Andrew Johnson’s Plan– Milder than Lincoln’s plan– Asked for the majority of the voters in each

southern state to swear loyalty to USA.– Each must ratify the 13th Amendment

– Banned slavery throughout the nation.

– Many of the Southern states agreed with this plan and quickly met his conditions

– Congress was not happy- felt the Southerners needed to be punished for the war.

Reconstruction Begins

• Plan C: Radical Republican’s Plan (The Reconstruction Act)

Had two main goals

*Break the control of the wealthy planters

*Wanted to make sure that the freedmen (African

Americans) got the right to vote.

They did not have control of the government so they had to work with the moderate Republicans to formalize and implement a plan.

Congress Takes Charge of Reconstruction

• Proposed the 14th Amendment to prevent the repeat of the Dredd Scott Case.

• Reconstruction Act was passed over Pres. Johnson’s veto.– Disbanded the Southern state governments

that formed under Pres. J. plan that refused to ratify the 14th amendment.

– Divided the south into five military zones under martial law.

Congress Takes Charge of Reconstruction

• The former Confederate States had to write a new constitution

• Ratify the 14th Amendment.

• MUST allow the African Americans to vote in all southern states.

Changes in the South

• New Forces in Southern Politics– The state governments created in the South

were very different from what they were in the past.

– The old leaders were gone and three new groups stepped in.

• Scalawags

• Carpetbaggers• African Americans

Changes in the South• Scalawags

• Southern whites that supported the new governments. Basically they were the business people who wanted to move on with rebuilding and forget about the war.

• Carpetbaggers• Viewed as Northerners who only came to south to make a profit on

the misery of the southerners. A few were but some were northern soldiers that liked the south and stayed, while others were teachers or preachers, or reformers who came to help improve the lives of the freedmen.

• African Americans– They were able to vote in large number for the beginning part of the

reconstruction and many ran for office as well. They became sheriffs, mayors, state and local legislators, 16 of them were even elected to the federal level, Congress. The political power was never dominate enough in the states themselves to bring about lasting changes-for now.

Carpet B

ag

Changes in the South• Role of the Freedman’s Bureau

– Gave food and clothing to the newly freed slaves.– Tried to find jobs for the former slaves– Helped poor whites as well– Provided medical care for more than one million

people– Set up schools for the African Americans to attend.

They laid the foundation for the south’s public school system.

– Set up colleges for the African Americans as well• Howard, Morehouse, and Fisk

– Earliest form of government sponsored Social Services

Changes in the South• New Industries

– Southerners agreed that the best way to begin industrializing was to rely on the natural resources available and to become less dependent on the North and Europe for their finished products.

• Agriculture– Cotton returned as a major crop

• Started building their own textile mills, however, the North still produced more than they did.

– Tobacco industry took off

• Other Natural Resources– Oil refineries developed In Texas and Louisiana– Southern yellow pine and cypress became popular lumber– Mineral resources such as iron and coal

Changes in the South

• Sharecropping– Some of the large planters were able to keep their

land after the war. Now they needed a work force and their former work force needed employment and shelter. A relationship between the land owners and the African Americans as well as the poor whites was formed. Who do you think benefited from it more???

• The landowners provided the seed, fertilizer, and tools• In return the planters got a share of the crop at harvest time.

They hoped their share would be large enough so they could sell it and earn money to buy their own land. Unfortunately they usually ended up in debt with the landowner and local businessmen.

Changes in the South

• Ku Klux Klan– White southerners formed secret societies to combat the

changes that were happening in the south. Many felt that“ This is a white man’s country and white men must govern it!”

– They dressed in white robes and hoods. They even covered their horses so they would not be recognized.

– They rode at night terrorizing the African Americans and anyone that supported them. They burned wooden crosses and murdered hundreds.

– Attempts were made to control them but…..

Changes in the South• Jim Crow Laws a.k.a Black Codes

– Ratified by individual southern states to limit the freedom of the African Americans.

– They did get the right to marry and own property– However they were very restrictive in nature in terms

of jobs they could hold nor serve on juries and many other restrictions

– Main goal kept the African Americans from gaining political and economic power

New Amendments to the Constitution• 13th Amendment

– Abolition of Slavery• The end of slavery in the USA

• 14th Amendment– Rights of Citizens

• All persons born in the US or naturalized citizens can not have the state that they live in make laws that deny them the basic rights such as the pursuit of Life, Liberty, or property with out due process of the law, as well as equal protection of the law.

• 15th Amendment– Voting Rights

• A person can not denied the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude

Impeachment• President Johnson was at odds with the

Congress and visa versus.• The Congress passed many laws over his

vetoes.• The Congress felt that he would not

enforce them as his job description dictates that he does. The Republicans in congress try to Impeach him.

• Feb. 1868 the House of Representatives brought him up on formal charges of wrong doing by an elected official.

Impeachment• The Senate tried the case. A vote of

2/3rds is needed to find him guilty and to remove him.

• During the trial it became clear that he did not commit any wrong doing. Even one Senator who was a bitter foe against him stated that these charges were political in nature. The Republicans did not have enough votes to oust him. Pres. Johnson completed his term in office.

Reconstruction Ends• Step One:

– Decline of Radical Republicans in Congress• General Grant became President after President

Johnson. His term is noteworthy for corruption committted by the friends he put into a variety of offices. They stole large sums of money

• Northerners did not trust the Republicans any more in general too the North became tired of the concept of reforming the South.

Reconstruction Ends• Step Two:• The Election of 1876

– Samual Tilden v.s. Rutherford B. Hayes– Tilden won the popular vote but did not have enough

of the electoral vote to win.Short by one– Hayes privately promised Southern states that had

the power to vote him in to end Reconstruction if he was voted into office by the special commission that was set up to solve the problem.

– Can you Guess who won?

Results of Reconstruction• Successes

– The South gained a public school system

– Expanded its Rail

Road lines.– All African Americans

became citizens– The 14th Amendment

became the basis of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s

• Failures– The development of

the Black Codes– The formation of the

KKK– Poverty continued for

many of the poor whites as well as the African Americans

Sources• www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/.../hreunited105x142.jpg

• www.expressflags.com/images/36stars.gif

• American Nation Textbook

• carbon.cudenver.edu/~rpekarek/reconst.gif

• http://www.cityofbarnesville.com/5/images/2080.jpg

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