Bell RingerWith the person next to you, in the next 3 minutes…

SHAREAND

EXPLAIN

your chart homework.

Objectives1) 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’s Impeachment TrialJohnson 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.

Grant’s Presidency

Ulysses S. Grant won the election in 1868 and was re-elected in 1872, however, his presidency was full of scandals and

corruption.

Major Reconstruction LegislationLegislation 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

Bell RingerWith 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• 14th Amendment• Reconstruction Act of 1867• 15th Amendment• Enforcement Act of 1870

You have3 Mins!

Reconstruction ChangePolitical

This era in American history was dominated by the Republican Party (the anti-slavery 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

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)

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”

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

Reconstruction in the SouthOpen 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

VIOLENCEIn the 10 years after the war, thousands of black

men, women, and children were killed.

Churches, schools, property are all destroyed.

EconomicsOpposition groups

attacked blacks who worked in jobs other than

farming.Some southerners refused to do business with blacks.

Reconstruction in the South

Amnesty Act (1872)

Returned the right to vote and the right to hold

office to former Confederates

Enforcement Acts (1870-1871)

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.

Black Challenges in the SouthSecret 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- 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

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

Jim Crow LawsBecame firmly established in

southern states after Reconstruction

Required the separation of blacks and white in schools,

parks, public buildings, and public

transit

Declared legal by supreme court in

Plessy VS Ferguson decision

Battle against by the National Association for the Advancement

of Colored People (NAACP)

Jim Crow Laws: Court Cases

CIVIL RIGHTS CASES (1883)

Ruled that slavery was abolished but that discrimination by individuals was not prohibited by the Constitution

PLESSY VS FERGUSONEstablished

segregation to be legal as long as

“equal but separate” facilities were available to

blacks

Bell Ringer1) 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!

The Election of 1876Democrats 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.

Compromise of 1877In 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