Reconstruction (1865 1877): Successes and Failures

American History A Mr. Bekemeyer Reconstruction (1865 -- 1877): Successes and Failures (Unit III, Segment 3 of 3) [From History Alive! Pursuing American Ideals – Chapter 11 (Sections 1 - 5)] I. An Overview of Reconstruction (1865 to 1877) A. Reconstruction is the era after the Civil War when the U.S. gov’t:

1. Brought the seceded Southern states ______

2. Ended slavery & tried to protect newly emancipated slaves

3. ______the nation after more than four years of fighting

B. Reconstruction occurred in 2 phases: 1. Presidential Reconstruction (1865-67) was ______in order to allow Southern states to quickly rejoin the Union; It was initiated by President Lincoln but carried out by President Andrew Johnson

2. Congressional Reconstruction (1867-77) was directed by Radical Republicans in Congress who wanted a ______plan that protected the rights of former slaves & kept Confederate leaders from regaining power in the South

II. Reconstruction Plans A. Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan (Proposed but never enacted) 1. Before the Civil War came to an end (& before his death), Lincoln proposed his Ten - Percent Plan

2. This plan was very lenient & allowed former Confederate states could ______the Union when:

a. 10% of its population swore an oath to the USA

b. States ratified the ______ending slavery B. Presidential Reconstruction under Andrew Johnson (1865-1867) 1. When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865 VP Andrew Johnson tried to continue Lincoln’s policies:

a. His ______plan was lenient towards Southerners

b. States could come back into the USA once they ratified the 13th Amendment

2. Johnson’s Reconstruction plan hoped to quickly re-unify the nation

3. But, this plan did not require strict regulations to protect former slaves

a. Southern states passed black codes to keep African-Americans from gaining ______, jobs, voting rights, & protection under the law

b. Johnson ______13,000 ex-Confederates

4. Led by Thaddeus Stevens, many “______” Republicans in Congress opposed Johnson’s plan & pushed for laws to ______African-Americans:

a. The ______was established in 1865 to offer assistance to former slaves & protect their new citizenship:

(i.) Provided emergency food, housing, medical supplies

(ii.) Created new ______(The emphasis on education led to the creation of African American universities, such as ______in Atlanta)

b. (Many former abolitionists moved South to help freedmen, called “______” by Southern Democrats)

c. Congress feared Johnson would allow violations of civil rights so it drafted the ______:

(i.) Clarified the idea of ______to include former slaves

(ii.) All citizens were entitled to ______under the law & cannot be deprived of life, liberty, property without due process of law 5. President Johnson opposed these new protections because he felt it would _____ reconstruction:

a. Johnson ______the Freedman’s Bureau bill & encouraged Southern states to not support the 14th Amendment

b. This backfired when Republicans increased their control of Congress in the 1866 elections

C. Congressional Reconstruction (1867-1877) 1. With a dominance in Congress, moderate & “radical” Republicans took control & began “______Reconstruction” in 1867:

a. Did not ______the state gov’ts approved under Johnson’s Plan

b. Made Reconstruction more ______

2. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 required that any Confederate state that wanted to re-enter the Union had to:

a. Ratify the 14th Amendment

b. Allow African-American men the right to vote in their states

c. Keep ______from returning to power

d. Created 5 ______to protect former slaves & to enforce reconstruction

D. President Andrew Johnson’s Impeachment (1868) 1. President Johnson obstructed Congressional Reconstruction:

a. He fired military generals appointed by Congress to oversee Southern military zones

b. He violated a new law called the Tenure of Office Act when he tried to fire his Secretary of War who supported Congress’ plan

2. Radical Republicans used this as an opportunity to ______the president

a. To impeach is to formally charge an elected official of wrongdoing

b. The House of Representatives voted 126-47 to impeach Johnson c. After an 11 week trial, the Senate fell 1 vote short of removing the president from office

d. Johnson argued that removal could only occur due to “high crimes & misdemeanors” but no “crime” had been committed

e. But, Johnson did promise to enforce Reconstruction for the remainder of his term… & he did!

E. The Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant (1869-1877) 1. In 1868, Civil War hero Ulysses Grant won the presidency & worked with Congress to ______the South:

a. By 1868, most Confederate states had been re-admitted to the Union under Congressional Reconstruction

b. Because of Congressional Reconstruction, African-American men in the South could ______for the first time

2. In 1870, the ______gave black men the right to vote

a. Prohibited any state from denying men the right to vote due to ______

b. But…the amendment said nothing about literacy tests, ______, & property qualifications

III. The Successes of Reconstruction A. Through Reconstruction, the national gov’t achieved Lincoln’s original goal: “______”

1. By 1870, all 11 Confederate states had been re-admitted into the United States

2. The states' rights & nullification arguments came to an end

B. Reconstruction led to the end of slavery & protections for all citizens, including African-Americans:

1. 13th Amendment ______2. 14th Amendment guaranteed all citizens, regardless of race, ______under the law 3. 15th Amendment gave ______to African-American men C. Reconstruction was the “golden age” of voting for African-Americans:

1. With the right to ______, military districts, & ______in the South to protect voters, African-Americans were empowered

2. The first African-American ______were elected to state & national offices

3. ______took control of state governments in the South

D. Reconstruction stressed education: 1. Before the Civil War, it was illegal to teach slaves to read & write

2. The Freedman’s Bureau created ______for African-Americans

E. The end of slavery allowed African-American _____ to be reunited, ______to be legally recognized, & African-American workers to make their own money

IV. Failures of Reconstruction A. Sharecropping (Tenant Farming)

1. After the Civil War, slavery was replaced by ______:

a. White land owners would “______” parcels of their fields to African- Americans in exchange for 1/2 to 1/4 of the cotton that they produced

b. But, former slaves had no ______for tools or seeds so they gained loans from the land owner in exchange for more of their cotton

c. By the end of 1865, most ______had returned to work on the same plantations on which they were previously ______B. Southern whites resisted attempts at reconstruction by:

1. Passing discriminatory laws called ______:

a. These laws restricted African-Americans from serving on juries, testifying against whites in court, ______whites, or owning land

b. Black codes kept African-Americans from being able to have true ______2. Using violence & intimidation to keep African-Americans inferior to whites: a. Groups like the ______attacked African- Americans who tried to vote or spoke out against black codes; carpetbaggers, & ______(whites who voted Republican)

b. lynching became common

3. The inability of the federal gov’t to sustain Reconstruction a. ______and scandals during Grant’s presidency & economic recession in 1873 distracted northerners from Reconstruction

b. The Supreme Court ruled against civil rights laws designed to protect African-Americans

4. Supporting the return of the Democratic Party to state gov’ts: a. The KKK & black codes became successful in ______African- American voting

b. Federal troops & military districts had difficulty protecting African- Americans

c. One-by-one, Southern state gov’ts shifted from Republican control to the Democratic Party

d. These “Reedemer Democrats” hoped to restore the “______”

C. In 1877, Reconstruction ended:

1. The ______returned to power in all 11 Southern states

2. The only thing protecting African-Americans were federal troops; but by 1875, Grant had stopped sending reinforcements 3. The “Compromise of 1877”:

a. In the 1876 election, neither Democrat Tilden nor Republican ______won a majority of electoral vote

b. Democrats in Congress agreed to vote for Hayes if the remaining federal troops were ______from the South

c. President Hayes removed federal troops & ended ______

d. Reconstruction officially ______in 1877

V. With Reconstruction over, the Jim Crow era began (1877-1954) A. ______laws, such as literacy tests (reading requirements) & poll taxes (fees to vote) kept African-Americans from voting

B. ______clauses allowed poor whites to avoid these laws & vote

C. In Plessy v Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court said segregation was OK (“______”)

Thoughts on "Jim Crow?" --- American History A Mr. Bekemeyer Team Members: ______

______

Creating a Plan to Reconstruct the Union After the Civil War

Overview: You are a member of Congress in 1865. The Civil War is finally over and the North has won. Your most important job is to develop a plan to “reconstruct” America after the Civil War. To do this, consider solutions to the following problems:

Problem #1: Southern states seceded and left the Union. The President and Congress can determine the rules by which the Southern states should be re-admitted. Should Southern states be granted mercy and offered a quick and easy series of requirements in order to return to the Union? Or should Southern states be punished for the Civil War and required to meet a series of strict regulation before being re-admitted to the Union? Explain your rationale.

Problem #2: Based upon your answer in the previous question, what are your requirements for Southern re- admission to the Union? Be sure to explain why your group has picked these options.

Southern states will not be re-admitted in the United States until the following conditions are met (Pick as many of the following options as you feel are appropriate):

a) States must re-write their state constitutions and reapply as states because they willingly broke away from the USA to join the Confederate States of America b) States were never really legally part of the CSA so rewriting their state constitution is not necessary. (choices “a” and “b” are mutually exclusive) c) States must agree to the 13th Amendment (abolition of slavery) d) States cannot allow Confederate leaders to be elected into government positions e) States must disband their militaries f) States cannot manufacture any military equipment g) States must turn over to federal marshals all leaders of the Confederacy who live in their state who played a military or political role in the Civil War. h) States must seize the plantations of large slave owners, divide this land, and sell the pieces off in order to destroy the plantation system of the South i) States cannot be readmitted until 10% of their citizens take a loyalty oath to the USA j) States cannot be readmitted until more than 50% of their citizens take a loyalty oath (choices “i” and “j” are mutually exclusive) k) Other conditions…? l) States should be readmitted immediately without any conditions (choice “l” is mutually exclusive with all other choices “a-k”)

Problem #3: What should be done with the freed slaves in the South? What kinds of services or protections should the national government provide in order to help guarantee their safety and freedom in the South after the Civil War?