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12 Reconstruction and Its Effects QUIT 12 Reconstruction and Its Effects CHAPTER OBJECTIVE INTERACT WITH HISTORY TIME LINE SECTION 1 The Politics of Reconstruction MAP SECTION 2 Reconstructing Society SECTION 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction VISUAL SUMMARY HOME 12 Reconstruction and Its Effects CHAPTER OBJECTIVE To understand the political struggle, accomplishments, and failures of Reconstruction in the years following the Civil War HOME 12 Reconstruction and Its Effects I N T E R A C T W I T H H I S T O R Y The year is 1865, and at last the Civil War is over. The South’s primary labor system, slavery, has been abolished. About 4.5 million African Americans now have their freedom but lack money, property, education, and opportunity. Southern states are beginning the process of readmission to the Union, but the effects of war continue to be felt throughout the South. Rail lines are unusable. Farms, plantations, and factories lie in ruins. What goals should the government set to reconstruct the South? Examine the Issues • How can Northern resources help the South? • In what ways can the South rebuild its economy? • What can the government do to assist African Americans? HOME 12 Reconstruction and Its Effects TIME LINE The United States The World 1864 Confederacy surrenders at Appomattox. 1865 Andrew Johnson becomes president after Lincoln’s assassination. 1866 President Johnson presses for moderate 1866 Austro-Prussian War is fought. Reconstruction policies. 1867 U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 1867 First South African diamond field is million. discovered. 1868 Congress impeaches President Johnson. Ulysses S. Grant is elected president. 1869 Mohandas K. Gandhi is born in India. continued . HOME 12 Reconstruction and Its Effects TIME LINE The United States The World 1870 Unification of Italy is completed. 1871 U.S. and Great Britain sign Treaty of 1871 Kaiser Wilhelm I unifies Germany. Washington. 1872 Horace Greeley runs for president as a Liberal Republican. President Grant is reelected. 1874 British declare Gold Coast of Africa a colony. 1875 France’s National Assembly votes to continue the Third Republic. 1876 Hayes-Tilden presidential election results in deadlock. 1877 Federal troops withdraw from the South. Rutherford B. Hayes is inaugurated. HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction KEY IDEA Congress opposed Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction and instead implemented its own plan to rebuild the South. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction OVERVIEW MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Congress opposed Lincoln’s and Reconstruction was an important Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction step in African Americans’ and instead implemented its own struggle for civil rights. plan to rebuild the South. TERMS & NAMES • Andrew Johnson • black codes • Radical Republicans • Thaddeus Stevens • impeach • Fourteenth Amendment • Wade-Davis Bill • Reconstruction • Fifteenth Amendment • Freedmen’s Bureau ASSESSMENT HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 1. Look at the chart to help organize your thoughts. List several features of presidential Reconstruction and congressional Reconstruction. Presidential Reconstruction Congressional Reconstruction • Executive branch should lead • Punish slaveholders Reconstruction • Congress should lead Reconstruction • Return South to the Union quickly • Blacks needed land, the vote, and • States to rejoin the Union if they legal protection to effect withdrew their secession, swore Reconstruction allegiance to the Union, annulled • Passage of Fourteenth and Fifteenth Confederate war debts Amendments and Reconstruction Act • Ratify the Thirteenth Amendment continued . HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 2. Describe how Reconstruction might have been different if Abraham Lincoln had lived. ANSWER Presidential reconstruction may have been viewed more favorably because of Lincoln’s stature and his increased wartime powers. continued . HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 3. What was the primary focus of the major Reconstruction legislation? ANSWER Granting and providing legal protection of African Americans’ civil rights continued . HOME 1 The Politics of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 4. Do you think the Radical Republicans were justified in impeaching President Johnson? Why or why not? Think About: • the controversy over Reconstruction policies • the meaning of the Tenure of Office Act • Johnson’s vetoes ANSWER Yes: Johnson was not carrying out his constitutional obligation to enforce the Reconstruction Act. For instance he removed military officers who attempted to enforce the act. No: Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which Johnson believed to be unconstitutional. When Johnson forced a test of this act, the House impeached him. End of Section 1 MAP HOME 2 Reconstructing Society KEY IDEA Various groups contributed to the rebuilding of Southern society after the war. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT MAP HOME 2 Reconstructing Society OVERVIEW MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Various groups contributed to the Many African-American rebuilding of Southern society institutions, including colleges after the war. and churches, were established during Reconstruction. TERMS & NAMES • Hiram Revels • scalawag • tenant farming • sharecropping • carpetbagger ASSESSMENT MAP HOME 2 Reconstructing Society ASSESSMENT 1. List five problems facing the South after the Civil War and at least one attempted solution for each one. Problem Attempted Solution Physical devastation Public works programs Former slaves separated from their Search for family members families Lack of education New schools established Lack of land Southern Homestead Act Labor shortage Sharecropping or tenant farming continued . HOME 2 Reconstructing Society ASSESSMENT 2. How did the Civil War weaken the Southern economy? Give examples to support your answer. ANSWER • It destroyed the South’s infrastructure, including bridges and roads. • devastated the population • devalued property • increased personal and government debts • increased taxes • limited land available for freedmen continued . HOME 2 Reconstructing Society ASSESSMENT 3. Thaddeus Stevens believed that giving land to former slaves was more important than giving them the vote. Do you agree or disagree? Why? ANSWER Agree—because freed persons needed their own land in order to gain economic independence. Disagree—because the right to vote gave freed men the power to change society’s laws. continued . HOME 2 Reconstructing Society ASSESSMENT 4. Which accomplishment of African Americans during Reconstruction do you consider most significant? Explain your choice. Think About: • the development of a free African-American community • the lingering effects of slavery • opportunities for leadership ANSWER Churches: controlled by African Americans, ministers emerged as leaders Schools: increased African American literacy Political involvement: power to attain equal rights End of Section 2 HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction KEY IDEA Southern opposition to Radical Reconstruction, along with economic problems in the North, ended Reconstruction. OVERVIEW ASSESSMENT HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction OVERVIEW MAIN IDEA WHY IT MATTERS NOW Southern opposition to Radical The failure of Congress and the Supreme Reconstruction, along with Court to protect the rights of African economic problems in the North, Americans during Reconstruction ended Reconstruction. delayed blacks’ achievement of full civil rights by over a century. TERMS & NAMES • Compromise of 1877 • home rule • Ku Klux Klan (KKK) • panic of 1873 • redemption • Rutherford B. Hayes • Samuel J. Tilden ASSESSMENT HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 1. Look at the time line below to help organize your thoughts. List the major events that ended Reconstruction. 1873 1870–1871 Supreme Court issued Enforcement 1872 Slaughterhouse Acts passed. Crédit Mobilier rulings. Event Two Event Four Event Six Event One Event Three Event Five Event Seven 1866 1872 1873 1876 Ku Klux Klan Amnesty Act Panic Hayes elected founded. passed. president. continued . HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 2. What were the positive and negative effects of Reconstruction? ANSWER Negatives—Democrats overthrew Radical reforms and curtailed African Americans’ civil rights; many African Americans and poor whites were trapped in a cycle of poverty due to sharecropping; Positives—African Americans founded churches, schools, and volunteer groups; they also displayed political and social leadership that inspired their descendants. continued . HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 3. During Reconstruction, was the presidency weak or strong? ANSWER POSSIBLE RESPONSE: Weak—During Reconstruction, presidents were hampered in their leadership by the following: poor relations with Congress, failure to use the power of their office, political inexperience, and economic turmoil. continued . HOME 3 The Collapse of Reconstruction ASSESSMENT 4. Do you think the political deal to settle the election of 1876 was an appropriate solution? Explain why or why not. Think About: • the causes of the conflict over the election • other possible solutions to the controversy • the impact of the settlement ANSWER Yes: Each group was satisfied with its gains: The Republicans got the presidency, and the Democrats were able to put an end to Radical Reconstruction in the South. No: The presidency should not be negotiable. The candidate who wins the popular vote should become President. End of Section 3 .
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