Unit Four-Reconstruction

1. Unit Four-Reconstruction Mr. Johnson’s Social Studies

2. Vocabulary • 1. Radical Republicans • 2. Reconstruction • 3. Lincoln’s 10% Plan • 4. Freedmen’s Bureau • 5. Andrew Johnson • 6. black codes • 7. civil rights • 8. 13th Amendment • 9. 14th Amendment • 10. sharecropping • 11. Ku Klux Klan • 12. Lynch • 13. 15th Amendment • 14. Compromise of 1877 • 15. Carpetbagger • 16. Scalawag • 17. Amnesty • 18. Impeach

3. Bell Work • Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty back together again. • Explain how this could be the story of the South after the Civil War. Think about the people that the rhyme is talking about. Who would each item in the poem resemble in the Reconstruction Era?

4. The Reconstruction Debate • The Southern states now had to be brought back into the Union. • The states were economically and physically ruined by the war. • The task of rebuilding and reintegrating these states was called Reconstruction. • The President and Congress had different ideas about how to best complete Reconstruction.

5. Ten Percent Plan • President Lincoln’s plan was presented before the end of the war. • Lincoln would require voters to take an oath of loyalty to the Union. When 10% of the voters took the oath the state could form a new government. • The state would be required to adopt a new constitution banning slavery. • Once these requirements were met the state could send representatives to Congress.

6. Ten Percent Plan • Lincoln did not want to punish the South after the war ended, he believed it would accomplish little and slow the healing process. • The President offered amnesty to any who would swear loyalty to the Union. Only Confederate leaders were not offered amnesty. • Some Republicans thought this plan was too easy on the South and refused to seat representatives from states that followed Lincoln’s orders.

7. Check for Understanding • With your table discuss the following. • What were the requirements of the Ten Percent Plan? • Why did Republicans refuse to sit Southern Representatives? • Be prepared to share with the class.

8. Bell Work • If you were President after a Civil War how would you reunite the nation? What steps would you take and what would you have to be careful of?

9. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we discuss in our previous lesson? • What were the requirements of the Ten Percent Plan? • Why did Republicans refuse to sit Southern Representatives?

10. The Radical Republicans • A large group of Republicans favored a more radical approach than the Ten Percent Plan. They became known as the Radical Republicans. • They claimed that all Southern institutions must be destroyed and rebuilt or else it would all fall apart. • Their party held the majority in Congress and with their influence they voted against seating Southern Representatives.

11. Radical Plan • The Radicals introduced a new plan which was much harsher in it’s treatment of the south. • Instead of ten percent the plan called for over 50% of adult white males to take an oath of loyalty. Only those who had not fought for the confederacy could vote or run for office. • Lincoln objected to the severity of the plan and vetoed the bill. He realized that he would have to compromise with the Radicals.

12. The Freedmen's Bureau • Lincoln helped create the Freedmen’s Bureau to help former slaves adjust to their new lives. • The Bureau supplied food, clothing, and medicine to poor southerners. • The Bureau set up schools, some staffed with teachers from the north. • Lastly they helped some people get their own land to farm or find work for fair pay.

13. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table. • What was the Radicals plan for Reconstruction? • What were the goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau? • Be prepared to share with the class.

14. Bell Work • What is a Presidential veto? Are there any ways to get around a veto?

15. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we learn in our previous lesson? • Who were the Radical Republicans? • What were the goals of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

16. A New Plan • Tragedy struck on April 14th, 1865 when John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln while he was watching a play. • Andrew Johnson, a Southerner, took over as President and he had his own ideas about Reconstruction. • Johnson made top Confederate leaders appeal to him personally for a pardon. • The new President did not believe in equal rights for Black people and believed that “White men alone must manage the South” he said.

17. Protecting Equal Rights • In 1865 former Confederate states began re-entering the Union with new government’s and slavery banned according to Johnson’s plan. • Radical Republicans still refused to seat them believing that their return terms were too lenient. • Radicals didn’t like the laws passed in the South in 1866 known as the Black Codes. • These laws were designed to control newly freed Black people. Some made it illegal to own farms.

18. The Black Codes • The Black Codes let employers take advantage of Black people or even arrest those without a job. This seemed little better than slavery. • To combat this the Freedmen’s Bureau passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which set up new courts to hear complaints from Black people where they could sit on the jury. They also voted to give Black people citizenship. • President Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Congress overrode both vetoes and began to see that there would be no compromise with the President.

19. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table. • What was the Civil Rights Act of 1866? • What were the Black Codes? • Be prepared to share with the classs.

20. Bell Work • What are the strengths and weaknesses of living in a democratic society? • (A society where the people vote and make their own laws.)

21. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we discuss in our previous lesson? • What was President Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction? • What were the Black Codes?

22. The Fourteenth Amendment • Congress was worried that the Civil Rights Act would be overturned so they proposed the 14th Amendment and ratified it in 1868. • It states “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” • This amendment protected the citizenship extended to Black people by the Civil Rights Act and ensured it could not be taken away by another law later. • If the state barred people from voting they could lose their representation in Congress. Another clause of the 14th Amendment stated that a persons “Life, liberty, or property” could not be taken without the due process of the law. It also said everyone was entitled to equal protection of the law.

23. Radicals in Charge • President Johnson rallied against the Radical Republicans and the 14th Amendment in 1866. Northerners didn’t like his message and the Radicals won an overwhelming majority. • By 1867 ten southern states still had not ratified the 14th Amendment. In response Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act. This divided the South into five military districts controlled by generals instead of state governments. • The army registered voters, including newly enfranchised blacks, and organized state constitution conventions. • Many angry white southerners refused to vote for the new governments but Black people voted in waves and Republicans were voted into office in many southern states.

24. Impeaching the President • As Commander in Chief President Johnson was in charge of the military district governors. Because he didn’t support Reconstruction he attempted to interfere with these men. • Congress passed a law limiting the President’s power to remove officials. Not long after Johnson removed his Secretary of War without Senate approval. • Congress voted to impeach, or formally charge with wrongdoing, the President. The trial lasted 3 months in the Senate but they didn’t get the 2/3rds majority to convict, but Johnson didn’t interfere again.

25. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table? • What is the 14th Amendment? • What is impeachment? • Be prepared to share with the class.

26. Bell Work • What is your definition of terrorism? When is the use of fear as a weapon acceptable?

27. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we discuss in our previous lesson? • What is the 14th Amendment? • What is impeachment? • Did President Johnson get impeached?

28. The Fifteenth Amendment • In the election of 1868 former General Ulysses S. Grant won in a landslide. Voters also continued to support Radical Reconstruction. • In 1869 Congress passed the 15th Amendment. It guaranteed that state and federal governments could not deny the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. • When it was ratified in 1870 Radical Republicans believed their job was done. With the power to vote Black people could protect themselves against unfair treatment but this would prove to be inaccurate.

29. New Governments • During Reconstruction Black people had a tremendous impact of Southern governments, even holding several key offices. • Southern whites who supported the Republican party were called Scalawags by the former Confederate neighbors. • They called newcomers from the North Carpetbaggers, referring to their suitcases made from fabric. They were weary of new people trying to buy land.

30. Resistance to Reconstruction • Even during Reconstruction life was harder for Blacks in the south than their white counterparts. They were denied rent, jobs, store credit, and more. • More dangerous were groups like the Ku Klux Klan. They used fear and violence to deny rights to Black people. • They disguised themselves in sheets and hoods and threatened, beat, and killed thousands of Blacks in the South. • Klan members burned churches, schools, and houses as part of their campaign of terror. Congress passed laws against them with varying degrees of success.

31. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table. • What is the Fifteenth Amendment? • What was the Ku Klux Klan? • Be prepared to share with the class.

32. Bell Work

33. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we discuss in our previous lesson? • What is the 15th Amendment? • What were the tactics of the KKK?

34. Education and Farming • Many schools were built in the early days of Reconstruction. About half the children in the South were now attending school. • Newly freed slaves also wanted land so they could provide for their families and make money. • Southerner’s inflated the price of land so it was unaffordable and started renting out parcels of land in exchange for a percentage of their crops. • This was known as Sharecropping and most landowners demanded an unfair percentage of crops, for most this was little better than slavery.

35. President Grant • While Grant had been a terrific General he was an inexperienced politician. His presidency became known as the Great BBQ because everyone helped themselves. • During his second term a large bank went under and this triggered the Panic of 1873 which led to a depression lasting the rest of the decade. • The scandals and corruption that stemmed from giving office to his friends hurt the Republican party and led to Democrats regaining control of Congress. • Democrats called themselves redeemers and claimed to be saving their governments from Black Republican rule.

36. Election of 1876 • Rutherford B. Hayes ran against Sam Tilden and the election came down to the wire with Tilden appearing to have the edge. • A special commission of eight Republicans and seven Democrats was created to figure out who won the Florida election and each person voted along party lines to award the votes, and the election to Hayes. • Democrats were outraged but they took an offered deal of letting Hayes win in exchange for all Federal troops being removed from the South. • Republicans agreed and Reconstruction came to an end. The Black community felt betrayed and were abandoned to live under Southern governments.  Known as the Corrupt Bargain of 1877

37. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table. • What is sharecropping? • What was the Corrupt Bargain of 1877? • Be prepared to share with the class.

38. Bell Work • In what ways has Reconstruction been helpful for the South? In what ways has it been harmful for the South?

39. Time to Flip the Switch • What did we discuss in our previous lesson? • What is sharecropping?

40. The New South • Many Southerners were convinced that they needed to grow the industry in the South. They built factories for coal, iron, tobacco, cotton, and lumber. • By 1890 the South was producing 20% of the countries iron and steel. They doubled their railroad lines and port cities boomed as they shipped lumber. • Despite these changes agriculture remained the South’s main form of economy. Many farmers still relied on growing cotton which drove the price down and many still struggled to make ends meet in the South.

41. Jim Crow Laws • To prevent Blacks from voting the South started giving very difficult literacy tests. So Whites wouldn’t have to take the test they were “grandfathered” in. Voting declined sharply in the Black community. • Segregation laws were passed that required separate facilities for Blacks and Whites. The Supreme Court upheld these laws as long as the facilities were equal. They were not. • Lynching also became more common. Mobs would single out Black people and hang them for imaginary crimes with no fair trial.

42. Reconstructions Impact • Formerly enslaved people began leaving the South. They called themselves Exodusters. • Some escaped by joining the army and fighting out west against the Native tribes. They were called “Buffalo Soldiers” by the Apache. • After Reconstruction the South’s economy was partly recovered although most people were still poor. • Black people had made great advancements but their gains were only temporary. It would be a long struggle to gain true equality.

43. Check for Understanding • Discuss the following with your table. • What changes did the South make to their economy? • Who were the Buffalo soldiers? • Be prepared to share with the class.