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Reconstruction

Reconstruction. Reconstruction was the period between 1865-1877 that saw the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War. It also refers to the rebuilding of the federal union – politically, economically and socially. Reconstruction had to choose answers to the following questions:

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Reconstruction

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  1. Reconstruction • Reconstruction was the period between 1865-1877 that saw the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War. • It also refers to the rebuilding of the federal union – politically, economically and socially. • Reconstruction had to choose answers to the following questions: • 1. How was the defeated South to be treated? • 2. What was to be the future of the newly freed slaves? • 3. Were key decisions to be made by state governments or by Washington? • 4. Was congress or the president to establish policies?

  2. Reconstructions • Radical Republicans • Wanted full citizenship for all former slaves • Extend voting rights to all former slaves • Lincoln’s Plan • 10% of the confederate states voters had to take an oath of loyalty to the Union • Those voters had to form a new state government and write a constitution that abolished slavery • He hoped being lenient would prompt southerners to accept emancipation

  3. Civil War Amendments • 13th Amendment: abolished slavery • 14th Amendment: everyone born in the US (except Native Americans) was a citizen; no state could interfere with rights granted to citizens by the Constitution • 15th Amendment: The right to vote could not be denied based on “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”

  4. Freedman’s Bureau • Freedman’s Bureau: Agency intended to help newly emancipated African Americans • Helped African Americans and poor whites acquire: • food • shelter • employment • medical care • legal aid • schooling

  5. Freedman’s Bureau • Established the first colleges for African Americans • Howard University • Hampton Institute • Fisk University The Freedman’s Bureau lasted until 1872.

  6. Plessy v. Ferguson • 1892 Homer Plessy tested the Separate Car Act’s constitutionality • Homer Plessy was 1/8 black • Claimed the Separate Car Act violated the 13th and 14th Amendments • Louisiana judge said the Act was unconstitutional for trains traveling between states • Judge said it was ok for trains within the state • 1896 Supreme Court stated that separate but equal treatment was OK.

  7. Population of African Americans in cities doubled between 1865 and 1870 • Sharecropping: African Americans and poor whites worked a small plot of land owned by white landlords. • Landlords gave supplies and sharecroppers gave part of their crop to pay for use of land. • African American churches were first social institutions controlled by African Americans

  8. White Resistance • Ku Klux Klan: beat, lynched, intimidated, murdered, burned African American homes and churches • States used a poll tax (people had to pay before they voted) • Segregation Laws (Jim Crow Laws): separation of the races • Schools • Restaurants • Trains

  9. Westward Expansion • Why? • To settle land • To make money • Find gold • Transcontinental Railroad: connected cities in the east, mid-west and west • Continued to push Native Americans aside

  10. Reservations • US government set aside tracts of land for Native Americans • Promised Native Americans that they would have that land forever • Settlers continued to move onto Native American lands • Some Native Americans resisted

  11. Buffalo Soldiers • By 1881 most Native Americans lived on Reservations • African American Army units guarded the reservations • Government used these units to keep peace on the frontier • African Americans saw the units as a way to build careers denied to them elsewhere

  12. Wounded Knee • A religious movement formed around the Ghost Dance which Native Americans thought would restore their lands and traditions • US officials thought it might be a war dance • They attempted to arrest Sitting Bull, in the confusion Sitting Bull and others were killed • The Sioux were sent to a camp near Wounded Knee Creek • A shot rang out and fight ensued • Nearly all of the 350 Sioux were killed including women and children

  13. Effects on Native Americans • Reformers protested the policies towards Native Americans • Some created programs that would force Native Americans to assimilate • Between 1887 and 1934 Native Americans went from 138 million acres of land to 55 million acres • In 1900 there were 200,000 Native Americans living in the US, mostly on reservations • Congress tried to end reservations through the Dawes Act in 1887

  14. The Dawes Act 1887 • Divided plots of land for individual families • Native Americans had little experience with agriculture • Government gave them seeds but not instructions on planting • Many Native Americans had no interest in farming and sold their land to whites for low prices

  15. http://www.nps.gov/history/nagpra/documents/RESERV.PDF

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