The Era of Reconstruction

1. The Era of Reconstruction Mending old wounds and reuniting the Nation

2. The Goals of Reconstruction • Reunite the southern states back into the Union. • Rebuild the Southern economy without slavery. • Assist African Americans transition to a life of freedom.

3. Opposing views of Reconstruction Johnson's Plan • Confederate leaders could regain their political offices and vote if they swore an oath of loyalty to the U.S • Offered no rights or protection to African-Americans other then Emancipation. Radical Reconstruction • Former Confederate leaders could not regain political power. • Sought to grant equal rights and protections as Whites to African Americans. • Very harsh to former Confederate leaders, they could not hold political power again. Lincoln’s Plan 10% Plan • Southern states could rejoin the Union if 10% of voters swore an oath loyalty to the United States. • Southern states had to recognize that slavery was over. • High ranking Confederate leaders could not hold office any longer.

4. The People The Radical Republicans • Senator Charles Sumner • He was a senator from Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans • Saw Reconstruction as an opportunity to establish Civil Rights for African Americans in the south, and later on for the North. Representative Thaddeus Stevens Greatest champion for civil rights and suffrage for African Americans. • Andrew Johnson • 17th President • Johnson took over after Lincoln was assassinated, he was • a Southern Democrat • Racist • And hated the Southern Elite VS.

5. Radical Republicans take over • Proposed a Civil Rights Bill – to force southern states to recognize that African-Americans were citizens of and deserved the same rights as whites. • Reconstruction Act of 1867 • Placed the Southern States into Five Military Districts ruled by military governors. • The US military was used to protect the rights of African Americans living in the south. • Southern States could regain political control of their states if they agreed to the grant same rights to African Americans

6. Civil War Amendments

7. Ku Klux Klan Life changed drastically for the white man in the South. He saw, what he considered, a great land destroyed at the hands of an invading northern government. The Emancipation of his property and the elevation of the African American to an equal status among whites in the South. The “Old South” was gone, forever. People were mad, and needed to direct their anger towards those they felt responsible for the drastic changes that came about because of Reconstruction. The US government, Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and African Americans became the targets of these white southerners. More People Carpetbaggers were Northerners who came to the South to make a quick buck taking advantage of all the money to be made from rebuilding the South. Many made promises that were not kept, many made a lot of money from cheating out Southern. Scalawags were hated as well, they were white southerners who remained loyal to the Union. Needless to say they were resented Heavily by white supremacy groups like the KKK.

8. Life for African Americans in the South during Reconstruction Life for African Americans in the Era of Reconstruction was different, to say the least. Was it better? That depends on who you ask. For some African Americans things were dramatically different. African Americans could vote, hold office, leave the plantation and seek their own destinies for the first time in their lives. But for other African Americans, Reconstruction had little impact on improving their lives. Almost immediately after the Civil War, many southern states passed “Black Codes” to restrict African Americans from enjoying the rights they were now granted. Black Codes were originally “Slave” codes. In many instances the word “slave” was simply replaced with the word “Negro.” African American were free, but Civil Rights were another question.

9. The Freedman’s Bureau Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau to assist former slaves adjust to a life of freedom. At first the organization offered basic supplies like food, clothing and shelter to former slaves. As the agency grew and the needs of African American changed, so the did the Freedman’s Bureau. Providing education was perhaps the biggest contribution the Freedman’s Bureau made in assisting the lives of African Americans. However, the Bureau led to tension between whites and blacks. The Agency was funded through tax payer dollars and was essentially welfare for African Americans. The Program was defunded in 1872 and the agency shut down.

10. Sharecropping: Slavery’s new form African Americans were economically disadvantaged. For many, they only had skills that were valued on the plantation. In many ways their livelihood was still connected to the Plantation. Land owners no longer could force African Americans to work in the fields or on the plantation like they did in the past. Instead many turned to sharecropping, a system where the landowner continued to own the land but would share it with and allow other to work the land in exchange for a share of the profit from growing crops. Sharecropping was another form of slavery, poor whites and blacks suffered from a cycle of debt that kept them tied to the land. See the diagram above. Sharecroppers always found themselves in debt to the landowners and would have to agree to work the land for another season to pay back their debt. Sharecropping offered a solution to the labor shortage former plantation owners had, but offered little freedom the African Americans.

11. African Americans in Government Reconstruction saw the election of the 1st African American to serve in the Senate. Hiram Rhodes Revel was elected to the Senate from the state of Mississippi. Six other African Americans were also elected to the House of Representatives. These men were elected largely due to African American Suffrage. (15th Amendment)

12. The End of Reconstruction • By 1876, Northern Republicans had grown weary of protecting the rights of African Americans in the South. • Democrats were organizing to regain control of their state governments. • In the Election of 1876, the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, lost the popular vote to the Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden. Neither had enough electoral college votes to become president. • A deal was struck to name Hayes as president in exchange for Republicans to withdrawal federal troops in the South. • Democrats regained power in the South and Reconstruction was formally over.

13. Legacy of the Reconstruction • Historians argue about the successes of Reconstructions • The country was reunited, but African Americans did not achieve equality. • Many African Americans remained in poverty, and still faced wide spread discrimination. • The laws and Amendments passed during Reconstruction paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.