1 / 15

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:

walt
Download Presentation

Reconstruction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  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

More Related