DEATH OF LINCOLN Location: Ford’s Theatre Washington D.C. Time/Date: April 14, :15 p.m. (EST) Assassin: John Wilkes BoothJohn Wilkes Booth Weapon: Derringer pistol dagger

Ch. 19| Sect. 1| Texas History Presidential Reconstruction

assassination

Reconstruction: the process of reuniting the nation and rebuilding the southern states. I. Emancipation Proclamation A. General Gordon Granger and 1,800 Union troops landed at Galveston and issued the proclamation declaring all enslaved Texans were free. B. Juneteenth is the holiday to celebrate June 19, 1865, in Texas. 1. Former slaves left plantations 2. Freed people went to courthouses to legalize their informal marriages 3. Former slaves searched for family members 4. Many gathered at military posts looking for jobs or for military protection

II. Freedmen ’ s Bureau A. In February 1865, the U. S. Congress proposed the 13 th Amendment, which abolish slavery. B. In March, Congress created the Freedmen ’ s Bureau to provide help and legal aid to freed people. C. One task of the Bureau was to provide relief to the thousands of people who had been left homeless by the Civil War. D. Many former slaves returned to their old plantations for work, and the bureau tried to regulate employment contracts. E. The Bureau established the first schools in Texas for African American children. F. The Bureau also defended the legal rights of freed Texans in court cases.

III. President Johnson ’ s Plan for Reconstruction ( see “ Plans of Reconstruction ” Notes ) A. After Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865, Andrew Johnson became President. B. Like Lincoln, President Johnson did not want to increase feelings of bitterness and wanted to reunite the country quickly. IV. Johnson appointed Andrew J. Hamilton as the provisional Texas governor. A. Represented Texas in the U. S. Congress from 1859 to B. Served as a general in Union army. C. Appointed Unionists and some former Confederates as government officials.

V. Convention of 1866 A. Hamilton called for election of delegates to a constitutional convention. B. Many delegates at the convention had actively supported the Confederacy. 1.9 had served in the Secession Convention in Several others had been high ranking Confederate officers. 3.4 delegates had not yet been pardoned by the President. 4. No African American delegates. C. Delegates spent 2 months writing the new constitution : 1. stated that secession was illegal. 2. stated that slavery was abolished. 3. stated that state war debts were canceled. 4. provided schools for African American children. 5. did not give African Texans full equal rights including the right to vote ( suffrage ).

VI. Election of 1866 A. Texas voters ratified the constitution in June making the constitution the law of the state. B. James W. Throckmorton became governor of Texas. ( He had been a Unionist before the war but supported Confederacy after Texas left the Union.) VII. President Johnson proclaimed that reconstruction in Texas was over. VIII. The Black Codes A. Laws passed by southern governments that denied civil rights to African Americans. 1. Laws restricted freedom of movement and jobs 2. Former slaves could be jailed for not having a job. B. African Americans had to deal with threats and violence.

Reactions to Freedom Government Actions Restrictions to Freedom Freedpeople in Texas  left plantations  legalized marriages  searched for family  gathered at military posts and towns looking for jobs, protection  proposed 13 th Amendment: abolished slavery  created Freedmen’s Bureau  could not vote or hold political office  denied many civil rights through Black Codes