Objectives Explore how Congress and the President clashed over Reconstruction. Describe the impact of Reconstruction on the South. Explain how Reconstruction came to an end.

Terms and People Reconstruction – the plan for bringing the South back into the Union Freedmen’s Bureau – a federal agency designed to aid freed slaves and relieve the South’s immediate needs Andrew Johnson – Vice President who became president when Lincoln was assassinated Thirteenth Amendment – an amendment to the Constitution ending slavery

Terms and People (continued) Radical Republicans – politicians who favored punishment and harsh reorganization for the South impeachment – the act of bringing charges against an official in order to determine whether he or she should be removed from office Fourteenth Amendment – an amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing full citizenship status and rights to every person born in the United States 3

Terms and People (continued) Fifteenth Amendment – guaranteed that no male citizen should be denied the right to vote on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” Ku Klux Klan – an organized secret society that used terror and violence against African Americans to keep them from voting de jure segregation – legal separation of the races

What were the immediate and long-term effects of Reconstruction? When the Civil War ended, the North and the South faced the challenge of how to reunite. The modern South was shaped by political decisions made during the decades after the war, and constitutional amendments passed during that time redefined American citizenship.

With the end of the Civil War, the task at hand was Reconstruction, bringing the South back into the Union. Lincoln hoped to bind the wounds of the ruined South. Others wanted to punish the South.

This federal agency was to Aid freed slaves Lincoln and Congress agreed on the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau just before the war ended. This federal agency was to Aid freed slaves Attend to the South’s immediate needs. While debate over Reconstruction went on, Lincoln was assassinated. Andrew Johnson became President. 8

Johnson wished to restore political power to southerners if they swore allegiance to the United States. Radical Republican congressmen disagreed, instead favoring punishment for the South. Congress voted to impeach the President. Though Johnson was not removed from office, he lost control of Reconstruction. Andrew Johnson

Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution Content 13th Amendment Ended slavery 14th Amendment Guaranteed full citizenship status and rights to every person born in the United States, including African Americans 15th Amendment Guaranteed that no male citizen could be denied the right to vote on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” 10

By 1868 many southern states had black elected officials. Radical Republicans gained control of Congress and designed an ambitious Reconstruction plan. They divided the South into five districts controlled by Union generals. They required southern states to grant the vote to black men and pass the 14th Amendment. By 1868 many southern states had black elected officials. 11

African American men and women legalized and celebrated their marriages and built strong churches. Formerly enslaved people carved out new lives. Freedmen’s Bureau schools filled up and many black adults and children learned to read.

They used terror and violence to keep African Americans from voting. Organized secret societies like the Ku Klux Klan appeared in the South, despite continued military occupation. They used terror and violence to keep African Americans from voting. 13

Northerners began to lose the will to remake the South. Most troops were withdrawn from the South in 1871. Southern white Democrats regained power by discrediting African American politicians. The 1876 election of Rutherford B. Hayes marked the end of Reconstruction. Rutherford B. Hayes

Historians debate whether Reconstruction was a success or a failure. The physical and economic rebuilding of the South began at this time, and the nation was permanently reunited. Political rights of African Americans disappeared and de jure segregation became the law in southern states.

Section Review QuickTake Quiz Know It, Show It Quiz 16