The South During Reconstruction Chapter 16, Section 3 and 4

African Americans in Government African Americans played an important role in Reconstruction politics as both voters and as elected officials. 16 African Americans served in the House of Representatives and 2 in the Senate between 1869 and 1880 including Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce.

Scalawags Some Southern whites supported Republican policy throughout Reconstruction. Many were nonslaveholding farmers or business leaders who had opposed secession in the first place. Former Confederates despised these individuals and called them scalawags which means “worthless rascals.”

Carpetbaggers Many Northern whites who moved to the South after the war also supported the Republicans. Southerner called these individuals carpetbaggers because they arrived with their belongings in suitcases made of carpet fabric. Some of these carpetbaggers were greedy and took advantage of the situation in the South (people and economy).

Resistance to Reconstruction During Reconstruction most white Southerners opposed efforts to expand African American’s rights. Many southerners told African Americans they could not leave the plantation. White land owners refused to rent land to freedmen. Store owners refused to give free African Americans credit and many employers refused to give them work.

Resistance to Reconstruction Violence against African Americans and their white supporters was common during Reconstruction. Violence was committed by secret societies organized to prevent freed men and women from exercising their rights.

Ku Klux Klan The most terrifying of these societies that resisted African American freedom, the Ku Klux Klan, was formed in 1866. The Klan began in Tennessee and was founded by former southern general Nathan Bedford Forrest. These men wore dark or white sheets and hoods. They went on “midnight rides” against African Americans, burning their homes, schools and churches. In Jackson County, Florida, the clan murdered more than 150 people over a three year period.

Ku Klux Klan Klan violence usually increased just before an election. The Klan also attacked white supporters of Reconstruction. Members of the Klan saw violence as a defense against Republican rule. Attempts were made to stop the growing violence; however, these laws had limited success.

Improvements Despite the violence, Reconstruction brought important changes throughout the South. Education improved for both African Americans and whites. In the 1870’s Reconstruction governments set up public school systems for both races. Within only a few years 50% of white children and 40% of African American children in the South were enrolled in public schools. Generally speaking, African American and white students attended different schools.

Farming the Land The most common type of job for African Americans was sharecropping. This method rarely offered enough food for a sharecropper to feed their family. However, many African Americans believed this to be better than slavery.

Election of 1876 During Grant’s presidency, Northerners began losing interest in Reconstruction. Many believed it was time for the South to start solving its own problems. In 1876 a new president was elected, Rutherford B. Hayes.

Election of 1876 In his inaugural address, Rutherford B. Hayes made it clear that the federal government would no longer help Southern society or African Americans living in the South. Reconstruction was officially over!

Rise of the New South Following Reconstruction, the South realized they needed to build a strong industrial economy. They hoped to establish a “New South” and have industries based on coal, iron, tobacco, cotton and lumber. Industry in the South made dramatic gains with the strongest advancements in the textile industry.

Rise of the New South The iron and steel industry also grew rapidly. The Bessmer process made it inexpensive to produce steel from iron. By 1890 the South produced nearly 20% of the nations iron and steel. Most of the industry was in Alabama near deposits of iron ore.

Rise of the New South A cheap and reliable workforce helped industry grow in the South. People worked long hours for low wages especially African Americans. Sometimes whole families including children worked in factories.

Divided Society As Reconstruction ended African American’s dreams for justice faded. Although the Fifteenth Amendment prohibited any state from denying an individual the right to vote, the South soon found loop holes in the amendment.

How did the South restrict African American voting? Many Southern states required a poll tax, a fee people had to pay in order to vote. Many African Americans could not afford the tax; thus, they were not allowed to vote. Another approach was the literacy test. If you could not read then you could not vote. Literacy tests could keep some whites from voting. For this reason some states created grandfather clauses. These laws allowed individuals who did not pass the literacy test to vote if their father or grandfather had voted before Reconstruction. Because African Americans could not vote until 1867, they were excluded! In addition to all of this, the threat of violence from the Ku Klux Klan caused African American voting to decline! Some violence included lynching!

Divided Society Other laws hurt African Americans. Segregation or the separation of races was a feature of life in the South. Jim Crow laws required African Americans and whites to be separated in every aspect of public life.

Divided Society In 1896 the Supreme Court upheld Jim Crow laws and segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson. The court ruled that segregation was legal as long as African Americans had access to public facilities equal to those of whites. Only problem was that facilities were separate but in no way equal. By 1890 the South was a segregated society!