RECONSTRUCTION ( ) Clean Up! Fix Up!

What issues does the President face regarding Reconstruction?

Ruins of Gallego Flour Mill - Richmond, VA

Vicinity of Atlanta, GA

Charleston, SC April 1865

Charleston, SC April 1865

Charleston, SC April 1865

Remember the Death Tolls Northern Death Toll 364,000 deaths (38,000 were African Americans) Southern Death Toll 260,000 deaths 1/5 th of all adult white males were dead 1 out of 3 males were killed or wounded

Physical Damage in South Farmland, machinery, and buildings damaged or destroyed; Work animals and livestock killed; Infrastructure destroyed (roadways, bridges, tunnels); Seaports damaged; and 9,000 miles of railroads ruined

Sherman’s Neckties

General Sherman regarding the Southern train tracks (7/18/1864) “... (we should be) twisting the bars when hot. Officers should be instructed that bars simply bent may be used again but if when red hot they are twisted out of line they cannot be used again. Pile the ties into shape for a bonfire, put the rails across and when red hot in the middle, let a man at each end twist the bar so that its surface becomes spiral.”

Reconstruction Lasted That would be 12 years and involved four presidents !

Reconstruction was…. The federal government’s controversial effort to

Reconstruction was…. The federal government’s controversial effort to 1. repair the damage to the South and

Reconstruction was…. The federal government’s controversial effort to 1. repair the damage to the South and 2. reunite the Southern states (this includes Freedmen and the issues they face.)

Notes for Wednesday, 2/13/13

HARDSHIPS FOR THE SOUTHERNER’S

Hardships for the Southerner’s Plantation Owners Poor White Southerners Blacks or “Freedmen"

Plantation Owners Lose their slaves (property value) Have to pay salaries for labor

Plantation Owners, cont. Land/property was often seized by the government

Poor White Southerners or Middling Whites Must compete with former slaves (Freedmen) for jobs Lose social status (= with Freedmen) Lose property/homes, and

Poor White Southerners or Middling Whites Many migrate West (TX and MS) for jobs, but they must have $$$$

Blacks or “Freedmen” Face a new life in poor economic area Homeless and hungry Unemployed, and

Na wengi hawawezi kusoma wala kuandika!

You don’t read Swahili? And many can’t read or write!

They face the question: Stay or go? Do they really have any choice? Why or why not?

Notes for Thursday, 2/14/13

Slave Narrative: Fountain Hughes

Three Questions About Fountain Hughes What freedoms did he experience? What limitations did he experience? What might be Fountain’s opinion of Reconstruction?

Focus on One Group: Freedmen’s Life During Reconstruction

Freedom! The Joys Move/Travel Freely Founded Schools Establish Religion Marry Legally Own Land

Freedom! The Limitations/Needs Housing Food Clothing Jobs... What can they do?

Sharecropping A landowner allows person to use the land in return for a share of the crop produced on the land (50% split), but... Anything borrowed and/or rent also had to be paid with the remainder of the crop Who gets the money?

Tenant Farming Only slightly better…these farmers have purchased their own equipment and only rent the land. Economic Limitation for Freedmen

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed to help former slaves Provided food, schools, legal help, etc.

Students standing outside a freedmen’s school known as James’ Plantation School (North Carolina)

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed to help former slaves Provided food, schools, legal help, etc. Unpopular with many White Southerners

Due to the unpopularity of the Freedmen’s Bureau, it... Could not overcome Southern hostility, Lacked political support of North and South, and Ended in 1872

Imagine you are a White Southerner... Wouldn’t you be angry that the Freedmen are getting all this help? What might you do? You might become defiant! You might feel that you have lost power!

From Harper’s Weekly : Summary of the Republican view of the Democratic Party right after the Civil War NBC Learn Video: “This is a White Man’s Government

Limits to Freedmen’s Rights Disenfranchisement (means to prevent from voting) Black Codes/Jim Crow Laws Hate Groups

Disenfranchisement To prevent from voting (14 th /15 th Amendments were to prevent this) Used various methods that included 1. poll taxes (to be paid when vote) 2. literacy tests 3. threats

Sometimes the threat is deadly.

Black Codes/Jim Crow Laws Limits rights and opportunities Limits jobs to only farm work and unskilled labor Set curfews Set punishments for vagrancy (not working)

Black Code Sample and Jim Crow Reading

Rise of KKK – violent response to Radical Reconstruction

Ku Klux Klan Started in 1866 by 6 former Confederate soldiers Members wore robes and masks to look like the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers who returned for revenge against enemies of the South.

Nathan Bedford Forrest First National Leader of the KKK and Former Confederate Leader

Their Goal: deny African-Americans their rights and keep them in the role of submissive laborers. It also included other groups such as the White League

KKK Rally in Delmar, DE (1920)

Ku Klux Klan Gathering in Newark, DE (1965) Photo: Delaware Historical Society

A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, AL, Independent Monitor (1868)

Carpetbaggers Northern Republicans who moved South to work in gov’t or make money.

Scalawags a Southern white who joined the Republican Party in the ex- Confederate South during Reconstruction

Reconstruction Political Plans Johnson’s/Presidential Reconstruction Plan versus Radical/Congressional Reconstruction Plan

CP Plans Activity Information In History Alive Textbook... Page 134 – Information about Johnson’s Plan Page136 – Information about Congressional or Radical Reconstruction Plan

Lincoln’s Plan is never implemented! April Lincoln assassinated 13 th amendment officially ends slavery in all of the United States

Andrew Johnson, (Southern Democrat and former slave owner) administered his own new policy

The Johnson Plan (or Presidential Reconstruction) 1. Forgives Confederates as long as they sign a loyalty oath. 2. New state governments must be elected. Former Confederates are allowed to serve. 3. The Act of Secession (when states seceded) must be repealed.

Johnson’s Plan, cont. 4. States must write a new state constitution. 5. War debts must be cancelled. 6. (Southern) States must ratify the 13 th Amendment (which ends slavery), but Freedmen do not get a chance to vote.

Johnson’s Plan - PROBLEMS More generous to the South! Amnesty or forgiveness is awarded to “certain” Southerners, by Johnson. Does not “punish” the South! Johnson shows leniency (mercy or compassion) towards the White Southerners.

Johnson’s Presidency He lacked Mandate to govern Support of Congress Also was anti- civil rights BTW: He would not support the 13 th Amendment!

Tension Between Johnson and Congress Leads to Impeachment Trial! -The House votes to “impeach” Johnson (to accuse of wrongdoing and bring to trial) -President escapes removal by only 1 vote

Honors “Plans” Reading Read Johnson’s statement first, then Stevens’ statement and answer all questions. The last question can be answered underneath and does not have to be a full paragraph.

Descriptions of Plans Radical = extreme in their beliefs Moderates = mainstream views of the political party, not extreme at all We had moderate plans for reconstruction (Lincoln & Johnson), but now they change to the RADICAL version called...

Radical or Congressional Reconstruction Reconstruction Act of passed by Radical Republicans in Congress -Southern state governments declared illegal 1. South is divided into 5 military districts with federal troops in control.

Radical Reconstruction cont… To rejoin the Union: 2. States must adopt a new constitution that allows African American males the right to vote; however, former Confederates can not vote. 3. New state governments must be elected, but no former Confederates are allowed to serve. 4. New state legislatures are now required to ratify the 14 th Amendment.

Constitutional Amendments and The End of Reconstruction

Civil War Amendments 13 th Amendment Unlike the Emancipation Proclamation, this change to the Constitution ends ALL slavery in the United States Ratified in 1865

Declared former slaves CITIZENS Known as the “Citizenship” Amendment Provides equal rights for ALL CITIZENS Prevents former Confederates from holding office Ratified in 1868

15 th Amendment Election of 1870 – many angry white Southerners refused to (or couldn’t) vote More than 600 African Americans were elected to Southern legislatures and 16 black men were elected to Congress Ratified 1870

The End of Reconstruction Why did Reconstruction efforts finally end? Heavy taxes and corruption for repairs Lack of Northern support for racial equality The Solid South – Southern Democrats had reversed many of the reforms

The Compromise of 1877 Samuel Tilden wins popular vote over Rutherford B. Hayes but there is a a dispute over the electoral vote The Democrats agree to make Rutherford B. Hayes President IF all the federal troops are removed from the South THIS IS THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION!

Moving Beyond Reconstruction Plessy v. Ferguson – “Separate but Equal” (1896) Supreme Court ruled against Homer Plessy saying segregation was legal as long as separate facilities were equal

Moving Beyond Reconstruction Lynchings – the seizure & execution of a person, usually by hanging

How successful was Reconstruction? Closer