Reconstruction – process of reuniting the nation & rebuilding the southern states Feb – Congress proposed the 13 th Amendment to the Constitution: abolished slavery Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau to provide help & legal aid for former slaves Many states issued Black Codes: laws denying civil rights to blacks; aimed at freedom of movement & work, created in defiance of the Freedman’s Bureau Civil rights – individual rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution Civil Rights Act of 1866 – all citizens are entitled equal rights regardless of race

Presidential Reaction  President Andrew Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866  Radical Republicans  Nickname for party members leading Congress  “Government should play greater role in Reconstruction”  Many wanted to punish the South  Johnson believed Reconstruction was the job of the president  Not the job of Congress

Presidential Reconstruction  President Johnson’s plan was based on Lincoln’s goals  Ratify the 13 th Amendment  Take oath of allegiance to the U.S.A.  People of high stature had to personally apply for a pardon  Each state had to write a new constitution under a provisional government: declare secession illegal & abolish slavery  Promised to return property  States rushed to session with a “supposed” ally in D.C.

Congressional Reconstruction  Congress proposed the 14 th Amendment  Guaranteed citizenship & equal rights to black Americans  Reconstruction Acts: must follow to rejoin  Southern state governments declared provisional  South broken into 5 military districts  Re-write constitutions guaranteeing civil rights, including suffrage  Ratify the 14 th Amendment

Date readmitted to the Union Boundary of military district

Presidential Impeachment  Johnson tried to block Congressional Reconstruction  Congress passed Tenure of Office Act  President cannot fire govt. employees w/o permission  Johnson suspended Sec. of War & tried to hire a new one  House committee impeached the President for wrongdoing against public office  Avoided removal in the Senate by one vote

The New South  People from northern states came to help reconstruct the south  Called Carpetbaggers  White Northerners who came to the south carrying what they had in a bag made of carpet  Most people in the south hated these northerners  Carpetbagger was a term of contempt  Accused them of seeking to get rich or gain power

Change of Agriculture  Most Americans (mostly freedpeople) could not afford land  Turned to new methods of farming  Tenant farming  Rent land to grow crops  Sharecropper  Farmer who lacked land & necessary supplies  Constantly in debt due to borrowing money & supplies

Fighting Reconstruction MMMMost northerners operated with supporters CCCCalled “scalawags”, or “mean fellows” SSSSecret societies were formed to terrorize blacks, carpetbaggers, & “scalawags” WWWWhite League KKKKu Klux Klan RRRRepublicans lost power over time

The New-Old South  Former Gen. Ulysses S. Grant won the 1868 Presidential election  About 500,000 freedmen voted in the South  Most freedmen supported Grant  Congress passed 15 th Amendment (1869)  Right to vote secured despite race, color, or previous service  Did not apply to WOMEN!  Grant urged Congress to pass an anti-Klan bill to stop the terrorizing of African- Americans  Bill led to a more fair election in 1872

Bad Decisions  Scandals within Grant’s administration hurt the Rep. party  Grant put unqualified army friends and his wife’s relatives in government positions  Panic of 1873  Many powerful Eastern banks made bad loans, ran out of $, and shut down  Stock market temporarily closed & RR industry suffered

Impact of the Panic of 1873  More than 18,000 companies shut down and thousands lost jobs  Republicans lost power due to public blame  Democrats won victories in 1874 and tried to restore the old south  Rutherford B. Hayes wins election of 1876  Republicans & Democrats claimed victory in 3 southern states  Compromise of 1877 solved the election and gave concessions to both sides in the South Run on the bank (1873)

Growth and Expansion  Transcontinental railroad developed the West and connected it with Eastern markets  Homestead Act (1862)  Government encouraged western settlement  Offered 160 acres of free land to anyone who agreed to live on the land for 5 years and improve it  Morrill Act (1862)  Gave federal land to states to sell to fund public colleges that taught agriculture and mechanical arts  Dawes Act (1887)  Encourage Native Americans to give up their traditional cultures and become farmers