1. America after the Civil War Thursday, September 06, 2018
Reconstruction
America after the Civil War
Thursday, September 06, 2018

2. Appomattox Court House April 7 1865

3. 5 Days Later… Washington D.C.

4. Death of a hero- April 1865 Lincoln is killed at Ford’s Theater
John Wilkes Booth
Southerner
Pro slavery
Andrew Johnson (VP) takes over
Booth did more harm to the South than good

5. Lincolns ideas Wanted Reconstruction to go smoothly
Wanted a peaceful way of rejoining the Union for confederate states
10% oaths = reinstatement
Pardon all except leaders of rebellion

6. Johnson continues policy
Ratification of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution
Banned Slavery
Johnson approved the new state govt. of the southern states- send to congress by Dec. 1865
Many ex-confederate officials / generals elected
Republicans in Congress wanted no ex-cons.

8. South making their own laws
Passed the Black Codes
Didn’t allow African Americans to:
Vote
Own guns
Serve on juries
Limited jobs
Did allow them to marry and own property
Meant to stop AA from gaining political or economic power

9. The Radical Republicans
Congressmen from the North who were extreme
Angered by Black Codes
Wanted to make Reconstruction extreme
Wanted to:
Break the power of wealthy plantation owners
Freedmen could vote

10. 14th Amendment
Guaranteed all people born in the United States citizenship
Equal protection under law
Can not “deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.”
Reduced the power of any state who did not follow it
Hoped to gain a power base for AA in the South

11. 1866 Congressional Election
Johnson wanted the 14th amendment rejected
RR’s and Johnson were against each other.
White mobs in NO killed 34 AA
Republicans won most of the Congress in the 1866 election- control gov’t

12. Congress takes over
Reconstruction Act was passed by Congress over Johnson’s veto
Threw out Southern state governments that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment
Divided the South into districts under military control
Had to write new constitutions and ratify the 14th amendment before rejoining the Union.
AA’s must be allowed to vote
Every time Congress passed a new Reconstruction act, Johnson vetoed, then Congress overrode it

13. Impeached- 1868 Johnson had to enforce the Reconstruction Acts
Republicans decided to remove Johnson from office
HR voted to impeach Johnson- “Intemperate language” and having brought disgrace on congress
During trial it was evident that there were no “high crimes”
Johnson was not convicted by one vote (35 to 19)
Johnson served out his term

14. New President 1868, Republicans nominated US Grant for president
Most of the Southern states had rejoined the Union.
500,000 AA’s voted in the election
Grant easily won.

17. 15th Amendment- 1870 Did not let any state deny AA’s the right to vote
Guaranteed for all the states
Many remembered what the AA did during the Civil War
AA’s could vote.

18. Outsiders
New state governments in the South where no former Southern leaders could rule
Many Northerners came down from the North to fill the jobs

21. Scalawags & Carpetbaggers
Scalawags were white Southerners who supported the Republicans
Seen as traitors
Carpetbaggers were people who came down from the North to make it rich in the devastated South
Many got leadership roles
Profit from the South’s misery
Not all Carpetbaggers were fortune hunters

23. African Americans Were able to vote now
Many ran and got elected to public office.
By 1880, 16 AA served in Congress
But they still didn’t have as much power as whites
No black governors

25. Resistance to change
Conservatives of the South still tried to limit what AA could do
Secret societies were formed
Most dangerous was called Ku Klux Klan
Worked to keep blacks and white Republicans out of office, at any cost
Threats and violence
Congress made it a crime to use force to stop people from voting
Little they could do to stop it

26. Good and bad of Reconstruction
New schools built for both races
Women could own property
Taxes were raised
Angered many Southerners
Corruption in many governments
AA still had few opportunities

27. Sharecropping Slaves received “nothing but freedom”
Sharecroppers are poor whites and blacks who went to work on plantations
Return they got a “share of the crop”
Didn’t help financially, but at least fed the families

28. End of Reconstruction
By the 1870’s most lost interest in Reconstruction
White Conservatives regained power in the South
Radical Republicans were losing power in Congress
Corruption in the Grant Administration
Not by Grant, but others. Validity of the administration

29. Election of 1876 Demo. Tilden and Rep. Hayes
Tilden won popular vote, but not electoral college votes by one
20 votes in dispute
Inauguration day and no winner
Congress nominated Hayes and Southerners agreed if he would end Reconstruction

31. New South Cotton crops recovered New textile industries
Natural resources
Restricting the rights of African Americans
Many Southerners saw the AA as the reason for their misery

32. Poll taxes, literacy exams required in some places to vote Segregation
Plessy v. Fugerson, SC case
Separate but equal
Rarely equal
Lynchings
Illegal execution by a mob