1. Reconstruction Society

2. Agenda 1. Bell Ringer: Reviewing the Modes of Reconstruction (10)
2. Notes: Reconstructing Society (25)
3. Carpetbaggers and Freedmen’s Analysis (10)
4. Sharecropping Contract and Chart (15)
5. Life in the South Video Clip and Analysis (10)

3. Bell Ringer: Identify and Compare the Three major plans for Reconstruction. Then identify positive and negative qualities of each one.
Lincoln’s Plan
Johnson’s Plan
Congress Plan
Description of Plan
Positive Effects
Negative Effects

4. Conditions in the Postwar South
The South had to be rebuilt after the war.
Railroads had been destroyed, farms abandoned and cities burned.
Most states rejoined the Union by
20% of Confederate men died in the war.
Incomes plummeted, and taxes rose as they tried to rebuild their infrastructure.

5. Politics in the Postwar South
Considered derogatory terms.
Southerners attempting to profit from the war with support from Republicans were called Scalawags
Northerners that came South to profit after the war were known as carpetbaggers.
Some had honest means, wanting to open freedmen schools and help then newly emancipated slaves, but Southerners tended to group everyone together under a stereotype.

6. Former Slaves and Freedom
African American Men gain voting rights as per the Fifteenth Amendment.
Initially, they would flock to the polls to vote, and many voted Republican.
African American migration led to higher population in Southern Cities.
Reuniting with Family after Emancipation was a common thread.
One man walked 600 miles to reunite with his wife and children.
Freedmen’s schools were opened to increase literacy among African Americans.
Churches fostered community, and families settled in these areas.

7. Changes in Southern Plantations
40 acres and a mule.
Many African Americans followed Sherman based on this promise. They initially received the land, but President Johnson allowed the original Southerners to retake it during Reconstruction.
White southerners tried to reinstate the Plantation system.
It was not successful, the labor dictated and salaries would not work.
Planters would move to divide their land and allow “sharecropping” and “tenant farming” to develop crops.

8. Sharecropping
Landowners divided their land and gave each worker a few acres with seeds and tools.
For this land, the worker would submit a portion of their crop and then they could sell the remainder.
Unfortunately, planting crops repeatedly leads to smaller yields, and eventually a cycle of debt begins.
Price of Cotton drops immensely.
Within tenant farming, they kept all of the crop, and paid rent on the property.