1. Reconstruction (1865 – 1877)
Era following the Civil War when the U.S. government:
Brought Southern states back into the Union
Ended slavery and attempted to protect freedmen
Rebuilt the nation

2. Reconstruction occurred in two phases:
Presidential Reconstruction
Lenient to allow Southern states to quickly rejoin Union
Initiated by Lincoln; Carried out by Johnson
Congressional Reconstruction
Directed by Radical Republicans – wanted stricter plan
Keep Confederate leaders from regaining power in the South
Protect rights of freedmen (former slaves)

3. Presidential Reconstruction
Lincoln’s Plan
Andrew Johnson’s Plan
10% Plan -Quick and Easy
Former Confederate states could re-enter Union when:
10% of state’s population had to take oath of allegiance to U.S.
Recognize freedom of former slaves
Swear allegiance to the Union
Hold state constitutional conventions - set up state govt
Cancel secession & ratify (approve) the 13th Amendment
States could then hold elections

4. Congressional Reconstruction (Radical Republicans)
Rejected President’s plan
Did nothing to protect former slaves or keep Confederate leaders from re-gaining power in the South
Wanted 50% to swear oath of allegiance
Former slaves should receive full citizenship and voting rights
Thaddeus Stevens (Penn.)
Charles Sumner (Mass.)
Wanted Congress to oversee Reconstruction
Majority of state’s population should have to swear allegiance for admittance to the Union
**More difficult process of mending Union**

5. Freedman’s Bureau Created by Congress in 1865
Assisted former slaves and poor whites in transition from society based on slavery to one allowing freedom
Run by the war department
Distributed clothing & food
Set up 40 hospitals
Set up 4,000 schools

6. Civil Rights Act of 1866 Declared that African Americans were citizens
Denied states’ right to restrict citizens rights to:
Testify in court against whites
Make contracts
Hold property
Johnson vetoed law
Congress overrides with 2/3

7. Black Codes White southerners reestablished civil authority
Restrictive laws known as “black codes”
Many former slaves had to sign yearly labor contracts
Former slaves could NOT:
Carry weapons
Serve on juries
Testify against whites
Marry whites
Own land (Only in some states)

8. Congressional Reconstruction (Radicals and Moderates united to pass legislation)
Congress pushed through Reconstruction Acts beginning in 1867
Southern states put under military rule
Southern states hold new constitutional conventions
African Americans allowed to vote - in the states
Equal rights for African Americans
Ratification of the 14th Amendment (citizenship)

10. Reconstruction Amendments
13th Amendment
14th Amendment
15th Amendment
1865
“neither slavery nor involuntary servitude…shall exist in the United States”
1868
“all persons born or naturalized in the United States” are citizens
1870
No one can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

11. Andrew Johnson Impeached (Formally charged with wrongdoing)
Tenure of Office Act (1867)
President couldn’t fire cabinet members
Johnson thought this act was unconstitutional
Fires Secretary of War – Edwin Stanton
Law was later declared unconstitutional by Supreme Court
House of Representatives charges him
Senate tries the case
Required 2/3 vote to remove from office
Vote was 35 to 19 – one vote short of 2/3 needed for removal from office

12. Ulysses Grant Elected in 1868
Because of Congressional Reconstruction, African-American men in the South could vote for the first time
Civil War hero won presidency
Worked with Congress to reconstruct the South
By 1868, most Confederate states had been re-admitted to the Union under Congressional Reconstruction

13. Re-admission of the South

14. Politics in the South Scalawags carpetbaggers
Southerners who joined the Republican Party
Many southerners were hopeful for change
Some wanted to gain political office through the African American vote
Northerners who moved South after the war
Southerners believed they wanted to profit from condition of the South
Some were agents of the Freedman’s Bureau, teachers, or ministers

15. Politics and African Americans
Period of saw greater African American involvement in politics
Local, State, and Federal levels
Many of those running for office had been educated in the North
Hiram Revels – elected to Mississippi state senate in 1869
1870 – 1st African American elected to U.S. Senate

16. Southern Economy “40 acres and a mule”
Promised by General Sherman
President Johnson returned land to original owners
Homestead Act – 1866
Set aside 44 million acres for freed blacks
Unsuitable for farming
Sharecropping
Landowners divided land
Workers gave a share of crop to landowner
Tenant farming
Land rented from landowners

17. Southern Opposition Ku Klux Klan Spread through South
Started in Tennessee in 1866
Nathan Bedford Forrest
1st Grand Dragon
Former Confederate General
Left Klan due to violence
Spread through South
Turned into violent terrorist organization

18. Compromise of 1877 Compromise: Election of 1876 Democrats accept Hayes
Grant would not pursue a third term - scandal
Republicans
Rutherford B. Hayes
Democrats
Samuel Tilden
Tilden wins popular vote, but loses electoral vote
20 electoral votes disputed
Compromise:
Democrats accept Hayes
Withdrawal of federal troops from southern states
Federal money for infrastructure
Hayes to choose conservative for Cabinet post

19. Conclusion As a result of Congressional Reconstruction (1867-1877)
All eleven Southern states were re-admitted to the Union
The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were passed
Providing protections and opportunities for African Americans in the South
Difficult to enforce and sustain as Democrats slowly took back the Southern legislatures
Jim Crow laws, poll taxes, property qualifications