What problems did the South face following the end of the war?
Cities, towns, and farms were ruined, Banks failed, Merchants bankrupt, Faced starvation, Too much debt, High food prices, Crops destroyed, and Confederate money worthless
What does Reconstruction mean?
The process of readmitting the former Confederate states to the Union
Rebuilding
What was Lincoln's Plan for Reconstruction?
The 10 Percent Plan
What was the 10 Percent Plan?
Offered southerners amnesty if people swore loyalty to the US and agreed slavery was illegal; A state could be readmitted once 10% of the states voters had done this
Amnesty Reconstruction Proclamation
What does amnesty mean?
Official pardon
What was the Wade Davis Bill?
A state had to meet 2 conditions before it could rejoin the Union
1. Ban Slavery
2. A majority of adult males in the state had to take the loyalty oath
Who was Wade Davis?
Senator/Representative
How was the Wade Davis Bill different from the 10 Percent Plan?
It was a bill and the plan was by Congress
What were the Reconstruction Amendments?
The 13, 14, and 15 Amendments
What was the 13th Amendment?
It made slavery illegal in the US
What changes did the 13th Amendment bring the African Americans?
(40 Acres)
Legalized marriages, reunited and searched for their families, women worked at home, placed newspaper ads seeking info about their families,
40 acres of land to compensate for their forced labor before the war
What were the Freedman's Bureau 4 goals?
Distribute food to the poor, provide education and legal help for freed people, and assist African Americans
Why was Abraham Lincoln killed?
A southerner opposed Lincoln's policies; killed by John Booth; He was upset with the surrender
After Andrew Johnson became president, what was his plan?
Wealthy southerners and former Confederate officials would need a presidential pardon to receive amnesty
What did Andrew Johnson do that shocked Radical Republicans?
He pardoned more than 7,000 people
How did Black Codes limit the freedoms of African Americans?
They required Af. Am. to sign work contracts, creating working conditions - similar to slavery, Af. Am. who could not prove that they were employed were arrested or punished with 1 year without pay and were not allowed to rent property except in cities
What were the Black Codes?
Laws that greatly limited the freedom of African Americans
Who were the Radical Republicans?
They were a group who took a harsher stance on Reconstruction ideas
What were the Radical Republicans goals in Reconstruction?
They wanted the federal government and the South to change much more before returning to the Union
What was the Freedman's Bureau Bill?
An agency providing relief for freepeople and certain poor people in the South; Many people were threatened and harassed for trying to educate the newly freed
Why did President Johnson oppose the Freedman's Bureau Bill?
Johnson insisted that Congress could not pass any new laws until the Southern states were represented in Congress
Why was the Civil Rights Act of 1866 created?
To provide African Americans with the same legal rights as White Americans; Supposed to give the Freedman's Bureau more powers; When Johnson vetoed the Freedman's Bureau, Congress countered by passing this
What was the 14th Amendment?
It gave citizenship, civil, and legal rights to African Americans; Guaranteed
ALL
citizens equal protection under the law
What did the Reconstruction Acts do in regards to the South?
They divided the South into 5 districts each controlled by a US military commander - the military would remain in control of the South until southern states rejoined the Union
KNOW THE MAP
How were states to be readmitted under the Reconstruction Acts?
The states had to write a new state Constitution supporting the 14th and 15th amendment to rejoin the Union
What was the result of President Johnson's impeachment trial? Describe the impeachment process.
Starts in the House of Representatives to impeach the president; trial in the Senate; 2/3 vote needed to impeach; they lacked one vote to impeach
What was the 15th amendment?
Gave African American
MEN
the right to vote
What were scalawags?
Southerners who supported Reconstruction
What were carpetbaggers?
Northerners who moved to the south as office holders
How did African Americans participate in government during Reconstruction?
Voted; Served as representatives in state legislatives and in Congress and held local offices
Who was Hiram Rhodes Revel?
First African American in the US senate
Why did southern Reconstruction focus on building railroads and bridges?
Wanted to improve transportation and economy of the South to rebuild after the war
Why did resistance to Reconstruction increase?
Southerners claimed the new government were corrupt, illegal, and unjust; disapproved of African Americans office holders; and disliked having federal troops in their states
What was the Ku Klux Klan?
A secret society opposed civil rights, "suffrage", for African Americans
How did the federal government address the Ku Klux Klan activity?
Passed laws that made it a federal crime to interfere with elections or to deny citizens equal protection under the law; Started in 1866 in Tennesses
How was the US affected by the Panic of 1873?
People blamed Republicans for the panic, almost 18,000 businesses declared bankruptcy and unemployment rose leading to protest
What issues caused the Republican Party to abandon Reconstruction?
Lost control of House of Representatives; Americans increasingly worried about economic problems and government corruption
What was the outcome of the Election of 1876?
Democrat - Samuel Tilden appeared to have won but Republican - Rutherford Hayes did win; Brought commission of members and Supreme Court justices to decide
How did the Compromise of 1877 figure into the results?
Because Democrats agreed to accept Hayes as president if troops were removed from the South - they also asked for funding for internal improvements and he appointment of a southern Democrat to the presidents cabinet
How did segregation become the key issue in the Plessy v. Ferguson case?
Plessy an African American refused to leave a restricted white only part of a train - African American were forced to use separate public schools, libraries, and parks; were not equal; Segregation was said to be allowed "separate but equal" facilities wer
What are the Jim Crow laws?
Laws passed by redeemer government that enforced segregation
Why did many African American stay on plantations?
Too costly to buy or rent or moving to the west
Why would the cycle of debt continue for sharecroppers?
There would be continuing problems with weather, poor harvest, and low crop prices; Making it nearly impossible for sharecroppers to escape debt
What were the provisions of the Homestead Act?
Any farmer who was a US citizen or planed to be one could receive 160 acres of land - in exchange, the homesteaders would promise to build a house, live on the land for 5 years, the homesteaders could fill for his/her title to the land
How did the views of government politicians differ form the Plains Indians over this land?
Plains Indians did not believe in private ownership of land
Why do you think that the Morrill Act provided for agricultural and engineering colleges in the West?
This act required each state to sell this land and use the money to build colleges to teach agriculture and engineering; Granted more than 17 million acres of federal land to the states
Who were the buffalo soldiers?
An African American cavalry; called this by the Indians; forced the Indians to leave their territories
What was the Dawes General Allotment Act?
1887; Tried to lessen traditional influences on Indian society by making land ownership private rather than shared - promised but failed to give US citizenship to tNative Americans Act took 2.3 of Native American land
What was the poll tax?
It was a special tax African Americans had to pay before they could vote
What were Exodusters?
These African Americans made an exodus, or mass departure, from the South