Chapter 17

R EC O N S TR U C TIO N A N D
TH E N EW S O U TH (18651896)

EssentialQ uestion
How did plans to unify the nation

differ after the Civil War?

Reconstruction D ebate
Main Idea: Government leaders

disagreed about how Southern states

could rejoin the Union
Southern states, because they had left

the Union in 1861, needed to be

readmitted
The economy and society of the South
needed to be rebuilt

Lincolns Plan
Ten Percent Plan: When 10% of the

voters of a state took an oath of

loyalty to the Union, that state could
be readmitted.
Punishing the South was useless
Offered amnesty to all white Southerners

willing to swear loyalty to the Union.

The Radicals Plan

Radical Republicans headed by

Thaddeus Stevens believed Lincolns

plan was too forgiving.
Radical Republicans controlled
Congress and voted to deny seats to
representatives from any state
readmitted under Lincolns plan.
Passed the Wade Davis Bill

W ade D avis Bill

July 1864 passed by Congress
To rejoin the Union, a state had to

meet the following requirements

Majority of white males must swear

loyalty to the Union

Only white males who did not fight
against the Union could vote for
delegates to a state constitutional
convention
Had to ban slavery

The Freedm ens Bureau

Set up by Lincoln and Congress to

help African Americans adjust to

freedom
Provided food, clothing and medical

services
Set up schools
Helped freed people acquire land or find
work

Assassination ofLincoln
Shortly after the Freedmens Bureau

was founded, a tragic event took

place that shocked the nation. On
April 14, 1865, President Lincoln
attended a play at Fords Theater in
Washington D.C. John Wilkes Booth,
an actor and Confederate
sympathizer, entered the private box
and shot Lincoln in the head. Lincoln
died several hours later.

Assassination ofLincoln

Assassination ofLincoln
When Lincoln died, Vice President

Andrew Johnson became president.

Johnson was born in the South but
supported the Union during the war.
Johnson soon revealed his plan for
Reconstruction.

Johnsons Plan
Grant amnesty to most Southerners once they

swore loyalty
Desired to humiliate Southern Confederate
leaders by making them appeal to him
personally for a pardon
Opposed equal rights for African Americans
States had to ratify the 13th Amendment
before allowed back in the Union
By the end of 1865, all states, except Texas,
had new governments and were ready to join
the Union.

Com pare and Contrast

What were the similarities and

differences between Lincolns views

and the Radical Republicans views
concerning Reconstruction?
Venn Diagram

Radicals in Control
Essential Question:
What were the results of Radical

Reconstruction?

The Thirteenth Am endm ent

December 6th, 1865
The first of the Reconstruction

Amendments
Abolishes and continues to prohibit
slavery and involuntary servitude

Radicals in Control
Black Codes
Laws to control freed men and women

that resembled slavery

Examples
Arrest and fined jobless African Americans
Banned from renting or owning farms
Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1866 which granted full citizenship to
African Americans and overturned the
Black Codes

The Fourteenth Am endm ent

Congress, fearing that the Civil

Rights Act of 1866 might be

overturned in court, passed this in
1866
Granted full citizenship to all people
born in the United States
Equal protection of the laws
Excluded citizenship of Native
Americans

RadicalReconstruction
After winning the congressional

elections of 1866, the Radical

Republicans were able to put their
version of Reconstruction into action
President Johnson could do little to
stop the Republicans because they
could easily override his vetoes in
Congress. Thus began a period
known as Radical Reconstruction.

Reconstruction Acts of1867

Divided 10 Southern states into military

districts
Run by a military commander until a new
government could be formed
Guaranteed African American men the
right to vote in state elections
Banned former Confederate leaders from
holding office
States had to pass 14th Amendment to
reenter the Union.

Readm ission ofStates

With help of African American voters,

all ten states were readmitted to the

Union by 1870.

Im peaching the President

So that Johnson could not control the

military governors as commander-inchief, Congress passed a series of

laws to limit his power
Tenure of Office Act: Prohibited president

from removing government officials

without the approval of the Senate

Im peaching the President

(cont.)
Johnson removed Secretary of War

Edwin Stanton without Senates

approval
Outraged by his actions, the House
of Representatives moved to
impeach Johnson
Senators could not get a 2/3 majority
because some Republicans said
Johnson should not be removed from
office due to political differences

The Fifteenth Am endm ent

1896
Prohibits the state and federal

governments from denying the right

to vote to any male citizen because
of race, color or previous condition
of servitude.
Right to Vote!!!

M aking Connections
Comparing: How were the black

codes similar to slavery?

Summarize the Reconstruction

Amendments

Answ er the EssentialQ uestion

What were the results of Radical

Reconstruction?
African Americans gained full citizenship,
although protecting these rights proved
difficult
African American voters helped to put
Republicans in control of Southern govt
By 1870, all Southern states had met the
requirements under Radical Reconstruction
and were restored to the Union.

The South D uring

Reconstruction
Essential Question:
What kinds of resistance did African

Americans face as they tried to exercise

their rights as citizens of the South?

The South D uring

Reconstruction
Main Idea: As African Americans

began to take part in civic life in the

South, they faced resistance,
including violence from the Whites.

African Am ericans in
G overnm ent
Played important roles in

Reconstruction politics as voters and

officials
Contributed heavily to some
Republican victories

Scalaw ags and Carpetbaggers

Scalawags
Southern whites who were non-slave holding

and backed Republicans

Carpetbaggers
Northern whites to moved south after the war

and backed Republicans

Many Southerners accused Reconstruction

governments of corruption. Although

some officials made money illegally,
probably less corruption occurred in the
South than in the North.

Resistance to Reconstruction
Most Southern whites opposed

efforts to give rights to African

Americans
African Americans were often
Refused land to rent
Refused credit at stores
Not hired by white employers

Ku Klux Klan
Secret society who used fear and violence

to deny rights to freed men and women.

Killed thousands of African Americans while

wearing sheets and hoods

Burned African American schools, churches
and homes
Supported by many Southern planters and
Democrats

Congress passed several rather

unsuccessful laws to stop the Klan in

1870 and 1871.

KKK

Education
Education improved for both races

during Reconstruction
1870s public schools created for
both races
Attended separate schools

Farm ing
Sharecropping
Farmer works land for an owner who

provides equipment and seeds and

receives a share of the crops

Answ er the EssentialQ uestion

WHAT KINDS OF RESISTANCE DID AFRICAN

AMERICANS FACE AS THEY TRIED TO

EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS AS CITIZENS OF
THE SOUTH?

Change in the South

Essential Question:
How did the South change politically,

economically and socially when

Reconstruction ended?

Panic of1873
Severe economic depression
Small banks close, stock market

plummets
Blame for hard times fell on the
Republicans and the Grant
Administration

Panic of1873

Election of1876
Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs.

Samuel Tilden (Democrat)

Hayes wins although the outcome of
the election is disputed

Com prom ise of1877

Hayes presidential victory is disputed and

Democrats threaten to challenge the

decision. Party leaders meet in secret to
work out an agreement.
Agreement includes some favors for the
South
New govt would give more aid to the South
Republicans would withdraw all troops from

the South
Democrats in turn, promised to maintain
African American rights

A N ew Policy
Hayes announces intention to let

Southerners handle radical issues

Federal government would no longer
attempt to reshape Southern society
Reconstruction has come to an end

Change in the South

After Reconstruction, the South

experienced a political shift and

industrial growth.

D em ocrats in Control
Large landowners, merchants,

bankers, business leaders

Adopted conservative practices
Lower taxes
Cut government spending
Eliminated many social services begun

during Reconstruction
Cut public education

Rise ofthe N ew South

By the 1880s, forward-looking

Southerners were convinced that

their region must develop a strong
industrial economy. They argued
that the South lost the Civil War
because its industry didnt match the
Norths.

Rise ofthe N ew South

Built industry based on coal, iron,

tobacco, cotton and lumber

Textile mills, tobacco manufacturing,
iron and steel mills
Industry grows as a result of cheap,
reliable workforce
Agriculture is still the Souths main
economic activity

RuralEconom y
Supporters of the New South hope

to advance agriculture as well

Too much debt for farmers
To repay debt, farmers rely on cash
crops like cotton
Too much cotton forced prices down

Sharecropping and reliance on one

cash crop keeps Southern agriculture

from advancing

A D ivided Society
As Reconstruction ended, African

Americans dreams for justice faded.

In the last 20 years of the 1800s,
racism became firmly set in the
culture. Individuals took steps to
keep African Americans separated
from white and to deny them basic
rights.

Jim Crow Law s

What is it?
Laws that required African Americans

and whites to be separated in almost

every public place

Impact
Segregation! Unequal facilities and

accommodations

PollTax
What is it?
A fee people had to pay to vote

Impact
Most African Americans could not afford

the tax and therefore could not vote

Literacy Test
What is it?
Voters take a test in which they have to

read and explain difficult parts of the

Constitution in order to vote.

Impact
Because most African Americans had

little education, literacy tests prevented

many from voting.

G randfather Clause
What is it?
Law that allowed people whose fathers

or grandfathers had voted before

Reconstruction to vote.

Impact
Literacy tests could keep some whites

from voting. These laws allowed them to

do so. Because African Americans could
not vote until 1867, they were excluded.

Lynching
What is it?
When an angry mob kills a person by

hanging

Impact
Fear! African Americans were lynched

because they were suspected of crimes,

or because they did not behave the way
they should.

Lynching

Plessy vs.Ferguson
The Supreme Court decides to

uphold the idea of segregation of

the South by handing down the
decision of Plessy vs. Ferguson
(1896)
Impact: Said separate is equal. The
problem is however, that the
facilities are separate but in no way,
equal. Gave legal support to
Southern segregation and inequality.

Answ er the EssentialQ uestion

How did the South change politically,

economically and socially when

Reconstruction ended?