By Miss O.

Reconstruction

January 1, 1863Executive order by

President LincolnFreed all the slaves in

the southern states that had “rebelled”

Emancipation Proclamation

After the Civil War, 3 amendments were added to the Constitution.

Amendment = changes to the Constitution

U.S. Constitution Changed

1865Made slavery illegal anywhere in the United

States or its territories.

13th Amendment

1868Granted US

citizenship to anyone born or naturalized in the United States and grants them equal protection under the law.

All former slaves were now US citizens with rights.

14th Amendment

1870Guarantees the

right to vote to any US citizen, regardless of race or color, even if he was a former slaves.

15th Amendment

Re + construction re-building

The years directly after the Civil War are called “Reconstruction,” because the South was slowly being “rebuilt.”

What is reconstruction?

Richmond in Ruins

Needed: housing, education, clothing, food, and jobs

No moneyDestroyed

farms, towns, and businesses

Problem 1: Help the newly freed slaves

Government agency that tried to help freed slaves, or freedmen.

Provided food and medicine

Started schools and sent teachers to Virginia for the children

Freedmen’s Bureau

No jobsNo training except for farmingPlantation owners need help to replant large,

ruined fieldsNo money to paythe former slaves

Problem 2: Replant the ruined crops and rebuild plantations

Freedmen and poor farmers rented land from a landowner.

Instead of paying money for rent, they promised to pay the owner with a share of the crop.

Sharecropping

At first, sharecropping seemed like a good idea.

Plantation owner was able to get his farm planted and working again.

The sharecropper had a place to live and could earn money from farming.

Problems between how much “rent” was and how much the crops were sold for.

Good Idea or Bad Idea?

Find jobs in the cities repairing railroads, towns, and bridges.

Problem 3: Fix towns, railroads, and bridges

Confederate money had no value

Banks in the South had closed.

Economy no longer had slaves to rely on

Virginia would have to build factories and shops in the cities to get their economy going in other ways rather than just farms.

More people moved to the cities.

Problem 4: Fix the ruined economy

Confederate money

Southern states did not have legal governments any more

DisorganizedCongress’ plan to

bring the South back into the Union.

Problem 5: Establish a state government

Ban (end) slaveryEach state had to rewrite their state

constitution Give newly-freed African American men the

right to voteAsk to be re-admitted to the UnionTook almost 5 years

Bring South into the Union again