Focus on One Group: Freedmen’s Life During Reconstruction, cont.
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Transcript of Focus on One Group: Freedmen’s Life During Reconstruction, cont.
Focus on One Group:
Freedmen’s Life During Reconstruction, cont.
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed
to help former slavesProvided food, schools, legal help, etc.
Students standing outside a freedmen’s school known as James’ Plantation School (North Carolina)
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)Agency (of the Federal Gov’t) developed
to help former slavesProvided food, schools, legal help, etc.Unpopular
with manyWhite Southerners
Due to the unpopularity of the Freedmen’s Bureau, it . . .
Could not overcome Southern hostility,Lacked political support of North and
South, andEnded in 1872
Imagine you are a White Southerner . . .
Wouldn’t you be angry that the Freedmen are getting all this help?
What might you do?
You might become defiant!You might feel that you have lost power!
Limits to Freedmen’s Rights
Disenfranchisement (means to prevent from voting)
Black Codes/Jim Crow LawsHate Groups
Disenfranchisement
To prevent from voting (14th/15th Amendments were to prevent this)
Used various methods that included1. poll taxes (to be paid when vote)2. literacy tests3. threats
Sometimes the threat is deadly.
Black Codes/Jim Crow Laws
Limits rights and opportunitiesLimits jobs to only farm work and
unskilled laborSet curfewsSet punishments for vagrancy (not
working)
Black Code Sample andJim Crow Reading
Rise of KKK – violent response to Radical Reconstruction
Ku Klux Klan
Started in 1866 by 6 former Confederate soldiers
Members wore robes and masks to look like the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers who returned for revenge against enemies of the South.
Nathan Bedford ForrestFirst National Leader of the KKK and Former Confederate Leader
Their Goal: deny African-Americans
their rights and keep them in the
role of submissive laborers.
It also included other groups such
as the White League
KKK Rally in Delmar, DE (1920)
Ku Klux Klan Gathering in Newark, DE (1965) Photo: Delaware Historical Society
A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, AL, Independent Monitor (1868)
Carpetbaggers
Northern Republicans who moved South to work in gov’t or make money.
Scalawags
a Southern white who joined the Republican Party in the ex-Confederate South during Reconstruction
Reintegrating the South
Problem #1
Determine the role of the freedmen
Problem #2
Define the role and acceptable power of former Confederates within their states and within the nation
Problem #3
Determine which branch of government would be
responsible for overseeing reconstruction
3 Plans for ReconstructionLincoln’s Plan (10%)
Johnson’s Plan
Congress’ Plan (Congressional Reconstruction or Radical Reconstruction)
Two Plans for Reconstruction
Lincoln’s Plan
…..Also called the
10% plan!
Lincoln’s Plan
1.Required 10% of white men to swear allegiance (loyalty) to the constitution and the Union.
2.Plan included the emancipation of slaves
Lincoln’s Plan, cont.
3. Former Confederates can run local governments
4. 10% agreement allowed full participation in the Union
Lincoln Plan problems…
Republicans in Congress felt this plan was way too kind!
HE DID NOT PUNISH THE REBELS!
FELT LINCOLN WAS TOO EASY ON SOUTH
Lincoln’s Plan - PROBLEMS
• No role for
freed men
identified
• No guarantee of rights or future
rights
Lincoln’s Plan is never implemented!
April 1865 -Lincoln assassinated
13th amendment officially ends slavery in all of the United States
Andrew Johnson, (southern democrat, former slave owner) administered his own new policy
The Johnson Plan
1.Granted amnesty (forgiveness) to former Confederates who signed loyalty oath
2.Restored all property, except slaves and confiscated lands
Johnson’s Plan
3. Voided secession laws and ratify the 13th amendment
4. Cancelled war debts
5. Vetoed est. of Freedmen’s Bureau
Johnson’s Plan - PROBLEMS
More generous to the south!
1. Amnesty awarded to “certain” southerners
2. Flawed election process (blacks excluded from voting)
Johnson’s Presidency
He lacked• Mandate to
govern• Support of
Congress• Also was anti-
civil rights Would not support 13th Amendment
Consider This . . . Who are not considered in the two
plans?
What will the freedmen do?
How did the freedmen’s lives change?
Descriptions of Plans
Radical = extreme in their beliefsModerates = mainstream views of the
political party, not extreme at all
We had moderate plans for reconstruction (Lincoln & Johnson), but now they change to the RADICAL version called . . .
Radical ReconstructionCongress bypasses President
Johnson and enacts theReconstruction Act of 1867
-passed by radical republicans-state governments declared illegal
1. south divided into 5 military districts
Radical Reconstruction cont…
To rejoin the Union:
2. Adopt a constitution guaranteeing all male citizens the right to vote
3. Elect a new government
4. Ratify the 14th amendment (no white southern who served as conf. soldier/official could vote on new constitution)
Radical Republicans in Congress see Black Codes as a way for White Southerners to
get around the efforts of Congress.
Impeachment!- Congressional power growing
- Johnson fires Sec. of War
-The House votes to “impeach” Johnson(to accuse of
wrongdoing and bring to trial)
-President escapes removal by only 1 vote
Civil War Amendments13th
Amendment
Unlike the Emancipation Proclamation, this change to the Constitution ends ALL slavery in the United States
Declared former slaves CITIZENSProvides equal rights for ALL CITIZENSCounted and represented as CITIZENSPrevents former Confederates from
holding office
15th Amendment
Election of 1870 – many angry white southerners refused to (or couldn’t) vote
More than 600 African Americans were elected to southern legislatures and 16 black men were elected to Congress
The End of ReconstructionWhy did Reconstruction
efforts finally end? Heavy taxes Corruption Lack of northern
support for racial equality
The Solid South – Southern Democrats reversed many of the reforms
The Compromise of 1877
Samuel Tilden wins popular vote; a dispute over electoral votes
The Democrats agree to give Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in return for the removal of all federal troops from the Southern States
Hayes’ removal of troops from the south is regarded as
the end of reconstruction!
How successful
was Reconstruction?