Reconstruction in MS1865-1876

MS StudiesMrs. Bailey

So What Happens Now?

• Reconstruction- to re-build• Why would the southern states

need to re-build after the Civil War?

• Whole towns & cities had to be rebuilt from the ground up!

• Many politicians had no clue where to start, & many didn’t agree on how to begin the process

• Death of Lincoln- assassinated at Ford’s Theater while watching an opera with his wife

Syria after a civil war…

HOW DO THESE 2 PICS COMPARE?

Atlanta after the Civil War

The assassination of Lincoln

Life After the War in MS

• Damage done to cities, roads & bridges impassable, buildings & homes burned!

• Extreme poverty for blacks & whites• 1/3 white males died in the war

• Relationship between blacks & whites were now changed? Why?

FreedmenTo help blacks adjust to new-found freedom, the Freedmen’s Bureau was formed

Purpose: Help former slaves with food, shelter, education, healthcare, finding jobs & obtain fair wages

Who are freedmen? Former slaves

They were homeless, uneducated

Whites didn’t know how to treat blacks now, they certainly didn’t consider them as equals!

Blacks feared being made a slave again

Blacks were excited about the opportunity to own land, vote, and get an education!

Freedmen’s Bureau

• Did blacks get land they thought they would? Mostly, NO!

• Even though thousands of acres were abandoned or confiscated during the war, President Johnson ordered it be given back to former plantation owners!

• By 1870, only 12% of blacks owned land in MS

Document giving land overThe law enacting

the Freedmen’s Bureau

Presidential ReconstructionLincoln’s plan of Reconstruction of the South had 2 steps:

1. all southerners would be pardoned(except high-ranking Conf. officers) after taking an oath of loyalty to the US,

2. 10% of population takes oath of loyalty, then the state has to set up a legal gov’t to rejoin the US.

Andrew Johnson’s plan:

1. ALL southerners could be pardoned, but the Conf. officers & gov’t officials & those who owned property worth more than $20,000 had to apply directly for a Presidential pardon

2. Southern states: must write a new constitution that abolished slavery,

3. repeal their secession ordinances, void their war debt, & ratify the 13th Amendment

Why did Johnson add the last few requirements???

Reconstruction in MS1865- a new Constitution (we were the 1st state to do so)

The delegates DIDN’T want to write a new constitution that gave political rights to blacks, nor abolish slavery.

Pres. Johnson encouraged them to give blacks that were educated & owned property suffrage, but they refused to do so

What did it include then?

1.*voided their ordinance of secession,

2. accepted abolition of slavery!

They wanted NO black participation in MS’s government!

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Constitutional Convention of 1865

President Andrew Johnson pleaded with MS to accept blacks as equals, and give them rights in the new constitution

Governor’s Election of 1865Candidates:: Fisher, Humphreys, & Patton

Humphreys opposed secession, but served in the Conf. army (Brig. Gen.)

Fisher also opposed secession, but stayed loyal to the Union

Major issue of the campaign was what rights would blacks have now in MS.

Humphreys WON, and most state offices had elected officials that opposed black suffrage & other rights.

Benjamen S. Humphreys

Black CodesMS Legislators passed a series of laws that dealt with the rights of blacks. These laws were called Black Codes

These laws included harsh economic & social restrictions on blacks

In other words, what did these laws do for whites?? (gave them CONTROL OVER BLACKS!)

1. Civil Rights Act of 1865- legalized marriage for blacks, right to sue in state courts, forbade interracial marriage, blacks couldn’t testify against whites in court, limited black ownership of land (could rent or lease land in towns & cities)

2. Other provisions: forbade blacks to carry firearms, blacks couldn’t assemble without permission from employer or those that didn’t hold a job

In 1866, Congress passed the 14th Amendment: said blacks had full rights of citizenship of the US & in the states they lived in!!

This was meant to take away some of the power of the Black Codes!

Congressional Reconstruction

Since MS was not complying with the government, and issuing the Black Codes, Congress took action against them and other southern states

They refused to seat MS delegates

Passed the 14th Amendment- made blacks FULL citizens of the US & gave them full rights of citizenship (1866)

Passed the Reconstruction Act (1867)- set the south up into districts & set up new requirements for a civil gov’t

Part of the Rec. Act was to register all eligible voters. Result= MOST males in MS registered to vote! (black & white)

Politics in the “new” MSThere was 3 groups of Republicans:

Scalawags: a Southern Republican

Carpetbaggers: a Northern Republican that came to the south during this time period & blacks

The Republicans won the approval to form a new constitutional convention.

1868 the group made of Scalawags, Carpetbaggers, blacks, & Democrats to write a new constitution for MS

Included: universal male suffrage, free public education for all children, forbade discrimination in public transportation, eliminated property qualifications, & allowed for married women to own land. The Dem’s didn’t like it, the public didn’t either, especially the Ku Klux Klan!

Finally in 1868, it was passed!

Politics in the “new” MSRepublicans now held control of the state

1870, MS finally ratified the 13th & 14th Amendment

February 23,1870 MS was readmitted to the US!

Under our new gov’t, the economy flourished again, land value increased, public schools expanded, and our laws were revised to be more democratic

write this out to the side of your outline somewhere!

MS had a black man elected to the Senate- Hiram Revels

The KKK used fear & intimidation to dissuade whites & blacks from voting

Black Politics in MS

Blacks began to be elected to state positions

1869, John R. Lynch was elected Secretary of State in MS

Democrats Fight BackDemocrats were tired of the Reconstruction “nonsense”, so they decided to take back control of the state

First, they put fear in whites to vote for Dem’s in election of 1875: using fears of an economic collapse, becoming social outcasts, & physical abuse

Second, they used threats & violence against blacks, riots all over the state, many were killed

Result= Dem’s won most seats in Congress, won most state offices

Presidential Election of 1876

Rutherford B. Hayes

• The Dem’s got Hayes to remove federal troops from MS in exchange for receiving the votes to win the presidency

• This meant Reconstruction was over, violence & discrimination against blacks, & democrats took back complete control of MS

Constitution of 1890

Included:

Literacy Test

$2 poll tax

*These changes decreased the # of black voters from 142,000 (1890) to 8,615 (1892).

Constitution of 1890

Constitutional Convention of 1890

• The convention consisted of Democrats, and 1 black man

• Their goal was to eliminate blacks from politics in MS

• Included:1. voters must register to vote 4 months prior to an election,

• 2. live in state for 2 yrs.• 3. pay a $2 poll tax

every yr.• 4. read & understand a

section of the constitution “Understanding Clause”