Reconstruction
Chapter 17
Lincoln’s Rebuilding Plan
• Take an oath of allegiance
• Offer amnesty• Wanted confederates
states to quickly rejoin the union-10% plan
• Form new state governments
• Slavery is banned
Lincoln is Assassinated
• April 14, 1865 at Ford’s Theatre
• John Wilkes Booth shoots him in the head
• The nation is shocked• His death delayed
rebuilding the South
Johnson Becomes President
• Lincoln’s vice president• From Tennessee• A Democrat who ran
with Lincoln on a bipartisan ticket
• Favored quick restoration of seceded states
Problems in the South
• Farms and plantations were ruined
• Confederate money was worthless
• Banks failed• Roads, railroads, &
bridges were destroyed• No police, judges, or
courts• Homeless & unemployed
Reconstruction
• The rebuilding of the South
• President Andrew Johnson in charge
• He followed Lincoln’s plan
• Southerners pardoned after taking oath
• State governments re-formed
The Thirteenth Amendment
• Outlaws slavery• Supported by President
Johnson who urges former confederate states to do so
• Ratified on December 6, 1865
Radical Republicans
• Opposed Johnson’s plan• Wanted to punish
former Confederates• Would not recognize
new state governments• Did not accept these
states back into Union
Black Codes
• Southern states enact laws harmful to freedmen
• Restrict voting, owning land, working certain skilled jobs
• Radical Republicans are incensed
Johnson vs. Congress
• Johnson offends Radical Republicans
• He vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Congress overrides his vetoes
• He opposes the 14th Amendment
• Congress impeaches him
The Fourteenth Amendment
• Ensured validity of the Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Citizenship defined• Due process clarified• Equal protection for all
citizens• The only southern state
to ratify it was Tennessee: they got to return to the Union
The Freedman’s Bureau
• Started by Congress• Temp agency to help
former slaves find jobs, get clothing, food, & shelter
• Helped with schooling• Protected civil rights of
African Americans
Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Congress passed four acts- all over the veto of President Johnson
• The 10 states who refused to ratify the 14th amendment would be put under military rule
Impeachment
• Johnson’s vetoes anger Republicans
• The Tenure of Office Act angers Johnson
• Congress tries to impeach him (remove him from office)
• The attempt fails by one vote
The Election of 1868
• The Republicans choose war hero Ulysses S. Grant
• He supports the Radical Republicans
• Democrats pick former NY Governor Horatio Seymour
• African Americans swing a close election
Reshaping the South
• Scalawags manipulate blacks
• Carpetbaggers come south looking for opportunities
• Corruption was rampant
Changed Way of Life
• Plantations were divided up
• Tenant farming• Sharecroppers• The South diversified
their agricultural crops• Iron, steel, & lumber• industries emerge• Public education-but
segregated schools
The 15th Amendment
• African American men now have the right to vote
• Suffrage given to all citizens except women and American Indians
• Southerners opposed the new amendment
• “Grandfather clauses” and widespread voter suppression
Reconstruction Ends
• The Ku Klux Klan terrorizes African Americans
• Blacks are disenfranchised
• Poll taxes• Literacy tests• Residency requirements
Grant’s Problems
• Scandals hurt his administration
• He still wins a second term in 1872
• The country goes into a depression for four years
• Republicans loose many seats in Congress
Reconstruction Ends
• Northerners grew tired of high taxes and lose interest
• 10 years had passed• Rutherford B. Hayes was
elected president in 1876• A backroom deal secured
the election• Federal troops left the
South after he took office
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