ReconstructionRebuilding America After the War

War is Over With the Civil War over, the nation

entered a time of Reconstruction

Lincoln’s Assassination

In 1865, just 5 days after the end of the war, a Confederate supporter, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford’s Theater.

New President

Democrat, Andrew Johnson appealed to the South because he was once a slave owner.

His idea of Reconstruction was called Presidential Reconstruction Northerners felt like

this plan was too lenient

Radical Republicans

Radical Republicans felt that Johnson’s plan was ineffective because… It failed offer full citizenship to African

Americans The President was over Reconstruction

instead of Congress The entire voting population had to pledge

allegiance to the Union instead of just 10%

Reconstruction Legislation

13th Amendment: ended slavery throughout the United States in 1865 Just 1 year later, Congress passed the

Civil Rights Act of 1866, which was supposed to give citizenship rights to freed slaves.

14th Amendment: guaranteed that no person regardless of race could be deprived of the rights to life, liberty, or property without a trial.

Johnson’s Impeachment

Johnson opposed much of those laws.

In 1868, he tried to fire the Sec. of War, Edwin Stanton because of his ties to Lincoln and the Republicans. Congress

impeached him for over stepping his powers as president

Reconstruction Legislation

The last major Reconstruction law was the 15th Amendment, which stated that no citizen should be denied the right to vote by the US or any state.

African Americans during Reconstruction

Since the 13th Amendment freed slaves, Freedmen had to adjust to life after slavery. Most had no land or

money so they turned to sharecropping

Some tried tenant farming, where they could pay rent to farm the land and keep the crops they grew

African Americans during Reconstruction

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created to provide clothing, meals, medical attention, education, and even land to Freed slaves and some poorer whites. While the program

would help many, it lacked strong support and ended after 4 years.

African Americans during Reconstruction

Religion became very important to most African Americans. Within the church

they could discuss issues within the black community.

Ministers became leaders in spirituality and politics!

African Americans during Reconstruction

While it seemed that life would be improving for Freedmen, laws and hate groups negatively affected their everyday lives. Many states in the South passed

Black Codes to keep African Americans at a disadvantage.▪ Blacks couldn’t meet together after

sundown▪ They couldn’t own firearms or

weapons▪ They couldn’t rent property in cities

African Americans during Reconstruction

Some whites committed violent acts against Freedmen. The largest and most notorious group to do this was the Ku Klux Klan

Post-Reconstruction

Southern states began passing Jim Crow Laws that required African Americans and whites to use separate public facilities.

Many in the south tried to avoid following the 15th Amendment by requiring voters to pass a literacy test or pay a poll tax before voting. Some were protected by the grandfather

clauses which stated that if their ancestors could vote in the past they could vote

Post-Reconstruction

These issues led to Segregation in the South De jure Segregation is based on law De facto Segregation is based on social

habits

Important Figures

Booker T. Washington – former slave that founded the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama

W.E.B. DuBois – 1st African American to get a Ph.D. from Harvard. He also helped establish the NAACP

Ida Wells-Barnett – led movements against hate groups and helped DuBois with the NAACP