Reconstruction Mr. Webster’s Class

Reconstruction Vocabulary

• black codes – laws passed in the South just after the Civil War aimed at controlling freed men and women• impeach – to formally charge a public official with misconduct in

office• scalawag – name given by former Confederates to Southern whites

who supported Republican Reconstruction of the South• poll tax – a tax a person must pay in order to vote• literacy test – a method used to prevent African Americans from

voting by requiring respective voters to read and write at a specified level• segregation – forced separation• lynching – putting to death by the illegal action of a mob

Reconstruction

• After the Civil War ended, the Southern states had to rejoin the Union.• The task of rebuilding the former Confederate states and readmitting them to the Union was called Reconstruction.• Debates regarding

Reconstruction led to bitter conflict in the years following the Civil War.

Radical Republicans

• Lincoln did not want to punish the South after the war ended. He believed that punishment would accomplish little and would slow the nation’s healing.• He offered amnesty to those who

would swear loyalty to the Union.• Some members of Congress thought

Lincoln’s plan went too easy on the South.• A group of “Radical Republican” representatives favored a more radical approach to Reconstruction.

Freedmen’s Bureau

• In March 1865, Lincoln and Congress together created the Freedmen’s Bureau.• The main purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau was to help African Americans adjust to life after slavery.• The bureau provided food, clothing, and medical care to poor Southerners, especially those freed from slavery.

The Assassination of Lincoln

• Events took a dramatic turn on the night of April 14, 1865.• As the president enjoyed a play at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., actor and Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in the head.• Lincoln was then carried across

the street to the Petersen Boarding House, where he died early the next day.

The Hunt for John Wilkes Booth

• After shooting Lincoln, Booth fled the scene. • He was found 12 days

later hiding in a barn. • When he refused to

surrender, the barn was set on fire. • As Booth moved about the

blazing barn, Sgt. Boston Corbett shot him. • He died three hours later.

John Wilkes Booth

• John Wilkes Booth was a well-known actor and Confederate sympathizer, and he was strongly opposed to abolition.• Booth and a group of co-conspirators plotted to kill Lincoln, Vice President Johnson, and the secretary of state. Of the conspirators, only Booth was successful.

The Co-Conspirators• Mary Surratt owned a boarding

house where the conspirators met.• Lewis Powell was assigned to kill

Sec. of State William Seward. He entered Seward’s home and severely injured Seward, Seward’s son, and a bodyguard.

• David Herold led Booth on the escape route into Virginia.

• George Atzerodt was assigned to kill V.P. Andrew Johnson, but lost his nerve and instead went to a hotel bar and drank.

• All were tried, convicted, and executed.

Lincoln Assassination Newsletter – worth 20 pts.• For this assignment, you are to create a headline and news report of

EITHER Lincoln’s assassination OR the capture of John Wilkes Booth. • Your headline must grab the reader’s attention, and your news report

must include as much background information as possible (who was involved, where it happened, whether the president is expected to live, etc.)• You can create a fictitious name for your newspaper (i.e. Kansas City

Star), or you can use the name of an existing publication, like the New York Times.• Your newsletter should take up both the front and back of one sheet of

paper.• The assignment is worth 20 points. I will be grading as follows: 10 points

for content accuracy, 5 points for creativity, and 5 points for structure.

Andrew Johnson – 17th President of the U.S.A.• After Lincoln’s assassination, Vice President Andrew Johnson became president.• Johnson’s Reconstruction plan gave

amnesty to most Southerners who swore loyalty to the Union, but he opposed equal rights for African-Americans.• Johnson’s plan required the Southern

states to outlaw slavery before they could rejoin the Union.• Johnson was the first president to be impeached, and he was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

Fourteenth Amendment

• Many Radical Republicans were not willing to readmit the Southern states on Johnson’s easy terms.• When the Radicals began to see that

Congress and Johnson would not be able to work together on Reconstruction, they began to create their own plan for dealing with the South.• In 1868, Congress ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, which defined citizenship as “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

End of Year Collage Assignment – 25 points• For this assignment, you are to create a collage that

incorporates the topics / themes / events we have learned about this year. Some things you may want to include are: the exploration of America, the colonization of America, the struggle for independence, the creation of our government, the exploration and settlement of the West, and the issue of slavery.• Your collage should incorporate at least 5 relevant topics, and

your finished product should be colorful and creative.• This assignment is worth 25 points, and grading will be based

on the following: historical accuracy, relevance, color, creativity, and effort.

First Reconstruction Act

• In 1867, Congress passed the First Reconstruction Act, which divided ten of the former Confederate states into 5 military districts.• Each district was governed by an

army general until new state governments were formed.• Each state also had to submit a new state constitution to Congress for approval.• Finally, the act guaranteed African American men the right to vote in state elections.

Readmitting the Southern States

• Many white Southerners refused to take part in the elections for constitutional conventions and new state governments. • Thousands of African Americans

did cast ballots.• As a result, Republicans were

able to take control of most Southern state governments.• By 1870, all of the Southern

states had been readmitted to the Union.

The Impeachment of Johnson

• Because Johnson strongly opposed the Reconstruction Acts, Congress passed a series of laws to limit his power.

• One such law prohibited the president from removing government officials from office.

• When the President violated the Tenure of Office Act and proceeded to fire the Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him.

• In 1868, the case went to the Senate for a trial, where Johnson was narrowly acquitted.

Ulysses S. Grant – 18th President of the U.S.A.• In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant won the election for presidency.• Grant was a Republican, and he was the hero of the Civil War.• Grant encouraged passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave African American men the right to vote.• Scandal and corruption plagued Grant’s presidency, and his reputation suffered even more when the U.S. fell into an economic depression.

African Americans in Government

• Republicans controlled Southern politics during Reconstruction.• During Reconstruction, African Americans played an important role in Southern politics by voting and even serving as elected officials.• At the national level, 16

African Americans served in the House of Representatives and 2 served in the Senate between 1869 and 1880.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

• Some Southern whites supported the Republican Party. Despised by former Confederates, they were known as scalawags.• In addition, many Northern whites moved to the South after the war to help rebuild the South. White Southerners viewed them with suspicion and referred to them as carpetbaggers.

Ku Klux Klan

• Life during Reconstruction was difficult for African Americans.• Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan used fear and violence to deny rights to freed men and women.• Disguising themselves in white sheets and hoods, Klan members threatened, beat, and killed thousands of African Americans and the whites who supported them.

The End of Reconstruction

• By 1877, Reconstruction was over. The United States had a new president, Rutherford B. Hayes, and the last troops were withdrawn from the South.• As Reconstruction ended, African

Americans’ dreams for justice faded.• Newly instated Democratic governments in the South passed laws that denied African Americans many of their newly won rights.

Voting Restrictions

• The 15th Amendment barred states from denying someone the right to vote because of face.• White Southern leaders found a way to get around the 15th amendment by requiring poll taxes and literacy tests.• Because most African Americans were poor and uneducated, these obstacles prevented many from voting.

Jim Crow Laws

• By the late 1800s, segregation had become common across the South.• Southern states passed so-called Jim Crow laws that required African Americans and whites to be separated in almost every public place. • Violence against African Americans also rose. One form of violence was lynching, where angry mobs killed people by hanging them.

Exodusters and Buffalo Soldiers

• During Reconstruction, many former slaves began to leave the South. They called themselves “Exodusters,” comparing their own exodus to the Israelites’ exodus mentioned in the Bible.• Other African Americans escaped the South by becoming soldiers. They served in segregated army units, and according to legend, they were called “buffalo soldiers.”

The Impact of Reconstruction

• Reconstruction was a success in some ways and a failure in others.• It helped the South rebuild its economy, but much of the South remained poor.• African Americans gained greater equality, but it did not last.• Still… the seeds of freedom and

equality had been planted, although it would take almost another hundred years for either to become a reality.

Alaska

• The first Europeans to settle in Alaska were the Russians. Beginning in the 1700s, they established various trading posts and settlements in Alaska.• In 1867, the United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. • The deal was negotiated by Sec. of State William Seward, and many referred to it as “Seward’s Folly.”

Hawaii

• In 1778, Capt. James Cook “discovered” the Hawaiian islands.• At the beginning of the 1800s, American missionaries began settling in Hawaii and quickly gained influence and wealth. • In 1893, a group of wealthy businessmen, plantation owners, and U.S. troops helped overthrow the Hawaiian monarchy.• Fiver years later, Hawaii was

annexed by the United States.

To Be Continued…

Review Questions Assignment – worth 20 points• You are to use your textbook (Chapter 18) to create 10

questions and answers that you feel would make good test questions.• You are to put all of your questions on one sheet of

paper, and all of your answers on another sheet of paper. On the answer sheet, you also need to write down the page # where you got your information.• Once you have completed creating your questions and

answers, you will submit them to me and I will distribute another student’s questions to you for you to answer. • The first three students to complete the assignment

successfully will receive a reward.