THE RECONSTRUCTION THE RECONSTRUCTION ERAERA

Rebuilding the UnionRebuilding the Union

Congressional Reconstruction Plan

President Lincoln had wanted a plan to return the southern

states to the union quickly and easily – 10% Plan -, but he was deadRadical Republicans in Congress wanted to punish the South

for the war with martial law, much harsherNew Pres. Andrew Johnson was a southerner and not able to

control Congress. He pardoned southern leaders and

vetoed the Tenure in Office Act.Congress impeached Johnson; found innocent by one vote

A ticket to President Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial with a painting of Johnson

Reconstruction - continued

Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau under Oliver Howard

to help freed slaves with schools, jobs, legal aid, finding relatives, etc.Passed 3 amendments to Constitution:

13th – abolished slavery14th – made blacks equal citizens15th – guaranteed equal right to vote to (male)

citizensWhen U.S. Grant was elected President in 1868 he went along

with the plans of Congress for Reconstruction

President Grant President Rutherford B. Hayes

Students at Howard University

A black man votes

Blacks Under ReconstructionBlack Americans still had many problems; whites in South

were determined to stay in control; for a few years

some blacks were elected to gov’t jobsSouthern states passed Black Codes and Jim Crow lawsThe Ku Klux Klan terrorized blacks who fought backBlack voting also limited by grandfather clauses, poll taxes,

and literacy testsMany ex-slaves became poor sharecroppers (tenant farmers)Were taken advantage of by carpetbaggers and scalawagsReconstruction ended with 1876 election; Tilden vs Hayes

Many blacks left the South, including the Exodusters who moved West

Freedman’s Bureau school

Thomas Nast cartoon about the 1876 election

Black Americans continued to live in poverty

Why Did Reconstruction Fail?

• The long history of racism in the United States

• Sharecropping made Blacks economically dependent on whites

• Blacks were lacking in education and experience as government officials

• The terrorism of the KKK and other white supremacist groups kept blacks from exercising equal rights

• Northern whites lost interest in the problems of Blacks in the South