The Reconstruction Era

The Quest for Equality

Ms. Barksdale
African-American History
Reconstruction
Take notes on the following slides. You
will need to copy the text in red. Use
these notes to assist in Major/Minor
Assignments.
The South is destroyed
The Civil War ended April 9, 1865.
Most of the land in the South was
destroyed by the Civil War. The South
would need to be rebuilt.
This rebuilding of the South was called
Reconstruction.
Reconstruction Plan
President Lincoln wanted to reunite the
nation as quickly as possible.
Any southern state with at least 10% of its
voters making a pledge to be loyal to the
U.S. could be readmitted to the Union.
The South also had to accept a ban on
slavery.
 The Slaves Are Free
With the ending of the war, the slaves
were now free.
The 13th Amendment to the
Constitution was passed.
The 13th Amendment made slavery
illegal forever in the United States.
The Freedmens Bureau
The Freedmens Bureau was established
to help poor blacks and whites in the
South.
The Freedmens Bureau established
schools in the South.
Laws against educating slaves during the
Civil War meant that most ex-slaves did
not know how to read and write.
Lincolns Second Inaugural
Address
On March 4, 1865, President Lincoln laid
out his approach to Reconstruction in his
second inaugural address.
He hoped to reunite the nation and its
people.
 With malice [hatred] toward none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right, let us
finish the work we are in, to bind up the
nation's wounds, to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for his
widow and for his orphans, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just
and a lasting peace among ourselves
and with all nations.
Stop and Jot
What was the 13th Amendment?
13th Amendment made slavery illegal.
 Lincoln is assassinated
Just six days after the war ended, on
April 15, 1865, President Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated while
watching a play.
Lincoln was assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth, a Southerner who was
angry at Lincoln and his policies.
Vice-President Andrew Johnson
became president.
The Black Codes
The Black Codes were laws passed by
Southern states that limited the new-
found freedom of African Americans.
Black Codes forced African Americans
to work on farms or as servants. They
also prevented African Americans from
owning guns, holding public meetings,
or renting property in cities.
Voting Rights
Other laws were passed to keep blacks
from voting.
One law said former slaves had to pay a
tax to vote. It was called a poll tax.
Another law was passed that said a
person could only vote if their grandfather
had voted. These laws were called the
Grandfather Clause.
Stop and Jot

What was the Freedmans Bureau?

 The Freedmans Bureau established
schools in the South.
Radical Republicans
The Black Codes angered many Republicans in
Congress who felt the South was returning to its
old ways.
The Radical Republicans wanted the South to
change more before they could be readmitted
to the Union.
They were angry at President Johnson for
letting the South off so easy.
The 14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment guaranteed

citizenship to all people born or naturalized
within the U.S. except for the Indians.
It said that state governments could not
deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law.
Johnson and The Radical
Republicans
Congress was angry at President
Johnson for not going along with their
Reconstruction policies.
As a result, Congress impeached
Johnson.
Impeachment
Impeachment is the process of charging a
public official with a crime.
The next step was to try the president in
the Senate.
By a single vote, Republicans failed to
convict Johnson.
The only other time a president has been
impeached was Bill Clinton.
Ku Klux Klan
In 1866 a group of white southerners created
the Ku Klux Klan.
The KKK was a secret society opposed to
African Americans obtaining civil rights,
particularly the right to vote.
The KKK used violence and intimidation to
frighten blacks.
Klan members wore white robes and hoods to
hide their identities.
The Klan was known to have murdered many
people.
15th Amendment
In 1870 the 15th Amendment became
law.
The 15th Amendment gave African
American men the right to vote.
Womens rights activists were angry
because the amendment did not also
grant women the right to vote.
Segregation and Jim Crow
Laws
Starting in 1881, blacks had to stay in
separate hotels, sit in separate parts of
theaters, ride in separate rail cars, and
have separate schools, libraries, and
parks. This is known as segregation.
Segregation - the legal separation of
blacks and whites in public places
Jim Crow Laws - laws that forced
segregation
Plessy v. Ferguson
The Supreme Court ruled segregation was legal
in Plessy v. Ferguson.
They said that segregation was fair as long as
separate-but-equal facilities were provided for
African Americans.
In practice, the African American facilities were
usually separate-and-unequal.
It would take until the 1965, 100 years after the
Civil War ended, for Jim Crow laws to be
outlawed and blacks to finally realize legal
equality in America.
40 Acres and Mule
During Reconstruction, ex-slaves were
promised 40 acres of land and a mule.
Unfortunately, the government never came
through with their promise.
During the riots in the 1960s, people were
overheard saying, Thats for my 40 acres and a
mule, as they stole something from a store.
Film maker Spike Lees company is called 40
Acres and a Mule.
 Sharecropping
By the 1870s the system of sharecropping
had emerged and dominated most of the
South. There were no wages. Freedmen
worked the land as families not in gangs
and not under direct white supervision.
Land owners provided seed, tools,
fertilizer, and work animals, the black
family received one-third of the crop.
Culture
Education
Freedom and education were inseparable.
Regardless of age and sex, to remain
illiterate after slavery was to remain
enslaved. As a result , black men and
women responded to the call to teach..
Culture
Religion
In the years following slavery, the black
church became the most important
institution among African-Americans
following slavery. Most black people
considered white ministers incapable of
delivering a meaningful message. Thus,
many blacks formed their own churches.
Culture
Politics
1,465 black men held political office in the
South. Although, blacks held significant
political leverage, white Republicans
dominated politics during Reconstruction.
Black Political Leaders of
Reconstruction
P.B.S Pinchback served one month as
governor of Louisiana.
Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels
represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate.
Beginning with Joseph Rainey in 1870,
fourteen black men served in U.S. House of
Representatives during Reconstruction.
Countless others served as lieutenant
governors , mayors (5), sheriffs(41), state
senators (112) and representatives (683).
Black Political Leaders of
Reconstruction
Former slave, Robert Smalls was a
political kingpin in Beaufort, South
Carolina.
Black Political Leaders of
Reconstruction
Stop and Jot
Which political party did most black men
vote for?
Stop and Jot
Republican Party
The Issues
Education and Social Welfare
Black leaders were eager to promote literacy and education among black people. Black leaders also
created the first state supported institutions for the insane, blind, and deaf.
Civil Rights
Blacks were victims of racial discrimination in public transportation and public places such as hotels
and restaurants.
Economics
Black politicians sought to provide economic development for blacks. For example, white landowners
would hire black farmers and at the end of the growing season fire them without pay.
Land
Many black and white politicians felt the state had no rights to distribute land. However, South
Carolina created a land commission that granted many black and white families land that their
ancestors still own today.

Business and Industry

Black men found it more difficult to finance their corporations in industries such as the railroad and
fertilizer industry.
 Morrill Land Grant Act- provided states
with money for agricultural and
mechanical colleges. The first HBCU:
Alcorn A&M College.
The North Loses Interest
The federal government did reduce Klan violence for a
time. Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 expanded
authority over the states.
Klu Klux Klan Act- 1871 act made it illegal to interfere with
ones right to vote and enjoy protection under the law.
However, many white Republicans increasingly grew
frustrated that black people continued to demand so
much of their time year after year. Many Republicans
shifted their interest to elections and economic issues.
Panic of 1873
A financial crisis that sent the economy into
a slump for several years. Businesses
and financial institutions failed,
unemployment soared. In 1874, the
Democrats gained control of the House of
Rep. and took control over several
Northern states.
Civil Rights of 1875
Before Reconstruction finally expired,
Congress made one final call, the act
protected black people from racial
discrimination . In 1883, the U.S.
Supreme Court declared it
unconstitutional.
The Compromise of 1877
With the Presidential election in 1876, Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes won but promised Southern
Democrats not to interfere and support Republican
government in the South. It was an formal compromise,
but a informal understanding. As a result, Hayes
withdrew the last of Union troops in the South.
Democrats immediately took control.
Independent Work
Directions: Answer the following questions
in a one page reflection.
How did the Reconstruction Era shape
African American culture?
How was the Willie Lynch theory relevant
during this time?
Use textual evidence from Cornell Notes
and Chapter 12 and 13 in the textbook.
Due at the end of class.
Exit Ticket
How many blacks were elected into
political office during Reconstruction?
a. None
b. 100
c. 1,465