Transcript Reconstruction? - Cloudfront.net

Reconstruction
& Its Effects
Think About It!!!
Have you ever been part of a team
or group who started off with high
hopes and strong ambitions, but did
not finish well?
What is Reconstruction?

Reconstruction is the period of time (1865
– 1877), during which the U.S. began to
rebuild following the Civil War.
– Also, the process the federal gov. used to
readmit defeated Confederate states back into
the Union.
Who were the
Radical Republicans?

The Radical Republicans were a group
within Congress who wanted AfricanAmericans to be given full citizenship and
the right to vote.
 Freedman’s Bureau Act (1866)
 Civil Rights Act (1866)
 14th Amendment (1866)
 15th Amendment (1870)
** Look in Ch. 4-4 (pg. 184 - 186) and
describe what each of these did.**
Why was President Johnson
impeached?

Johnson became president in 1865 after Lincoln’s
assassination;
– Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
 made it relatively easy for ex-confederate states to rejoin the
union
 Pardoned many former confederates

Johnson was viewed by RRs as being to lenient
on he South;
– He did not support civil rights for African-Americans;
– He angered many by vetoing legislation such as the
Freedman’s Bureau and Civil Rights Acts of 1866.
Why was President Johnson
impeached?

Moderate and Radical Republicans in Congress
wanted to take charge of Reconstruction;
– Believed Johnson was blocking Reconstruction;

They start looking for reasons to impeach
Johnson;
– The House impeaches, but the Senate does not
convict;

Message Received:
– Congress takes control of Reconstruction
The Post-War South

Southern economy and population is devastated
by the war;
– Many small farms ruined
– Hundreds of thousands of men killed

Southern Politics – dominated by the Republican
Party after the war
– Scalawags – white Southerners who joined the
Republican Party
– Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the
South after the war
– African-Americans
Reconstruction Collapses

Many white Southerners resent
reconstruction;
– Ku Klux Klan – a notorious and violent
Southern vigilante group whose goal was to
destroy the Republican party and end
reconstruction
 Killed as many as 20,000 men, women and
children
 Used intimidation to prevent African-Americans
from exercising their political rights
Reconstruction Collapses, cont.

The Republican Party looses power in the
South;
– Amnesty Act (1872)
– Freedman’s Bureau expires
Panic of 1873 – economic concerns divert
attention away from the South
 Democrats “Redeem” the South in the
election of 1876

Summarizing:
How did Radical Republicans try to
reconstruct the South?
 How successful was reconstruction?
