Transcript File

Reconstruction
Chapter 16, Section 1and 2
Reconstruction Debate
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As Americans attempted to reunite their
shattered nation, they faced difficult questions:
1. Should slaveholding Southerners be punished?
2. What rights should be given to freed African
Americans?
3. How could the nation be brought back together?
Reconstruction Debate
• The war had left the South with enormous
problems: Cities and towns were in ruin,
plantations had been burned, railroads and
bridges had been destroyed.
Reconstruction Debate
• People all over the nation agreed that the
devastated Southern economy and society
needed rebuilding. They disagreed bitterly ,
however, on how to accomplish this.
• This period of rebuilding the south is called
Reconstruction. The term also refers to the
various plans for accomplishing the
rebuilding.
Reconstruction Debate
• President Abraham Lincoln believed that
punishing the South would serve no useful
purpose and would only delay healing the
war torn nation.
• Lincoln announced a reconstruction plan
known as the Ten Percent Plan.
Key Points of the Ten Percent Plan
1. When 10 percent of the voters of a state took an
oath of loyalty to the Union, they could form a
new government and adopt a constitution that
banned slavery.
2. The president offered amnesty (a pardon or
formal forgiveness) to all white southerners,
except Confederate leaders, who were willing to
swear loyalty to the Union.
Challenge to Lincoln
• Some individuals were more radical or extreme
than Lincoln. Many thought that the South
deserved strict harsh punishment, especially
“Radical Republicans.”
• Republicans in Congress argued that former
Confederates should not be allowed to hold public
offices.
• Lincoln realized compromise was inevitable.
African Americans
• Helping African Americans freed from slavery
was also a huge concern for Lincoln and
Congress.
• To assist these African Americans the government
created the Freedmen’s Bureau.
• In the years following the war, the Freedmen’s
Bureau played an important role in helping
African Americans make the transition from
slavery to freedom.
African Americans
• The Freedmen’s Bureau distributed food,
clothing and also provided medical services
to African Americans .
• The bureau also established schools and
created institutions of higher learning.
• The bureau also helped freed people acquire
land.
Lincoln’s Assassination
• Before compromise could be made on how to
allow Southern states back in the union, a terrible
event occurred.
• On the evening of April 14, 1865 Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated while attending a play at
Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C..
• John Wilkes Booth, a wealthy actor of the theatre
and Confederate sympathizer, entered the private
balcony box and shot Lincoln in the back of the
head.
John Wilkes Booth
“Restoration”
• When Lincoln died, Vice President Andrew
Johnson became the 17th president.
• Andrew Johnson soon revealed his plan for
Reconstruction .
“Restoration”
•
Johnson introduced his plan in May of 1865.
Johnson simply called his plan “Restoration.”
“Restoration” worked in the following way:
1. Most Southerners would be granted amnesty if
they swore allegiance to the Union.
2. High-ranking Confederate officials and wealthy
land owners could only be pardoned if they
applied personally to the president.
3. Before a state could re-enter the Union, it had to
denounce secession and ratify the Thirteenth
Amendment.
“Restoration”
• By the end of 1865, all the former Confederate
states except Texas had formed new governments
and were scheduled to rejoin the Union.
• President Johnson declared that “Restoration” was
almost complete.
• Despite President Johnson’s claim that
“Restoration” was nearly complete, many Radical
Republicans felt Johnson’s plan was robbing the
Union of a hard-won victory. In addition, many
Northerners realized the treatment of African
Americans in the South was not improving.
Black Codes
• As many Southern states came back into the
Union, state legislatures created a series of laws
called black codes.
• According to the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery
was no longer permitted; however, these laws
aimed to exploit (take advantage of) African
Americans.
Black Codes
• Some of these black codes:
1. Allowed local officials to arrest and fine
unemployed African Americans then make them
work for white employers to pay off the fine.
2. Some banned African Americans from owning
or renting farms.
• In all, black codes basically reestablished
slavery in disguise.
Challenging Black Codes
• To protect African Americans from these black
codes, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of
1866.
• This act granted full citizenship to African
Americans and gave the federal government the
right to intervene in state affairs to protect African
American rights.
The Fourteenth Amendment
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1.
2.
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Congress wanted to ensure that African American rights
were further protected. In June 1866 Congress passed
the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Fourteenth Amendment:
Granted full citizenship to all individuals born in the
United States.
Stated that no state could take away a citizen’s life,
liberty and property without due process of law. (Free
slaves were granted legal rights.)
In order to be admitted into the Union, Southern states
had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
Reconstruction Acts
• On March 2, 1867 Congress passed the First
Reconstruction Act.
• This act divided 10 Southern states into five
military districts and placed each under the
authority of a military commander until these
states ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and
submitted new state constitutions for
Congressional approval.
• By 1870 all Southern states were returned to the
Union.
Grant and the Fifteenth Amendment
• In 1868 a new president was elected. Ulysses S. Grant was
elected as the 18th president.
• After the election, Republicans developed their last piece
of Reconstruction. Congress passed the Fifteenth
Amendment which prohibited state and federal
governments from denying male citizens the right to vote
due to race, color or previous condition of servitude.