Transcript Chapter 16 The Union Reconstructed

Chapter 16
The Union
Reconstructed
The American People, 6th ed.
I.
The Bittersweet
Aftermath of War
The United States in 1865
 At the end of the war, Lincoln’s official
position was that the South had never left
the Union
 Lincoln’s opponents argued that by
declaring war, the Confederacy had
broken their Constitutional ties and
reverted to a territory status
 The North was stronger than ever, the
South lay in ruins
Hopes Among the
Freedpeople
 Blacks tested their new freedom gradually
 Most freed slaves made education a priority
 Many left their plantations in search of a family
member who had been sold
 The primary goal for these freedpeople was to
secure jobs and land; they expected a new
economic order and some compensation for
their years in slavery
The White South’s
Fearful Response
 The dominant emotion in the Southern
post-war white community was fear of
newly freed slaves; of rape and revenge
 Almost all societal norms in the South
had been reversed as a result of losing
the war
 Southern legislatures passed “Black
Codes” the first year after the war to
secure white dominance
II.
National Reconstruction
Politics
The Thirteenth
Amendment
 Abolished slavery and ratification was the
first requirement for Southern states to
rejoin the Union
 Renouncing succession, acknowledging
Confederate debts, and electing new
state officials and members of Congress
were other requirements.
The Fourteenth
Amendment
 Promised perpetual protection of the civil
rights of black Americans by legally
defining them as citizens
 Granted suffrage to black males in the
South
 Denounced by President Johnson
Acts of Reconstruction
 The southern states were divided into military
districts for federal administration
 Congress redefined the qualifications for
readmission as a state: blacks must be included
in selecting representation to create new state
constitutions
 The Tenure of Office Act restricted presidential
appointment powers in light of Johnson’s
aggressive racism and determination to foil any
reconstruction process; he became the first
president to be impeached
III. The Lives of
Freedpeople
The Freedmen’s Bureau
 Officially called the Bureau of Freedmen,
Refugees and Abandoned Lands
 Issued emergency food rations, clothes
and shelter for the homeless victims of
the war
 Tasked with an extensive education
program for the freed slaves
 Served as an early employment agency
for African Americans
Economic Freedom
 The failure of Congress to provide 40 acres and
a mule for the freedmen resulted in a new
economic dependency on their former masters
 Land ownership consolidated into huge holdings
and concentrated on one cash crop, usually
cotton
 African American signed work contracts with
white landowners to toil under the lash as if
slavery still existed