Transcript Reconstruction of the South

Reconstruction of
the South
Vocabulary
 Reconstruction- the rebuilding of
and re-admission of the southern
states into the union
 Amnesty- a pardon for crimes to a
large group of individuals
 Provisional- temporary
 Black codes- laws adopted by the
south that severely restricted the
rights of newly freed slaves
 Radical Republicans- Congressmen
with strong anti-slavery views who
wanted to punish the southerners
Johnson’s plan
 Grant amnesty to Confederates who
signed an oath of loyalty to the
Union
 Appoint provisional governors
 Minimal requirements for
reorganizing Southern state
governments
 Allow Southern states to elect
representatives to Congress
Congress Reconvenes
 Refused to seat the newly elected
Southern representatives
 Criticized Johnson’s leniency
toward the South
 He had done nothing to prevent state
governments from passing Black Codes
 Tensions increased between the
President and Congress
 These were the underlying political
reasons for Johnson’s impeachment
Congress’ Plan
 Abolished the state
governments under Johnson’s
plan
 Divided the South into five
military districts, each under
the command of a general
 This was to carry out the process
of readmitting states to the Union
Think, Write, Pair Share
Four million slaves had been freed by
the Emancipation Proclamation &
the Thirteenth Amendment. While
enslaved they had:
1. Not been allowed to learn to read
or write
2. Not been allowed to have paying
jobs
3. Not been allowed to live on their
own & take care of their families
What kinds of problems do you think
they would face with freedom?
Freedmen’s Bureau
 An office of the War Department
established to provide freed AfricanAmericans with:
 Food
 Teachers
 Legal aid
 Other assistance
 Distributed horses, mules, and land that
had been confiscated during the war
 Assisted about 40,000 African-Americans
establish their own farms in Georgia and
South Carolina
Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Granted citizenship to AfricanAmericans
 Prohibited states from trying to
keep the rights of citizenship
from them
Fourteenth Amendment
 Ratified in 1868
 Prevented any state from
denying rights and privileges to
any citizen
Fifteenth Amendment
 Ratified 1870
 Guaranteed that no citizen could be
denied the right to vote based on
race, color, or former servitude
 The Enforcement Act, 1870
 Federal authorities could prosecute
anyone who violated the Fourteenth or
Fifteenth Amendments
Results of the Fifteenth
Amendment
 Southern Whites were angry with
the Fifteenth Amendment and
refused to go to the polls (to vote).
 More African-Americans voted than
southern whites
 Think, Write, Pair Share
What do you think happened to the
governments of southern states?
African-American
Majority
 Blacks began to exert influence
with their votes
 Carried the majority of votes in:
 Alabama, Florida, Louisiana,
Mississippi, and South Carolina
 African-Americans outnumbered
white representatives in South
Carolina
End of Reconstruction
 Most of the legislation that
provided civil rights to African
Americans had been nullified (done
away with)
 Unhappy and afraid for their lives,
African Americans left the South by
the thousands
 They moved to Northern urban
areas, such as Chicago and New York
Moving to Kansas
Many African Americans moved to
Kansas where there was a lot
of fertile soil.
Think, Write, Pair Share
Think back to our studies of this
unit. Why would African
Americans feel safe in Kansas?
Summarize
Take 3 minutes to answer this
question.
What were the lasting effects of
the Civil War and
Reconstruction on the South?