Transcript Reconstruction Notes - Madison County Schools

Reconstruction
Reconstruction
1. Reconstruction was the process or rebuilding
the south and restoring the southern states
to the Union.
2. Problems facing MS included:
a. Wide-spread poverty.
b. The physical destruction of the state’s resources.
c. A loss of labor.
Destruction from the Civil War
Destruction from the Civil War
The Freedmen
1. There were around 400,000 freedmen, or
former slaves, living in MS.
2. Problems faced by the freedmen were:
a. They were homeless.
b. They were jobless.
c. They had no education or job skills.
The Freedman’s Bureau
1. The Freedman’s Bureau was established by
the federal government to help the freed
slaves.
2. It aided them in finding food, clothing and
shelter as well helping to get an education
and find jobs.
3. Rumors spread that each freedman would be
given “40 acres and a mule” but very few
freedmen were given any land permanently.
Presidential Reconstruction
1. Abraham Lincoln wants to restore the southern
states to the Union as quickly and as easily as
possible.
2. Under the Presidential Plan of Reconstruction:
a. All southerners except for high-ranking
Confederate officials would be pardoned by taking
an oath of loyalty to the Union.
b. When 10% of the voters in a state had taken the
oath of loyalty, the state would be permitted to
form a legal government and rejoin the Union.
The Radical
Republicans
1. The Radical
Republicans (led by
Thaddeus Stevens)
were a group of men
who wanted to use
Reconstruction to
punish the south.
2. They believed that
Lincoln’s plan of
reconstruction was too
easy on the south.
3. They also wanted to
make sure the
freedmen’s rights were
protected.
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
1. On April 14, 1865,
Abraham Lincoln was
assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth at Ford’s
Theater in
Washington, D.C.
2. Andrew Johnson, from
TN, would take over as
president.
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
MS and Presidential Reconstruction
1. MS held a constitutional convention and decided to
reinstate the Constitution of 1832, which recognized the
right to own slavery.
2. MS refused to ratify the 13th Amendment.
3. State elections were held and many former
Confederates were elected to public office.
4. MS’s new state legislature refuses to ratify the 14th
Amendment, which granted the freed slaves citizenship,
due process of the law and equal protection of the law.
5. The legislature also passed a series of laws called the
Black Codes, which were designed to restrict the rights
of the freed slaves and force them to remain in the
fields.
Radical Reconstruction
1. The Radical Republicans look at MS’s and the
south’s actions as an attempt to ignore the
Civil War and keep slavery.
2. In response, the Radical Republicans refuse
to recognize the new southern governments
and pass the Reconstruction Act.
The Reconstruction Act
1. The south was divided into five military
districts run by a military governor and subject
to martial law.
2. All ex-Confederates were removed from local
and state government.
3. Southern states had to write a new
constitution that protected the rights of the
freedmen (specifically the right to vote).
4. Southern states had to ratify – officially enact
as law – the 14th Amendment.
Reconstruction Military Districts
Edward O. Ord
1. Major General Edward Ord
was the military governor
of MS.
2. Ord calls for a new
constitutional convention.
3. Former Confederates can’t
participate, so its led by:
Carpetbaggers, who are
northerners who came
south for government jobs.
Scalawags, who are
southerners who
supported the Republican
Party.
Freedmen.
The Freedmen in MS’s Government
1. Seventeen freedmen served in the
constitutional convention of 1868 and did
very well, considering most had limited
education and none had any political
experience.
2. The freedmen who served in the convention
will push for resolutions that provided
universal male suffrage and a system of free
public schools for all children.
The Disfranchisement Clause
1. MS’s new constitution had a
disfranchisement clause which would
prevent former Confederates or anyone who
supported or gave aid to the former
Confederates from voting.
2. This clause caused many conservative white
Mississippians not to vote for the
Constitution of 1868.
3. The Ku Klux Klan kept many black
Mississippians from voting for the
Constitution of 1868.
Ku Klux Klan
1. The Ku Klux Klan was
formed by the
Confederate general
Nathan Bedford Forest.
2. They used violence and
intimidation to try to
keep black southerners
from participating in
government.
3. Ulysses S. Grant sent
federal troops into the
south to get the KKK
under control.
Black Political Power in MS
1. When the Constitution of 1868 passes, more and
more black men will be chosen to government
positions within the state.
2. Benjamin T. Montgomery, a justice of the peace,
was believed to be the first black man to hold
public office in MS.
3. Hiram Revels, who finished Jefferson Davis’ term
in the Senate, became the first black man to serve
in the U.S. Senate.
4. Blanche K. Bruce was elected to the U.S. Senate
and was the only black man to serve a full term in
the Senate until 1966.
Hiram Revels and Blanche K Bruce
Education in MS
1. The most important accomplishment of MS’s
Republican government will be the system of
public schools they create.
2. In 1870, the state legislature created a school
system in each county and allocated funds to
operate the schools.
3. By 1875, over 150,000 children, black and
white, were enrolled in public schools.
Higher Education in MS
1. In 1871, Alcorn University was established
for black Mississippians.
2. In 1878, the Mississippi Agriculture and
Mechanical College was created – it later
became Mississippi State University.
3. In 1884, the Industrial Institute and College
became the first state supported college for
women in the entire U.S. – it later became
the University for Women.