1) Reconstruction aimed to reunite the nation after the Civil War and integrate freed slaves into society, but faced opposition.
2) Andrew Johnson's more lenient reconstruction plans differed from the Radical Republicans' desire to empower and protect freed slaves through laws and constitutional amendments.
3) Despite amendments banning slavery and guaranteeing rights, freed slaves still faced racism through laws like Black Codes and violence like the Ku Klux Klan, showing the unfinished work of Reconstruction.
6. Land
Radical Republicans – Thaddeus Stevens
General Sherman and Special Field Order 15
• 40 Acres and a mule
“You say that you have emancipated us. You have and I thank
you for it. But what is your emancipation? When you turned us
loose, you gave us no acres. You turned us loose to the sky, to
the storm, to the whirlwind, and worst of all, you turned us
loose to the wrath of our infuriated masters.”
Frederick Douglas
9. Admittance to the Union
Lincoln’s Plan:
• 10% oath
• Adopt 13th Amendment
Johnson’s Plan:
• New state constitution
• Repeal war debt
• Ratify 13th amendment
10. Protection of Rights
“Reconstruction Amendments”
• 13th = End to slavery
• 14th = Equal protection
• 15th = Voting rights
Reconstruction Acts (laws) - 1867-68
•Military districts
•Congressional approval for new
state constitution
•States must ratify the 14th
Amendment
Freedman’s Bureau
Enforcement Acts – 1870-71
11. Voting
15th Amendment = Voting rights
Denial of Voting Rights
• Literacy Tests
• Grandfather clause
• Poll Tax
12. Outcomes
Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws
Black Response
• Migration
• Community Building
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
• “Separate but equal”
Run N******* Run
13. On the KKK:
“The plan: reduce blacks to political impotence. How? By
the boldest and most ruthless political operation in
American history. By stealth and murder, by economic
intimidation and political assassinations, by the political use
of terror, by [clubbing] the baby in it’s mother arms, the
slaying of the husband at his wife’s feet, the raping of the
wife before the husband’s eyes. By fear.”
Lerone Bennett, Before the Mayflower
14. The following example of “Black Codes” come from laws passed in Opelousas, Louisiana
immediately after the Civil War.
"No negro or freedmen shall be allowed to come within the limits of the town of Opelousas
without special permission from his employers. . . . Whoever shall violate this provision
shall suffer imprisonment and two days work on the public streets, or pay a fine of five
dollars.
No negro or freedman shall be permitted to rent or keep a house within the limits of the
town under any circumstances. . . .
No negro or freedman shall reside within the limits of the town . . . who is not in the
regular service of some white person or former owner . . .
No public meetings or congregations of negroes or freedmen shall be allowed within the
limits of the town. . . .
No freedman ... shall be allowed to carry firearms, or any kind of weapons....
No freedman shall sell, barter, or exchange any article of merchandise within the limits of
Opelousas without permission in writing from his employer.”
15. Myths About Reconstruction
• The North imposed harsh military rule
• Northerners and Blacks conspired to exploit the South after the
war
• The KKK was made up of fringe elements of society
• Confederate dead were martyrs for the cause
• Everyone in the South were happier before the war
16. Critical Thinking Questions:
What did the Civil War accomplish?
What was restored? What was left un-restored?
How did Southerners react to their loss? Examples?
What in the South needed rebuilding?
What unfinished business remained?