This is the second and last lecture on the reconstruction period. It focuses on white resistance to black freedom, and on the nativist organizations and their tactics such as the kkk, and the Alabama White League.
Lecture on reconstruction and-the-black-experience-(part 2 black codes) 2016
1. African Americans and
the politics of Reconstruction
Of all the opportunities now open to African
Americans during Reconstruction, the right to vote
was seen as the most important!
During Reconstruction, more than 600 African
Americans served in state legislature, and sixteen of
the new U.S. congressmen/senators were African
Americans as well
2. Southern Resistance
Against political
power in the
hands of African
Americans
Maintaining
white
supremacy.
Resort to
Law
Violence
3. The Black Codes (1865-1867)
In 1865, southern governments created Black
Codes to control ex-slaves.
Black Codes were aimed to
restrict freed blacks’ activity and
ensure their availability as a labor force
4. Arbitrary arrests
In many states, if unemployed, African Americans
could be arrested and charged with vagrancy
5. Limiting freedoms
Codes prevented African Americans from
raising their own crops.
Often prohibited from entering towns without
permission.
Florida Constitution of 1865: “In all criminal
proceedings founded upon injury to a colored
person, (…) the testimony of colored persons
shall be excluded.”
6. Not yet citizens
After freedom was granted to slaves some
states declared them as Freedmen.
This meant they were not citizens and would
have to apply to become one.
They were treated as second class immigrants
and denied voting rights
7. Black Codes
African Americans rarely had the money to
own land and therefore still had to work on
plantations
They were forced to sign state contracts which
did not allow them to leave or quit.
Owners of the land were able to use the same
punishment they would use on children.
8. Black Codes
It was illegal for an
African American to
carry a knife or
Firearm.
Anyone that sold an
African American
alcohol could be jailed
for thirty days
9. Black Codes
In South Carolina, people that worked on the
land were to be called servants and the owners
master.
Their work day start when the sun went up and
ended when it went down.
According to Florida's Black Code, blacks who
violated labor contracts could be whipped,
pilloried, and sold for up to one year's labor.
10. They must be "especially civil and polite to
their masters, their masters' families and
guests," and they in return would receive
"gentle and kind treatment."
This outraged the Northern states as they felt it
was still slavery.
After elections in 1866, the south was put
under military rule and forced them to give the
vote to all and abandon the Black Codes
11. End of Black Codes (1865-1867)
These codes were outlawed by the 14th
amendment (1868) and by the Reconstruction
Act of 1867.
Once things settled down, the southern
parliament enacted a policy of Separate but
Equal. (Jim Crow Laws)
….and violence
12. Ku Klux Klan
Started in 1866 by
Nathaniel Bedford
Forrest
Secret society
Mostly former
Confederate soldiers
13. Goals of the KKK
Remove Republicans
from power
Drive out
carpetbaggers
Regain control of the
South for the
Democratic Party
Restore white
control of the South
using terror
14. Tactics of the KKK
Broke up Republican
meetings
Kept them from voting to
increase Democrats’ power
Harassed Freedmen’s
Bureau workers
Burned homes, churches,
schools
Lynching blacks for
“crimes” committed against
whites
15. Targets of the KKK
In this picture, the artist has portrayed a
group of bizarrely dressed Klansmen
contemplating the murder of a white
Republican. (Library of Congress)
African Americans
Victims had little
protection! Military
authorities hired by
Johnson were against
Reconstruction and
ignored violence
White Republicans:
Mainly Carpetbaggers
and Scalawags
16. Carpetbaggers
Northerners who went
South during
Reconstruction,
motivated by either
profit or idealism
Viewed as
opportunists looking
to exploit and profit
from the region’s
misfortunes
Named Carpetbaggers as they would
arrive south carrying a carpet bag
with all their belongings
17. Scalawags
Southern born white
Republicans
Scalawags opposed the
Confederacy, and
Supported the federal
reconstruction plan and
cooperated with the
blacks in order to
achieve their ends.
Viewed as traitors to the
South Scalawags — a derogatory term
(originally describing worthless
livestock)
18. Ku Klux Klan Act
Passed by Congress in
1871
Outlawed activities of
the Klan
Federal arrests
19. KKK outlawed in 1871, but it was not the only
group trying to keep African Americans
powerless!
Alabama's White League, formed in 1874,
strove to oust Republicans from office by
intimidating black voters.
22. Q1
THE SOUTHERN LAWS TO RESTRICT
BLACK FREEDOM WERE CALLED
A. SLAVE CODES
B. RACIST CODES
C. BLACK CODES
D. FREEDMEN’S CODES
23. Q2
THE BLACK CODES LASTED:
A. 2 YEARS
B. 5 YEARS
C. 7 YEARS
D. 12 YEARS
24. Q3
HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE VAGRANCY
A. NOT HAVING AN ESTABLISHED
RESIDENCE AND WORK
B. BEING AT THE FOREFRONT OF A
MOVEMENT
C. TAKING A PROPERTY ILLEGALLY
D. RAPING WHITE WOMEN
25. Q4
WHICH STATEMENT ABOUT THE KKK
IS WRONG?
A. IT WAS CREATED BY THE KKK ACT
B. IT WAS CREATED IN 1866
C. IT IS A SECRET SOCIETY
D. ITS MEMBERS ARE CONFEDERATE
SOLDIERS
26. Q5
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT
PART OF KKK GOALS
A. REMOVE REPUBLICANS FROM POWER
B. DRIVE OUT CARPETBAGGERS
C. REGAIN CONTROL OF THE NORTH FOR
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY
D. RESTORE WHITE CONTROL
27. Q6
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENTS ABOUT KKK IS WRONG
A HARRASSED FREEDMEN’S BUREAU
WORKERS
B BROKE UP DEMOCRAT MEETINGS
C BURNED HOMES, CHURCHES,
SCHOOLS
D LYNCHED BLACKS