During the Reconstruction era, African Americans gained the crucial right to vote, which led to their involvement in politics, including the election of over 600 African American legislators. However, Southern states implemented black codes that restricted freedoms and maintained white supremacy through various oppressive laws and violent actions by groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The black codes were eventually abolished by the 14th Amendment and Reconstruction policies, yet the struggle for civil rights continued with the emergence of Jim Crow laws.

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.

20. Political
cartoonist Thomas
Nast, suggested
an alliance
between the
White League and
the outlawed Ku
Klux Klan.
(Harper's Weekly,
October 24, 1874)

21. It’s my turn!
Quiz time!!!

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

28. Q7
CARPETBAGGERS ARE
A. SOUTHERNERS SUPPORTING THE UNION
B. SECRET KKK MEMBERS
C. NORTHERNERS MOVING SOUTH
D. FORMER CONFEDERACY SOLDIERS

29. Q8
TICK THE RIGHT SPELLING OF THE NAME
USED FOR SOUTHERNERS SUPPORTING
THE UNION
A. SKALAWAGS
B. SKALLAWAGS
C. SCALAWAGS
D. SCALAWAGGS

30. Q9
THE KKK ACT WAS VOTED IN
A. 1866
B. 1867
C. 1869
D. 1871

31. Q 10
WHAT IS THE NAME OF KKK’S
SUCCESSOR?
A. FLORIDA WHITE LEAGUE
B. LOUISIANA WHITE LEAGUE
C. MONTGOMERY WHITE LEAGUE
D. ALABAMA WHITE LEAGUE