There were several plans proposed to reconstruct the Union and address the treatment of freed slaves after the Civil War. Lincoln favored quick readmission of Southern states with no protections for freedmen. Congress supported more radical plans guaranteeing black rights and excluding ex-Confederate leaders from power. Andrew Johnson initially followed Lincoln's lenient approach but Congress passed the 14th Amendment and Radical Reconstruction plans over Johnson's vetoes, dividing reconstruction along partisan lines and leading to Johnson's impeachment.
Covers the events that occurred in the aftermath of the American Civil War, including the readmission of former Confederate States to the Union, the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau and the Black Codes, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the debates over the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
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Covers the events that occurred in the aftermath of the American Civil War, including the readmission of former Confederate States to the Union, the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau and the Black Codes, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the debates over the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution.
Found at http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmrkash.com%2Factivities%2Freconstruction.ppt&ei=lennUtiyAvDKsQTxw4DoBw&usg=AFQjCNHtTnziU5H-r6FUHLjQxTcEKCo4Tw&bvm=bv.60157871,d.cWc
An introduction to Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, which redefined the Union's purpose for fighting the Civil War.
For more instructional materials and PowerPoint presentations, visit www.tomrichey.net!
PowerPoint on the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. Topics addressed are President Lincoln, President Johnson, the Radical Republicans, the KKK, Black Codes, Jim Crow and more.
HIS 131The Crises of ReconstructionChapter 16I. The IssuSusanaFurman449
HIS 131
The Crises of Reconstruction
Chapter 16
I. The Issues of Reconstruction
The word “Reconstruction,” as Americans in the 1860’s used it, referred to the process by which states of the defeated Confederacy were to be brought back to their former places in the Union….Several possible ways of achieving reconstruction existed.
One possibility would be to grant easy terms…permitting the states to return promptly and with little internal change except for the elimination of slavery.
Another possibility would be to delay the readmission in such a way as to reduce the power of the rebel leaders.
A quick and easy restoration of the Union would be to the advantage of the former Confederates and the Democratic party of both the North and South….Ironically, the abolition of slavery would increase the power of the Southern states in national politics.
In the past, under the “three-fifths clause” of the Constitution, only three-fifths of the slaves had been counted in determining a state’s representation in Congress and its electoral votes in presidential elections.
In the future, all the former slaves would be counted, whether or not they themselves were given political rights.
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However, the Republicans saw this easy restoration of the Union as creating a potentially disastrous outcome for their party….This was because the Republicans had gained control of the government in 1860 only because of the split in the Democratic party over the slavery issue, and the subsequent secession of the Southern states which lost the Democrats roughly half of their representation.
Once the Southern states would be restored and the Democratic party would be reunited, the Republicans would have to face the fact that once again they would be in the minority.
The outlook on an easy restoration was also disturbing for Northern businessmen who during the war had obtained favors from the federal government and this preferential treatment might be ended if the Democrats were returned to power.
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For the newly freed slaves, a quick and easy restoration would be catastrophic….The Southern white population, which had controlled the state governments in the South before the Civil War, would continue to do so….The newly freed slaves could then expect to be kept in a position that would be somewhere between slavery and freedom.
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Therefore, the issues of Reconstruction were very similar to the Civil War itself.
So far as the Southerners were concerned, the war had been fought for the Independence of the South, and the preservation of the Southern way of life which included slavery…After the war the Southerners hoped to maintain a considerable degree of Southern independence through the assertion of states’ rights, and they also hoped to retain the essence of slavery by finding some substitute for it.
In the North, there was the memory of sacrifice, suffering, and personal loss…In the South there was the bittern ...
4. Reconstruction Questions 1. How do we bring the South back into the Union? 2. How do we rebuild the South after its destruction during the war? 3. How do we integrate and protect newly- emancipated black freedmen? 4. What branch of government should control the process of Reconstruction? “ Reconstruction ” refers to the era from 1865 to 1877 when the U.S. gov’t addressed bringing the South back into the Union after the Civil War & the treatment over former slaves in America
12. “ Malice towards none and charity for all” —Abraham Lincoln “ Every head of family in the United States should have one slave to take the drudgery and menial service off his family” —Andrew Johnson
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15. Freedmen’s Bureau School Many former abolitionists moved South to help freedmen, called “carpetbaggers” by Southern Democrats
16. “ Plenty to eat & nothing to do” Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes
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19. Johnson’s “Swing Around the Circle” In the 1866 mid-term elections, Johnson toured the South trying to convince voters to elect Congressmen who would reject the 14 th Amendment The plan back-fired & Republicans won a 3-1 majority in both houses of Congress & gained control of every northern state
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21. Created 5 military districts to enforce acts Created 5 military districts to enforce Reconstruction But, Radical Reconstruction was so dependent on massive & sustained federal aid that it was not adequate to enforce equality in the South… … and Johnson obstructed Republicans’ plans by removing sympathetic cabinet members & generals
27. Sharecropping Problem : families accumulated debt to the landowner before their crop was sold; This cyclical process led to mortgages on future crops ( crop lien system ) By the end of 1865, most freedmen had returned to work on the same plantations on which they were previously enslaved
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30. Black & White Political Participation Black House & Senate Delegates “ Colored Rule in a Reconstructed South” Black Republicans were accused of corruption & lack of civility
34. How effective was the U.S. in addressing these Reconstruction questions? 1. How to bring the South back into the Union? 2. How to rebuild the South after its destruction during the war? 3. How to integrate & protect newly- emancipated black freedmen? 4. What branch of government should control the process of Reconstruction?
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Editor's Notes
Lesson Plan for Wednesday, November 12, 2008: RQ16B, Andrew Johnson video, Reconstruction notes
By 1864, Arkansas & Louisiana had established Unionist governments but were refused to be seated by Congress
Lesson Plan for Thursday, November 13, 2008: Warm-Up Question, Finish Reconstruction notes
Created,, &
The success of Reconstruction
11 week trial. Johnson was acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3s vote)