Reconstruction

1863-1877
What is the Reconstruction?

-Two definitions:

1. The period of time after the Civil War, from 1863-1877.

2. The transformation of the Southern United States after

the Civil War.

-- the federal government “reconstructed” the Southern

states and Southern society --
 Purposes of the
Reconstruction
-To decide how the Southern States
will participate in national politics

-To decide what to do with former

leaders and supporters of the
Confederacy

-To determine the legal status of

freed slaves
“Reconstruction must revolutionize Southern
institutions, habits, and manners ... The
foundations of their institutions … must be
broken up and relaid, or all our blood and
treasure have been spent in vain.”

-Thaddeus Stevens, member of Congress, 1865

1.Southern States and Politics
 Constitutional
Amendments
-13th Amendment abolished
slavery

-14th Amendment declared that all

people born in the United States
were US citizens, regardless of skin
color

-15th Amendment said that the

right to vote cannot be denied
based on race or skin color
Problems with Politics
Who should be in charge of the state governments?

-Former politicians in the South were also Confederate

leaders; they couldn’t keep their political power or they
would secede again and continue to rebel

Solution:

-The Southern States were controlled by the Union military

until the national government decided what to do.

-Former Confederate supporters lost the right to vote.

More Problems with Politics
Can freed slaves vote?

-Black people voting in the South would increase the South’s

power in the national government, which could be bad. But if
black people are not allowed to vote, then nobody will
represent them in Congress.

Solution:

-Black men were allowed to vote, but not for long...

2. The South and Economy
Economic Issues
-11 major Southern cities were
destroyed during the war (Atlanta,
Richmond, Charleston, etc)

-Up to 40% of farms were destroyed,

and the farms that were left had
nobody to work on them

-A quarter of the Southern white

workforce died in the war

-The railroad system was destroyed

entirely, so transportation was nearly
impossible

-The Confederate dollar was

worthless, so people had to barter for
goods
3. The South and Society
 Societal Changes
-No more slavery, so no more
plantations

-Plantations were divided into

smaller farms, run by tenant farmers

-Many freed slaves moved to cities

to look for work. These moves
caused a lot of sickness and death.
New Members of
Society
-Freedmen: Former slaves who were
now able to vote, work, and own land

-Scalawags: Southerners who

supported the Union

-Carpetbaggers: Northerners who

moved to the South during the
Reconstruction to work as
missionaries, teachers, and politicians

-Ku Klux Klan (KKK): Secret terrorist

organization dedicated to white
supremacy and overthrowing the new
government
4. Freedmen in the South
 Problems
Continued...
-No more slavery, but many had to
continue working on farms, and
most lived in poverty

-70% of black people were illiterate

-Violence against black people was

high, and black women were
especially vulnerable
Jim Crow Laws
-Enacted by Southern Democrats after
they regained control of their states

-Began with “Black Codes”: laws

meant to control black people

-enforced racial segregation: “separate

but equal”

-institutionalized social, economic,

educational, and political
disadvantages for black people

-Began to be overturned in 1954

Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering
-Example of institutionalized racism
that still exists today

-Voting districts are divided unevenly

to give one side an advantage

-Gerrymandering can effectively

“cancel out” the black vote
5. End of the Reconstruction
 End of the
Reconstruction
-U.S. President Hayes removed the
federal troops from the South,
allowing Southern Democrats to
regain political control of their states

-Democrats began to pass laws to

“restore the South”: This meant
discriminating against black people
Was Reconstruction a Success?

-No!

-Most historians consider the Reconstruction to be a failure

-Why?:

Even though the United States became one nation again,

the South became impoverished, and white Southerners
began to oppress black Southerners through violence and
discrimination.
The End!