Unit 4: Reconstruction and Southern Society

Hiram Rhodes Revels

(1827-1901) the nation's first African American senator

The text states that "legislative reforms in the South were met with mixed success." Explain how legislation both helped and hindered Reconstruction progress in the South.

Legislative reforms helped Reconstruction by removing restrictions for holding office, electing public officials for office, and giving executive branches more power to provide government services. However, restrictions that stopped African Americans from voting hindered legislative reforms to increase voter enrollment.

Why did rebuilding the South present such an economic challenge for the government, and how did this challenge end up affecting Southerners?

Rebuilding the South was an economic challenge for Southerners because it was very expensive to rebuild anything. The government had to raise taxes to gain revenue, and those higher taxes hurt Southerners because they were used to paying low taxes. White Southerners felt it was unfair they were paying such high taxes while many of them were still denied voting rights.

Explain the economic, political, and social challenges faced by Reconstruction governments.

Reconstruction governments faced the economic challenges of rebuilding, and the higher taxes imposed to fund the rebuilding process meant many landowners lost their land. Politically, governments were challenged because former Confederate leaders were denied voting rights, there was widespread corruption, and the state executive branches were given increased power. The combination of the economic and political unrest created discontent among whites.

Compare and contrast scalawags and carpetbaggers. Why were both groups called derogatory names?

Scalawags were white Southern Republicans who supported Reconstruction. Carpetbaggers were white Northerners who came to the South to rebuild. The groups were from different regions, but they supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party. Southern Democrats opposed both groups. They used derogatory names to negatively characterize those who supported and profited from Reconstruction.

Which of the political groups to emerge during Reconstruction worked together, and which group opposed those that worked together? Why was the political scene in the South shaped this way?

Scalawags, carpetbaggers, and African Americans worked together to transform the South during Reconstruction. These groups were aligned behind Republican goals. They were challenged by Conservatives, who opposed Reconstruction and the Republicans. This alliance pitted those who wanted the South to change against those who did not.

Describe the purpose of secret societies. What tactics did secret societies like the KKK use to keep African Americans and white Republicans in the South from gaining political power? Do you think the tactics were effective? Explain

Secret societies were formed to help white Southerners regain exclusive political power. They kept African Americans and their white allies in a constant state of terror with violence that including robbing, whipping, and killing. The tactics were effective because they frightened voters into staying away from the polls and caused some African Americans to not run for office.

Explain why state legislative reform programs in the South were met with mixed success.

Successful legislative reform programs in the South included new state constitutions that allowed all adult men to vote, restrictions on former Confederate leaders holding office were removed, and the new executive branches were given increased power. However, these successes were met with several challenges such as other legislation that kept African Americans from voting and holding office.

Why did the white conservative Southerners resist reform in the South?

They wanted the South to change as little as possible. They believed the real power should remain in the hands of white landowners.

Why were former Confederate officers and officials particularly angry about the newly raised taxes?

They were unable to vote, so they were being taxed without representation.

sharecropper

a person who rents a plot of land from another person and farms it in exchange for a share of the crop

Ku Klux Klan

a secret society organized in the South after the Civil War to reassert white supremacy by means of violence

scalawag

a white Southerner who supported the Republicans during Reconstruction

carpetbagger

an uncomplimentary nickname for a Northerner who went to the South after the Civil War

What were the three groups that joined politics in the South?

white southern Republicans, Northerners who moved South, and African Americans

Why did freedmen have such difficulty finding work in the South after the war, and why did so many of them turn to sharecropping?

Freedmen had difficulty finding work because many planters had trouble selling their products due to greater competition from foreign producers that resulted in lower prices and less income and therefore, lower wages or no need at all for a large workforce. The South had little money to invest in industry, so the freedmen couldn't work in factories. Many turned to sharecropping because they thought it would lead to financial independence.