Unit 10 Chapter 12 Reconstruction

What social, political and economic challenges faced the nation as a result of Reconstruction?

African Americans were now walking the same streets as the white people. In the south, this was a huge problem. The whtie people thought they were superior, so many blacks were forced to walk in the street and arrested for silly things. Also hate groups, like the KKK, started to form. There were many political differences because the south and north still had different opinions. Different leaders also had different viewpoints, and they often clashed. The country did face some depression and inflation with reconstruction. Some thought that paper money should not be given out, and gold and silver should be used instead.

Enforcement Acts

Group of laws passed by Congress in 1870 and 1871 that banned the activities of groups like the Ku Klux Klan; empowered the army and courts to capture and punish KKK members

Andrew Johnson

17th president serving from 1865 to 1869. Johnson became became president as he was vice president at the time of the assassination of Abe Lincoln.

Compare and Contrast the Lincoln Ten Percent Plan with the Wade-Davis Bill.

Lincoln's plan consisted of replacing majority rule with "loyalty rule" in the south and Wade-Davis Bill's had 50% of the voters take and "rion clad" oath. Lincoln's plan aslo had that 10% of the voters from the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a gov't it would be reorganized. Wade-Davis Bill's required a state Constitutional Convention before the election of state elections.

How were racial tensions haightened at the end of the Civil War?

Many people were not happy that African Americans were set free and given rights. Many hate groups, including the KKK, were formed. These groups used intimidation as a method to show the African Americans who the superior race were. The southerners were very upset that they did not have their free workers anymore.

Radical Republicans

Members of Congress who felt that southern states needed to make great social changes before they could be readmitted to the Union.

Scalawag

Name given by former Confederates to southerners who supported the shift in power to Congress and the army in the South during Reconstruction

Solid South

Name given to the South after Reconstruction, because it was so heavily Democratic

Redeemers

Name taken in the late 1870s by democrats who now controlled southern states

New South

Name used by some Southerners to describe the South after Reconstruction

Explain why reconstruction ended.

$200 million in funds for Southern Railroad development. Withdraw of Federal troops from the south. Appoint a southern Democrat to cabinet. Haves wins the election. The Compromise of 1877 the Republicans gave up their fight for racial rights.

Wade-Davis Bill

(1864) A reconstruction plan that required a majority of a southern state's white male citizens to pledge loyalty to the United States before elections could be held. This plan required 50% of the numver of 1860 voters to take an "iron clad" oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion). The plan required a state Constitutional Convention before the election of the state elections. This also enacted specific safe guards of freedmen's liberties.

Fourteenth Amendment

(1866) Gave full rights of citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States, except for American Indians.

Civil Rights Act

(1866) Law that gave African Americans legal rights equal to those of white Americans

Southern Homestead Act

(1866) Law that set aside 45 milion acres of gov't owned land in southern states to provide free farms for African Americans

Reconstruction Acts

(1867-68) The laws that put the southern states under U.S. military control and required them to draft new constitutions.

Fifteenth Amendment

(1870) Gave African American men the right to vote

How did the relationship between the federal and state govnernments change after the war?

The federal government took charge and control over the state governments. It took many different plans, but the Federal Government ultimately made the plan for South states to enter the Union, again. The state governments had to prove to the Federal Government that they were ready to join the Union.

Explain how the role of the Federal government changed race relations.

The government tried to change the south to try to gain equal rights. They passed the 13th and 14th Amendments (even thought the KKK was still formed). The government tried to achieve more rights for the African Americans so they could live a fair life.

Pocket Veto

A presidential power to prevent a bill passed in the last 10 days of a legislative session from becoming law by simply ignoring it. When Congress passes in a law and have recess before 10 days. The president can either sign it right away or if 10 days is up, it is a veto.

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society that used terror and violence to keep African Americans from obtaining their civil rights.

Sharecropping

A system used on southern farms after the Civil War in which farmers worked land owed by someone else in return for a small portion of the crops

Freedmen's Bureau

An agency established by Congress in 1865 to help poor people throughout the South

Compromise of 1877

An agreement to settle that disputed presidential election of 1876; Democrats agreed to accept Republican Rutherford B. Hayes as president in return for the removal of federal troops from the South

Analyze the effect of Lincoln's assissination on Reconstruction.

Andrew Johnson vetoed the 14th Amendment, but Congress overrode this to pass it. Congress then passed the Reconstruction Act. This act prohibited states from participation in Congress until they passed the measure and revised their own constitution. Congress really stepped in place to fill the void because President Johnson could not do the part.

Explain why Radical Republicans opposed Johnson's plan for Reconstruction.

Both had very different ideas in the first place. Johnson took a mroe lenient root while the Republicans wanted a civil rights for African Americans. The Radical Republicans focused more on the freedmen while Johnson focused on bringing the nation back together as a whole.

Identify and explain Radical Republican successes and failures during Reconstruction.

Some successses were that the Radical Republicans gained almost complete control over plicymaking in Congress. This way the group could influence majorly their ideas and wants. They also gained control over of the House or Representatives and Senate which gave them the power to overvote and override votes to get who they wanted. The Radical Republicans did not get the full rights they wanted for the African Americans.

Carpetbagger

Derogatory nickname given by Southern critics to northern Republicans who cam south during Reconstruction

Tenant Farming

System of farming where farmers rented their farm land from the landowner and were allowed to grow whatever crop they chose

Liberal Republicans

Group of Republicans that broke with the Republican party over the Enforcement Acts scandals of the Grant administration

Hiram Revels

He was a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a Republican politician, and college administrator. Born free in North Carolina, he lived and worked in Ohio, where he voted the Civil War.

John Wilkes Booth

He was an American actor and assassin who murdered President Lincoln.

Rutherford B. Hayes

He was the 19th President of the United States. He became President of the United States at the end of the Reconstruction Era of the United States through a complex Compromise of 1877.

Identify reasons for Johnson and Congresses differences.

Johnson was uneducated and from Tennesee. Johnson also liked Lincoln's plan and made his own very similar (Congress already denied Lincoln's plan). Johnson was useless as President and all the work was put onto Congress. Johnson vetoed many important bills that will help the process and made plans that were not beneficial.

Black Codes

Laws passed in the Southern states during Reconstruction that greatly limited the freedom and rights of African Americans.

Identify the social, economic, and physical destruction faced by the south as a result of the civil war.

Many farms in the south had been destroyed. There was no definite battlefield where battles where fought, so many battles were in the backyards of people's houses. Some cities were burned down when Grant burned them. Since there were no farms left, it was difficult for the South to grow crops and make money. Many men had died, so women and children had to step up and take over the male roles. The social problems were now the whites had to do all their work. African Americans could no longer be used for labor with no pay. The whites lives have changed forever at this point in history.

Ten Percent Plan

President Abraham Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction. Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstructing on December 8, 1863. This plan replaced majority rule with "loyalty rule" in the South. Lincoln did not consult Congress regarding Reconstruction. The plan pardoned all the highest ranking military and cvilian Confederate officers. When 10% of the voting population in the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a gov't, it would be reorganized.

What were the successes and failures in the different phases of Reconstruction (presidential reconstruction, Radical Reconstruction).

Reconstruction was a success because it restored the U.S. to a unified nation. All the southern states had entered the Union by the rules, and accepted the 14th and 15th amendment. It was a failure because the Radical Republicans failed to protect the rights of the African Americans.

How did Reconstruction affect patterns of land ownership and land use in the South?

Sharecropping and tenant farms were created. These ideas of farming were plans that helped African Americans get housing to rent, some land, and money. They all work and live on their bosses (white people) land. Although this sounds good, the money the African Americans earn is so litte, that it barely pays the rent. This a way of white people getting their work done, and paying people not enough so they can go to the north.

How did the assassination of Lincoln affect the Reconstruction in the South?

Since Lincoln died, new plans had to be made for South states to join the Union again. Lincoln had a very lenient way of forming his plan, and so did Johnson, but Congress did not. Congress really wanted to make equal rights, so it was difficult to get south states to join the Union again.

What rights did African Americans gain and how were/weren't those rights protected?

The African Americans did gain their freedom. In the South, however, white people found ways to use black people to do their work, and have horrible paying situation. Sharecropping and tenant farms were created, where African Americans did difficult labor, with barely little pay to be able to move to the north. Black Americans were given the right to be treated equally, but the South found ways to arrest them for silly things. Hate groups were formed against the African Americans due to the Radical Republicans not doing their job.

Impeachment

The process used by which a legislative body to bring charges of wrongdoing agaisnt a public official

How did the reaction of white southerners strain the ablity of the federal governent to reconstruct the south?

The sout had gone throught many problems. A lot of the farmland had been destroyed, so families ha to adapy an adjust to new farmland. Not only that, but many men died during the war, so women and children had to take the place of the men and find more land. With this change, the south's could not look towards their slaves because they were now all free. The south was in a very bad state, and weren't ready to join the Union. It was also difficult for the government to create a plan for the southern states to follow.