6 -6 : Reconstruction, 1865-1877 Learning Objectives NAT 2.0 - PowerPoint Presentation

6-6: Reconstruction, 1865-1877

Learning Objectives NAT 2.0 Explain how interpretations of the Constitution and debates over rights, liberties, and definitions of citizenship have affected American values, politics, and society. POL 3.0 Explain how different beliefs about the federal government’s role in U.S. social and economic life have affected political debates and policies . WXT 1.0 Explain how different labor systems developed in North America and the United States, and explain their effects on workers’ lives and U.S. society. CUL 3.0 Explain how ideas about women’s rights and gender roles have affected society and politics .

Key ConceptThe Union victory in the Civil War and the contested reconstruction of the South settled the issues of slavery and secession, but left unresolved many questions about the power of the federal government and citizenship rights.

Abolition of Slavery 13 th Amendment Formal abolition of involuntary servitude Freedmen’s Bureau Federal agency Provided education, employment, health care to freed slaves

Effects of War on Society Economy Inflation (North)—80% Inflation (South)—9000% Housing prices plummeted All slaveowners uncompensatedSouth remained agricultural but now ruined and poor WomenPrecedent of filling men’s jobs during wartimeParticularly nursingLaborChanged due to loss of lifeWomen and minorities in factoriesFree labor/unionsTenant farming

Social GroupsFreedmen Majority entered sharecropping arrangements Cycle of debt and depression Black Codes Carpetbaggers Rep. Northerners who came to South for economic benefit Scalawags Southern White RepublicansRedeemers Southern DemocratsEventually regained control of South

South Carolina Black Code In South Carolina persons of color contracting for service were to be known as "servants," and those with whom they contracted, as "masters." On farms the hours of labor would be from sunrise to sunset daily, except on Sunday. The negroes were to get out of bed at dawn. Time lost would be deducted from their wages, as would be the cost of food, nursing, etc., during absence from sickness. Absentees on Sunday must return to the plantation by sunset. House servants were to be at call at all hours of the day and night on all days of the week. 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." Corporal and other punishment was to be administered only upon order of the district judge or other civil magistrate. A vagrant law of some severity was enacted to keep the negroes from roaming the roads and living the lives of beggars and thieves.

Presidential Reconstruction Lincoln, 1861-1865 Goal—quickly restore the Union, not to secure rights for freedmen 10% Plan—lenient Countered by Republican Congress—harsh Wade-Davis bill Johnson, 1865-1869 Followed Lincoln’s model

Radical ReconstructionCauses Assassination of Lincoln Reconstruction to punish Former Confederates elected to Congress Viewed South as conquered territory Black Codes Race riots Civil Rights 14th Amendment—citizenshipEqual protection clauseAccess to education

Radical ReconstructionMilitary Reconstruction Confederate states divided into 5 zones governed by military leaders Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Tenure of Office Act—violated by Johnson Impeached but not removed Lame duck status Black Suffrage 15 th AmendmentControversial—no women’s vote

Grant Administration, 1869-1877 Philosophy Moderate—opposed radical Republicans Rights for freedmen Lenient towards South Scandals No political experience Credit MobilierWhiskey Ring Panic of 1873Blamed on RepublicansPublic opinion turned away from Reconstruction