U.S. History: Reconstruction and the New South

Objective

• Understanding the Reconstruction Era and its impact on the South.

What Was Reconstruction?

• Political Challenges: Reconstruction involved political challenges among Congress, the president, and state governments.
• Social Changes: The end of slavery led to significant changes in the lives of African Americans, including the legal right to marry.
• Marriage Rights: Enslaved couples were often separated, and the marriage certificate for Rufus Wright and Elisabeth Turner exemplifies new rights for African Americans.

What Did Freedom Mean?

• Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment: Many formerly enslaved people sought to reconnect with family, signifying their newfound freedom.
• Freedmen's Bureau: Established to support formerly enslaved people's transition to freedom, providing assistance in various aspects including:
  • Protecting travelers
  • Legalizing marriages
  • Negotiating work agreements
  • Establishing schools and training institutes
  • Led by Oliver O. Howard, a Union Major General.
• Education Opportunities: Prior to emancipation, African Americans were denied education; the Freedmen's Bureau initiated schools for their learning.

How Did the Freedmen Enter Politics?

• Constitutional Amendments:
  • 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.
  • 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship to African Americans and protective laws.
  • 15th Amendment: Ensured that states could not deny voting rights based on race or former servitude.
• Political Participation: With support from the Freedmen's Bureau, African Americans began voting and electing representatives, primarily from the Republican Party.
• Emergence of African American Leaders: Many were educated before the war, leading to significant political involvement in Reconstruction governments, notably exemplified by Hiram Revels.

Changes: How Did Reconstruction Change Daily Living?

• Economic Impact: The Civil War devastated Southern economics, leading to an overhaul in labor arrangements:
  • Debt Peonage: Sharecropping often left freedmen in debt to landowners, entraping them in a cycle of labor for repayment without economic mobility.
  • Sharecropping and Tenant Farming: Freed families worked under contracts with landowners, with many entering debt as they had to buy supplies from their employers.

Southern Infrastructure

• Railroad Reconstruction: Post-war, the South repaired railroads and transportation systems, leading to economic opportunities, although African Americans faced hiring discrimination.

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

• Carpetbaggers: Northerners moving south for economic gain during Reconstruction; perceived negatively by Southerners.
• Scalawags: Southern whites who supported Reconstruction efforts. Both groups contributed to rebuilding the South and promoting Republicanism, angering former Confederates.

Black Codes

• Restrictions on Freedmen: Southern legislatures enacted Black Codes post-13th Amendment to limit African Americans' rights, e.g., preventing land ownership and imposing special taxes.
• Legal Discrimination: The establishment of Black Codes represented a regression in rights for free African Americans prior to the Civil War.

The Lost Cause

• Cultural Movement: The “Lost Cause” mythology sought to romanticize the Confederacy and oppose Reconstruction efforts, often leading to the formation of white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
• Violence and Intimidation: Groups like the KKK employed fear tactics to suppress African American political participation and regain control from Republican governance.

Review: Key Terms

• Reconstruction Amendments: Legal frameworks ensuring African American rights.
• Freedmen's Bureau: Agency aiding the transition of freedmen in the South.
• Political Participation: The rise of African Americans in politics attributed to Constitutional Amendments.
• Disenfranchisement: Tactics used to limit African Americans' voting rights.
• Education Reform: Establishment of schools for African Americans, with disparities in funding.
• Sharecropping and Tenant Farming: Economic arrangement often resulting in exploitative labor conditions for African Americans.