'Free at last', 1865-77

Question 1

Reasons for the 13th amendment

Answer 1

Civil war - many black people fought in the war for the union so it so they couldn’t support their return to slavery. Slavery was an underlying cause of the civil war, so it may cause further conflict.
If slavery was abolished in the constitution it would be a starting point to gain equality.
if it was a low, state govts could find ways around it.

Question 2

The importance of the 13th amendment

Answer 2

First step towards equality

Question 3

Economic position of ex-slaves

Answer 3

Over 90% of slaves were illiterate and were very poor which trapped them in the south even though they had acquired movement.

Question 4

Sharecropping

Answer 4

A white landowner provides the land, seeds, tools required and the black person (sharecropper) provided labour. Crop produced was divided by the two men.

Question 5

What was The freedmans bureau

Answer 5

Set up in march 1865 to help freed slaves. It gave food, clothes and medical care. It also gave assistance to poor Southerners

Question 6

Why did the 13th amendment create a lot of tension in the south?

Answer 6

Most resented the new social order because of racism and bitterness over the losses suffered during the civil war.
the southern economy had been destroyed a lot of their military age boys had been killed or wounded and it was for nothing because they lost the war.

Question 7

Reconstruction

Answer 7

The process of rebuilding and reforming the 11 ex-confederate states and restoring them to the union

Question 8

What was president Johnsons plan for reconstruction?

Answer 8

To let any southern state that accepted the end of slavery could be let back into the union. This meant that they could set up their own state governments.

Question 9

Why did president Johnsons plan for reconstruction anger the radical republicans?

Answer 9

They felt like he had let the southern states off too lightly from the civil war and that they should have been punished. It also meant that it left no protection for ex-slaves.

Question 10

Black codes

Answer 10

Varied from state to state but they supported the economic, social and political inequality. Many of the codes made it very difficult to allow blacks to live a normal quality of life (e.g they couldn’t buy or rent land, get an education, vote etc)

Question 11

What caused the relationship between congress and Johnson to deteriorate?

Answer 11

Congress aimed to pass 2 bills: extend the freedmans bureau to help ex slaves and to give black people civil rights. The president used his veto on both of these laws however congress overrode his veto with a 2/3 majority and they were both passed in 1866

Question 12

The 14th amendment

Answer 12

1868- got all equality under the law.

Question 13

Military reconstruction act

Answer 13

1867-8 divided the former confederate states into 5 military districts.

Question 14

What was the impact of the military reconstruction act?

Answer 14

Apart from Tennessee, no southern state had a legal govt
The south could not send reps to congress unless congress agreed
The ex-confederate states should be governed by military commanders
To return to the union they had to allow black males to vote, ratify the 14th amendment and disqualify confederate office holders from political participation

Question 15

15th amendment

Answer 15

1870 guarantees the vote for all men and forbids the use of literacy, property and educational tests for voters.

Question 16

What were the aims of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)?

Answer 16

Enforce the same social system that was there before.
Intimate the southern black population
Protect the southern white population.

Question 17

What was the governments response to the KKK

Answer 17

Congress passed 3 laws that protected black peoples rights to vote, these were called the enforcement acts. The third one was also known as the KKK act, this stopped most of the klans violence.