The Making of Modern America – Week 2

Question 1

Unionism and Nationalism Triumphant:

Answer 1

2nd American Revolution
Purging of the evil (slavery) and rebirth of the nation
North = radical Republicans – land given from landowners to slaves
James Garfield = “The leaders of the rebellion must be executed”
Thaddeus Stevens: “Revolutionising habits”

Question 2

Profound Change: 13th Amendment

Answer 2

US a rural nation (South) 
Slavery versus Free Labour 
13th Amendment 
Guaranteed the victory of the free labour 
Consolidated Victory

Question 3

Profound Change: Rural America

Answer 3

Lincoln wanted to go further

• 1863: Homestead Act
• 160 acres of Free Public Land
• To spur agricultural development

Question 4

Profound Change: Industrialisation

Answer 4

War unleashed Industrial Transformation
War Boom
Government led, allied with rising entrepreneurs and emerging big business
- Expansion of factories
- Rise of big business
- Mass Transportation
- US Capitalism given a massive jolt – A New Model

Question 5

Profound Change: Government

Answer 5

A Single United States 
No more succession 
A wave of nationalism 
Power shift to Washington DC 
More power to the President 
Federal Budget: 
- $1 billion in 1865 
- 20 times bigger than 1860 
No turning back

Question 6

Winners:

Answer 6

Big business
Big government
Free Labour
Federalism

Question 7

Losers:

Answer 7

Localism
State rights
Planter Power
Slavery

Question 8

Slaves Free at last?

Answer 8

What will replace slavery?
Black aspiration unleashed
What did African Americans gain?
Freedom rights – But for how long?
Was the power of the South really gone?

Question 9

Reconstruction:

Answer 9

What to do with the Southern States
How to readmit them 
Lincoln advocated Clemency 
1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction 
Opposed by abolitionists

Question 10

Lincoln Assassinated:

Answer 10

Lincoln assassinated by Southern fanatic, John Wilkes Booth while attending Ford’s theatre in Washington
One month after his inauguration speech – tragic event as a massive figure

Question 11

Andrew Johnson: Readmission not Reconstruction

Answer 11

Extended Lincoln’s policy
Pardons for all white Southerners who took oath of allegiance to union
Individual pardons for generals and planters
States formed new governments
Just months after defeat

Question 12

Black Codes: 1865-66

Answer 12

Harsh restrictions on Freedman 
- Banned inter racial marriage 
- Banned Jury services for blacks 
- Banned court testimony 
A half way status – neither Slave nor Free 
White intentions clear 
Radical Republicans fought back

Question 13

14th Amendment:

Answer 13

Johnson vetoes Civil Rights Bill 
Congress overrides 
Leads to 14th Amendment 
Reconstruction Acts 
Johnson “impeached”

Question 14

15th Amendment:

Answer 14

Voting Rights apply to any race or colour

Guaranteed votes for African American men

Question 15

Trio of Amendments:

Answer 15

1. 13th Amendment: Abolished Slavery
2. 14th Amendment: Guaranteed Equal Citizenship
3. 15th Amendment: Guaranteed votes for African American men

Question 16

Radical Reconstruction:

Answer 16

Reconstruction Laws 
Republicans dominate the South 
Whites turn to democrats 
No land reforms 
Nothing but freedom

Question 17

The South fights back:

Answer 17

Modest progress
A New Vortex of Poverty and Prejudice
Terror and Bloodshed – the KKK

Question 18

White Leagues and the KKK:

Answer 18

Aim of suppressing African Americans through intimidation and violence and toppling Republican Reconstruction
Federal troops reinforced

Question 19

The North Withdraws:

Answer 19

North is weary and preoccupied
1873: Financial Panic and Depression
Growing Racism: Black migration and stereotyping elevated racism
Redemption: by 1875 North fully withdrawn

Question 20

The Counter Revolution:

Answer 20

Governor of Mississipi: ‘A revolution has taken place, a race is disefranchised – they are to be returned to an era of second slavery’
1877: Reconstruction over – disenfranchisement, material conditions decline

Question 21

Jim Crow and the Supreme Court:

Answer 21

Jim Crow Laws

1896: Plessy vs Ferguson = “Separate but Equal”

Question 22

Separate but Equal?

Answer 22

Separate but never Equal 
- Different resources 
- Culture of deference 
- No dissent 
- Violence enforcement 
Fear and Fragility

Question 23

The Enduring Legacy:

Answer 23

Transformation of the North 
- Industry 
- Immigration 
	
Drama
- War 
- Black liberation 
- White Supremacy Returns 
	
Enduring Legacy: 
- Unresolved