Topic 1: The 13th Amendment

Question 1

what did the 13th Amendment do?

Answer 1

made slavery illegal and unconstitutional

Question 2

when was the 13th Amendment ratified?

Answer 2

Dec 1865

Question 3

which Amendment made slavery unconstitutional and illegal?

Answer 3

13th

Question 4

what were the causes of the 13th A?

Answer 4

• pressure groups
• black agency
• moral necessity
  -legal necessity

Question 5

give 2 examples of pressure groups that contributed to passing of the 13th A?

Answer 5

• Women’s National Loyal League
• National Convention of Coloured Men

Question 6

how did pressure groups contribute to the passing of the 13th A?

Answer 6

put pressure on the government.
- Women’s National Loyal League - 1863 petition for 13A got 500,000 signatures
- New York’s Convention of Coloured Men met April 1864

Question 7

how many signatures did the Women’s National Loyal League’s petition get

Answer 7

500,000

Question 8

how did black agency contribute to the passing of the 13th A?

Answer 8

so many enslaved people had run away - restoration to slavery would be impossible. also made it a moral issue to return them to their enslavers

Question 9

how did ‘moral necessity’ contribute to the passing of the 13th A?

Answer 9

• end of slavery was a moral issue for some Americans e.g. Women’s National Loyal League
• could not morally support return to slavery

Question 10

how did ‘legal necessity’ contribute to the passing of the 13th A?

Answer 10

• Republican party believed underlying cause of the CW was slavey- had to end to prevent further conflict
• Lincoln believed a constitutional amendment was the best way to end slavery, opposed to some of Congress who believed a law would suffice

Question 11

why did Lincoln believe a constitutional amendment was the best way to end slavery?

Answer 11

because the original constitution of 1787 had in effect approved slavery

Question 12

in what year was the Women’s National Loyal League’s petition for the 13A?

Answer 12

1863

Question 13

when did the National Convention of Coloured Men meet?

Answer 13

April 1864

Question 14

what was the significance of the 13A?

Answer 14

• first essential step towards equality
• but only the first!
• struggle to get it through Congress and to get 3/4 of states to ratify demonstrated anxiety about freeing several million enslaved people
• would be limitations to future black progress; social, economic, political

Question 15

how many were freed by the 13A?

Answer 15

several million enslaved black people

Question 16

what was required for the 13A to be passed?

Answer 16

had to be approved by Congress and ratified by 3/4 of states

Question 17

what was the economic position of ex-slaves like?

Answer 17

• lacked land or money
• more than 90% were illiterate
• so most had little choice to remain in south and in poverty
• many became sharecroppers - stuck in wage poverty cycle

Question 18

who encouragaed ex-slaves to become sharecroppers?

Answer 18

plantation owners and the Freedmen’s Bureau

Question 19

how many ex-slaves were illiterate?

Answer 19

more than 90%

Question 20

what was the significance of sharecropping for ex-slaves?

Answer 20

• for some meant freedom from white supervision and more incentive to work but for others was no better than slavery - same master, less job security, no medical care

Question 21

what were the reasons that for some people sharecropping was no better then slavery?

Answer 21

• same master
• no job security
• no medical bills paid

Question 22

when was the Freedmen’s Bureau set up?

Answer 22

1865

Question 23

who set up the Freedmen’s Bureau?

Answer 23

Congress

Question 24

what did the Freedmen’s Bureau do?

Answer 24

provided clothes, fuel and medical care to ex-slaves and the white poor in the south

Question 25

why did the Freedmen's Bureau end?

Answer 25

North lost interest in the South - saw as their problem to sort out

Question 26

when did the Freedmen's Bureau end?

Answer 26

1872

Question 27

what was the significance of the Freedmen's Bureau?

Answer 27

positives: - did some good in helping poor with healthcare, education and employment - managed state and local law courts for black litigants negatives: - attacked by some as encouraging a dependency culture - shortage of funds and personnel limited efficacy

Question 28

what is an example of a positive impact of the Freedmen's Bureau?

Answer 28

set up 'Freedmen's Schools' for ex-slaves

Question 29

when was Lincoln assassinated?

Answer 29

1865

Question 30

who became President after Lincoln was assassinated?

Answer 30

Andrew Johnson

Question 31

what affect did the 13A have in the South? why?

Answer 31

increased social tensions. WA resented new social order, refused to accept BA as equals and fearful of violence

Question 32

how did the war also increase tensions in the South?

Answer 32

war had destroyed Southern economy and half of Southern males had died. all in vain- embittered and resentful

Question 33

how many southern males died in the civil war?

Answer 33

around half

Question 34

what did some BA gain from serving in the Union army? what was the effect of this?

Answer 34

learned to read and write- this worries white American Southerners

Question 35

what was the result of social tensions in the south?

Answer 35

white backlash - serious race riots summer 1866

Question 36

when did serious race riots occur in the south?

Answer 36

summer 1866

Question 37

where were the race riots summer 1866?

Answer 37

Memphis New Orleans

Question 38

what happened in the Memphis race riot?

Answer 38

40 black males killed by white mobs, black women raped, black schools and churches destroyed

Question 39

was the murder of black people in the South punished?

Answer 39

Texas courts indicted 500 white men for murder 1865-6 but NONE convicted

Question 40

how many men did Texas courts indict for murder 1865-6?

Answer 40

500

Question 41

when was the KKK created?

Answer 41

Dec 1865, Tennessee

Question 42

where was the KKK created?

Answer 42

Tennessee

Question 43

2 examples of white backlash to 13th A in South?

Answer 43

- race riots summer 1866 - creation of KKK Dec 1865

Question 44

what effect did the 13A have politically?

Answer 44

exacerbated tensions over reincorporation of Southern states into the Union due to differing views on the role of BA in the political settlement

Question 45

what were the differing views of the role of BA in the political settlement?

Answer 45

- Radical Republicans believed BA should have the vote - white southerners believed racial equality was unconstitutional

Question 46

what were Andrew Johnson's beliefs (4)?

Answer 46

- loyalty of S states needed to be restored - states' rights - BA not equal - conciliatory policies towards the south necessary to ensure his reelection

Question 47

what does 'Presidential Reconstruction' refer to?

Answer 47

the period when Andrew Johnson was in office

Question 48

under Presidential Reconstruction, what conditions were there for Southern states to be readmitted to the Union?

Answer 48

- had to accept the end of slavery - had to reject the Confederacy

Question 49

how did white southerners reassert supremacy under Presidential Reconstruction?

Answer 49

- officials who had served in the Confederacy were elected to govern southern states - introduced Black Codes to ensure BA did not gain economic, social, political or legal equality

Question 50

what were introduced to ensure BA did not gain economic, social, political or legal equality?

Answer 50

Black Codes

Question 51

what were Black Codes

Answer 51

state laws

Question 52

examples of Black Codes?

Answer 52

BA could not purchase or rent land, gain an education, vote, or receive any meaningful protection from the law

Question 53

why were BA not protected by the law?

Answer 53

juries were all-white

Question 54

when was Presidential Reconstruction?

Answer 54

1865-7