Unit 5 Lesson 5: The Effects of Reconstruction Flashcards
Recognizing the widespread devastation in the South and the dire situation of freed people, Congress created
the Freedmen’s Bureau in March of 1865.
For two months, the Senate debated which executive department should run the Freedmen’s Bureau:
the War Department or the Treasury Department
Whivh departement was in control of the Freedmens Bureau
War Department was granted oversight because of its experience and the military power needed to protect African Americans.
What did the bureau provide
The bureau also provided services, delivering food to African Americans and poor whites in the South. It helped freed people gain labor contracts and reunited families. It also devoted resources to education, establishing public schools where freed black people and poor whites could receive both elementary and higher education.
What made up the majorrtiy of women in schools created by the Freedmen’s Bureau
The majority of teachers in schools created by the Freedmen’s Bureau were white women who came from the North
What did Freedmen’s Bureau do witht he help of missonary gorups
With support from missionary groups, the Freedmen’s Bureau founded black colleges in the South, including Atlanta, Fisk, Hampton, and Tougaloo, that were designed to train black teachers.
How did the majority of teachers change in 1869
By 1869, the bureau reported that the majority of the 3,000 teachers were African American.
Why did the Establishment of schools inspired violence against African American who sought education.
. There was a perception that African Americans were unmotivated or lacked the skills to learn. As a result, many whites resisted federal support of the Freedmen’s Bureau programs, denouncing them as a waste of money. Many whites did not want to attend racially mixed schools.
Describe the hoistroy of the exssitance of the Freedmens Bureau
Still, Congress renewed the bureau’s charter in 1866. Even though there were political challenges, the bureau went on to serve disenfranchised African Americans for another six years before it was abolished in 1872.
What were some successes of the Freedmen’s Bureau?
It helped to establish schools and colleges for formerly enslaved African Americans. It also helped freed people gain labor contracts and reunite families.
What did organzaitons like the Union League do
Organizations such as the Union League helped support black communities by providing information, mediating conflicts with whites, and building schools and churches. As extensions of the Republican Party, these leagues worked to enroll newly enfranchised black voters, campaign for candidates, and generally help the party win elections.
Political activites helped many African Americans in what asecpt
The political activities of the leagues launched many African Americans and former slaves into politics throughout the South. For the first time, blacks began to hold political office, and several were elected to the U.S. Congress
In the 1970s how many representatives were black
In the 1870s, 15 members of the House of Representatives and two senators were black
Who was the frist African Americna to be voted in Sentate
Hiram R. Revels became the first African American to be elected to the Senate in 1870.
The Mississippi legislature that elected Revels included
36 blacks and 73 whites who were largely Republicans and supported black voting rights.
How many African Americans served congress during the REconstruction
In total, 22 African Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction, including 13 who had been born slaves.
What was the purpose of the Union Leagues?
They were political centers that supported black communities by mediating conflicts with white communities and building churches and schools. They also supported the Republican party by registering black voters and campaigning for black candidates.
What was significant about Hiram Revel’s achievement?
He was the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate.
What was the “40 acres and a mule.” policy
After the war, effort was made to redistribute land to the formerly enslaved. General Sherman granted formerly enslaved families plots of land suitable for farming, and no larger than 40 acres each. The policy became known as “40 acres and a mule.”
How did President Johnson react to the “40 acres and a mle.”
However, President Johnson ordered that the land be returned to the former plantation owners. This left the formerly enslaved people with little other than their freedom.
What was the primary econmic opputriny for enslaved people
The primary economic opportunity for formerly enslaved people to earn money was to return to the plantations where they had worked in the past, but to do so as paid employees
Why was going back to the plations not ideal for Africna Americans
It did not bring a new era of equality for formerly enslaved people. While they no longer faced working conditions as harsh or the threat of being sold, they were paid very low wages. They also had to pay for food, farming equipment and supplies, and other basic necessities to start their new lives.
What is sharecroppign
. In this system, freed people rented the land they worked, often on the same plantations where they had been enslaved. Some landless whites also became sharecroppers.
What was the process of sharecropping
Farmers would buy food, clothing, and supplies on high-interest loans from the landowner’s store. When harvest time came, sharecroppers paid their landlords with the crops they grew, often as much as half their harvest.
What landlords did sharecropping favor
. Sharecropping favored the landlords and ensured that freed people could not attain comfortable livelihoods.
Why was sharecropping so bad for the farmer
The year-to-year leases meant that sharecroppers were always in danger of losing their livelihoods, and high interest payments siphoned additional money away from the farmers. Sharecroppers often became trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt, unable to buy their own land and unable to stop working for their creditors because of what they owed.
Why did sharecropping not allow African Americans to escape poverty?
They became trapped in a never-ending cycle of debt. The landowners charged them so much for supplies, and paid so little for the harvest, that they couldn’t save enough money to buy their own land.
What bought the Reconstruction era to an end
Fierce opposition to African Americans and the rights granted by Reconstruction amendments became prevalent during the Reconstruction Era, and ultimately brought the era to an end.
The oppostion against led to the rise of
This opposition led to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan
What is the KKK
Ku Klux Klan (a.k.a the Klan, or KKK), a white-supremacist terror organization formed in the South.
What did the KKK do
The Klan used violence as their primary weapon to instill fear in African Americans and their supporters, including political leaders.
‘how did the KKK come to be
. The Klan started as a social club among Confederate veterans in Tennessee in 1866, but rapidly turned into multiple secret and violent organizations in southern states.
What did memmber of the klan want
Members of the Klan sought to end Reconstruction, return the South to white rule, and keep African Americans powerless.
Prove acts of the KKK
For example, to prevent African Americans from obtaining an education, the Klan burned public schools. In an effort to stop blacks from voting, the Klan murdered, attacked, and otherwise intimidated African Americans and their white supporters. Klan members also intimidated Freedmen’s Bureau workers and other organizations that supported rights for African Americans. The Klan even killed a U.S. congressman from Arkansas and three state congressmen from South Carolina. They also threatened Southerners who did not support Democratic candidates.
Who else the the KKK target
Carpetbaggers and scalaways
What did the KKK have agisnt carpetbaggers
The Klan also targeted those they called carpetbaggers, a derogatory term for Northerners who came to the South for economic gain
What did the scalawags
scalawags, southern whites who supported Reconstruction. Both of these groups angered the Klan because of their support of policies such as equal rights for African Americans.
What does carpetbagger mean
Carpetbagger was a derogatory term Southerners called any Northerner who arrived in the South to help rebuild. The term comes from a small, cheap type of luggage made of carpet—a literal carpetbag. Carpetbaggers were accused of traveling south with only what would fit in their small bag, intent on making a quick buck off the South’s misfortune before returning home.
What does Scalawag mena
Scalawag was a term originally meant for a worthless farm animal. It was applied to any white Southerner who supported the Reconstruction efforts.
What does Redeemer mean
Redeemer was a more complimentary term. It was used to put a positive spin on elected southern Democrats who were seen as trying to redeem the South from northern control, end Radical Reconstruction, and return to the South’s pre-Civil War social order.
What were the Klan’s goals?
The Klan wanted to end Reconstruction, restore white control of the South, and keep African Americans powerless.
What were carpetbaggers accused of doing?
Carpetbaggers were accused of traveling to the South to make a quick buck off of Southerners’ misfortunes.
The KKK used it power to do waht do black americans
The Klan used its power to keep Black Americans impoverished, decimate their political rights, reclaim white dominance, tear apart black communities, and return Black Americans to the patterns of economic and political subservience and social deference under slavery. In this way, they were largely successful.
To end the violence, President Grant asked Congress to pass a tough law against the Klan. What happened on October of 1871
. In October of 1871, the president proclaimed nine counties of South Carolina to be in a “condition of lawlessness” and sent federal troops to restore order. The troops arrested several hundred Klan leaders, some of whom ended up in federal prison. In addition, approximately 2,000 Klan members left the state. Seven hundred leaders of the Klan were also arrested in Mississippi and more in North Carolina. By the end of 1872, the Klan, as an organization, had been nearly destroyed.
By 1876 how did people feel about reconstruction
As the country prepared for the 1876 presidential election, the loss of interest in Reconstruction was evident. By the time of the election, Reconstruction had come to an end in most southern states.
what happened the power of Radical reblulcians in 1876
. In Congress, the political power of the Radical Republicans had waned, although some continued their efforts to realize the dream of equality between blacks and whites.
How did the Supreme Court repsrent the 14th amdeneant
However, by the 1870s, the Supreme Court undercut the spirit of the Fourteenth Amendment by interpreting it as giving African Americans only limited federal protection from the Klan and other terrorist groups.
For the election of 1876 who was the candiate for the Republicans
The Republicans nominated Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, who was on good terms with his party, although his campaign barely mentioned Reconstruction.
For the election of 1876 who was the candiate for the Democrats
. The Democrats nominated New York Governor Samuel Tilden, who also did not mention Reconstruction during his campaign.
For the election of 1876 wwhat did both cadidates fcous on
Both candidates focused their campaigns on fighting political corruption, civil service reform, and economic growth.
Who was winning in the polls during the elction of 1876
Nearing the election, Tilden led in the polls, eventually winning the popular vote by a narrow margin.
Why did congress have to gt involved in the election of 1876
However, the electoral votes in three states were disputed. The decision fell to Congress to determine what to do. They created a special electoral commission.
what was the result of the congress chocing how to elected
The congressional delegation represented both parties equally, with five Democrats and five Republicans. The Supreme Court delegation had two Democrats, two Republicans, and one independent—David Davis, who resigned. After Davis’s resignation, President Grant selected a Republican to take his place, tipping the scales in favor of Hayes, the Republican candidate. The commission then awarded the disputed electoral votes and the presidency to Hayes, voting on party lines, Republicans-8; Democrats-7. Democrats were furious.
Beyond Hayes winning the election, why were Democrats angry?
With the resignation of Davis, and Grant selecting a Republican to take his place, the balance of power shifted for the vote that decided the outcome of the election.
How dod the compromise of 1877 come to be
s the Compromise of 1877, Republican Senate leaders worked with the Democratic leadership so they would support Hayes and the commission’s decision. The two sides agreed that one Southern Democrat would be appointed to Hayes’s cabinet.
What were some of the comprmoses under the compromise of 1877
Democrats would control how federal jobs would be awarded in their areas in the South, and there would be a commitment to substantial internal improvements, including federal aid for the railway system. Most important in the compromise was the order that all remaining federal troops would be withdrawn from the South.
Why did Hayes take millitray troops from the South
Southern Republicans who had supported Hayes were outraged, but Hayes believed that southern leaders would obey and enforce the Reconstruction Era constitutional amendments that protected the rights of freed people
What ended the Reconstruion for good
The compromise effectively ended Reconstruction
What was the effect of the romval of millitrat leader
. Democrats would regain political power in southern state governments and return white rule to the South. The removal of federal troops sent a message to African Americans that any hope of equal rights and an integrated South was gone.
After 1877, Southern whites ruled again. How did this go
Blacks were slowly excluded from being elected to office and positions of leadership. Many were forced to leave the South, along with carpetbaggers and scalawags. Education budgets were cut, blacks were regularly excluded from voting, and the regulation of sharecropping continued to shift in favor of plantation owners.
Why did some Northerners tire of fighting for equal rights of African Americans?
The Panic of 1873 and the economic situation made jobs scarce.
What happened after the Compromise of 1877 that Hayes did not expect?
Southern leaders did not enforce Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments that protected the rights of freed people.
What was Disenfranchisement
Disenfranchisement, or the limiting of a person’s political rights, and “Jim Crow segregation” of African Americans, would haunt the South for generations.
The end of the Reconstruction Era gave a rise to ..
Jim Crow Laws
What did Jim Crow lawas do
These laws established the legal segregation of whites and blacks. Almost every aspect of life in the South was segregated: schools, transportation, and nearly all public areas. For many blacks, sharecropping was the only option to support a family.
The Black Codes, in part, formed the foundation for the Jim Crow laws. Elaborate
They maintained the social and economic structure of racial slavery in the absence of slavery itself. The laws also strengthened white supremacy by restricting the civic participation of freed slaves.
How did The Panic of 1873 aid the rise of Jim Crow laws.
The global economic downturn ensured that African Americans would remain in poverty.. There was no longer any money to fund federal programs that supported former slaves.
How did Southern Whites control African Americans
Southern whites controlled African Americans through racial oppression, the establishment of long prison terms for minor infractions, and a vicious campaign of fear, intimidation, and lynching.
Who was Benjamin “Pap” Singleton
In 1879, Benjamin “Pap” Singleton was one of several key figures who led the Great Exodus, a migration of African Americans from the South into Kansas seeking freedom from Jim Crow laws.
Who were exodusters
Called exodusters, most of the migrants were former slaves. They settled in Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Kansas seemed particularly promising, given that it fought hard to join the union as a free state prior to the Civil War.
What was the nadir period
The nadir period followed Reconstruction. Nadir means the lowest point and the period lasted from approximately 1890–1920; it was a time when African Americans suffered greatly from disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws.
Mark Twain’s novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, was published in 1884. What is ti about
It illustrates the after-effects of Reconstruction, the stereotypes evident throughout the South, and racial relations between Southern whites and disenfranchised African Americans. The novel also highlights that the North was also to blame for the injustice of racism and racial inequality.
What events helped to give rise to Jim Crow laws?
Black Codes formed a foundation for the laws; The Panic of 1873 kept African Americans in poverty and the withdrawal of federal troops ensured that African Americans would no longer be protected.
