What were the aims of Reconstruction? Flashcards
What were Republicans like at this time?
-at the beginning of our time period they were more sympathetic to civil rights
What were Democrats like at this time?
-they are associated with reform in the north for most of our period but segregation and restriction in the South
Was President Andrew Johnson a Democrat of Republican?
-a Democrat
How long was President Andrew Johnson president?
-1865-1869
What was the aim of Johnson’s Plan?
-to re-admit and re-build the Confederate states and help African Americans integrate into society->help them join society like how to buy houses etc
Did Johnson plan on involving Congress in his plan?
-without the involvement of Congress (hence Presidential Reconstruction) Johnson announced his plans to immediately bring the Confederate States back into the Union
What did Johnson want to achieve with his plan?
-all Southerners prepared to swear oath of allegiance (promise of loyalty) to receive Amnesty (reduced/no punishment)
-all required to ratify (agree/sign off) 13th Amendment (freeing slaves)
-all property but enslaved people to be returned
-civil and military leaders not pardoned
-enslaved people given land->Special Field Order #15 ‘Forty acres and a mule’ (supposed to be given)
What went wrong with Johnson’s Plan?
-Johnson appointed advisors who were unsympathetic to Black Civil Rights-> would tell him to do different things
What were the results of Johnson’s Plan?
-13,000 Southern rebels pardoned - far more than suggested
-abandoned punishment of rebel leaders and politicians
-allowed above to return to office->they were able to go into government etc->all in the Southern states together->racism in the South
-failed to enforce ratification of 13th Amendment->some states didn’t agree to end slavery
-land given under Special Order #15 revoked as rebels pardoned->African Americans weren’t allowed the land and the land was given back to the owner->sharecropping develops
What did Johnson need to make a decision between?
-he had to decide whether to integrate the country or African Americans->Johnson and his advisors decided the country was more important
What was the Thirteenth Amendment and when was it?
-1865
-freed enslaved people following the Civil War but many states refused
What was the Civil Rights Act of 1866?
-all people born in the USA were given equal citizen rights
What was the Fourteenth Amendment and when was it?
-1868
-gives all African Americans citizenship and equal protection under the law->if they weren’t born in America
What was the Fifteenth Amendment and when was it?
-1870
-forbids the denial of vote->givens the vote to any man
What was the Ku Klux Klan Act and when was it?
-1871
-made it an offence for two or more persons to deprive citizens to protection of the law
-banning the White Supremacist Klan
What was the Ku Klux Klan Act also known as?
the Third Enforcement Act
What was the Civil Rights Act of 1871?
-all citizens are equally able to access accommodation, inns, public conveniences, theatres or places of public amusements
What made it clear that there was still opposition to African Americans gaining more rights?
-Amendments were made to integrate African Americans into society but laws had to be made to stop opposition->demonstrates the government’s want to help but opposition was still present
What was the Emancipation Proclamation? Who was it by?
-Lincoln
-freeing slaves
What was Sharecropping?
-tenant farming->a system where the landlord allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop
What did Sharecropping encourage?
-tenants to work to produce the biggest harvest that they could and ensured they would remain tied to the land and unlikely to leave for other opportunities
What happened due to Sharecropping?
-in the South, after the Civil War, many black families rented land from white owners and raised cash crops e.g. cotton
-landlords would lease equipment and offer seed, fertiliser, food, and other items on credit until the harvest season
What was the impact of Sharecropping?
-high interest rates & unpredictable harvests often kept tenant farm families indebted, requiring the debt to be carried over until the next year or the next>can’t break free->keeping African Americans in poverty
-politically they have their rights but economically they don’t->being held back by politicians
When was the Freedmen’s Bureau and who was it set up by and to help who?
-1865
-set up by radical republicans in congress to help emancipated slaves
What was the Freedmen’s Bureau set up to do?
-to improve the social status of African Americans
-was to provide food, shelter, clothing, medical services, and land to displaced Southerners. It established schools, supervised contracts between freedmen and employers, and managed confiscated or abandoned lands
What was a negative about the Freedmen’s Bureau?
-BUT limited-> 1 agent per 10,000-20,000 men and education was the key priority
What were the ‘Black Codes’ a precursor to?
-the Jim Crow laws
What did ‘Black Codes’ allow?
-allowed African Americans to own property, draw up contracts, sue, attend school and marry
What did the ‘Black Codes’ forbid? What was a result of this?
-forbade voting, serving on a jury (meant they couldn’t stand up for themselves), giving evidence against a white person, carrying arms and marrying a white person->no justice
What was refused in the Southern States?
-almost all refused to ratify (agree to) 13th Amendment and refused to given vote to at least a proportion of the freed slaves as requested
What was violence etc live between 1865-1868 in the Southern States (specifically Texas)?
-violence and murder was rife (widespread)->1,000 Black people killed in Texas alone between 1865-1868->500 white men indicted (accused of the murders) but none were convicted
When was the Period of Hope?
1867-1877
What was politics like in the Period of Hope?
-flurry of political activity between 1865-75 1,465 (930 of which were literate) black men held office in the South
Who was Blanche K. Bruce?
-represented Mississippi in the US Senate->few held significant positions
What were the ‘Black Codes’ like in the Period of Hope?
-‘Black codes’ were largely nullified (cancel out/stop) by military commanders but show white attitudes
What was the integration of the Civil Rights Acts on 1866 and 1875 like in the Period of Hope?
-most states drew the line at integration->Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 did little
