Abraham Lincoln

Four score and seven years ago -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincolns Gettysburg AddressI here declare my unmitigated hatred to Yankee rule -- to all political, social and business connection with the Yankees and to the Yankee raceMay such sentiments be held universally in the outraged and down-trodden South until the now far-distant day shall arrive for just retribution for Yankee usurpation, oppression and atrocious outrages, and for deliverance and vengeance for the now ruined, subjugated and enslaved Southern States!

Edmund Ruffin who fired the first shots at Ft. Sumter

ReconstructionThe ruins of a Train Depot after the Civil War.Chapter 15 Lincoln AssassinatedAbraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865, while attending a play at Fords Theatre in Washington D.C. .He died the next day.

The north mourned the loss of Lincoln and a massive manhunt began to hunt down his killerJohn Wilkes Booth was a famous theatre actor and a southern patriot. After the assassination he was hunted down and shot dead on a farm in Virginia by the U.S. Army.

Booths co-conspirators where tried for treason and hung.The war ends in TexasOn June 19th 1865 Union General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston and announces the war is over to Texas and that all the slaves are to be set free!Juneteenth has been celebrated in Texas ever since as the anniversary of freedom to African Americans in Texas.

Gordon Granger The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.

FreedmanA freedman or freeman is a person who has been freed from slavery. All former slaves were now freedman.Many moved from old plantations and started Freedtowns or black communities.

Freedman ProblemsMany didnt have jobs or homes.Some looked for long-lost relatives.Some traveled to cities searching for work.Some remained on the plantation working for wages or a portion of the crop.

The Freedmens Bureau was created by Congress to help former slaves by supplying food, shelter, medicine, and in many cases, jobs.The freedmens bureau faced many challenges from southerners who would attempt to intimidate and in some cases kill freedmens bureau workers.

The Freedmens bureau's major success was in the creation of schools for the former slaves and their children.

Freedmans Teacher School

Presidential ReconstructionStates had to accept the 13th amendment that ended slaveryStates had to declare that their secession had been illegalStates had to cancel all war debtsTo receive the right to vote, all adult white males had to declare loyalty to the United States.

Andrew Johnson, as the President after Lincoln, set up four requirements for southern states to return to the union.The 17th President of the United States, Andrew JohnsonAndrew Johnson named Andrew Hamilton, a unionist, as governor of Texas. He called for a new constitutional convention.

James W. Throckmorton was elected as president of the convention. He had been a unionist, but fought in the Confederate army for Texas. Therefore he was thought to be a good choice.

James W. ThrockmortonThe Constitution of 1866The Constitution of 1866 was the same as the Constitution of 1845, except that Slavery was endedTexas refused to adopt the 13th amendment. President Johnson agreed to accept Texas back into the U.S. anyway. The Southern governments also passed Black Codes. These laws attempted to force former slaves back to labor on plantations

Black Codes

African Americans were second class citizens.They could not marry whites.They could not hold public office, vote, or serve on a jury.

The ruins of a Train Depot after the Civil War.

Ch 15 ReconstructionAlthough President Johnson agreed to let Texas back into the Union, Congress did not and refused to accept the Constitution of 1866.The Radical Republicans saw Reconstruction as a way to punish the Southerners and gain fair treatment for freedman.

Radical Republican leaders Thadeus Stevens and Charles Sumner THE RADICAL REPUBLICANSNot long after Texas was refused its return to the Union, the Radical Republicans in Congress gained enough power to win any vote in Congress and overturn any presidential veto.

The Black Codes convinced the Republicans that Texas could not be trusted to deal fairly with African Americans.

Radicial Republicans impeached Andrew Johnson. He survived his trial in the Senate by only one vote.The Fourteenth AmendmentThe Republicans passed the Fourteenth Amendment. Among other parts of this amendment, it granted citizenship to former slaves. The Fourteenth Amendment did away with the black codes and granted legal equality to former slaves. Texas did not accept it and of the former Confederate states, only Tennessee agreed to the amendment.

Congress was angered by Texas and the other Confederate states refusing to ratify the 14th Amendment.The Radical Republicans took a stand by passing the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act put Texas and the other Southern states (excluding Tennessee) under military rule.This act divided the ten states into five military districts.Reconstruction Act of 1867Texas was combined with Louisiana and placed in the 5th district and fell under command of General Philip H. Sheridan. 5 Military Districts

Ironclad OathThe military controlled the South for several years, the Governors were appointed had no real power.Union troops began to register voters, but required those voters to take an ironclad oath which claimed that their past loyalty was only to the Union. This meant that white men who were former Confederates could no longer vote. This angered many in the South

The South saw the Northerners as Carpetbaggers, or people trying to ruin the south for their personal gain.

Carpetbaggers

Many plantation owners and former Confederate soldiers did not want African Americans to have rights.A secret group called the Ku Klux Klan was formed.The goal of this group was to: restore Democratic control of the Southkeep former slaves powerless

Nathan Bedford Forrest was a former Confederate General and the First Leader of the Ku Klux KlanThe Ku Klux Klan

The 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed to guarantee freedman the right to voteDespite the efforts of the Klan, over 50,000 African American men in Texas registered to vote.

Ten were even elected to the Constitutional Convention of 1869.

Matthew Gaines became a Texas State Senator in 1869.Freedman VotingThe 15th Amendment

AFRICAN AMERICAN LEGISLATORSThe New Constitution of 1869:This was a Radical Republican Constitution for Texas!declared the Constitution of the U.S. as lawguaranteed the right of all men to vote or suffrage (regardless of race, color, or former condition)established the foundation for a public school system for ALL childrensystem of law enforcement

In November 1869 elections of officers of the new state government were held.Radical Republican E.J. Davis was elected Governor

The Constitution of 1869Many Texans claimed that the army had unfairly made sure Davis was elected.Many Texans remained determined to regain control of their state. Davis and the legislature ratified the 14th Amendment, which was a requirement from then US Congress for Reconstruction.Texas was readmitted to the Union on March 8th , 1870.

E.J. DavisAfter Texas was re-admitted to the Union, President Ulysses S. Grant declared reconstruction over in Texas.The Texas legislature gave Davis significant power. The people that opposed Davis were known as redeemers. They determined to save Texas from the Radical Republicans. The redeemers called Davis programs the Obnoxious Acts

Davis had been a General in the Union ArmyThe RedeemersSoon the Supreme Court ruled that the Ironclad Oath was unconstitutional. The government has no authority to disenfranchise (take away the right to vote) people who had never been convicted of a crime in a court of law.

Southerners hated the oath and a similar Oath of Allegiance they were forced to take after the war. They didnt feel they should be pardoned for their actions and did not want forgiveness for the war. They felt they had fought for their rights. Good Ole Rebel-Popular song in the south at the timeThe Redeemers I wont be Reconstructed!

Soon the Supreme Court ruled that the Ironclad Oath was unconstitutional. The government has no authority to disenfranchise (take away the right to vote) people who had never been convicted of a crime in a court of law. The Redeemers I wont be Reconstructed!

Southerners hated the oath and a similar Oath of Allegiance they were forced to take after the war. They didnt feel they should be pardoned for their actions and did not want forgiveness for the war. They felt they had fought for their rights. Good Ole Rebel-Popular song in the south at the time

Davis refused to leave office, claiming the election was a fraud. He and his supporters even barricaded themselves in their offices.Eventually, Coke took office and this truly signaled the end of Reconstruction in Texas.

In the 1872 elections, Democrats gained control of Texas and began to undo the actions of Davis. Davis was defeated in the 1873 governors race by Richard Coke.Richard Coke was the first Democratic Governor in Texas since the warThe redeemers called a Constitution convention to re-write the Constitution once again. The new Constitution of 1876 would supremely limit the power of the governor and allow the legislature to meet only every other year. The Constitution of 1876 is the same one Texas has today, though many changes have been made.As a result of the redeemers, African Americans soon lost much of the social ground they had recently gained.

Racist Jim Crow Laws would be written and followed for over a hundred years.

Reconstruction Amendments sing alongFree, Citizen, Vote13,14,15