Reconstruction: 1865 - 1874

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Reconstruction was a period immediately after the Civil War of rebuilding the Southern states gradually bringing them back into the Union.

TWO PLANS FOR RECONSTRUCTION

LINCOLN AND JOHNSON WANTED…

CONGRESS WANTED…

•To restore the Union as quickly as possible•To go easy on the South

•Stricter standards for admitting the Southern States back into the Union•To protect the freedom of African Americans in the South

JuneteenthA proclamation was declared on June 19, 1865.

Union General Gordon Granger was sent to control Texas.

June 19,1865- Juneteenth, Emancipation Day

• 1. All slaves are now free.• 2. All Texas laws passed since March 1,1861 must be

nullified.• 3. Names of all Confederate soldiers must be registered

with U.S. officials.• 4. Texas is now under charge of a military government.

• Freedmen: a person who has been freed from slavery• Freedmen’s Bureau provided help & legal aid to freed

people• was established in 1865 by the national government to

provide the following for formerly-enslaved people:• Food• Shelter• Medicine • Opened the first schools for African Americans in Texas,

which were in operation for over 100 years

©2012, TESCCC

Freedmen’s Bureau

Black Codes• Laws limiting the rights of

African Americans• Restricted blacks from voting,

testifying against Whites in court and from serving on a jury

• Restricted job opportunities for blacks – usually to agriculture

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Radical Republican Plan

1)Limits role of former Confederate leaders

2)Protected rights of African Americans

3)Former Confederates should not hold important government positions

•Texas was combined with Louisiana and placed in the 5th district and fell under command of General Philip H. Sheridan.

5 Military Districts

• Martial Law – military policies that started during Gov. Edwards term

• Governor Davis used military forces to keep the peace in several counties

• Sherman and federal troops removed American Indian tribes from West Texas during the “Frontier Wars.”

©2012, TESCCC

Reconstruction Continues!KKK: Ku Klux Klan

Goals:1.Restore Democratic control of the South2.Keep former slaves powerless

Methods:1. Used violence to keep African Americans from voting

50,000 African Americans still registered to vote in Texas.

• There was a great increase in…

• Tenant farming – people reside on and farm land owned by a landlord• Sharecropping – people farming another landowners land for a share of the

profit

©2012, TESCCC

Constitution of 1876

1. Limited power of governor and legislature

2. Land grants for education and railroads

3. Still use this Constitution TODAY!• (Amended about 500 times)

• Texas adopted the Constitution of 1876

• Texas ratified the ReconstructionAmendments in order to rejointhe Union• 13th Amendment - forbids slavery• 14th Amendment – equal rights, regardless of race• 15th Amendment – extended the right to vote to African

American men

©2012, TESCCC

The Effects of the Reconstruction Amendments on African Americans

“The Staircase to Full Voting Citizenship”

Slavery

Right to Vote

Freed the Slaves

Citizenship

13th

14th

15th

The Effects of theReconstruction Amendments

Political Economic Social

Impact of Reconstruction on Texas

Reconstruction (1865-1874)

• Political effects– Martial law – the military polices the state under

Governor Edwards– Constitution of 1876 – written at the end of

Reconstruction; this is the constitution Texas still follows today

– Indian wars – the government removes Native Americans from the frontier.

– Passage of the Reconstruction Amendments• 13th Amendment – ended slavery• 14th Amendment – citizenship given to African Americans• 15th Amendment – suffrage given to all males

Reconstruction (1865-1874)

• Economic effects– Growth of tenant farming and sharecropping– Expansion of railroad– Cattle industry booms

Reconstruction (1865-1874)

• Social effects– Concern over future of freedmen– Juneteenth – June 19, 1865 – Emancipation

Day in Texas (African-Americans learn they are free)

– Freedmen’s Bureau established– Black Codes (state laws that limited rights of

African Americans– Ku Klux Klan (terrorized African American

voters and kept them away from the polls)– Immigration to Texas increased