Reconstruction
12 years
1865 - 1877
Who were the Freedmen
Formerly enslaved African Americans
What did the 13th Amendment do?
Abolished Slavery
What was Sharecropping
A farming system where workers farmed land and gave part of their crops to the landowners.
What were Jim Crow laws?
Laws that legalized racial segregation
Why was Reconstruction necessary after the Civil War?
To rebuild the South, readmit Southern states, and define the rights of formerly enslaved people.
Who were carpetbaggers?
Northerners who moved south after the Civil War
What did the 14th Amendment do?
It granted citizenship to African Americans and equal protections.
Why did many freedmen become sharecroppers?
They lacked land, money, and supplies.
What does disenfranchisement mean?
Taking away someone's right to vote.
What were two major problems the South faced after the Civil War?
Destroyed economy
Damaged infrastructure
Four million freed slaves
Distrust of the Union
Animosity between North and South
Who were Scalawags?
White Southerners who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party.
What did the 15th Amendment do?
It gave Black men the right to vote
Why did sharecropping keep families poor?
Debt, poor harvests, and giving part of the crop to landowners trapped families in poverty.
Name two methods used to prevent African Americans from voting.
Poll Taxes, Literacy/Civics Tests, Grandfather Clauses, Voter Intimidation
What did the Reconstruction Act of 1867 require Southern states to do before rejoining the Union?
Write new constitutions, guarantee Black men the right to vote, and ratify the 14th amendment
What was the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau?
To provide food, clothing, medical care, and assistance to newly freed slaves.
How did the Reconstruction Amendments permanently change the role of the federal government?
They made protecting civil rights and equality a national responsibility rather than leaving it to the states.
What were Black Codes?
restricted legal rights while sharecropping created economic dependence and poverty.
What happened in Plessy v. Ferguson?
The Supreme Court upheld "Separate But Equal", allowing segregation.
How did the federal government attempt to protect African Americans during Reconstruction, and why did many of those protections fail?
The federal government protected African Americans by creating the Freedmen's Bureau, passing the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, and enforcing Reconstruction through the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and federal troops in the South. These protections weakened after the Compromise of 1877, when federal troops were removed. Southern states then enforced Black Codes, Jim Crow laws, voter disenfranchisement, and tolerated violence from groups like the KKK, limiting the rights Reconstruction had tried to protect.
Imagine you are a freedman in 1870. Describe three opportunities you gained and three obstacles you still faced.
Opportunities:
Slavery had been abolished by the 13th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment granted citizenship and equal protection under the law.
African American men gained the right to vote through the 15th Amendment. and many freedmen were able to vote, run for office, and participate in politics.
Obstacles:
Many became trapped in sharecropping and poverty.
Black Codes restricted their freedoms and opportunities.
They faced Jim Crow laws, voter intimidation, and violence from groups like the KKK.
Which Reconstruction Amendment had the greatest long-term impact? Defend your answer using evidence from the unit.
The 14th Amendment had the greatest long-term impact because it granted citizenship and guaranteed due process and equal protection under the law. It expanded the federal government's role in protecting civil rights and became the foundation for protecting the rights of all citizens.
Although slavery ended, why did many African Americans still struggle to achieve true freedom during Reconstruction?
Black Codes, Sharecropping, Voter Intimidation, Jim Crow laws, and violence from groups like the KKK limited economic opportunity, political participation, and civil rights
Why is the Compromise of 1877 considered the end of Reconstruction, and what were its long-term consequences?