SC History Ch. 15

I.     The Freedmen’s Bureau 
    A.   Provided food, clothing, and medical supplies to needy blacks 
    B.   Helped freedmen find jobs 
    C.   Established schools and military courts 
    D.   Slaves could have 40 acres and a mule 
            1.    Freedmen – former slaves 
            2.    Freedmen’s Bureau – a federal government agency established to provide food, shelter, education, health care, and employment for former slaves in the South

II.   Presidential Reconstruction

A.   Lincoln’s Plan 
      1.    Remove the government officials of the Confederate States  of America

      2.    Replace them with officials who were loyal to the Union
3.    Reconstruction – the terms applied to the rebuilding of the South after the Civil War
4.    Pocket veto – an indirect by a president who holds the bills unsigned until after Congress adjourns
5.    On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot and wounded the president at Ford’s Theatre. Lincoln died the next day.

B.   Johnson’s Plan

1.    Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln died.

2.    Supported Lincoln’s plan but added more provisions.

a.    Planters whose property was worth $20,000 or more had to appear before him personally to ask for a pardon.

b.   Required all states to approve the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal.

c.    Required states to nullify their ordinances of secession.

d.   Southern states had to promise not to repay the individuals and institutions that had help finance the Confederate States of America

III.    Radical Reconstruction

A.   Black codes

1.    A series of laws intended to restrict the freedoms of blacks.

2.    Prevented former slaves from traveling without permits, from assembling, from possessing firearms, or from appearing on the streets after sunset.

B.   The Radical Republican Plan (What did it do?)

1.    The former confederate states were divided into 5 military districts, each under the command of a military governor

2.    Suffrage (the right to vote) was extended to black males and taken away from others. The only white males who could vote were those who had not supported the war.

3.    No person who had participated in the war was permitted during public office

4.    A state could apply for readmission to the union after it had written a new state constitution that was acceptable to Congress.

5.    The new constitution had to be approved by the voters of a state before a state legislature and a governor could be elected.

6.    Finally, the legislature would have to approve the 14th amendment (all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. – including the former slaves – were citizens of the U.S. and of the state in which they lived.)

C.   Growing Problems

1.    By early 1868, the relationship between Congress and Andrew Johnson was so bad that Congress brought impeachment proceedings against the president.

a.    Impeach – to bring charges of wrongdoing against an elected official while that person is still in office

b.   President Johnson was charged with “high Crimes and Misdemeanors”

c.    The senators voted 35-19 in favor of convicting the president. However, a two-thirds majority was needed (36 votes)

IV.    Reconstruction in South Carolina.

A.   The Constitution of 1868

1.    South Carolina was part of the Second Military District. Under the command of General Daniel E. Sickles.

2.    This constitution was different from earlier documents in several ways:

a.    Representation was based on population alone.

b.   Property requirements for officeholders were abolished.

c.    Gave women some rights

d.   Education became the responsibility of the state.

B.   Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

1.    Were two of the major components of the Republican party in South Carolina during the Reconstruction. The freedmen were the third major component.

a.    Carpetbaggers – northern whites who moved south after the Civil War

b.   Scalawags – white southerners who had not participated in the Confederacy

C.   Agriculture after the war

1.    Sharecropping was perhaps the most common form of tenant farming. (How did it work?):

a.    Sharecropping – an agricultural system where a landless farmer provided the labor and the landowner provided land, housing, seeds, and tools; the farmer received 1/3 to 1/2 of the crop proceeds.

D.   Education after the war

1.    Education for blacks was the most significant development during reconstruction.

V.   The Ku Klux Klan

A.   Ku Klux Klan – a secret, racist organization that used intimidation and violence to influence the behavior of the states’ citizens, especially the blacks.

B.   White supremacy – the belief that the white race is superior to all other races (the Ku Klux Klan believes in white supremacy)

C.   Redeemer – southern white democrats who worked to regain control of the state government after the Civil War

 

Other questions to know:

1.    What is the intent of the black codes? To restrict the freedoms of blacks

2.    What are the guarantees made by the 14th amendment? all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.–including  former slaves–were citizens of the U.S. & of the state in which they lived.

3.    What majority is required to convict a president who has been impeached? 2/3

4.    Who is the military governor of South Carolina during Reconstruction? Daniel E. Sickles

5.    What are four important changes made to the constitution in 1868?

a.    Representation was based on population alone.

b.   Property requirements for officeholders were abolished.

c.    Gave women some rights

d.   Education became the responsibility of the state.

6.    Who was the first superintendent of public education for the state? Justus K. Jillson