Reconstruction Era Lecture Notes

Introduction

• Focus on the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.
• Options for note-taking: graphic organizers or traditional outline form.

Abraham Lincoln's Plans

• Ten Percent Plan (1863):
  • Proposed by Lincoln during the Civil War.
  • Required 10% of voters in southern states to pledge loyalty to the Union and support emancipation.
  • Aimed for leniency and quick reunification.
• Radical Republicans' Opposition:
  • Believed Lincoln was too lenient.
  • Wanted harsher measures, including civil rights for freed slaves.

Radical Republicans & Wade-Davis Bill

• Wade-Davis Bill (1864):
  • Required 50% of voters to take an oath of allegiance.
  • Proposed dividing South into military districts.
  • Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill, considering it too harsh.

Andrew Johnson's Presidency

• Assassination of Lincoln (1865):
  • Andrew Johnson, a southerner, became President.
• Johnson's Plan:
  • Allowed southern states to rejoin the Union without 50% loyalty pledges.
  • Angered Radical Republicans leading to impeachment attempts.

Key Groups and Legislation

• Carpetbaggers and Scalawags:
  • Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved South for various reasons.
  • Scalawags: Southern Union supporters.
• Freedmen's Bureau:
  • Established to assist freed slaves with education, jobs, and housing.

African American Political Progress

• Voting Rights and Representation:
  • 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery.
  • 14th Amendment: Granted citizenship and voting rights.
  • 15th Amendment: Guaranteed voting rights.
  • Hiram Revels: First African American senator.

Opposition and Challenges

• Ku Klux Klan (KKK):
  • Formed to oppose African American rights.
  • Grant used Enforcement Acts to suppress it during Reconstruction.
• Sharecropping System:
  • Resembled slavery through economic exploitation.

End of Reconstruction

• Election of 1876:
  • Disputed election results between Hayes (Republican) and Tilden (Democrat).
  • Compromise led to the withdrawal of Union troops from the South.
  • Marked the official end of Reconstruction.

Aftermath

• Jim Crow Era:
  • Segregation laws and disenfranchisement of African Americans emerged.
  • Lasted until the Civil Rights Movement.

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• Reconstruction was a complex period of rebuilding and redefining the United States post-Civil War.
• Involved both progressive reforms and challenges, with long-lasting impacts on American society.

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