Reconstruction Era Overview (1865-77)

Question 1

Economic reconstruction aims/ challenges

Answer 1

• industries in North still thriving - need room to expand
• the economy in the south is at a standstill - a lot of fighting happened on their land, agricultural economy was reliant on slavery

Question 2

Political questions

Answer 2

• Abraham Lincoln wanted a union - south not so enthusiastic - division

Question 3

The slave question

Answer 3

• 1863 - Abraham Lincoln - emancipation declared (freedom of slaves) —> only the north are cooperative
• leads to the 13th amendment—> setting slaves free
• African Americans can’t break out of cycle of poverty - remain in the south and do sharecropping

Question 4

What was the situation for freed slaves?

Answer 4

• can’t afford housing - white Americans won’t want to sell homes to black Americans —> remain on plantation quarters
• remain in agriculture jobs as that was what they had skills in
• education - requires a teacher, no free slave was literate + no white teacher was willing to teach black children

Question 5

What happened January 1863?

Answer 5

• emancipation proclamation comes into effect, but not in the border states which had never left the union (Kentucky, Missouri, Maryland and Delaware)

Question 6

What happened 1865?

Answer 6

• March = Freedmen’s Bureau established to protect and provide for former slaves - land, employment, education
• April = Lincoln is assassinated and replaced with Andrew Johnson, who begins his own programme of reconstruction
• December ratification of Thirteenth amendment by all states (prerequisite of readmission to the union) which abolishes slavery

Question 7

What happened April 1866

Answer 7

• The Civil Rights Act is ratified due to backing by 2/3 of congress overriding the presidents veto

Question 8

What happened March 1867 - March 1868?

Answer 8

• Military Reconstruction Acts to organise elections and protect black civil rights and progress in the south

Question 9

What happened July 1868?

Answer 9

• Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, dealing with black citizenship

Question 10

What happened in 1869?

Answer 10

• Ulysses S. Grant is sworn in as President, replacing Johnson

Question 11

What happened in 1870?

Answer 11

• The fifteenth Amendment is ratified, dealing with black voting rights

Question 12

What happened in 1871?

Answer 12

• The Third Enforcement Act, known as the Ku Klux Act is introduced

Question 13

What happened in 1875?

Answer 13

The Civil Rights Act (1875)

Question 14

What was the thirteenth amendment?

Answer 14

-1865
- abolished slavery
- congress passed the amendment in April 1864 + was ratified by a sufficient amount of states in January 1865
- dejure rights suggested freedom but defacto it reflected their limited rights

Question 15

The Civils Right Act (1866)

Answer 15

• gave citizenship to all freedmen + affirmed all free citizens are protected by the law
• however - African Americans in reality weren’t protected since police were controlled by the state + the southern states were corrupted with racism
• blacks also couldnt stand up in court against whites

Question 16

The Military Reconstruction Acts

Answer 16

• 1867-8
• established military rule over southern states until new governments could be formed
• southern states HATED this

Question 17

What was the 14th amendment?

Answer 17

• guaranteed equal citizenship + voting rights
• proposed by congress in April 1866 + ratified in July 1868

Question 18

What was the 15th amendment?

Answer 18

• 1870
• prohibited federal or state governments from denying citizens the right to vote on grounds of race
• adopted by congress in February 1869 + ratified in March 1870
• however - southern states adopted policies to limit African American from voting - literacy tests + grandfather clause

Question 19

The third enforcement act/ Ku Klux Act

Answer 19

• 1871
• passed in response to white supremacism (KKK) which sprang up in 1866 attempting to prevent the extension of black civil rights
• the lynching used by the KKK were rarely followed up by prosecutions - undermining the concept of the 14th amendment that blacks and whites were guaranteed equal protection under the law + that blacks were full American citizens
• the Act enable the federal government to try anyone who interrupted with the granting of the vote and civil rights to blacks
• enabled the president to use federal troops to put down rebellions + civil disorder that broke out after the 14th and 15th amendments

Question 20

Limitations of the Ku Klux Act?

Answer 20

• didn’t change southern attitudes towards black citizenship and voting rights
• it was used in several cases to try klansmen but became somewhat redundant after 1877 due to the Great Compromise
• it was also ruled in 1876 that the federal powers to arrest and try only applied to states and not individuals

Question 21

Civil Right Act (1875)

Answer 21

• passed in response to increasing attempts in the south to segregate blacks and whites
• this act made it clear that the provision of equal civil righrs included equal access to public areas such as parks, theatres, water fountains and inns
• if found to be inhibiting this equal access, the guilty party could be fined between $500 - $1000 and could serve up to a year in prison

Question 22

Limits of the Civil Rights Act (1875)

Answer 22

• act was rarely put into practice + was repealed in 1883 as it was deemed to be an infringement on states’ rights