Bell & McFalls

The Effects of Reconstruction on American Life

The years after the Civil War left America in a questionable state. Abraham Lincolns

plans for the American people came to a halt with his assassination in 1865. Andrew Johnson

was left to unite the North and the South. These years after the Civil War are known as the

Reconstruction Era. During this time, the lives of Americans changed greatly with the

ratification of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments. Not all legislation was good

though. The Black Codes and Jim Crow Laws hindered African American freedom all the way

up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

End of Civil War, Freedmens Bureau, and Lincolns Assassination

The Confederacy surrenders to the Union at Appomattox Courthouse on April 9, 1865.

Lincoln declared all slaves free with the Emancipation Proclamation, therefore the

plantation system ended in the South. To replace slavery, landowners set up the system of

sharecropping.

Sharecropping is a system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in

exchange for a share of the crop. This encouraged tenants to work to produce the biggest

harvest that they could, and ensured they would remain tied to the land and unlikely to

leave for other opportunities (Sharecropping).

There were some Southerners that did not want Blacks from taking part in government.

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is probably the most well-known secret organization that was

formed during this time. They threatened and attacked African Americans and those who

helped them to keep Blacks from voting.

 Bell & McFalls

By 1870, the KKK found its way in almost every Southern state. It became a vehicle for

white southern resistance to the Republican Partys Reconstruction-era policies aimed at

establishing political and economic equality for blacks (Ku Klux Klan, 2009).

At least 10 percent of the black legislators elected during the 1867-1868 constitutional

conventions became victims of violence during Reconstruction, including seven who

were killed (Ku Klux Klan, 2009).

The Klans activity was heavy in South Carolina, and in 1871, five hundred masked men

attacked a Union county jail to lynch eight black prisoners.

After the Civil War ended, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

(Freedmens Bureau) provided assistance to thousands of former slaves and poor whites

in the South.

The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort

and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freedpeople to full

citizenship (African American Records).

The Freedmens Bureau issued things such as clothing, food, locating family members,

promoted education, etc.

Before Abraham Lincoln was assassinated, he envisioned the reconstruction of America

by appointing military officers to each occupied southern state so future policies

concerning slavery and emancipation would be accepted.

Some Americans wanted to use Reconstruction to punish the South, but Lincoln wanted

to grant those who rebelled against the Union amnesty expect for high ranking officials or

officers.
 Bell & McFalls

Footnote: John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln just right after the Civil

War ended.

Andrew Johnson and the Thirteenth Amendment

After Lincoln was assassinated, his Vice President, Andrew Johnson, went into office in

1865.

Johnson was left to put Lincolns policy in place for Reconstruction. He enacted a plan

that let the South deal with the transition from slavery to freedom on their own. His plan

did not offer Blacks any roles in politics in the South either.

The Thirteenth Amendment states that Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except

as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist

within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction (Greene; Mason

McAward).

The Thirteenth Amendment finally ended slavery once and for all. It was the first of its

kind in the Constitution because it prevents any citizen from holding slaves or being apart

of any form of involuntary servitude, whereas most constitutional provisions only

constrain or regulate the government (Greene; Mason McAward).

Lincoln set in motion for the Thirteenth Amendment to be ratified, but never saw it

happen due to his assassination eight months prior.

After the Civil War ended, Southern Democrats created the Black Codes which gave

Blacks certain rights, but they were restricted at the same time. They could own property

and legalize marriage, but they still could not vote or serve on a jury.
 Bell & McFalls

There were some Southerners that supported the Republicans during the Reconstruction

era. They were very unpopular in the South; this resulted in the slang word scalawag for

these supporters.

Many northerners traveled south during Reconstruction, because some wanted to help

rebuild the South and others just wanted to make a profit. They were known as

carpetbaggers, because many carried suitcases made of carpet material.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 and Reconstruction Acts

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 granted all citizens the full and equal benefit of all laws

and proceedings for the security of person and property (The Civil Rights Bill of

1866). This was the first time Congress legislated civil rights.

President Johnson wanted to veto the Civil Rights Act, but the House overrode his veto.

In mid-1866, white majority residents of Memphis, Tennessee massacred newly freed

African Americans. They were unwilling to share social and civil rights with Blacks. This

was known as the Memphis Race Riot.

The Black Codes in Louisiana did not permit Black men the right to vote which angered

many Radical Republicans and Blacks alike. Former Confederates feared they were

losing their control to Blacks, so they attacked the convention held by the Radical

Republicans and their supporters.

The Reconstruction Acts of 1867 laid out the process for readmitting Southern states

into the Union (Reconstruction (1866-1877)). A key part of the Reconstruction Acts

included the formation of military districts that were led by a general.

Fourteenth Amendment and Ulysses S. Grant

 Bell & McFalls

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution (1868) granted citizenship and equal

civil and legal rights to African Americans and slaves who had been emancipated after

the American Civil War (Fourteenth Amendment).

The Fourteenth Amendment also prohibited states from denying anyone of life, liberty, or

property without due process of law.

Nearly every state in the South refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment, because they

did not want the government to interfere with their state laws.

Ulysses S. Grant was elected president in late 1868. He won the popular vote in the

election, because he was credited with winning the Civil War and being a great war

general.

Grant signed a legislation that limited certain actions of white terrorist groups such as the

Ku Klux Klan who would turn to violence in order to scare blacks and stop them from

voting. Many times, he would place federal troops in different parts of the South making

sure to keep law and order in these states. This was known as the Force Act of 1870 and

the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.

Specifically, in the State of South Carolina, Grant declared martial law and ordered mass

arrest.

There were many historical events that occurred during this time. Two men by the names

of Harry Wright and George Ellard formed the first professional baseball team called the

Cincinnati Red Stockings. Alexander Graham Bell also invented the telephone.

Fifteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act of 1875

 Bell & McFalls

Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment, guaranteeing African American men the

right to vote. The Fifteenth Amendment had an effect right away. African Americans

began taking part in government (Viola, 2006, p. 200).

After the Fifteenth Amendment passed, many African Americans served in state

legislatures to create public schools for whites and blacks in the South.

Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels became two of the first black senators.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was first introduced by Senator Charles Sumner of

Massachusetts.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was signed into law by Ulysses S. Grant. It guaranteed

African Americans equal treatment in public transportation and public accommodations

and service on juries. The U.S. Supreme Court declared the act unconstitutional in the

Civil Rights Cases (1883) (Urofsky, 2014).

Although Blacks were in favor of the Act, many Americans opposed it and the Act was

not heavily enforced.

The Civil Rights Act of 1875 is thought to be the last major piece of legislation to be

passed during the Reconstruction Era.

Rutherford B. Hayes, the End of Reconstruction, and Jim Crow Laws

The election of Rutherford B. Hayes was also the end of the Reconstruction Era. As part

of the price for accepting Hayes as president, southern Democrats had demanded that the

Republicans end Reconstruction immediately (Rubel, 2009, p. 90).

Hayes did not have much of a choice, so he agreed to the southern Democrats demand.

One of his first acts as president was to pull out the remaining federal troops from the

South. This is known as the Compromise of 1877.

 Bell & McFalls

This compromise ended a decade of Radical Republican control in the southern states.

Because Hayes removed the remaining troops, people in the South stopped enforcing the

federal civil rights laws. This meant the Ku Klux Klan began to terrorize Blacks and their

supports again.

After Hayes ordered the soldiers to leave the South, African Americans were not able to

vote and they lost political power.

Years after the Democrats regained control of the South, segregation and

disenfranchisement laws were implemented throughout the region. These laws were

nicknamed as Jim Crow.

These laws represented a formal, codified system of racial apartheid that dominated the

American South for three quarters of a century beginning in the 1890s (Jim Crow

Laws).

Jim Crow laws affected the daily lives of Americans greatly. School, restrooms, buses,

parks, restaurants, and more were segregated. These facilities were known to be separate

but equal.

Many places would have Whites Only and Colored signs to remind people of the

enforced racial order.

During this time, Blacks were also denied the right to vote in much of the rural South.

Blacks had to take literacy tests in order to gain the right to vote. This was approved by

the U.S. Supreme Court (Grant, 2009, p. 177).

African Americans did not want to let Jim Crow Laws wreck their hopes and dreams for

the future. Many believed that education would give them a chance for a better life

(Viola, 2006, p. 208).

 Bell & McFalls

Since African Americans could not go to the same schools as Whites, new schools had to

be opened. Churches up north sent money and teachers to help with these new schools.

A former slave known as Booker T. Washington opened the Tuskegee Institute in

Alabama. All of the students and teachers were African American.

Booker T. Washington believed that African Americans would receive equal treatment

in time if they were educated and learned useful skills (Viola, 2006, p. 208).

At Tuskegee Institute, a famous teacher named George Washington Carver helped poor

southern farmers by teaching them grow different crops such as peanuts, pecans, and

sweet potatoes.

Carver invented over three hundred peanut products such as peanut butter and peanut

milk. These products helped farmers throughout the South.

The Supreme Court also set up the doctrine of separate but equal in Plessy v. Ferguson.

In this case, an African American man in New Orleans tried to sit in a white-only railway

car.

Although Reconstruction ended in 1877, the Jim Crow Laws segregated public places in

the South. African Americans continued to face trials and tribulations towards their

freedom.
 Bell & McFalls

Works Cited

African American Records: Freedmen's Bureau. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau

Black Codes and Pig Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/black-codes/

Collins, J. (1999, February). Reconstruction and Corruption in the Grant Administration.

Retrieved September 9, 2017, from http://www.lib.niu.edu/1999/ihy990236.html

Grant, R. G. (2009). Slavery: real people and their stories of enslavement. New York: DK Pub.

Greene, J., & Mason McAward, J. (n.d.). The 13th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Retrieved September 9, 2017, from https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-

constitution/amendments/amendment-xiii

History.com Staff. (2009). Ku Klux Klan. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan

History.com Staff. (2009). Ulysses S. Grant. Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/ulysses-s-grant

Jim Crow Laws. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/freedom-riders-jim-crow-laws/

Lincoln's Plan of Reconstruction (1863). (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.encyclopedia.com/politics/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-

maps/lincolns-plan-reconstruction-1863

New Orleans Riot of 1866. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/carr/riottext.html

Presidential Reconstruction. (2003). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

 Bell & McFalls

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/section4/section4_presrecon.htm

Reconstruction (1866-1877). (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/recon/jb_recon_subj.html

Rubel, D. (2009). Scholastic encyclopedia of the presidents and their times. New York:

Scholastic.

Sharecropping. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/themes/sharecropping/

The Civil Rights Bill of 1866. (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017, from

http://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-Civil-Rights-Bill-of-1866/

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. (2017, May 04). Fourteenth Amendment. Retrieved

September 9, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Fourteenth-Amendment

The Editors of Encyclopdia Britannica. (2014, July 23). Memphis Race Riot. Retrieved

September 9, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Memphis-Race-Riot

Urofsky, M. I. (2014, November 03). Civil Rights Act of 1875. Retrieved September 9, 2017,

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Civil-Rights-Act-United-States-1875

Viola, H. J. (2006). Houghton Mifflin social studies. Civil War to today Georgia. Boston, MA:

Houghton Mifflin.