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ReconstructionAfrican American History HS 3892Frederick Douglass• Born a slave in Md.• Abolitionist– North Star• Recruited Black soldiers during Civil War• Advocated suffrage for African-Americans and women• U.S. Minister to HaitiSojourner Truth• Born a slave in N.Y.• Abolitionist and Women’s Rights Activist– advocated women’s suffrage• Worked with Freedmen’s Bureau after the Civil War• Promoted Black migration to the West– ExodustersQuestions following Emancipation•13thAmendment ended slavery• Now that slaves were free, where was their place in the society?– Were they citizens? Could they vote? • ‘Slavery is not abolished until the black man has the ballot.’– Frederick Douglass• Emancipation did away with 3/5 clause, freedmen now counted as a whole person– If freedmen were not able to vote, Southern whites would get more seats in Congress, without diluting any of their votes, helping the white South– Did they get any land? •‘40 Acres and a Mule’?Freedmen’s Bureau• The nation’s first federal welfare agency, established in 1865 to provide relief for free blacks and poor whites after the war• The Freedmen's Bureau founded more than 4000 schools, including Howard Univ., along with hospitals, job training, shelter and food“The Freedmen’s Bureau”from Harpers Weekly (July 25, 1868, page 473)The Black Codes• Laws est. by southern governments following the war to restrict black movement– Required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts; – designated unemployed blacks as vagrants who could be hired out to white landowners; – provided for the apprenticing of black children to white employers without the consent of their parents; – forbid interracial marriage; – established curfews for blacks.14thAmendment• In order to protect black civil rights, in 1866 Congress passed the 14thAmendment, which:– forbade states from depriving any citizen of the “equal protection of the laws”– barred many ex-Confederates from holding state or national office – threatened to reduce the South’s representation in Congress if black men continued to be kept from voting.• 14th Amendment established the principle of birthright citizenship and proposed that the federal government guarantee all Americans’ equality before the law, regardless of race, against state violationsCongressional Reconstruction, 1867• Southern defiance to Reconstruction convinced Congress to begin Reconstruction anew in 1867 – Congress endorsed universal manhood suffrage. • This happened after a number of developments further strengthened the Radical Republicans in the US Congress: – Racial violence in New Orleans and Memphis in 1866– Southern states, except Tenn., rejected 14th Amend.• Reconstruction Acts of 1867 divided South into five military districts and outlined how new governments, based on universal manhood suffrage, were to be established“Black and Tan” Conventions,1867-68• Blacks elected as delegates – blacks were the majority in the SC and LA conventions – First time in US that blacks and whites worked together to write their laws• Many state constitutions very progressive– universal manhood suffrage– public schools for both races– increased state responsibility for social welfare– most forbid disfranchisement of ex-Confederates“Black Reconstruction”• 1870, all former Confed. states readmitted to Union• Republican Party dominated new gov’ts • Three groups made up the Southern GOP:– Carpetbaggers– Scalawags– Blacks• 16 African-Americans served in Congress during Reconstruction, 600+ in state legislatures, 100s more in local officesSen. Hiram Revels, Miss.Reconstruction violence• Organizations such as the Ku Klux Klanlaunched a campaign of terror against Republican leaders as well as blacks who asserted their rights with white employers.15thAmendment• In response to increased violence in the South, in 1869 Congress approved the 15th Amendment, which stated that no citizen could be denied the vote on the basis of race, color, or "previous condition of servitude." – Ratified in 1870.End of Reconstruction• Reconstruction began to unravel in the mid-1870s for a number of reasons:– fracturing of the Southern GOP coalition– disenchantment of Northern Republicans– continued violent resistance– Democratic resurgence• 1876, GOP governments out of every Southern state except S.C., La., and Fla.Compromise of 1877• Disputed returns in 1876 election between Samuel J. Tilden (D-NY) and Rutherford B. Hayes (R-Ohio)–Congressional commission chooses Hayes as president• Compromise of 1877:–Hayes Appointed Dems. to his cabinet–Federal gov’t to give aid to Southern improvements –Federal troops to be withdrawn from S.C. and La.• In return for a guarantee of the preservation of black rights• Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction–federal troops removed from South–Southern states “redeemed”• Democrats., ex-confederates, back in


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ROCKHURST HS 3892 - African American History

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