Chapter 15: Reconstruction and the New South

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION I:

1)What challenges faced the North in the reconstruction of the South?

  1. The Problems of Peacemaking
  1. The Aftermath of War and Emancipation
  1. The Devastated South—How did the Civil War affect the South? What did Southerners lose?
  2. Myth of the “Lost Cause”
  1. Competing Notions of Freedom?
  1. Freedom for the Ex-Slaves?
  2. The Freedmen’s Bureau
  1. Issues of Reconstruction—What determined reconstruction? While the South was absent from Congress, what sort of economic legislation did the Republican Party pass?
  1. Conservative and Radical Republicans—How was America divided politically after the war? What did these political divisions believe?
  1. Plans for Reconstruction
  1. Lincoln’s 10% Plan—What was Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction? Which states reestablished under this plan?
  2. Wade-Davis Bill—What did the Wade-Davis Bill authorize the president to do? What happened to the bill?
  1. The Death of Lincoln—How did Lincoln die? How did Americans react to Lincoln’s death?
  2. Johnson and “Restoration”
  1. Andrew Johnson’s Personality—How was Johnson different from Lincoln? What was his plan for Reconstruction? What did the new plan resemble?
  2. Northern Attitudes Harden—How did Northerners feel about the South and their ideals?

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION II:

1)How did the South attempt to resist Reconstruction and how did Radical Republicans respond?

  1. Radical Reconstruction
  1. The Black Codes—What were the Black Codes? What did the codes authorize local officials to do?
  1. Johnson’s Vetoes—How did Congress respond to the Black Codes? What did Congress pass in April 1866?
  1. The Fourteenth Amendment
  1. Citizenship for Blacks—What is in the Fourteenth Amendment? What is the definition of “American citizen”? What strengthened the Radical’s confidence?
  1. The Congressional Plan
  1. Three Reconstruction Bills—Who created the three Reconstruction bills? Under these bills, what had to happen for former Confederate states to be restored to the Union?
  2. Fifteenth Amendment—What does the Fifteenth Amendment forbid? What was the Tenure of Office Act? What was the Command of the Army Act? What was declared in the case of Ex parte Milligan? How did Radicals in Congress respond to this?
  1. The Impeachment of the President
  1. Tenure of Office Act—How did Radicals test the Tenure of Office Act in court?
  2. Johnson Acquitted—What was the result of the Radical’s efforts to impeach Johnson?

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION III:

1)What new political and economic systems developed in the South during Reconstruction?

  1. The South in Reconstruction
  1. The Reconstruction Governments—How did the Republicans gain most of their control?
  1. “Scalawags”—Who were the “scalawags”? What did they believe?
  2. “Carpetbaggers”—Who were “carpetbaggers”?
  3. Freedmen—Who made up the majority of Republicans in the South? What roles did African Americans play after the war? What happened financially in the South? How was the economy in the North?
  1. Education—How did the school system change in the 1870s?
  1. Segregated Schools—What resulted in efforts to integrate schools? What was the Civil Rights Act of 1875?
  1. Landownership and Tenancy
  1. Failure of Land Redistribution—How successful was the Freedmen’s Bureau’s efforts to reform landownership? Who was able to own land? How did Northerners feel about land distribution? What was the Freedman’s Bank?
  2. Sharecropping—Who share cropped?
  1. The Crop-lien system—How did the income distribution change postwar?
  1. New System of Credit—What was the new system of credit? What is a lien? What were some effects of the credit system?
  1. The African American Family in Freedom—What was a major reason for the rapid departure of emancipated slaves? How were roles redefined for formerly enslaved women?
  1. Changing Gender Roles—What kind of work did women have to do to make an income?

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION IV:

1)How was Grant regarded as a president, and why?

  1. The Grant Administration
  1. The Soldier President
  1. U.S. Grant—Which party did Grant run for? How much political experience did Grant have?
  2. Liberal Republicans—What were Liberal Republican opposed to? What did they do? Who was the Democratic candidate? Who won the presidential election in 1872?
  1. The Grant Scandals
  1. Credit Mobilier—What was the scandal involving the Credit Mobilier company? What other scandals happened during Grants presidency?
  1. The Greenback Question
  1. Panic of 1873
  2. National Greenback Party
  1. Republican Diplomacy
  1. “Seward’s Folly”—What was “Seward’s Folly”?
  2. Alabama Claims

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION V:

1)For what reasons was Reconstruction abandoned, and what did Reconstruction accomplish (and fail to accomplish)?

  1. The Abandonment of Reconstruction
  1. The Southern States “Redeemed”—Why was overthrowing Republican control easy for states in the upper South? Did African Americans have suffrage?
  1. Ku Klux Klan—How did the Ku Klux Klan terrorize those of the South? How did white Southerners view the Klan?
  1. The Ku Klux Klan Acts
  1. Enforcement Acts
  2. Decline of the Klan
  1. Waning Northern Commitment—Who were the Liberals?
  1. Impact of Social Darwinism—What was the their theory? What did Social Darwinists believe? What 3 Southern states remained in Republican hands by 1876, and how did Republicans remain in power?
  1. The Compromise of 1877
  1. Hayes verses Tilden—What was the difference between the two campaigns? Who won the popular vote? Who won the electoral vote?
  2. Special Electoral Commission—What was the special electoral commission and the outcome of it?
  3. Compromise of 1877—What was the “real agreement” in the compromise?
  4. Republican Failure in the South—Why was supporting a “new Republican” impossible?
  1. The Legacies of Reconstruction
  1. Ideological Limits—Why was the assault on racial injustice not achieved more?

“BIG PICTURE” QUESTIONS FOR SECTION VI:

1)What political, economic, and racial patterns developed in “The New South”?

  1. The New South
  1. The “Redeemers”
  1. Bourbon Rule—How did political power in the South change? Who were “Redeemers”? Who were “Bourbons”?
  2. The Readjuster Challenge
  1. Industrialization and the “New South”
  1. Henry Grady—Who was Grady? What did spokesmen for the New South advocate? What industries increased at the end of the century in the South?
  2. Railroad Development
  1. Tenants and Sharecroppers—What agricultural trends began post war? What forms did tenantry take? How did share cropping work?
  2. African Americans and the New South
  1. Black Middle Class—How did many African Americans emerge into the middle class? What was vital for the future of their race?
  2. Booker T. Washington—Who was Washington? What was he the spokesman for?
  3. The Atlanta Compromise—What did Washington believe African Americans should do? What was the Atlanta Compromise?
  1. The Birth of Jim Crow—What was the flaw in the Fifteenth Amendment?
  1. Plessy v. Ferguson—What decision was made in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson? What did this mean for schools? What happened to black voting rights?
  2. Restricting the Franchise—Why did the percentage of voters decrease by the 1890s? Who could vote? What was the grandfather law?
  3. White Control Perpetuated—What did Jim Crow laws restrict?
  4. Lynching—Where did lynching happen? Why did it happen? Who was Ida B. Wells?
  5. White Unity—What other issue distracted from social inequality?