SLIDE 1 Chapter 13: Reconstruction of Georgia and the South 1863 1877 Racial prejudice, conflicts in government, and lingering bad feelings about the Civil War hurt attempts to rebuild the South and guarantee the rights of African Americans. SLIDE 2 Section 1: Reconstruction of the South Begins Section 2: Radical Reconstruction to Redemption SLIDE 3 Section 1: Reconstruction of the South Begins The process of reuniting the nation is a difficult one. SLIDE 4 Section 1: Reconstruction of the South Begins Conditions after the War Southerners Try to Rebuild Lives South in economic, social, political shambles after Civil War Main concern for whites and freedmen former slaves is survival - experience food shortages, disorganized government, lack of shelter Southern whites bitter about war loss; many hate the North Freedmen enjoying new liberties; many want distance from whites - try to reunite families; migrate to look for new opportunities SLIDE 5 Presidential Reconstruction The Ten Percent Plan Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction proposed December, 1863 - plan to rebuild Southern states before readmitting them to the Union - 10 percent of white male southerners in state must take loyalty oath - high-ranking Confederate leaders prohibited from taking oath - new state constitutions, seats in Congress when 10 percent reached Proclamation called the Ten Percent Plan SLIDE 6 1
Continued Presidential Reconstruction The Radical Republicans Radical Republicans in Congress feel Abraham Lincoln is too lenient Want Congress to take lead in Reconstruction; Lincoln rejects their plan - Lincoln s death leaves government with no clear plan in place Vice-President Andrew Johnson becomes President Johnson has ideas similar to Lincoln s, but tougher demands SLIDE 7 Continued Presidential Reconstruction The Radical Republicans Johnson excludes wealthy Southern landowners from taking oath Additional requirements for Southern states: - ratify Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery - cancel Ordinance of Secession and all wartime debts - write new constitutions abolishing slavery Radical Republicans want more punishment for Southern leaders SLIDE 8 Continued Presidential Reconstruction The Bureau for Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands Congress creates Freedmen s Bureau in 1865; Johnson supports Bureau - Bureau helps poor whites and freedmen get food, shelter, clothing Freedmen s Bureau, religious groups create schools for freedmen - Augusta Baptist Institute becomes Morehouse University - American Missionary Association opens what becomes Atlanta University SLIDE 9 Southern Labor Work Methods on Plantations Whites still own most land; freedmen find work back on plantations Relations between former slaves, landowners mostly unchanged Landowners use several different methods of plantation labor Gang Labor Some go back to using groups of workers under white overseers Fines, whips as punishment make system too much like slavery Freedmen prefer working in smaller groups, choosing overseers 2
SLIDE 10 Continued Southern Labor Wage Labor Workers agree to receive payment when crops are harvested Paid in either share wages (share of crop) or standing wages (cash) Contract System Workers, landowners sign contracts; workers may leave at end of term Landowners with little money and freedmen dislike wage system - poor landowners find the system too costly - freedmen often cheated out of wages, treated like slaves SLIDE 11 Continued Southern Labor Sharecropping Sharecropping system worker contracts to farm plot of land for owner - landowner chooses crops; sharecropper gets portion at harvest - cost of shelter, supplies deducted from sharecropper s earned portion Both white farmers and freedmen become sharecroppers System provides cheap labor for planters, place to live for workers Some owners cheat sharecroppers by charging high interest on goods SLIDE 12 Continued Southern Labor Debt Peonage Sharecroppers often end year in debt; owners carry debt to next year Debts increase year after year; sharecroppers legally obligated to pay Laws passed prohibiting sharecroppers in debt from moving System known as debt peonage SLIDE 13 Georgia s Reconstruction The Constitutional Convention of 1865 President Johnson appoints James Johnson provisional governor (1865) Governor Johnson calls Georgia convention in October - all delegates white males, support white supremacy State meets federal demands, elects new governor and legislature 3
Freedmen know federal troops will leave once new government in place - fear new government, see troops as only protection SLIDE 14 Mistreatment of Freedmen Black Codes Southern whites pass black codes laws to restrict freedmen s rights - codes create racial segregation, prohibit interracial marriage - African Americans cannot serve on juries or testify against whites Georgia allows whipping for minor crimes, jail for not having a job Radical, Moderate Republicans dislike freedmen mistreatment - threaten to stop Southern readmission to Union SLIDE 15 Congress Responds Civil Rights Act of 1866 Congressional committee says South not protecting freedmen s rights Civil Rights Act of 1866 protects rights, blocks black codes Congress overrides Johnson s veto, then passes Fourteenth Amendment - Fourteenth Amendment citizenship, equal rights for all born in U.S. - amendment excludes Native Americans Johnson tells states not to ratify; Georgia rejects amendment SLIDE 16 Section 2: Radical Reconstruction to Redemption Reconstruction ends in the South without protecting the constitutional rights of African Americans. SLIDE 17 Section 2: Radical Reconstruction to Redemption Congressional Reconstruction Military Reconstruction Acts Congress passes Military Reconstruction Acts, overriding veto - start of Congressional Reconstruction (Radical Reconstruction) - passed March 1867; divides South into 5 military districts Southern states must write constitutions, pass Fourteenth Amendment - must guarantee voting rights for African-American males over 21 Confederate officeholders no longer allowed to vote, run for office 4
SLIDE 18 Continued Congressional Reconstruction Impeachment Republicans in Congress decide to impeach President Johnson - impeach to charge someone with wrongdoing Johnson, Republicans clash over Reconstruction policies Senate fails to remove Johnson by one vote Johnson remains in office, but lacks power to control Reconstruction SLIDE 19 Reconstruction in Georgia Constitutional Convention John Pope commands 3 rd military district, including Georgia - registers 102,411 whites, 98,507 African Americans to vote Georgians vote to hold constitutional convention, November 1867 First time African Americans vote in Georgia; many whites boycott Measure passes, 102,283 4,127, Milledgeville to hold convention Milledgeville hotels turn away African Americans SLIDE 20 Constitutional Convention Whites complain delegates are carpetbaggers and scalawags Carpetbaggers Northerners moving to South after Civil War - some come to work with government, others to make money Scalawags white Southerners supporting Republicans, Reconstruction SLIDE 21 The 1868 Constitution Delegates write new constitution with provisions: - voting rights for all adult males - slavery, whipping abolished - free public education - capital to move from Milledgeville to Atlanta - poll tax 5
SLIDE 22 The 1868 Constitution Republican Rufus B. Bullock elected governor 29 African Americans elected to Georgia House, 3 to Senate Georgia ratifies Fourteenth Amendment, seeks readmission to Union Congress delays admission, but withdraws troops from Georgia SLIDE 23 African Americans Removed From Office White Democrats remove African Americans from legislature, fall 1868 - say new constitution allows them to vote, but not to hold office African Americans replaced with election runners-up white Democrats Republicans protest, but Democrats have more power in South SLIDE 24 African Americans in Politics African-American Politicians in Georgia African Americans form Equal Rights Associations and Union Leagues - organizations protect African-American rights to vote, hold office Freedmen in Georgia hold political meetings in late 1865 - issues include fair pay, access to public accommodations, education Aaron A. Bradley former slave turned lawyer, promotes land ownership SLIDE 25 Continued African Americans in Politics Elected Officials Tunis G. Campbell Northern abolitionist, serves in Georgia Senate Jefferson Franklin Long freed slave elected to U.S. House, 1870 Henry McNeal Turner raised as free man, elected state senator, 1868 SLIDE 26 Violence and Return to Military Rule The Ku Klux Klan 6
Southern whites form secret societies to control freedmen Ku Klux Klan started in Tennessee by Confederate veterans, 1866 - use terror, violence to keep freedmen from voting, exercising rights African Americans rally in Camilla, Georgia, September 1868 - many bring weapons despite sheriff s warning, fight breaks out - whites hunt down African Americans over next few days SLIDE 27 Continued Violence and Return to Military Rule Threats Against Voters Fight breaks out on election day in Savannah, 1868 - two African Americans, one policeman killed African Americans leave polls; return armed; more fights occur Congress holds hearings on violence, especially violence in Georgia - federal troops ordered back into South Military governor reinstates African-American representatives SLIDE 28 Georgia and the South s Final Reconstruction Georgia Readmitted to Union Congress passes Fifteenth Amendment in 1870 - guarantees males voting rights regardless of race, color Georgia ratifies amendment; is readmitted to Union July 15, 1870 Democrats control Georgia legislature; Rufus B. Bullock resigns - last Republican governor until Sonny Perdue takes office in 2003 Federal troops leave Georgia in 1872, Georgia considered redeemed SLIDE 29 Continued Georgia and the South s Final Reconstruction Georgia Readmitted to Union Redeemers white Democrats controlling Georgia government Congressional Reconstruction policies end with Compromise of 1877 - Rutherford B. Hayes, Samuel J. Tilden tied in presidential election - Southern Democrats give Hayes electoral votes, Hayes removes troops North, South focus on industrial growth - North becomes less interested in protecting African American rights 7