Reconstruction

Reconstruction

The End of Reconstruction

Democrats Regain Control

• 1872: Democrats regained control in the state legislator
• White terrorist groups uses threats of violence against freed people to keep them from the voting
• Democrat Richard Coke a former Confederate officer became governor of Texas

Radical Reconstruction Begins

• Congressional Reconstruction was stricter than the plans propose by Lincoln and Johnson
• Congress divided the South into 5 military districts and put an army general in charge or each district
• Texas and Louisiana made up the Fifth District, controlled by General Philip Sheridan

Military Reconstruction in Texas

• General Sheridan gave control of Texas to General Charles Griffin
• General Griffin ordered the Freedmen's Bureau to register freed black men to vote; he also removed thousands of white men from voter registrations

After the Civil War, the president and congress led efforts to restore the South to the Union, this is called Reconstruction

Radical Reconstruction Begins

• 1869: Texas writes a new Constitution
• The Constitution declared that no one could be prevented from voting because of race or color
• Freedmen could hold office and attend public schools
• Eleven African American men were elected to the state legislator

Texas rejoins the Union

• The Radical Republican candidate for Texas governor won
• The state legislator approved the 14th and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution
• March 30, 1870: TX was accepted back into the Union. Reconstruction ended

Radical Reconstruction Begins contin.

Congressional Reconstruction

• Many Northerners were upset at President Johnson's plan for Reconstruction, saying it was too easy
• A group called the Radical Republicans wanted much tougher requirements for Southerners rejoining the Union
• Radical Republicans were concerned with protecting/ giving rights to freed people.

President Johnson Resists Radical Republicans

• Most of the measures passed by the Congress was vetoed by President Johnson.
• However, congress overrode the vetos

African American Exercise Their Rights

• Determined to exercise their rights, freedmen worked to register other newly freed slaves
• 1868: Nearly 50,000 freedmen had been registered
• Many white Texans, angered by the rights and freedom that former slaves were given, joined a terrorist group called the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
• The Klan used violence and fear to attack and threaten African Americans from voting
• Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved to the South to help Reconstruction. Known for carrying their belongings in carpetbags
• Scalawags: White Southerners who supported Reconstruction

Texas and Reconstruction

Texas at the End of the War

• Though no major battles were fought in Texas, the war left the state in debt
• Dislike/distrust among opposing side Texans

Two Presidential Plans

• Under Lincoln, Southerners were offered a pardon if they swore loyalty to the United States
• When 10% of the state swore allegiance, then the state would be welcomed back into the Union
• After his assassination, Andrew Johnson became president and offered a different plan
• He set up provisional governments in former Confederate states. He required 3 things:
• Each state had to nullify its act of secession
• Acknowledge the U.S. government wouldn't pay its debt
• Accept the 13th amendment

Texas Reconstruction

• June 1865: General Gordon Granger arrives in Galveston to take control of Texas

Slavery ends in Texas

• Granger ordered the end of slavery upon his arrival on June 19, 1865
• Union troops were needed to enforce the law, many slave owners refused to let their slaves go or didn't tell them till the army arrives
• The celebration of freedom is called Juneteenth

The Freedmen's Bureau

• September 1865-July 1870: Created by congress the Freedmen's Bureau helped freed people get jobs, issued food and clothing
• Created schools for former slaves
• Many closed after the Bureau ended

Texas Government Restored

The Constitution of 1866

• The TX government amended the original constitution
• It abolished slavery and nullified secession
• Free people could own property and enter into contracts
• It didn't allow African Americans to vote, hold public office, serve on juries, or testify in court against white people

Ex-Confederates in Control

• With former Confederates in control of the government, they refused to ratify the U.S Constitution amendments that ended slavery and protected the rights of freed people
• Created black codes which limited the rights of freed people