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It is important to note that abolition did not mean acceptance of African-Americans as equals.
The abolition movement scared some northerners that a influx of freed blacks would move
north.
Southerners reacted with strong defenses of slavery as their peculiar institution.
1865-1870: Reconstruction
President Abraham Lincoln developed a moderate plan to bring the Confederate
states back into the Union, however his assassination on April 14, 1865 ended
all that.
He was replaced by his Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, who lost control of an
increasingly radical, Republican-led Congress.
These Radical Republicans pushed a harsh reconstruction program on the
South:
Adult, white males had to take an oath of allegiance to the United States
The south was divided into five military districts which governed until the state could be
re-admitted.
States could only be re-admitted into the Union after a state convention that
Was attended only by those who swore they never fought for or supported the Confederacy
Banned slavery by ratifying the 13th Amendment.
Guaranteed voting rights to former slaves
1865-1870: Reconstruction
For a short time things looked very good for former slaves
The Freedmens Bureau fed & clothed war refugees. It also helped former
slaves find work.
The 14th Amendment (1868) guaranteed citizenship to all persons born or
naturalized in the United States and equal protection of law. It also forbid
states from depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due
process of law.
African-Americans registered to vote by the thousands and ran for office.
Several were elected to Congress and many more to state or local office.
Communities built their own churches and established schools. Northerners
came south to teach in these African-American schools.
The 15th Amendment (1870) stated that no state might deny the right to vote
on the basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
1865-1870: Reconstruction
Southern Resistance
White southerners felt overwhelmed by suddenly freed slaves
& their prominence. They felt that northerners were forcing
huge social change on them.
With few legal resources for resistance, white southerners
joined secret societies. The most famous is the Ku Klux Klan.
The clan terrorized former slaves and their white supporters.
They burned churches and schools.
The Klan was outlawed in 1870 but because of white attitudes
only one quarter of those arrested were convicted and few
served prison time.
Reconstruction ends
By the mid 1870s support for Reconstruction had faded and Democrats (the party of
white southerners) had gained more seats in Congress. The country was ready to
move on.
The New South was different. They built railroads, roads, and factories but the
major business was still agriculture.
For African-Americans things took a backward trend. Most ended up as laborers or
share-croppers. Share-croppers rented land from white farmers and paid their rent
with their crops. Many ended up in debt to the white land-owners.
Through the 1880s & 1890s, white-dominated, southern state legislatures made it
more and more difficult for African-Americans to vote, move about freely, or get an
education
In many ways, African Americans life did not change much from the days when they
were slaves.