Standard 8-5.

1: The Development of Reconstruchhhhhhhhhhhhhtion Policy

During the periods of Reconstruction, industrial expansion, and the Progressive movement, South
Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy while maintaining its traditional society. To
understand South Carolina’s experience as representative of its region and the United States as a
whole during these periods, the student will analyze the development of Reconstruction policy and
its impact in South Carolina, including the presidential and the congressional reconstruction plans,
the role of black codes, and the Freedmen’s Bureau.

Reconstruction​ (1865-1877) was the federal government’s attempt to

rebuild and reform social and political systems in the south. During the
Reconstruction periods, the industrial expansion, and the Progressive
Movement, South Carolina searched for ways to revitalize its economy
while holding on to its agricultural roots. Reconstruction policy included
the effects of presidential and congressional plans for Reconstruction, the
black codes, and the Freedmen’s Bureau.

The Reconstruction policies of the federal government affected society

and politics in South Carolina after the Civil War. Despite those plans, ​the
federal government believed that the individual states and local
governments should be responsible for rebuilding their economies and
towns​. This was difficult for much of the South due to the lack of money and the damage done by the
war.

The ​Freedmen’s Bureau​ was a government agency created to assist everyone affected by the war,
including whites, as well as freedmen (the former slaves). The Freedmen’s Bureau was created by
Congress before the end of the Civil War. The Freedmen’s Bureau was under the control of the US
Army and provided medical care, food, clothing, education, and protection from hostile whites who
were angry about the results of the war. The Freedmen’s Bureau helped many freedmen find jobs and
created courts to protect illiterate workers. The bureau was also charged with distributing lands to
freedmen that had been confiscated by the federal government or abandoned during the war. After
distributing the lands, the bureau was forced to take the lands back because President Johnson
pardoned the white landowners and returned their land to them. Congress did not step in and protect
the land rights of freedmen because they did not want to take away the constitutional rights of
southern whites.

Instead of receiving land and becoming economically independent,

most African Americans established sharecropping relationships
with white landowners with the help of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The sharecropping relationship was beneficial for white landowners
who had lost their workforce as a result of the war. Unfortunately
for African Americans, the sharecropping relationship left them in a
system of continual debt and dependence to the white landowner
(any poor landless whites also sharecropped). Sharecropping did
help to rebuild the economy of South Carolina. The greatest
accomplishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau was the establishment
of over 1,000 schools throughout the South.

Plans for Reconstruction were already being created before the war ended. Lincoln’s main purpose in
his Reconstruction plans was to end the war as quickly as possible and reunite the Union. Lincoln’s
plan only required 10% of a state’s population to swear allegiance to the United States before they
could write a new constitution and send representatives to Congress. By creating such an easy plan,
Lincoln hoped to persuade the Confederate states to surrender and end the war. Lincoln also
required states to recognize the end of slavery. Lincoln was assassinated a week after the end of the
Civil War, but his plan for Reconstruction was carried on by new president Andrew Johnson.

Andrew Johnson continued Lincoln’s plan but did make a few additions including, ratifying the 13​th
Amendment and humiliating the southern elite by requiring them to individually ask him for a
pardon. Johnson quickly granted pardons to those who asked.

Congress also created a plan for Reconstruction, but their primary purpose was to protect newly freed
slaves. The Republicans had freed the slaves
and by protecting the slaves’ rights, they could
ensure they were protecting Republican power.

Several southern states, including South

Carolina, passed ​Black Codes ​and elected
former Confederates to Congress​. ​c Congress
refused to admit the Southern Congressmen and
was angry about the Black Codes.

Reconstruction policy changed as violence

against freedmen increased and President
Johnson ​vetoed​ (refused to accept) Congress’
extension of the Freedmen’s Bureau. President
Johnson also opposed the ​14​th​ Amendment
which gave all men equal rights as citizens and protection under the law. Due to the violence and
opposition of the President, the “​Radical Republicans”​ won a majority of seats in Congress in
1866. The Radical Republicans were a political group that supported equal political and social rights
of African Americans. After the election of the Radical Republicans in 1866, they passed a
congressional plan for Reconstruction that called for a military occupation of the former Confederacy
and also split the Confederacy into five military districts. South Carolina was in the second military
district. Each district was assigned a military governor and the army enforced all policies and rules.

Congress, the Radical Republicans, impeached President Johnson so he could not undermine their
efforts. He was not removed from office, but he effectively lost his power. The Union Army was then
used to enforce the Radical Reconstruction policy and enforce the 13​th​, 14​th​, and 15​th​ Amendments.

The ​13​th​ Amendment​ freed all slaves in the United States and changed the
social standing of African Americans. Many African Americans, now known
as ​freedmen​, worked to find their families and build communities.
Freedmen also worked to claim equal citizenship, get an education, and
become as independent as possible.

The ​planter elite​ lost their workforce through the 13​th​ Amendment, but as
with most whites, they supported the Black Codes and refused to recognize
the rights of the freedmen. Whites and African Americans kept their distance
from each other, and African Americans left white churches and created
churches of their own. The freedmen also left the slave cabins and built
communities of their own away from the plantations and white communities. The activities of the
freedmen bothered the whites and many whites feared retaliation by their former slaves which led to
anxiety among the white population. This anxiety and fear became apparent in the creation of terror
groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. The purpose of the Ku Klux Klan was to keep African Americans in
their place politically, socially, and economically.

The ​14​th​ Amendment​ was The amendment also ensured due process to all citizens, which the
freedmen now were.

The ​15​th​ Amendment​ was passed to guarantee that all men regardless
of race or previous condition of servitude could vote. This amendment
was created as a way to ensure that Republicans held onto power in the
South. As long as freedmen were guaranteed the right to vote, they
would vote Republican since that was the party that gave them freedom.

South Carolina refused to ​ratify ​or approve the ​14​th​ and 15​th
Amendments​. The military governor of District 2 required South
Carolina to write a new state constitution that would recognize the 14​th
and 15​th​ amendments. This constitution is commonly referred to as the
Constitution of 1868​.

Section Review​:
1) Who did the federal government say should be in charge of rebuilding Southern
economies and towns?
Individual states and local governments.

2) Why was it difficult for the South to participate in the rebuilding of their towns?
Lack of money and damage caused by war

3) Briefly explain what the Freedmen’s Bureau was and who it helped.
An agency created to help people after the war

4) Why did the freedmen have their land taken back from them after the
Freedmen’s Bureau gave it to them?
President John pardoned the White people and gave them their land back

5) How did sharecropping affect former slaves?

Left them in debt

6) What effect did sharecropping have on South Carolina?

Benefited them

7)What was the most important accomplishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau?

Establishment of 1000 schools

8) What was the purpose of President Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan?

End the war and reunite the Union
 9) What percentage had to swear an oath of allegiance to the United States as part of
Lincoln’s plan?
10%

10) What did Southern states have to recognize as part of Lincoln’s plan?
End of slavery

11) What two additions did President Johnson add to Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan
after Lincoln’s assassination?
Ratifying the 13​th​ Amendment and humiliating the southern elite by requiring them to individually
ask him for a pardon.

12) What was the purpose of the Radical Republican plan the Congress passed?
Called for a military occupation of the former Confederacy and also split the Confederacy into five
military districts

13) What was the purpose of the Black Codes?

To restrict blacks

14) When the Radical Republicans won a majority in Congress, what did they do to
the South (Confederacy) to help with Reconstruction?
Called for a military occupation of the former Confederacy and also split the Confederacy into five
military districts

15) How many military districts were in the Radical Republican plan and which
military district was South Carolina in?
5, Sc was in second

16) What did the Radical Republicans in Congress do to try and limit President
Johnson’s power as president?
Impeached him

17) What did the 13​th​ Amendment do?

freed all slaves in the United States and changed the social standing of African Americans

18) Describe racial relations between African Americans and whites during
Reconstruction.
Whites and African Americans kept their distance from each other, and African Americans left white
churches and created churches of their own.

19) What changes to churches happened during Reconstruction?

African Americans left white churches and created churches of their own.

20) What was the purpose of the Ku Klux Klan?

The purpose of the Ku Klux Klan was to keep African Americans in their place politically, socially, and
economically
21) What did the 14​th​ Amendment do? ​ Created and passed to protect the political and social
rights of freedmen. The 14​th​ Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision because it recognized
African American citizenship and gave them equal protection of the law.

22) What Supreme Court case was overturned because of the 14​th​ Amendment?
Dred Scott decision

23) What did the 15​th​ Amendment do?

to guarantee that all men regardless of race or previous condition of servitude could vote.

24) What political party did most African Americans vote for?

25) What did the Constitution of 1868 force South Carolina to do?
a new state constitution that would recognize the 14​th​ and 15​th​ amendments. This constitution is
commonly referred to as the Constitution of 1868