Reconstruction day 1

​1865-1877

​Abraham Lincoln Assassinated

5 days after Robert E. Lee surrendered, a southern actor named John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln while he was watching a play

​Booth favored the South and thought Lincoln was  a tyrant

​Andrew Johnson [Lincoln’s Vice President] became the new President of the U.S.

​Ford's Theater, Washington D.C., April 14th, 1865

• ​The chair he sat in

• The gun that killed him

• His hat from that night

• In December 1865,

ratification of the
Thirteenth Amendment
to the Constitution freed
all slaves in the United
States.

• It banned slavery in the

US and any of its
territories.

13th Amendment

(Signed by Abraham Lincoln)

Thirteenth Amendment

• In 1865, the abolitionist

movement achieved its goal
when the 13thAmendment
officially ended slavery in
America

• Millions of African Americans

were now permanently free
and could move anywhere
they wanted

• Even though they were now

free, many freedmen found
themselves unable to move
because they had no money

After the War

• Reconstruction began after the Civil War when the South went through the process of
being accepted back into the Union

Political parties disagreed on how to deal with the South after the Civil War

Southern Democrats -

return to the "old way of life"

Moderate Republicans (Lincoln/Johnson)- readmit a state when 10% of its population had taken an oath of allegiance to the Union and the state ratified the 13th amendment

Radical Republicans - punish the South (included denying former
Confederate leaders political
positions in government)

towards
none . . .”

President Andrew Johnson

• President Johnson took over

Reconstruction after Lincoln’s
assassination

• He was sympathetic to

Southerners and their way of
life, and was accused by many
in Congress of being too lenient
on the South

• As a result, he vetoed many

reform efforts to help
freedmen, prompting
Republicans in Congress to put
limits on his power

Radical Republicans

• Republicans in Congress

became increasingly
frustrated with the direction
of Reconstruction under
President Johnson

• As a result, they passed the

Reconstruction Acts of 1867
– Divided the south into 5 military districits

– Required new state constitutions that included male suffrage

– Ratify the 14thAmendment

• Additionally, Republicans

issued the Tenure of Office Act
that required the president to
get Senate approval for the
removal of cabinet members

President Johnson’s Impeachment

•Johnson repeatedly tried to block
the enforcement of all
Reconstruction acts

•He began to speak out against
Radical Republicans and their
supporters

•Johnson dismissed the Secretary of
War, which violated the Tenure of
Office Act

•Due to his actions, Congress
formally impeached Johnson in
1868, but he was never removed
from office

Multiple Choice

This amendment abolished (got rid of) slavery.

• 13th

• 14th

• 15th

• 3rd

Multiple Choice

Which is the best description of Reconstruction?

• rebuilding the US after a big earthquake

• a period of rebuilding in the US after the Revolutionary War

• a period of rebuilding in the US after the Civil War

• unfair treatment of African Americans after the Civil War

Multiple Choice

What did the 14th Amendment do?

• It made slavery illegal.

• It made formerly enslaved peoples citizens and granted them full legal rights.

• It gave formerly enslaved black men the right to vote.

• It gave formerly enslaved peoples land to begin farms.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following presidents was the first ever President to be impeached during Reconstruction for firing the Secretary of War who was in charge of the military districts of the South?

• Rutherford B. Hayes

• Ulysses Grant

• Andrew Johnson

• Samuel Tilden