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Testing New FreedomsUnder the Wade-Davis bill, only southerners who swore that they had never supported the Confederacy could vote or holdoffice. In general, the bill was much stricterthan the Ten Percent Plan. Its provisionswould make it harder for southern states torejoin the Union quickly.President Lincoln therefore refusedto sign the bill into law. He thought thatfew southern states would agree to meetits requirements. He believed that his planwould help restore order more quickly.READING CHECK Contrasting How wasthe Ten Percent Plan different from the WadeDavis Bill?514CHAPTER 16Freedom for AfricanAmericansOne thing Republicans agreed on was abolishing slavery. The Emancipation Proclamation had freed slaves only in areas that hadnot been occupied by Union forces, not inthe border states. Many people feared thatthe federal courts might someday declare itunconstitutional.Slavery EndsOn January 31, 1865, at President Lincoln’surging, Congress proposed the ThirteenthAmendment. This amendment made slavery illegal throughout the United States.

The freedpeople at left have packedtheir household belongings and areleaving Richmond. Many people traveled in search of relatives. Othersplaced newspaper advertisementslooking for long-lost relatives. Forother freedpeople, like the coupleabove, freedom brought the right tomarry.In what ways did former slaves reactto freedom?earlier. Others placed newspaper ads seekinginformation about their children. Many womenbegan to work at home instead of in the fields.Still others adopted children of dead relativesto keep families together. Church membersestablished voluntary associations and mutualaid societies to help those in need.Now that they could travel without apass, many freedpeople moved from mostlywhite counties to places with more AfricanAmericans. Other freedpeople traveled simply to test their new freedom of movement.A South Carolina woman explained thisneed. “I must go, if I stay here I’ll never knowI’m free.”For most former slaves, freedom totravel was just the first step on a long roadtoward equal rights and new ways of life.Adults took new last names and began toinsist on being called Mr. or Mrs. as a signof respect, rather than by their first namesor by nicknames. Freedpeople began todemand the same economic and politicalrights as white citizens. Henry Adams, a former slave, argued that “if I cannot do like awhite man I am not free.”Forty Acres to Farm?The amendment was ratified and took effecton December 18, 1865. When abolitionistWilliam Lloyd Garrison heard the news, hedeclared that his work was now finished.He called for the American Anti-SlaverySociety to break up. Not all abolitionistsagreed that their work was done, however.Frederick Douglass insisted that “slavery isnot abolished until the black man has theballot [vote].”Freedom brought important changesto newly freed slaves. Many couples heldceremonies to legalize marriages that hadnot been recognized under slavery. Manyfreedpeople searched for relatives who hadbeen sold away from their families yearsMany former slaves wanted their own landto farm. Near the end of the Civil War,Union general William Tecumseh Shermanhad issued an order to break up plantationsin coastal South Carolina and Georgia. Hewanted to divide the land into 40-acre plotsand give them to former slaves as compensation for their forced labor before the war.Many white planters refused to surrender their land. Some freedpeople pointed outthat it was only fair that they receive someof this land because their labor had madethe plantations prosper. In the end, the U.S.government returned the land to its originalowners. At this time, many freedpeople wereunsure about where they would live, whatkind of work they would do, and what rightsthey had. Many freedoms that were theirs bylaw were difficult to enforce.RECONSTRUCTION515

Freedmen’s Bureauknowledge, and such a capacity for attaining[reaching] it.”After the war, some freedpeople organizedtheir own education efforts. For example, Freedmen’s Bureau agents found that some AfricanAmericans had opened schools in abandonedbuildings. Many white southerners continued to believe that African Americans shouldnot be educated. Despite opposition, by 1869more than 150,000 African American studentswere attending more than 3,000 schools. TheFreedmen’s Bureau also helped establish several universities for African Americans, includingHoward and Fisk universities.Students quickly filled the new classrooms. Working adults attended classes in theevening. African Americans hoped that education would help them to understand andprotect their rights and to enable them to findbetter jobs. Both black and white southernersbenefited from the effort to provide greateraccess to education in the South.In 1865 Congress established the Freedmen’sBureau , an agency providing relief not onlyfor freedpeople and certain poor people, butwhite refugees as well. The Bureau had adifficult job. At its high point, about 900agents served the entire South. Bureaucommissioner Oliver O. Howard eventually decided to use the Bureau’s limitedbudget to distribute food to the poor and toprovide education and legal help for freedpeople. The Bureau also helped African American war veterans.The Freedmen’s Bureau played an important role in establishing more schools in theSouth. Laws against educating slaves meantthat most freedpeople had never learned toread or write. Before the war ended, however,northern groups, such as the American Missionary Association, began providing booksand teachers to African Americans. Theteachers were mostly women who were committed to helping freedpeople. One teachersaid of her students, “I never before saw children so eager to learn. . . . It is wonderfulhow [they] . . . can have so great a desire forREADING CHECKAnalyzing How did the Freedmen’s Bureau help reform education in the South?Helping the FreedpeopleCongress created the Freedmen’s Bureauto help freedpeople and poor southernersrecover from the Civil War. The Bureauassisted people by: providing supplies and medicalservices establishing schools supervising contracts betweenfreedpeople and employers taking care of lands abandoned orcaptured during the warWhat role did the Freedmen’s Bureauplay during Reconstruction?516CHAPTER 16

President Johnson’sReconstruction PlanWhile the Freedmen’s Bureau was helping African Americans, the issue of how theSouth would politically rejoin the Unionremained unresolved. Soon, however, a tragicevent ended Lincoln’s dream of peacefullyreuniting the country.A New PresidentOn the evening of April 14, 1865, PresidentLincoln and his wife attended a play at Ford’sTheater in Washington, D.C. During the play,John Wilkes Booth, a southerner who opposedLincoln’s policies, sneaked into the president’stheater box and shot him. Lincoln was rushedto a boardinghouse across the street, wherehe died early the next morning. Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn into officequickly. Reconstruction had now become hisresponsibility. He would have to win the trustof a nation shocked at their leader’s death.Johnson’s plan for bringing southernstates back into the Union was similar to Lincoln’s plan. However, he decided that wealthysoutherners and former Confederate officialswould need a presidential pardon to receiveamnesty. Johnson shocked Radical Republicans by eventually pardoning more than7,000 people by 1866.New State GovernmentsJohnson was a Democrat whom Republicanshad put on the ticket in 1864 to appeal to theborder states. A former slaveholder, he was astubborn man who would soon face a hostileCongress.Johnson offered a mild program for settingup new southern state governments. First, heappointed a temporary governor for each state.Then he required that the states revise theirconstitutions. Next, voters elected state andfederal representatives. The new state government had to declare that secession was illegal.It also had to ratify the Thirteenth Amendmentand refuse to pay Confederate debts.By the end of 1865, all the southern statesexcept Texas had created new governments.Johnson approved them all and declared thatthe United States was restored. Newly electedrepresentatives came to Washington fromeach reconstructed southern state. However,Republicans complained that many new representatives had been leaders of the Confederacy. Congress therefore refused to readmitthe southern states into the Union. Clearly,the nation was still divided.READING CHECK Summarizing What wasPresident Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction?SUMMARY AND PREVIEW In this sectionyou learned about early plans for Reconstruction. In the next section, you willlearn that disagreements about Reconstruction became so serious that the president was almost removed from office.Online QuizSection 1 AssessmentKEYWORD: SS8 HP16Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and PeopleHSS 8.10.7,8.11.1,8.11.3,1. a. Identify What does Reconstruction mean?8.11.5b. Summarize What was President Lincoln’splan for Reconstruction?2. a. Recall What is the Thirteenth Amendment?b. Elaborate In your opinion, what was the most importantaccomplishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau? Explain.3. a. Recall Why was President Lincoln killed?b. Analyze Why did some Americans oppose PresidentJohnson’s Reconstruction plan?Critical Thinking4. Explaining Copy the chart below and use it to explain thefederal government’s solutions for solving the problemspresented by Reconstruction.ProblemsSolutionsFOCUS ON WRITING5. Considering Historical Context Many people planned tocontinue doing what they had done before the war. Othersplanned to start a new life. How do you think events and conditions you just read about might have affected their plans?RECONSTRUCTION517

SECTION2What You Will Learn Main Ideas1. Black Codes led to oppositionto President Johnson’s planfor Reconstruction.2. The Fourteenth Amendmentensured citizenship for African Americans.3. Radical Republicans inCongress took charge ofReconstruction.4. The Fifteenth Amendmentgave African Americans theright to vote.The Fight overReconstructionIf YOU were there.A member of Congress, you belong to the same political partyas the president. But you strongly disagree with his ideas aboutReconstruction and civil rights for African Americans. Now someof the president’s opponents are trying to remove him from office.You do not think he is a good president. On the other hand, youthink removing him would be bad for the unity of the country.Will you vote to remove the president?BUILDING BACKGROUND Americans were bitterly divided aboutThe Big IdeaThe return to power of thepre-war southern leadership ledRepublicans in Congress to takecontrol of Reconstruction.what should happen in the South during Reconstruction. They disagreed about ending racial inequality and guaranteeing civil rightsfor African Americans. These conflicts split political parties. They ledto showdowns between Congress and the president. Political fightseven threatened the president’s job.Key Terms and PeopleBlack Codes, p. 518Radical Republicans, p. 519Civil Rights Act of 1866, p. 520Fourteenth Amendment, p. 521Reconstruction Acts, p. 521impeachment, p. 522Fifteenth Amendment, p. 523Opposition to President JohnsonIn 1866 Congress continued to debate the rules for restoring theUnion. Meanwhile, new state legislatures approved by PresidentJohnson had already begun passing laws to deny African Americans’civil rights. “This is a white man’s government, and intended for whitemen only,” declared Governor Benjamin F. Perry of South Carolina.Black CodesHSS 8.11.3 Understand theeffects of the Freedmen’s Bureauand the restrictions placed on therights and opportunities of freedmen,including racial segregation and“Jim Crow” laws.8.11.5 Understand the Thirteenth,Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution and analyzetheir connection to Reconstruction.518CHAPTER 16Soon, every southern state passed Black Codes , or laws that greatlylimited the freedom of African Americans. They required AfricanAmericans to sign work contracts, creating working conditionssimilar to those under slavery. In most southern states, any African Americans who could not prove they were employed could bearrested. Their punishment might be one year of work without pay.African Americans were also prevented from owning guns. In addition, they were not allowed to rent property except in cities.The Black Codes alarmed many Americans. As one Civil Warveteran asked, “If you call this freedom, what do you call slavery?”

African Americans organized to oppose thecodes. One group sent a petition to officialsin South Carolina.“We simply ask . . . that the same laws which govern white men shall govern black men . . . that, inshort, we be dealt with as others are—in equity[fairness] and justice.”—Petition from an African American convention heldin South Carolina, quoted in There Is a River: The BlackStruggle for Freedom in America by Vincent HardingRadical RepublicansThe Black Codes angered many Republicanswho felt the South was returning to its oldways. Most Republicans were moderates whowanted the South to have loyal state govern-ments. They also believed that African Americans should have rights as citizens. They hopedthat the national government would not haveto force the South to follow federal laws.Radical Republicans, on the otherhand, took a harsher stance. They wantedthe federal government to force changein the South. Like the moderates, theythought the Black Codes were cruel andunjust. The radicals, however, wantedthe federal government to be much moreinvolved in Reconstruction. They fearedthat too many southern leaders remainedloyal to the former Confederacy and wouldnot enforce the new laws. Thaddeus StevensPrimary SourcePOLITICAL CARTOONSupporting Radical Republican IdeasRepublicans were outraged to see former Confederates return to power as leaders of the Democratic Party.This 1868 political cartoon shows former ConfederatesRaphael Semmes and Nathan Bedford Forrest. Semmeswas a Confederate admiral who had captured62 Union merchant ships during the Civil War.Forrest was a cavalry officer known for brutalitywho later founded the Ku Klux Klan.How do the actions ofthe people in theseillustrations support theartist’s point of view?ANALYSISSKILL ANALYZING PRIMARY SOURCESWhy do you think that the men are shown in theirConfederate uniforms?How do events inthe background ofthese illustrationssupport the artist’spoint of view?519

Primary SourcePOINTS OF VIEWJohnson vs. StevensThaddeus Stevens believed thatCongress had the power to treatthe South as conquered territory.President Andrew Johnson arguedthat the South should not be placedunder military control.“The future condition ofthe conquered power dependson the will of the conqueror.They must come in as new statesor remain as conquered provinces.Congress . . . is the only powerthat can act in the matter .“Military governments . . .established for an indefiniteperiod, would have dividedthe people into the vanquishers and the vanquished, andwould have envenomed[made poisonous] hatredrather than have restoredaffection.”—Thaddeus Stevens”—Andrew JohnsonANALYSISSKILL IDENTIFYING POINTS OF VIEWHow did Johnson’s and Stevens’s viewson the South differ?of Pennsylvania and Charles Sumner of Massachusetts were the leaders of the RadicalRepublicans.A harsh critic of President Johnson,Stevens was known for his honesty and sharptongue. He wanted economic and politicaljustice for both African Americans and poorwhite southerners. Sumner had been a strongopponent of slavery before the Civil War.He continued to argue tirelessly for AfricanAmericans’ civil rights, including the right tovote and the right to fair laws.Both Stevens and Sumner believedthat President Johnson’s Reconstruction planwas a failure. Although the Radicals did notcontrol Congress, they began to gain supportamong moderates when President Johnsonignored criticism of the Black Codes. Stevensbelieved the federal government could notallow racial inequality to survive.ACADEMICVOCABULARYprinciple basicbelief, rule, or law520READING CHECK Comparing and ContrastingHow were Radical Republicans and moderateRepublicans similar and different?CHAPTER 16Fourteenth AmendmentUrged on by the Radicals in 1866, Congressproposed a new bill. It would give the Freedmen’s Bureau more powers. The law wouldallow the Freedmen’s Bureau to use militarycourts to try people accused of violating African Americans’ rights. The bill’s supportershoped that these courts would be fairer thanlocal courts in the South.Johnson versus CongressTo the surprise of many in Congress, Johnsonvetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill. He insisted that Congress could not pass any new lawsuntil the southern states were represented inCongress. Johnson also argued that the Freedmen’s Bureau was unconstitutional.Republicans responded with the CivilRights Act of 1866. This act provided AfricanAmericans with the same legal rights as whiteAmericans. President Johnson once againused his veto power. He argued that the actgave too much power to the federal government. He also rejected the principle of equal

rights for African Americans. Congress, however, overrode Johnson’s veto.Many Republicans worried about whatwould happen when the southern states werereadmitted. Fearing that the Civil Rights Actmight be overturned, the Republicans proposed the Fourteenth Amendment in thesummer of 1866. The Fourteenth Amendment included the following provisions.1. It defined all people born or naturalized2.3.4.5.6.within the United States, except NativeAmericans, as citizens.It guaranteed citizens the equal protection of the laws.It said that states could not “deprive anyperson of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”It banned many former Confederate officials from holding state or federal offices.It made state laws subject to federalcourt review.It gave Congress the power to pass anylaws needed to enforce it.1866 ElectionsPresident Johnson and most Democratsopposed the Fourteenth Amendment. Asa result, civil rights for African Americansbecame a key issue in the 1866 congressional elections. To help the Democrats, Johnson traveled around the country defendinghis Reconstruction plan. Johnson’s speakingtour was a disaster. It did little to win votesfor the Democratic Party. Johnson even gotinto arguments with people in the audiencesof some of his speaking engagements.Two major riots in the South also hurtJohnson’s campaign. On May 1, 1866, adispute in Memphis, Tennessee, took placebetween local police and black Unionsoldiers. The dispute turned into a three-daywave of violence against African Americans.About three months later, another riot tookplace during a political

Jim Crow laws (p. 528) Plessy v. Ferguson (p. 529) sharecropping (p. 529) Academic Vocabulary Success in school is related to knowing academic vocabulary— the words that are frequently used in school assignments and discus-sions. In this chapter, you will learn the following academic wor