Assignment 11, Reconstruction

Deadline, Due 5/21, 120 Points

In top frame of this cartoon from August, 1865, Thomas Nast shows Columbia (representing America) posed in a quandary as southern political and military leaders beg for her pardon. In the bottom frame she asks if she should trust a black man, who lost a leg in the Civil War, more than the leaders in the first frame.

Note the top frame shows Robert E. Lee on his knee and laying his sword with the hilt toward Columbia. Presenting a sword in this way is a classic sign of surrender.

What questions do you think Thomas Nast is asking Americans to consider?

(This cartoon was originally published with the two images side by side. I situated them vertically for the purposes of this web page.)

Essential Questions

What issues faced America in the years after the Civil War?
How did the national trust of Lincoln disintegrate into widespread distrust of Johnson?
Why did Andrew Johnson and Congress become so fundamentally opposed to each other?
How did the promise of the Freedmen's Bureau differ from its actual accomplishments? Why?
What were the varying views in Congress of how the South should be treated during Reconstruction? Which views came to dominate?
What changed between presidential reconstruction and congressional, or harsh, reconstruction?
How did the new Homestead Act affect migration to the West during Reconstruction?
How did the Railroad Act change America during Reconstruction?
How did the states in South view the process of Reconstruction?
How did the end of slavery differ from fair treatment of blacks?
Did the Reconstruction Amendments succeed? What did their ratifications bring about?
What was the point of the attack on the American bison during this time period?

Description

Almost immediately after the fighting stopped, and Americans could believe their nation would be healed, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. The nation was shocked and outrage spread.

In his second inaugural address, Lincoln had advocated an amiable reuniting of America 'with malice toward none and charity toward all'. However, the idea of rebuilding America on the principles of soft reconstruction faded quickly after Lincoln's murder.

His Vice President, Andrew Johnson, became the new President. Johnson did not have the personal appeal, the skill in oratory, or the ability to hold Congress in his way of thinking that Lincoln had. Quickly, those who wanted to punish the South, or harsh reconstructionists, began to exercise great control in Washington.

Eventually, Johnson was impeached. His trial in the Senate found him not guilty - by one vote, but the damage was done. Johnson could not persuade the Congress to pursue soft reconstruction.

This was also the time when the 13th, 14, and 15th Amendments were added to the Constitution. These amendments were intended to end slavery and offer citizenship and voting rights to freed blacks.

Efforts in the South to resist northern incursions were pushed by Scalawags and Carpetbaggers who often worked for their own means.

The 1877 compromise election of Rutherford B. Hayes is generally seen as the end of Reconstruction.

Objectives

Students will identify and describe the key aspects of the passage of the Reconstruction Amendments.

Students will identify and explain the shift in federal power away from the presidency under Lincoln to Congress under Johnson.

Students will identify and explain the impacts of Reconstruction on southern states and particularly on the newly freed black population.

Instructions

Use the material we covered in class, and the linked sources below, to complete the assignment.

Online Files for this Assignment

Click here to open a copy of the Reconstruction Supplement text handout we use in class.

Here is a link to Lincoln's second inaugural address.

Click here to open the PowerPoint we used in class at the start of this unit. Click here for a copy of the notes pages that accompany it.

This is the link to the first video about Reconstruction we used in class.

This is the link to the second video we used.

This link will take you to a great selection of materials at the Library of Congress.

This is an interesting piece about the how the West was affected by the South.

There is not a printed copy of this assignment on the website just now.

Instructions

This assignment is quite simple. If you are writing alone, you are going to select three of the essential questions at the top of this page and complete a clear, contextual essay of about three paragraphs to each. That will be a total of about nine paragraphs.

If you are writing in a group of two, you are going to select three of the essential questions at the top of this page and complete a clear, contextual essay of about four paragraphs to each. That will be a total of about twelve paragraphs.

If you are writing in a group of three, you are going to select four of the essential questions at the top of this page and complete a clear, contextual essay of about four paragraphs to each. That will be a total of about sixteen paragraphs.

You need to include at least two sources. The class handout may be one.

All essays must be your original copy with the exception of about 25% that may be cited and sourced correctly.

The source for the class handout is this. The Reconstruction of the United States After the Civil War, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wLitt6rRRV67KCiLwQsHILx2iAsrPEZo/view, Accessed (Date)