Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan is an active group of people who believe in white supremacy, nationalism, and are anti-immigration. They have been expressed historically as the United States' first domestic terrorist group. The KKK is also anti-communist. They don't believe things should be equal for everyone. They believe white people are the supreme and divine race. It has, today, 5,000 to 8,000 members. The first Klan was created in the South in the 1860s. It then went pretty much went away by the early 1870s. Members wear white costumes. They wear robes, masks, and pointy masks to disguise their real identities. The first Klan used public violence. They would burn houses, attack, and kill black people. Most of the time, the bodies were left on the streets. The KKK also didn't want blacks voting. They did everything they could, killing thousands of blacks just weeks before the voting dates. The KKK even started killing, wounding, and threatening whites who were trying to help the blacks vote.

Image From: KKK Website

Henry McNeal Turner and black legislators

Henry McNeal Turner was a minister, a politician, and the first Southern bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He organized new congregations for blacks in Georgia after the Civil War. He was born in free South Carolina where he learned to read, write, and became a Methodist preacher. He joined the church in 1858 in St. Louis, where he became a minister. In the Civil War, Henry was the first black chaplain in the US Colored Troops. After that, he was appointed to the Freedmen's Bureau in Georgia. He lived in Macon and was elected into the Georgia legislature in 1868. There he built many churches. In September of 1868, the legislature kicked out the African-American members of the legislator. These blacks, led by Turner, got the federal government to get them their seats back. Because of the support from all the black legislators (about 69) public education was adopted and started in Georgia. In 1880, Turner was elected the first Southern bishop. Turner then began supporting the emigration of blacks back to Africa.

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13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments

The 13th Amendment said that slavery would not be allowed to exist in the Union. The 14th Amendment said that states couldn't limit the rights of its citizens, they can't take away life, liberty, or property without reason from the law. No man can be denied protection. The 14th Amendment also states that citizenship can be given to all people, no matter their sin color. Due process is the fact that the government has to respect someone's legal rights and how they cannot refuse to give rights to certain people. The 15th Amendment to the Constitution states that all men can vote, no matter the color of their skin or if they had once been a slave. Former slaves were also allowed to get married. They could read and write, some even became political leaders because these Amendments were passed.


Image From: History Tunes

Reconstruction plans

Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction was never able to be carried out because of his death. But from the beginning of the war, Lincoln just wanted the South to come peacefully back into the Union. That is why in his plan, only 10% of the residents in the former Confederacy would have to sign an oath of loyalty saying that they would form a new government and re-enter the Union. Every one in the South would be forgiven and given a pardon, even those who still supported the Confederacy. States would also need to accept the Emancipation Proclamation. Many Republicans thought that Lincoln was being too easy on the rebels. The rebels were considered traitors to their nation after all. So, led by the Radical Republicans, the Wade-Davis bill was passed in 1864. In the plan, 50% of the residents in the South would have to swear the oath to the United States. It didn't make states pass the Emancipation, but left it to the courts to enforce that rule. Andrew Johnson was a democrat from the south who disliked any Southerner born with privileges. He became the next president after Lincoln was assassinated. Under his plan, all high-ranking officials and wealthy land owners had to receive a special pardon to be able to vote or hold office. The new government had to agree to the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which made slavery illegal. His plan didn't help freed slaves and it also allowed for Jim Crow laws and Black Codes to exist. According to his plan, all Southern leaders had to be re-elected after they had received their pardons.

Sharecropping/tenant farming

After the Civil War, thousands of slaves and white people didn't have any land because they couldn't afford it. They couldn't purchase seeds, animals, land, or equipment to begin farming again. Farm owners couldn't afford as many workers. The Union had left the South in a terrible economic spot. Most of Georgia's land was burned and damaged, nothing was easy. The owners of the land needed people who wouldn't be paid until the crop was harvested. A lot of landowners turned there land into small sections and started a tenant system. Many of the now free black people became tenant farmers and sharecroppers. Tenant farmers usually paid the owner for the land and the house. They owned all of the crops they planted and made decisions for themselves. After the crop was harvested, the tenants would sell it and with that, he would pay the landowner. Sharecroppers didn't own really anything. They borrowed all of the supplies, land, and livestock they needed from the landowners. Sharecroppers usually had their entire family working in the fields. They had no control over which crops they had to plant or how they got sold. After they harvested the crop, the landowner would sell it and put the money in the sharecroppers account. Most sharecroppers bought everything they needed on credit. They hoped to make enough money in the harvest to pay off the debt. By 1890, one out of every three white farmers were sharecroppers or tenants and three out of four blacks were sharecroppers or tenants.

Image From: Learnnc.org

Freedman's bureau

Freedman's bureau was a way to help freed slaves and poor white people get food, clothing, medical care, and legal advice. It was a major part of Reconstruction in the South. After reconstruction, what were the freed slaves supposed to do? They had no money and usually nothing besides maybe a blanket and the clothes on their back. This was how the US government tried to force the South to give the black people rights. The Freedman's Bureau also helped build schools for blacks who had never been educated. Blacks got blacks many more opportunities to live better and prosper.

Image From: Wikipedia

Andersonville

Andersonville was the Confederate's largest prison camp. The original name for Andersonville was Camp Sumpter. It was located in southwest Georgia. John McElroy and five hundred other men entered the camp together in 1864. Almost 45,000 prisoners were admitted into Andersonville in the 14-months it existed, 13,000 would never see the outside of those gates. The prison was originally built after the Confederates wanted to move some Union soldiers from the prison in Richmond to somewhere far away from the center of the war. They needed somewhere that less soldiers would be needed to guard the prisoners, and raids to free them would be more unlikely. They also needed somewhere that had a lot of food. Andersonville was located 65 miles away from Macon, Georgia, in the middle of nowhere. The town was by a river and was very agriculturally based. It was perfect. The prison ended up being 16 1/2 acres. Construction began in January of 1864. Logs were used to build a stockade, something to keep the prisoners from escaping. Approximately 19 feet away from the stockade was the deadline. Any prisoner who crossed the deadline could be shot by the guards, no questions asked.

Image From: nps.gov