The era of Reconstruction brought many changes to the South. Millions of southern African American men were now voters, and many served as elected officials. They used their voting power to usher the Republican Party into the South. The Republican Party attracted people who sought change and challenge. Scalawags were white men who had been locked out of pre-Civil War politics by their wealthier neighbors. They found allies in "carpetbaggers," or northern white or black men who relocated to the South.
Northern women, both white and black, had opportunities in the Reconstruction South that they could not pursue at home, including shaping the new public school system. Southerners opted for segregation, or separation of the races, in their school system.
Integration-combining the schools-appealed to only the most radical white Republicans. Neverthcless, the beginning ofa.taxe supported public school system was a major Reconstruction success.
Many of the South's problems resulted from the uneven distribution of land. Wealth was defined by landownership. However, even owners of large tracts of land had no money with which to purchase supplies or pay workers. As a result, many southerners adopted one of three arrangements. Under the sharecropping system, a landowner dictated the crop and provided the sharecropper with a place to live and supplies in return for a "share" of the harvested crop. Under a share-tenancy, the farmworker chose what crop he would plant and bought his own supplies, then gave a share of the crop to the landowner. The most independent system was tenant farming, under which the tenant paid cash rent to the landowner and was free to choose his own crop and where to live.
The more progress Alinican Americans made, the more hostile white southerners became, Dozens of loosely organized groups of white southerners emerged to terrorize African Americans, The best known of these was the Ku Klux Kian, Racial violence grew even more widespread after the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed all
Americen men the night to vote Kongren took antion, pasing
Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871, These acts made it a federal offense lo interfere with a citizens right to Mote
Review questions:
1:how did republicans gain control of elected government in the south?
2:what did congress do to counteract racial violence?
1: Republicans gained control of elected government in the South by attracting southern African American voters who used their voting power to usher the Republican Party into the South. They also found allies in white Scalawags and northern "carpetbaggers" who relocated to the South.
2: Congress took action to counteract racial violence by passing Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871. These acts made it a federal offense to interfere with a citizen's right to vote, particularly targeting groups like the Ku Klux Klan who were engaging in acts of violence and intimidation against African Americans.
Can you do it in shorter sentence?
1: Republicans gained control of the South through African American voters and allies like Scalawags and carpetbaggers.
2: Congress countered racial violence with Enforcement Acts making it a federal offense to interfere with voting rights.
Vocabulary strategy: what does the word nevertheless mean in the underlines sentence? Circle any word or phrases in the surrounding sentence that help you figure out what nevertheless means.
In the sentence "Integration-combining the schools-appealed to only the most radical white Republicans. Nevertheless, the beginning of a tax-supported public school system was a major Reconstruction success," the word "nevertheless" means "in spite of that" or "however."
Words and phrases in the surrounding sentence that help figure out the meaning of "nevertheless" include "appealed to only the most radical white Republicans" and "the beginning of a tax-supported public school system was a major Reconstruction success." These phrases convey the idea that even though integration was not widely supported, the implementation of a tax-supported public school system was successful.
In a shorter sentence
In the sentence, "Integration appealed to only the most radical white Republicans. Nevertheless, the tax-supported public school system was a success."
The word "nevertheless" means "however" or "despite that."
Words and phrases in the surrounding sentence that help figure out the meaning of "nevertheless" include "Integration appealed...white Republicans" and "the public school system was a success." These phrases convey the idea that even though integration was not widely supported, the public school system was successful.