Lesson 26
Tattered Remains
Assignment
Text: The chapter number and section titles of
reading assignments are the same in both books:
A. Brinkley, American History: A Survey, Volume 1, 12th edition, and
A. Brinkley, The Unfinished Nation, Volume 1,
5th edition
The following sections from Chapter 15 of the text
are covered in this chapter: “The Abandonment of
Reconstruction,” “The New South,” and “Conclusion”
Video: Episode 26, “Tattered Remains”
Overview
After the Civil War, the primary problem facing
the nation and especially the Southern states was
Reconstruction. For Southern whites, Reconstruction was the challenge of recovering from the
destruction wrought by the war, particularly in
light of the fact that the principal basis of their economic system, slavery, was now abolished. For
freed blacks, on the other hand, Reconstruction
meant redefining family life and finding new means
of economic survival. In both cases, the Republican Party took the lead in resolving these issues.
Under Congressional Reconstruction, the
South was occupied by federal troops, twenty-five
percent of all white males were disfranchised, and
freed blacks voted and served in public office to a
degree never before imagined. By the early 1870s,
however, the Republican solution to Reconstruction began to unravel. Southern state governments
were forced to confront the problems of widespread corruption and high taxes. On the positive
side, public education increased under Reconstruction.
The Southern states struggled to reestablish
their economies and freed blacks struggled to find
their place within that economy. After experimenting with wage labor, most freed blacks chose sharecropping, a system in which they worked their land
and paid a part of their crop to the landowner and
the merchant. This economic system led to a debt
peonage mechanism that kept workers forever in
debt. Some tried to escape it by fleeing their lands
in the night. Others sought to work harder to
increase their income in order to buy their freedom. In the end, nothing freed workers from the
cycle of indebtedness created by the sharecropping
system. Still the system prevailed, making the
Southern merchant all-powerful.
Another important issue for freed blacks after
the war was family. While the freed black man
might have wanted his wife to stay home and tend
to the family and children, reality demanded otherwise. Freed black families depended upon the
income generated by the women.
As the North lost interest in Reconstruction,
Southern whites moved in to take control, espe-
141
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T HE UNFINISHED N ATION ( TO 1877)
cially in terms of neutralizing the black man. Violence, intimidation, and threats all were used as the
KKK and other vigilante groups appeared. In
1870–1871, the federal government passed the
Enforcement Acts to stop the violence against black
people in the South, but by 1875 even this effort
began to wane.
1876 was a critical election year. Rutherford B.
Hayes won against Samuel Tilden in a highly disputed election. He did so, moreover, through the
famous Compromise of 1877 whereby political
deals were made with Southern Democrats to win
support for Hayes. True to his word, Hayes
removed federal troops from the South and the
Southern state governments took control. The
compromise was beneficial in that the new Southern creed, espoused by men such as Henry Grady,
called for the South to industrialize. And the South
did industrialize to some extent, building textile,
iron, lumber, and other industries. In other ways,
the Compromise of 1877 was costly, especially to
blacks. Black leaders like Booker T. Washington
called upon them to gain economic independence
from white society by learning trades.
As the Southern redeemers won control of the
Democratic Party and Southern state governments,
the South gradually yet determinedly moved
toward the disfranchisement of the black man. Jim
Crow laws were passed and the Plessy v. Ferguson
decision on separate but equal facilities remained an
integral part of education. More importantly, violence against blacks increased. Lynching became a
serious problem throughout the South, affecting
everyone from the victim to the community that
condoned it.
Focus Points
✓ Recount how Southern state governments
redeemed themselves.
✓ Discuss the Redemption movement, the birth of
Jim Crow, and the prevalence of violence against
black people in the late nineteenth century.
Key Terms and Concepts
After reading the assigned pages in your text and
watching the video, you should be able to identify
and explain the significance of the following.
Atlanta Compromise
black disfranchisement
black family
black middle class
carpetbaggers
Compromise of 1877
Congressional Reconstruction
Jim Crow
Enforcement Acts
Plessy v. Ferguson
Freedmen’s Bureau
John Marshall Harlan
Henry Grady
Rutherford B. Hayes
Sam Hose
Ku Klux Klan
Knights of White Camellia
lynching
New South Creed
redemption
Republican Party
scalawags
sharecropping
Samuel Tilden
Tuskegee Institute
Booker T. Washington
Richard Wright
Text Focus Points
Learning Objectives
Once you have read the assigned pages in the text
and watched the video, you should be able to:
✓ Understand the importance of Congressional
Reconstruction to the South and its effects on
the South.
✓ Analyze sharecropping as an economic system.
✓ Explain how the black family evolved after the
Civil War.
These text focus points are the main ideas presented in this section of the textbooks. Read these
points carefully before reading the text. You may
want to take notes for future reference and study.
✓ Congressional Reconstruction placed the Southern states under military rule. By the early 1870s,
however, these same Southern states began to
redeem or take control of their governments. As
redemption proceeded, moreover, violence
against blacks increased as groups such as the
L ESSON 26: T ATTERED R EMAINS
KKK and the Knights of the White Camellia
appeared.
✓ Congress reacted to the violence against blacks
in the Southern states by passing the Enforcement Acts in 1870–1871. These acts prohibited
states from discriminating against voters on the
basis of race and gave the federal government
power to act. However, Northern interest waned
gradually over time.
✓ In fact, Northern interests in Reconstruction
were visibly lessening as industrialization proceeded. Even former radical Republicans like
Charles Sumner called themselves liberals and set
out on a new agenda. By 1874, the Democratic
Party was gaining more and more representation
in both houses of Congress.
✓ In the disputed election of 1876, Hayes won
over Tilden after a political compromise was
reached with the Southern Democrats for their
support. Hayes promised, among other things,
to remove federal troops from the South. In so
doing, he was also allowing Southern leaders to
address issues without federal interference.
143
✓ Politically, redemption meant that the black man
would be disfranchised. With the Supreme
Court’s rulings, the South adopted poll taxes
and literacy tests to keep blacks and poor whites
from voting. Moreover, the Jim Crow laws were
adopted fostering the concept of separate but
equal in all areas of Southern life.
✓ Violence directed toward blacks grew in the
Southern states. Lynching became a serious
problem affecting everyone from the victims to
the communities that tolerated it.
Video Focus Points
These video focus points are designed to help you
understand and get the most out of the video for
these sections of the texts. Read these points carefully before watching the video. You may want to
take notes for future reference and study.
✓ The challenge for Southern whites after the Civil
War was to recover from all of the destruction
wrought by the war. For blacks, on the other
hand, Reconstruction meant defining a new lifestyle for themselves and their families.
✓ The legacy of Reconstruction, in the end, was
short-lived. Some changes did occur in terms of
education, political representation, and Southern life. But the most serious issue – that of race
– was not resolved. Fortunately for the South,
new Southern leaders who called for change
emerged. Emphasizing the need to industrialize,
these New South prophets, such as Henry
Grady, saw a much more hopeful future for the
South.
✓ With military occupation the rule of the day,
twenty-five percent of Southern whites were disfranchised and blacks were given the right to
vote and hold office to an extent never previously imagined. Indeed, corruption and high
taxes did plague Southern Reconstruction governments, but these were developments that
were typical of the United States. Positive aspects
of Congressional Reconstruction included free
public education.
✓ Industrialization did take place in the South after
the Civil War. Textiles, iron, steel, railroad building, and other developments demonstrated how
much the South was changing. Yet, compared to
the North, the South remained a colonial economy.
✓ Economically, the South struggled to reestablish
its economy. After experimenting with a wage
system, blacks chose sharecropping. It was an
unfortunate choice in that the system was
designed in such a way as to encourage debt
peonage and lock in its participants, whether
white or black.
✓ Economically, sharecropping became the mainstay of Southern agriculture. Those involved,
whether white or black, became entrapped by
perennial debt. Those blacks who moved into
other types of work actually did fairly well, establishing themselves as a black middle class.
Booker T. Washington appealed to his people in
his Atlanta compromise, calling for blacks to
gain economic independence by learning trades.
✓ Black families were also impacted during Reconstruction. Black women had to work in order to
help their families survive.
✓ As Northern interest in Reconstruction waned,
Southern redemption took place. The first targets of the redeemers were blacks, who were
then intimidated and threatened by such organizations as the KKK. Congress responded with
144
T HE UNFINISHED N ATION ( TO 1877)
the Enforcement Acts. As time passed, however,
Congress once again lost interest in the problems of the South.
✓ 1876 saw a critical presidential election. R.B.
Hayes won over Samuel Tilden by agreeing to
the Compromise of 1877. In some ways, the
compromise was beneficial in that it led to the
endorsement of the New South creed calling for
changes in the Southern economy. But, in other
ways, the compromise was costly for blacks who
faced disfranchisement, the adoption of Jim
Crow laws, and the ever-dangerous growth of
lynching.
Practice Quiz
This quiz is designed to give you an idea of how
well you learned the material. Choose the correct
answers for each question and review any question
that you missed.
Matching – Match options a through d with items
1 through 4 below.
_____ 1. Radical Reconstruction
_____ 2. Sharecropping
Critical Analysis
These activities are designed to help you examine
the material in this lesson in greater depth. It may
be necessary for you to conduct some additional
research (the Internet is an excellent resource).
Armed with what you have learned in this lesson
and your own research, carefully respond to each
of the following activities.
1. Booker T. Washington was undoubtedly one
of the most important figures in African American history with his famous Atlanta Compromise. Compare Booker T. Washington to
today’s African American leaders like Rev.
Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton. Do you see any
similarities in their philosophies? Goals? Methods? Which leader or leaders would you say are
most representative of African American aspirations today?
2. America has been plagued with racism
throughout its history. During the radical
Reconstruction period, racism prevailed as
Southern state governments adopted Jim
Crow laws and disfranchised black people. Is
racism still prevalent today in the South? In
the United States as a whole? Is it as open and
violent as it was in the late nineteenth century?
3. Richard Wright, one of the foremost African
American writers of the twentieth century,
wrote about how a lynching impacted him
from afar. In your own words, detail how
lynching affected not only its victims, but
those who acquiesced to it and the community
that tolerated it.
_____ 3. Booker T. Washington
_____ 4. Ku Klux Klan
a. Atlanta Compromise
b. Enforcement Acts
c. Perpetual debt peonage
d. Republican Party
True/False – Determine whether each of the following statements is true or false.
_____ 5. During Congressional Reconstruction,
twenty-five percent of all white Southern
males could not vote.
_____ 6. “Carpetbaggers” were Northerners who
came South to take advantage of any
opportunity Reconstruction offered.
_____ 7. “Scalawags” were Southerners who
supported the Republican Party.
_____ 8. The Freedmen’s Bureau initially gave
land grants to freed slaves.
Fill in the Blank – Complete the following sentences with the missing word, concept, or person.
9. _______ charged sharecroppers exorbitant
interest rates.
10. One way for a sharecropper to get out of debt
was to _______.
11. Black families depended on _______ to survive
economically.
12. _______ argued that the South was in chaos
and no one was there to impose order due to
L ESSON 26: T ATTERED R EMAINS
military governments committed to the interests of African Americans.
13. _______ ran on the Democratic ticket in the
presidential election of 1876.
Multiple Choice – Select the correct answer.
14. In the presidential election of 1876, how many
electoral votes were in dispute?
a. 10
b. 15
c. 20
d. 25
15. Who said that Samuel Tilden would have
removed federal troops from the South if he
had been elected?
a. Booker T. Washington
b. C. Vann Woodward
c. R.B. Hayes
d. Charles Sumner
145
Essay – These questions are designed to help you
think about all you have learned. Consider them
carefully and then write your responses.
16. Discuss and evaluate Congressional Reconstruction and its impact on the South, in terms
of politics, social structure, and economics.
Also, explain redemption and how it was born
in the Southern states.
17. Analyze sharecropping as an economic system.
What was it? How did it work? Who chose it?
What impact did it have on those involved in it
as well as on the South itself? Please be very
specific.
18. Some historians have argued that the Radical
Reconstruction years and immediately thereafter were quite violent, especially towards African Americans. Explain specifically what
occurred as the Southern state governments
regained control of their affairs. How did they
address the African American people? What
was Jim Crow? Did the federal government do
anything to stop it?
Answer Key
for the Practice Test
Lesson 1 From Days Before Time
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
c used numerical system and calendar
e used human sacrifice in religion
a Chickasaws, Choctaws, Creeks, Seminoles
b Bubonic Plague
d Prince Henry
False Text and Video
True Text and Video
True Text
True Text
Pueblo Revolt; Text and Video
Pigs, new livestock, or horse; Text and Video
Mestizo; Text
Matrilineal; Text
Francisco Coronado; Text
e Text and Video
e Text and Video
Lesson 2 – Turbulent Virginia:
Pirate Base ... Royal Colony
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
d Sir George Grenville
c Predestination
a Ireland
b fur trade
e New Amsterdam
False Text and Video
True Text and Video
False Text and Video
True Text and Video
“Starving Time”; Text
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Lord De La Warr; Text
John Rolfe; Text
Headright system; Text and Video
George Calvert; Text
b Text
a Text
Lesson 3 – Saints and Strangers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
e Sir William Berkeley
c Pilgrims
a Massachusetts Bay Company
b Rhode Island
d King Philip’s War
True Text
False Text
True Text
True Text
Puritans; Text and Video
Massachusetts Bay Company; Video
Town Meeting; Video
Anne Hutchinson; Text and Video
a Text and Video
a Text
Lesson 4 – The Lure of Land
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
147
c
a
d
e
b
Maryland
Cromwell
Diversity
Quakers
Pennsylvania
148
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
T HE UNFINISHED N ATION ( TO 1877)
True Video
True Text
False Text
True Video and Text
Oliver Cromwell; Video
Charles II; Video
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Carolina; Video
Women; Video
Puritans; Video
a Video
c Video and Text
Lesson 5 – Coming to America:
A Portrait of Colonial Life
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Slave ship
c Galen
a Colonial doctors
b German Palatinates
False Video
True Video
True Video
True Video
Edwin Morgan; Video
Africans; Video
Benjamin Franklin; Video
Scotch-Irish; Text
Slave Codes; Text
d Video
a Video
Lesson 6 – Divergent Paths
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
c Charles Town
d Salem Witch
a Town Meeting
b Colonial Court
e Great Awakening
True Video
True Video
False Video
True Video
George Whitefield; Video and Text
Peter Hasenclever; Text
Axe; Text
Stono Rebellion; Text
Dame Schools; Text
15. a Text
16. b Text
Lesson 7 – Strained Relations
1. c Immigrants of French descent
2. d Confederation of five Indian tribes
3. b Commander of the British garrison in
Boston
4. a Called for action against the Stamp Act
5. True Video
6. False Video
7. False Video
8. True Video
9. False Video
10. Paxton Boys; Text
11. Spain; Video
12. molasses; Video
13. East India Company; Text
14. Massachusetts Government; Video
15. d Video
16. b Video
Lesson 8 – Not Much of a War
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
d “Common Sense”
a Tories
b Declaration of Independence
c Home rule
e Green Mountain Boys
True Video
True Video
True Video
False Video
Sally Bache; Video
The Battle of Saratoga; Text
France; Text
Benedict Arnold; Text
Count Jean Baptiste de Rochambeau; Text
c Text
c Text
Lesson 9 – A Precarious
Experiment
1. c
Led a rebellion in New England
A NSWER K EY FOR THE P RACTICE T EST
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
d Basis of the post-Revolution government
b Established the grid system
a Proposed a “continental impost”
False Video
False Text
False Vdeo
True Video
True Video
Connecticut; Text
western lands; text
Statute of Religious Liberty; Text
Fallen Timbers; Video
New Orleans; Video
a Text
c Video
Lesson 10 – Vision for a Nation
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Virginia plan
a New Jersey plan
b Slavery
c All power rests in the people
True Video
True Text and Video
False Video
True Video
James Wilson; Video
states; Text and Video
Anti-Federalists, Federalists; Text and Video
Hamilton, Madison, Jay; Text and Video
Rhode Island; Video
d Text
c Text
Lesson 11 – Rivals and Friends
1. c
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Federalist appointed Chief Justice by John
Adams at the end of his presidency
d Vice presidential candidate in 1800
b United States minister to France
a Chief justice of the Supreme Court
True Text
False Video
True Video
False Video
False Video
Pinckney’s; Text
Alexander Hamilton; Text
Quasi War; Video
13.
14.
15.
16.
149
Alien and Sedition; Video
Tammany Society; Text
c Video
a Video
Lesson 12 – Best Laid Plans...
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
c Louisiana Territory
d Berlin and Milan decrees
b Prophet
a Second Great Awakening
False Video
True Video
False Video
False Video
Spain; Video
$15 million; Video and Text
Sacagawea; Video and Text
Dolly Madison; Video
Andrew Jackson; Video and Text
c Text
d Text
Lesson 13 –Pressures from Within
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Proponent of the American System
c Commander in the Seminole War
a Monroe’s secretary of state
b Proposed an anti-slavery amendment
False Text
True Video
True Video
False Video
Black Belt; Text
John Jacob Astor; Video
Great American Desert; Text
Virginia Dynasty; Video
Panic of 1819; Video
a Text
c Video
Lesson 14: He Brought the People
With Him
1. c
2. a
Adams’ Vice President
Speaker of the House
150
T HE UNFINISHED N ATION ( TO 1877)
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
b Charles Dickinson
d Jackson’s inauguration
True Video
True Video
True Video
False Video and Text
Martin Van Buren; Text
Margaret Timberlake; Video
Robert Hayne; Text
Dorr Rebellion; Text
“Our Union, next to our liberty, most dear”
“Our Federal Union, It must be
preserved”; Text
14. b Text
15. d Text and Video
Lesson 15 – Legacy of an
Autocratic Ruler
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
c
d
a
b
President of the Bank of the United States
Chief justice of the Supreme Court
Radical Democrats from the Northeast
Sought to capitalize on Anti-Mason
sentiment
True Video
False Video
False Text
True Text
Removal Act; Video
Trail of Tears; Video
Henry Clay; Video
King Andrew I; Video
Panic of 1837; Text
a Text
d Video
Lesson 16: A Revolution of a
Different Sort
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
c Population growth
d Canals
a Erie Canal
b Penny Press
False Text and Video
False Text and Video
False Text and Video
False Text and Video
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Railroads; Video
Factory; Video
Cincinnati, St. Louis, Chicago; Video
Moses Brown; Video
small workshops; Video
a Text
a Text
Lesson 17: Worlds Apart
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
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15.
b Godey’s Lady’s Book
c the American Museum
d steel plows
a Mount Holyoke College
False Video
True Text
False Video
True Video
True Text
Irish, free blacks; Text
Catherine Beecher; Video
Oberlin; Text
minstrel show; Text
a Video
c Video
Lesson 18: Master and Slave
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Mrs. Benjamin Perry
c legalized slavery
a Maryland, Delaware, Virginia
b slave rebellion
True Video
False Video
False Video
True Text
Slave women; Video
Slave auction; Video
Christianity; Video
Factor; True
Northern states; Video
d Text
a Text
Lesson 19: Voices of Reform
1. d published the Liberator
A NSWER K EY FOR THE P RACTICE T EST
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
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14.
15.
c escaped from slavery
b black anti-slavery activist and feminist
a prison reformer
True Text
False Video
True Text
True Video
Hudson River School; Video
Brook Farm; Text
Joseph Smith; Text
temperance; Video
phrenology; Text
a Text
c Video
Lesson 20: Manifest Destiny?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
c To govern is to populate
b First legal settlement in Texas
a Alamo
d Spot Resolution
False Video
True Video
True Video
False Video
Californios; Video
slavery; Text and Video
Zachary Taylor; Text, Video
Popular Sovereignty; Text
Gold, John Sutter’s; Text and Video
c Text
b Text
Lesson 21: Decade of Discord
1. a
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
divided Clay’s compromise bill into
individual parts
d supported the “Young America”
movement
a assaulted a Massachusetts senator
b defeated Fillmore and Frémont in 1856
False; Video
True; Video
True; Text
False; Text
False; Video
benevolent diffusion; Video
Personal liberty laws; Text
Ostend Manifesto; Text
151
13. Gadsden Purchase; Video
14. c Text
15. a Video
Lesson 22: House Divided
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Abraham Lincoln
c CSA
a Fort Sumter
b Anaconda Plan
True; Video
True; Video and Text
False; Video
False; Video
Benjamin Butler; Video
G. McClellan; Video and Text
R.E. Lee; Video and Text
Line item; Video
90,000–100,000 men; Video
c Video and Text
c Video and Text
Lesson 23: Battle Cry
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
d Last Confederate general to surrender
e Often reluctant to commit troops to battle
b United States secretary of state
a Killed at Shiloh
c American minister to London
False Video
True Text
False Video
False Video
True Video
Monitor, Merrimac; Text
Peninsular Campaign; Text
Antietam; Video
Fredericksburg; Video
b Text
c Video
Lesson 24: Final Stages
1.
2.
3.
4.
d
a
c
b
Vicksburg
Replaced Joseph Hooker
Gettysburg
Chickamauga
152
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
T HE UNFINISHED N ATION ( TO 1877)
False Video and Text
True Video
False Video
False Text
“Grease”; Video
Jeb Stuart; Video and Text
P.G.T. Beauregard; Video
Cold Harbor syndrome; Video
G. McClellan; Video and Text
c Text
b Video
Lesson 25: What Price Freedom
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
d scandal during the Grant administration
c refers to the purchase of Alaska
e required an Ironclad Oath
b response to the Black Codes
a opposed the gold standard
True Text
False Video
True Text
True Text
reuniting the country, emancipation and
freedom; Video
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Freedmen’s Bureau; Video
Fifteenth; Video
sharecropping; Text
Grantism; Text
a Video
d Text
Lesson 26: Tattered Remains
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
d Republican Party
c Perpetual debt
a Atlanta compromise
b Enforcement Acts
True Video
True Video
True Video
True Video
Landowners or merchants; Video and Text
leave in the middle of the night; Video
black women; Video
KKK; Video and Text
Samuel Tilden; Text
c Text
b Video