CHAPTER 11
LOUISIANA’S
RECONSTRUCTION ERA:
RIOTS AND REBUILDING
Pages 344-377
Focus on Skills
Determining Fact from Opinion
Page 346
Section 1
After the War
Pages 348-355
Section 2
Military Reconstruction
Pages 356-359
Section 3
The Last Years of
Reconstruction
Pages 360-364
Section 4
Rebuilding Louisiana
Pages 365-373
Meeting Expectations
Loyalty Oaths
Page 374
Chapter Summary
Page 375
Activities for Learning
Pages 376-377
11
Louisiana’s
Reconstruction Era:
Riots and Rebuilding
Chapter
Making a Timeline
Have students make a timeline of
the major events in the life of Edgar
Degas.
Guiding Question 7-7
Ask students to discuss why
Degas’ aunt and cousins came to
France to visit.
Terms: freedmen, Reconstruction,
ratify, radical, Unionist, Black
Code, contract, Freedmen’s
Bureau, military Reconstruction,
carpetbagger, scalawag,
Knights of the White Camellia,
fraud, anarchy, White League,
sharecropping, credit
People: Andrew Johnson, James
Madison Wells, Henry Clay
Warmoth, Oscar J. Dunn, William
P. Kellogg, P. B. S. Pinchback
Places: Grant Parish, Colfax, Red
River Parish
Critical Thinking
It is said that Degas’ painting of
cousin Estelle revealed the horror
and sadness of the Civil War. How
could the artist convey those ideas
before he ever visited Louisiana?
Addressing Learning Styles
P
aintings by the famous artist Edgar Degas reveal glimpses of life in
New Orleans during Reconstruction. Degas, who later became famous
as one of the French Impressionists, visited his family in New Orleans
in 1872. His mother was a French Creole who was born in Louisiana,
and Degas had many relatives in the city. These family members still spoke French
and lived in the style of the old Creole families. But they also had begun to speak
344
Louisiana The History of an American State
Research Activity
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students locate other
paintings by Degas. Ask them to
choose one and hypothesize the
artist’s point of view. One site
that contains images is www.nga.
gov/collection/gallery/gg89/gg89
-main1.html.
T344
Social Studies Skill
Class Discussion
TEACH
Have students look at the painting of the cotton office in New
Orleans. Have them describe what
they see. Ask what the people are
doing. How are the people dressed?
Why are there no women present?
Tell students to use the Internet
or other reference materials to
research the life of Edgar Degas.
Note his connection to New Orleans.
Guiding Question 7-12
Chapter Preview
Focus
Benjamin Franklin once said,
“There is never a good war or a bad
peace.” Ask students if his
statement might apply to the Civil
War. Ask them if the Civil War was a
good war. Ask them if the peace was
good or bad. (Lead them into a
discussion of what they know about
Reconstruction.)
Research Activity
English, and the men were taking part in the American-style business in the
city. During this visit, Degas used his art to comment on his experiences.
One painting that makes a dramatic statement was actually painted in France
before Degas visited New Orleans. His aunt and two female cousins came to
visit their French relatives to escape the American Civil War. His portrait of his
cousin Estelle reveals the grief of a young woman whose husband of ten months
Chapter 11
Above: In “A Cotton Office
in New Orleans,” Edgar
Degas painted a typical day
in the office of his uncle’s
cotton brokerage.
Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Visual/Spatial
Ask students to draw a picture of
something they have never seen.
Then ask them to draw something
with which they are familiar. Ask
them to describe which was easier
to draw. How did they feel about
the assignment?
345
T345
Each Focus on Skills defines a skill,
gives the teacher an opportunity to
conduct a guided practice on the
skill, and finally allows students to
apply their understanding by practicing the skill on their own.
Try This!
You may want students to use a
graphic similar to the one below.
Statement of Opinion
Statement of Fact
Cue Words
Evidence
Students’ answers will vary
depending on the passages they
choose.
It’s Your Turn!
1. Opinion
2. Fact
3. Fact
4. Opinion
5. Fact
6. Opinion
7. Fact
8. Fact
9. Fact
10. Opinion
T346
Focus
on
Skills
Determining
Fact
from
Opinion
Defining the Skill
Students sometimes mistakenly think that everything they read in a textbook is fact. It becomes
more of a challenge to separate fact from opinion
when authors weave facts, inferences, and opinions
into their writing to make it more interesting. In
order for you to distinguish fact from opinion, you
must be able to apply critical thinking skills as you
read your textbook. You must evaluate and make
judgments about what you read.
The first step in being able to distinguish fact
from opinion is simply knowing how to recognize
each. The following definitions will help you to make
the distinction.
• A fact may be defined as something that can be
proved or verified. Facts may be verified by observation or by information found in reliable sources
such as textbooks, reference books, periodicals, and
Internet sites.
• An opinion may be defined as an expression based
on personal belief or judgment. Opinions are not
verifiable but are open to debate. There are a number of cue words that often signal an opinion. Words
that imply an opinion include bad, good, may, probably, believe, feel, think, greatest, worst, should,
should not, best, most, least, always, never, all, none.
Try This!
Create 2 two-column graphic organizers on a separate sheet of paper. For the first graphic organizer,
skim through the chapter and, in the first column,
write what you believe to be three opinions. In the
second column, identify any cue words that helped
346
Louisiana The History of an American State
you classify the sentence as an opinion. For the
second graphic organizer, write three statements of
fact in the first column. In the second column, cite
evidence that can be used to verify the statements
as facts.
It’s Your Turn!
Read the following statements and, on a separate
sheet of paper, indicate whether each is a fact or
opinion. Give a reason for your choice.
1. After most wars, people come together in their
misery and in their hope for the same future.
2. It took twenty-five years for the livestock
count in Louisiana to reach pre-Civil War
levels.
3. When courthouses were burned, the parish’s
legal records were permanently lost.
4. After the Civil War, economic recovery
became more important than anything else.
5. In 1865, the federal government established
the Freedmen’s Bureau.
6. Northerners believed that the South still
wanted slavery after the Civil War.
7. Louisiana and almost all of the other
southern states refused to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment.
8. In 1867, Congress passed a new Reconstruction Act.
9. Under military Reconstruction, Sheridan set
up a system to register black voters.
10. To most people, the political struggle was
important only in the ways it affected their
daily lives.
had been killed in an early battle of the war. The artist said, “one
cannot look at her without thinking that that face filled the eyes
of a dying man.”
Later, in New Orleans, Degas painted the business of his uncle
who was trying to cope with the economic changes caused by
the war. This painting, A Cotton Office in New Orleans, shows a
business that looks busy and prosperous. Actually, these cotton
factors struggled because of the changes caused by the war; they
went out of business soon after the painting was complete.
Another Degas painting shows a New Orleans business that
represented success in this economic period. The Louisiana Ice
Manufacturing Company, a new steam-powered ice manufacturing plant, was the largest in the world. After visiting the plant,
Degas returned to France and painted a portrait of Henri Rouart,
who had designed and financed the business. The painting included the ice plant in the background.
Through these three paintings, the aftermath of the Civil War in Louisiana
is described. From Degas paintings, we learn that the medium of art is one way
of learning about the past.
The subjects reflect the conflict between continuity and change that
defines this time in history.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students what physical
characteristics tell them that the
subjects of the portrait are Creole.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• what happened to the cotton factors illustrated in Degas’ painting on
pages 344-345. (Knowledge)
• to identify the successful business
and the man who financed it painted by Degas. (Knowledge)
Above: This portrait is of
Edgar Degas’ American
mother, Mme Auguste de
Gas (left), and her sister,
Duchess de Rochefort.
Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Ask students why the ice plant
probably became so successful.
(Refer them back to the difficulty
southerners had in getting ice from
the North.)
Guiding Question 7-3
Figure 25 Timeline: 1860–1880
1866
Mechanics Institute riot
1865
James Madison Wells elected
governor; Black Code enacted
1864
New state constitution written
1860
1865
1865
Abraham Lincoln assassinated;
Freedmen’s Bureau established
1867
United States bought Alaska from Russia
1867
Congress established military
Reconstruction
1868
Louisiana’s Reconstruction
constitution adopted; Henry
Clay Warmoth elected
governor
1870
Multidisciplinary Activity
1873
Colfax Riot
1874
White League formed; Coushatta
massacre; Battle of Liberty Place
1877
Reconstruction ended
1875
1871
Most of Chicago destroyed
in Great Fire
1880
1876
Alexander Graham Bell
invented the telephone
1869
First transcontinental railroad completed
Art The text says that much can be
learned about the aftermath of the
Civil War in Degas’ paintings. Ask
students to draw a picture of
something happening in the world
today that may help future
generations learn about the time
in which we live.
Social Studies Skill
Chapter 11
Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
347
Reading a Timeline
Ask students
• when Reconstruction ended.
(Knowledge)
• who was elected governor of
Louisiana in 1868. (Knowledge)
• how long after Lincoln’s
assassination Reconstruction ended.
(Application)
T347
SECTION 1
AFTER THE WAR
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Postwar Conditions
B. Presidential Reconstruction
C. Johnson and Reconstruction
D. Louisiana’s Postwar
Government
E. The Freedmen
F. Freedmen’s Bureau
G. Freedmen’s Rights
Materials
Textbook, pages 348-355
Blackline Masters
Postwar Emotions, page 147
You Be the Head of the
Household, page 148
Black Codes, page 149
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
1
Section
Lagniappe
It took twenty-five
years for the livestock
count in Louisiana to
reach prewar levels.
Below: This engraving
entitled “The Destruction of
War” shows how the Civil
War ruined both lives and
property in the South.
and uplifted. The defeated Confederates and the freed slaves had conflicting
ideas of what the future should hold. Whatever the feelings, the war affected
Louisiana like an earthquake. No one could avoid the aftershocks.
After the War
As you read, look for:
• the condition of Louisiana at the end of the Civil War,
• President Lincoln’s plan for Reconstruction,
• the conditions faced by the freedmen after the war, and
• vocabulary terms freedmen, Reconstruction, ratify, radical,
Unionist, Black Code, contract, and Freedmen’s Bureau.
Brick chimneys standing above burned land signaled the Confederate defeat. One
southern writer described those chimneys in Georgia as “Sherman’s sentinels
guarding the ruins he had made.” Union movements through Louisiana left those
same symbols of loss. The South in 1865 reflected its status as a war zone. Like
every war zone throughout history, more than the landscape was damaged.
After most wars, the defeated people come together in their misery and in
their hope for the same future. This was not true in the South after the Civil
War. One class felt crushed and conquered, while another group felt liberated
Focus
Write “Reconstruction” on the
board. Discuss the meaning of the
word. Ask students if reconstruction
is happening anywhere today. (You
might want to mention the reconstruction of a business or home after
a fire or natural disaster.) Ask
students what things must be done
to reconstruct something.
348
Cooperative Activity
Divide the class into groups. Ask
each group to research one of the
following topics after the Civil War:
(1) the condition of crops and
farms, (2) the condition of railroads
and seaports, (3) the condition of
towns and villages, and (4) the
economy after the war as compared
with the economy during the
antebellum period.
Guiding Question 7-12
Postwar Conditions
Civilians living in the regions hit by the war lost almost everything. Both
the Union and the Confederate armies took food and supplies from the civilians. After the armies left, outlaws often stole anything that remained. The
economy was stalled. There was no money to buy anything, but there was also
nothing to buy.
The clashing armies left a barren
land. Union General Banks followed
General Sherman’s “scorched earth
policy” in central Louisiana. General
Banks burned plantations and towns
as his army marched through the
state. Houses, cotton gins, sugar mills,
and barns were ruins. Fences had been
burned to warm the troops. The number of cattle, horses, mules, hogs, and
other animals had dropped drastically.
Towns with their stores and supplies
had also been destroyed. When courthouses were burned, the parish’s legal
records were permanently lost. Railroads, bridges, roads, and levees were
damaged and needed repairs. Damage was even visible in the regions the armies had not crossed. Weeds grew
in the fields, and the slaves had left the plantations.
Many soldiers came home from the war with empty sleeves or on crutches.
For some families, no one came home. A woman in West Feliciana Parish watched
her husband and six sons march off to war. She faced the aftermath of the
war alone.
The end of the war brought confusion for the newly freed slaves. The promise of a new and better life was not quickly fulfilled. Disorder and poverty deprived the former slaves of a real place in the economic and social system.
The freedmen (former slaves) wanted a better future, while the planters
wanted to restore the past. A journalist noted, “It is admitted that . . . the
freedman has . . . ceased to be the property of a master; it is not admitted that
he has the right to become his own master.”
War—and its aftermath—brings a special set of problems. This pattern, observed throughout history, appeared after the Civil War in the United States:
Economic recovery became more important than anything else. Some people took
advantage of the economic changes to get rich. Controversy and corruption
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Writing Activity
Above: Many Louisianians
returned from the war with
serious injuries. This card
is from an organization
soliciting funds to care for
disabled veterans.
Section 1 After the War
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students look at the
engraving depicting the South after
the Civil War. Ask students how this
image is different from images of
the antebellum South.
T348
Critical Thinking
Have students brainstorm a list of
social and economic problems in the
South after the Civil War. Ask them
to rank problems in each area from
most to least important.
Class Discussion
349
TEACH
BLM Assign students Postwar
Emotions from page 147 in the
BLM book.
Have students select two people
from the following list and write a
paragraph in which each person
describes Louisiana after the Civil
War: (1) a British journalist, (2) a
Confederate veteran, (3) a former
Union officer, (4) a former slave, (5)
an educated free person of color, (6)
a Confederate widow, and (7) a
young person about the age of the
student.
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 62: Construct a timeline of key events in Louisiana history.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and present
explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
GLE 76: Trace and describe various governments in Louisiana’s history.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana’s history (e.g., Rebellion
of 1768, the French and Indian War).
Ask students to
• describe the South after the war.
(Comprehension)
• explain the difference of opinion
that existed between the planters
and freed slaves. (Comprehension)
BLM Assign students You Be the
Head of the Household from page
148 in the BLM book.
T349
Class Discussion
Tell students that President
Lincoln made the first
Reconstruction plan. Ask them what
advice they would give him as to
what to include in his plan.
After reading the Presidential
Reconstruction section, ask students
• to identify the provisions of
Lincoln’s plan. (Knowledge)
• to explain why Lincoln wanted
Reconstruction to be over quickly.
(Comprehension)
• what provision was included in
Louisiana’s 1864 Constitution.
(Knowledge)
• what was Lincoln’s position on
allowing freed slaves to vote after
the war.
• to identify the facts of Lincoln’s
assassination.
Guiding Question 7-10
Writing Activity
Have students write a newspaper
editorial praising or criticizing
Lincoln’s mild plan for
Reconstruction.
Lagniappe
President Lincoln used
a pocket veto on a
congressional bill,
the Wade-Davis bill,
that called for stricter
Reconstruction.
Above: President Abraham
Lincoln was assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth in April
1865. Had he lived, the
conditions of Reconstruction
imposed on the South might
not have been so harsh.
Research Activity
Much that is myth and legend
has filtered through our actual
history about the assassination of
President Lincoln and the capture of
John Wilkes Booth — as well as the
role of Dr. Samuel Mudd, who
treated Booth for an injury acquired
in his escape. Have students use a
search engine or other reference
materials to read about the
assassination, Booth’s escape and
eventual capture, and the
imprisonment of Dr. Mudd. Ask
students to display the information
they find on a story board. (This
would be a good opportunity to
reinforce the difference between fact
and opinion.)
Guiding Question 7-12
T350
350
troubled the federal government. The northern states experienced an economic
boom, while the war-torn South struggled to survive.
And, as in every war, the death of so many promising young men affected
the South’s recovery. The loss of those potential leaders affected Louisiana,
the South, and the nation.
Presidential Reconstruction
Reconstruction refers to the steps taken to restore the southern states to
the Union and to rebuild the South. People in the North had many opposing
views on how this should be done.
President Lincoln wanted to restore the Union rather than to punish the
South. He announced his plan before the war had ended in his Reconstruction
Proclamation.
To Lincoln, secession was unconstitutional. He considered the Confederate
states still part of the Union. He believed
that men in those states who would swear
their loyalty to the United States should
be allowed to elect state and local governments. Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction was called “the
10 percent plan.” It allowed states to return to the Union as soon as 10 percent
of the people who had voted in the election of 1860 signed an oath of loyalty.
Lincoln put his plan into effect in Louisiana during the war. People in occupied
Louisiana who declared their loyalty to the United States were allowed to write
a new state constitution. Louisiana’s 1864 constitution abolished slavery, but
it did not grant the freedmen the right to vote.
This had become an issue during the war. A delegation of the free men of
color in New Orleans traveled to Washington to ask President Lincoln for their
right to vote. Lincoln was impressed by their arguments and considered their
request. The president suggested to General Banks that blacks who owned
property or who had fought for the Union should be allowed to vote, but this
did not happen.
John Wilkes Booth changed history in a way he did not intend. He killed
President Lincoln to punish him for the war, but Booth’s action hurt the South
instead. Lincoln planned to bring the southern states back into the Union as
quickly and easily as possible. A Union army commander’s wife believed Louisiana would not have suffered so greatly if “Lincoln could have been spared to
bring his justice and gentle humanity” to the conquered South. Instead, after
Lincoln’s death, his plan was eventually replaced with a much harsher congressional plan.
Johnson and Reconstruction
When Vice President Andrew Johnson became
president after Lincoln’s death, he faced immediate
difficulties. He clashed with Congress as he tried to
continue Lincoln’s Reconstruction plan with some revisions. Johnson began to readmit the southern states
to the Union after voters in a state ratified (approved)
the Thirteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery.
President Johnson also pardoned many former Confederate officers, which meant they could get their land
back. The land had been seized under the Confiscation
Act. Some of the radical Republicans in Congress wanted
to give that confiscated land to the former slaves—
the beginning of the rumored promise of “forty acres
and a mule.” These Republicans were called radicals
because they had the most extreme ideas about Reconstruction. The radical Republicans disagreed with
President Johnson on Reconstruction; they believed
that the South should be punished for the war.
Congress and President Lincoln had also disagreed
about Reconstruction, but Lincoln had enough power
to begin his more forgiving plan. Johnson did not have enough support in
Congress to carry through his Reconstruction plans. President Johnson found
it impossible to reach compromises. One of his critics said that Andrew Johnson’s
biggest enemy was Andrew Johnson. During this power struggle, President
Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives and came within one
vote of being removed from office by the Senate.
Louisiana’s Postwar Government
In the first statewide election following the war, many former Confederates
were elected to the legislature. They made their political views clear when they
hired their doorkeeper. They chose a Confederate veteran who had lost both
arms in the war. Every day he stood at the door of the legislature wearing his
Confederate uniform.
The radical Republicans were offended by this show of support for the defeated Confederacy. At this point, however, they could do little about it; the
returning Confederates had more power. But Louisiana’s Republican Party (made
up mostly of free people of color, former slaves, and northerners) gained strength
during Reconstruction.
The governor at this time was James Madison Wells. He had been elected
lieutenant governor of occupied Louisiana in 1864. When Michael Hahn was
elected as the state’s U.S. senator, Wells became governor. Wells, a Unionist
and former slaveholder from Rapides Parish, was elected governor on his own
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Reading Strategy
Problem Solving
When Lincoln died, so did his
plan for Reconstruction. Have
students use a problem-solving
organizer to decide on a plan to
replace Lincoln’s.
Guiding Question 7-11
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how President Johnson’s plan for
Reconstruction differed from that of
Lincoln. (Analysis)
• to identify the Radical
Republicans. (Comprehension)
Guiding Question 7-10
Above: Vice President
Andrew Johnson became
president upon the
assassination of Abraham
Lincoln. He favored a
Reconstruction plan much
like Lincoln’s but was forced
by the radical Congress to
adopt stricter measures.
Section 1 After the War
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine to find information on
Thaddeus Stevens and Charles
Sumner, two of the leading Radical
Republicans. Possible sites include
college.hmco.com/history/reader
scomp/rcah/html/ah_082300_stev
ensthadd.htm for background on
Thaddeus Stevens and bioguide.
congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?
index=S001068 for Charles Sumner.
Guiding Question 7-12
Reading Skill
351
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Class Discussion
Critical Thinking
Ask students if, after an
infraction of rules, there is a
consequence, e.g., in sports for
missing a practice, in school for
skipping class, in society for
committing a crime. Ask if the
consequence for breaking a rule
should be punitive or
rehabilitative. Should the
punishment fit the offense?
Ask students
• why people in the North
believed it was their
responsibility to come up
with a plan for readmitting the
South into the Union.
• how might history be different
if the North had allowed the
South to recover on its own terms.
Guiding Question 7-11
Ask students
• what statement the former
Confederates made with the doorman they chose. (Comprehension)
• to name the governor of
Louisiana who succeeded Michael
Hahn. (Knowledge)
• to identify the groups that
made up the Republican Party in
Louisiana after the Civil War.
(Knowledge)
As a native southerner,
President Johnson showed some
traditional southern views, e.g.,
not promoting equal rights for
freedmen and not involving
freedmen in the Reconstruction
process, but he did show his
opposition to slavery. Ask
students if they think Johnson’s
southern heritage was an asset or
detriment in his handling of
Reconstruction.
Interpreting Information/
Making Connections
Charles Sumner once said: “From
the beginning of our history the
country has been afflicted with
compromise. It is by compromise
that human rights have been
abandoned.” Have students interpret
what Sumner was saying. (You
might want to use this as an
opportunity to review the various
compromises that were responsible
for postponing the Civil War.)
T351
Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Review with students the process
for amending the United States
Constitution. Point out that, in
1865, the Constitution was nearly
80 years old and had only been
amended twelve times — and ten of
those amendments were added at
one time as the Bill of Rights. Today
the Constitution has 27 amendments, the last one being adopted
in 1992.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• to identify the terms of the 13th,
14th, and 15th Amendments.
(Knowledge)
• what groups of people in the
United States still could not vote
after the ratification of the 15th
Amendment. (Knowledge)
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary
Ask students what is meant by
the term due process. After arriving
at a definition, ask how due process
affects school students today — in
terms of expulsions or suspensions.
Social Studies Skill
Creating a Timeline
Have students obtain a copy of
the United States Constitution that
includes the 27 amendments. Have
them create a timeline showing the
amendments and the dates when
each was added.
Guiding Question 7-7
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students create a poster
or collage to illustrate the three
amendments that were passed during Reconstruction.
Guiding Question 7-12
T352
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away a person’s right to vote, reflecting the opinion
After the Civil War, Congress proposed amendments
of the majority in Congress that former Confederto the U.S. Constitution to free the slaves, to protect
ates should not vote.
their rights, and to provide them full citizenship.
Even after the Fourteenth Amendment was passed,
The Thirteenth Amendment was passed by Congress
Congress decided that the freedmen needed further
in January 1865. This amendment states that “neiprotection to guarantee their
ther slavery nor involuntary
right to vote. The Fifteenth
servitude . . . shall exist within
the United States.” This short
Amendment was passed by
legal statement meant freeCongress in February 1869 and
dom to the millions of people
became law in February 1870.
who had been enslaved in the
This amendment prohibits
United States. The amendment
state and federal governments
was fully ratified in December
from denying the right to vote
of the same year.
to any male citizen because of
Soon, however, Congress
race, color, or “previous condecided that the Thirteenth
dition of servitude,” a phrase
Amendment had granted freethat referred to slavery.
dom to former slaves but did
These amendments to the
not protect their rights and
U.S. Constitution show the exmake them citizens. Congress
pansion of civil rights in the
passed the Fourteenth AmendUnited States. Even so, the Fifteenth Amendment was limment in June 1866; it was
Above: Louisiana ratified the 15th
ited to male citizens, despite
ratified by 1868. The amendAmendment, giving blacks the right to
the efforts of some early leadvote, in March 1869.
ment states that “all persons
ers in the women’s suffrage
born or naturalized in the
movement to have women included. Women did not
United States . . . are citizens of the United States
receive the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendand the State wherein they reside.” It further states
ment was ratified in 1920, fifty years later. And it
that no state shall “deprive any person of life, libwas not until 1924 that Congress passed a law giving
erty, or property, without due process of law; nor
American Indians the right to vote. Even with these
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
constitutional amendments, African Americans still
protection of the laws.”
did not receive equal rights in voting until Congress
Section 2 of the amendment also stated that “parpassed the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
ticipation in rebellion” (the Civil War) would take
352
in 1865. (A Unionist was a person who had supported the Union
during the entire war period.) Despite these views, Wells quickly
learned to cooperate with the Confederate legislature.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• explain what the former slaves
wanted after the Civil War.
(Comprehension)
• identify what the former slaves
did after the war. (Knowledge)
• describe what actions former
Confederates took to control the former slaves. (Knowledge)
The Freedmen
Most political struggles during these years involved the former
slaves either directly or indirectly. While General Banks was in
Louisiana, he had asked some of the free men of New Orleans to
talk to the plantation slaves. He wanted to learn what they hoped
the Union victory would bring them. They requested that their
families not be separated. For their children, they wanted an education. For themselves, they wanted to know they would not be
whipped, that they would not have to work on plantations where
they had been abused, and that they would be paid reasonable
wages.
With their new freedom, some former slaves moved to the towns.
Some of them returned to the plantations, but others found work
as laborers and craftsmen. During the Reconstruction years, the
increased number of freedmen living in towns caused conflict.
One of the first actions of the restored legislature was to pass laws to control the former slaves. The free movement of the former slaves offended and
frightened the whites. The laws, called the Black Code, restricted the freedmen’s
actions, movement, and conduct; the Code even included sections about rudeness to white people.
The other purpose of this legislation was to control the work force. Regulation of the freedmen’s labor had begun during the war. The plantations needed
workers. Union Commanders Butler and Banks both developed strict controls.
The former slaves were encouraged to work on the plantations, which were
sometimes leased to loyal Union supporters.
The laws passed by the legislature required freedmen to sign one-year labor
contracts (written legal agreements). If they did not sign work contracts, they
could be forced to do public work or be arrested and forced to work for the
person who paid their fines.
Freedmen’s Bureau
In 1865, the federal government established the Freedmen’s Bureau. The
original purpose was to provide aid—food, clothing, and basic medical care—
to former slaves and other needy southerners. The Bureau also established
schools. The adult slaves who had been forbidden to learn to read and write
could now become literate.
The Freedmen’s Act of 1866 gave the Freedmen’s Bureau more authority and
responsibility. The state was divided into districts with an agent and a small
group of soldiers. It became the agent’s job to handle work contracts between
the freedmen and the planters.
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Reading Strategy
Above: James M. Wells was
elected lieutenant governor
of occupied Louisiana in
1864. When Governor Hahn
resigned to become a
U.S. senator, Wells became
governor.
Lagniappe
A constitutional amendment
must be ratified by the
legislatures of three-fourths
of the states for it to
become law.
Section 1 After the War
353
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
Black Codes. Ask them why these
laws were passed, and be sure that
they know the two basic purposes of
the legislation. Ask why former
Confederates were so concerned
with controlling the work force in
the South.
BLM Assign students Black Codes
from page 149 in the BLM book.
Lagniappe
Many Black Codes contained a
vagrancy law. A vagrant is a person
without a settled home or regular
work. The law imposed a $50 fine
on “any runaway, stubborn servant,
or child, or common drunkard, or
any person who habitually neglects
his employment.” Few vagrants had
$50; as a result, they were often
hired out as laborers for up to six
months until the fine was paid.
Class Discussion
Lagniappe
Addressing Learning Styles
Congress ended the Freedmen’s
Bureau in July 1872. During the
short life of the organization, it
was responsible for opening
hospitals and 1,000 schools for
African Americans, for providing
medical services, and for spending
almost $500,000 to train black
teachers to teach black students.
Visual/Spatial
Have students draw an image
illustrating one of the activities of
the Freedmen’s Bureau.
Guiding Question 7-12
Ask students to identify the
purposes of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
(Knowledge)
Research Activity
Have students research the
Freedmen’s Bureau. Make a timeline
of its major accomplishments.
Guiding Questions 7-7 and 7-12
T353
Freedman’s Rights
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how the Black Codes influenced
the passage of the 14th Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution. (Analysis)
• why Louisiana refused to ratify
the 14th Amendment.
(Comprehension)
• why Governor Wells agreed to
reopen the constitutional convention of 1864. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 7-10
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math The Freedmen’s Bureau
recommended a wage of $144 per
year for freed workers. Most received
$50-$100. Have students calculate
the following problem: If a worker
made $75, how much less of a
percentage did he receive than what
was recommended? (He received
52% of the recommended wage;
therefore, he received 48% less than
the recommended wage.)
Below: The Freedmen’s
Bureau opened schools for
former slaves of all ages
during Reconstruction.
As the freedmen began seeking their new rights, more local restrictions came.
Some towns added laws regulating the movement of the freedmen. In Opelousas,
for example, a freedman could not be on the streets after 10 p.m. and could
live there only as the servant of a white resident.
Most of the other southern states also enacted Black Codes. Northerners
disapproved of the increasing limits placed on the freedom of the former slaves.
They believed that the South still wanted slavery. To stop the southern states
from passing more laws blocking the rights of the freed slaves, Congress passed
the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It gave the freedmen
citizenship, legal rights, and the right to vote. The southern states were expected to ratify this amendment; states that refused to ratify this amendment
would have their representation in Congress reduced.
Louisiana and almost all of the other southern states refused to ratify the
amendment. Most white southerners did not believe that the former slaves
were ready for citizenship. Even more tension developed between those who
wanted to restrict the freedmen and those who wanted to give them their full
civil rights.
Louisiana’s Republican Party pressured the legislature to give the freedmen
the right to vote. In 1866, Governor Wells agreed with the plan to reopen the
1864 constitutional convention. The delegates planned to meet at the Mechanics’ Institute Building in New Orleans to discuss adding the right to vote
to the constitution.
Writing Activity
Have students write a news article describing the attack on the
Mechanics’ Institute Building. Have
them use information from the illustration of the riot in their article.
ASSESS
The city’s mayor, however, said he was concerned about safety. He threatened to arrest anyone attending the meeting and sent police. The Republicans
responded with a call for support and strength.
Armed whites attacked a group of blacks going into the building. Soon a
riot broke out, and police fired into the crowd. In the fighting, three whites
and more than thirty blacks were killed; more than one hundred blacks were
injured. The riot put an end to the constitutional convention.
Before the riot, the Picayune had described the white treatment of the freedmen as “kindly good will . . . rarely exhibited in any country by a superior to
an inferior race.” These words reflected the attitude of superiority held by whites
of the time. Unfortunately, that kindly goodwill was not demonstrated at the
Mechanics’ Institute meeting.
Check for Understanding
Internet Activity
Have students go to www.uscon
stitution.com/LouisianaBlackCode
sanAct.htm to find a copy of the
Black Codes of Louisiana. Ask them
to read Provision 1 of the 14th
Amendment and decide if the
provisions of the code were in
violation of the amendment.
1. Why did the freed slaves and the former Confederates have
different feelings about the end of the war?
2. What happened in the first statewide election after the war?
3. What was the purpose of the Black Codes?
4. What did the Freedmen’s Bureau provide for former slaves?
5. How did Louisiana react to the Fourteenth Amendment?
6. What was the purpose of the meeting at the Mechanics’
Institute in New Orleans and what happened?
354
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Above: Fighting broke out
at the Mechanics’ Institute,
site of the constitutional
convention, and quickly
turned into a riot.
Lagniappe
At the time of this meeting,
the Mechanics’ Institute
building was serving as the
statehouse.
Section 1 After the War
355
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students how the activities
in the illustration are different from
how blacks were treated prior to the
Civil War. What is unusual about the
scene? (White women and men are
depicted.)
T354
Reading Strategy
Point of View
Before the riot, the Picayune
had described the white treatment
of the freedmen as “kindly good
will. . . rarely exhibited in any
country by a superior to an inferior race.” Ask students to describe
the point of view of the Picayune.
Check for Understanding
1. The freedmen wanted a better
future, while the planters
wanted to restore the past.
2. Many former Confederates
were elected to the state
legislature.
3. They restricted the actions,
movement, and conduct of
the freedmen. They were also
meant to control the work
force.
4. The Freedmen’s Bureau
provided food, clothing, and
basic medical care. It also
established schools.
5. Louisiana refused to ratify it.
6. To discuss adding the right to
vote to the constitution
Alternative Assessment
Have students write the main
facts under each subheading in
Section 1. This could be done in
outline form.
Lesson Closure
The struggle for power during
Reconstruction involved violence.
Have students write journal entries
using the prompt: “Is a power
struggle more like a tug-of-war or a
seesaw?” (NOTE: You may choose to
have students discuss this topic.)
T355
Military Reconstruction, also
called radical Reconstruction, required
stricter loyalty oaths. The former Confederates had controlled the state for
The president of the 1868
two years, but now they could no
constitutional convention
longer hold office. The loyalty oath of
was James Taliaferro, who
the presidential Reconstruction plan
had argued so strongly
focused on the future. Those taking
against secession at the
that oath stated “I will be loyal to the
1860 convention.
United States.” The new loyalty oath
considered past behavior. The voter
had to be able to swear “I have been loyal to the United States.” Former Confederates could not say this, so they could not vote.
The radicals in Congress considered this fair punishment for the war and
the treatment of the freedmen following the war. Southerners said the purpose was to give power to the Republicans. Louisiana spent ten troubled
years under military control.
SECTION 2
MILITARY
RECONSTRUCTION
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Radical Republicans
B. The Redeemers
C. The 1872 Election
Materials
Textbook, pages 356-359
Blackline Masters
Reconstruction Plans,
page 150
Henry Clay Warmoth,
page 151
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
When people feel they have been
wronged, they often retaliate with
vengeance. Ask students if this was
the case in the South during
Reconstruction.
Ask students what might have
been done to make Reconstruction
less volatile.
TEACH
Writing Activity
Have students write letters from
former Confederates to friends
explaining why they feel like aliens
in their own land.
T356
Art Have students draw political
cartoons depicting the three plans
of Reconstruction — Lincoln’s Plan,
Johnson’s Plan, Republican Plan. See
if other students can determine
which plan the cartoon represents.
(NOTE: You may want to make a
visual display of the cartoons.)
BLM Assign students
Reconstruction Plans from page 150
in the BLM book.
Radical Republicans
Reading Strategy
The former Confederates could no longer participate in the political process. They were forced to sit by as the radical Republicans took
control of state government. The Civil War had ended, but Louisiana
was still not at peace.
In 1868, Louisiana wrote the new constitution required by the 1867
Reconstruction Act. This constitution protected the freedmen’s civil
rights and gave the right to vote to all males over the age of twentyone. The former slaves now had the right to vote.
This was also the first Louisiana constitution to have a bill of rights.
This constitution was ratified by voters who had taken the new loyalty oath. Anyone who had aided the Confederacy could not take this
oath. This included most white Democrats in the state.
A Republican newcomer was elected governor in 1868. Henry Clay
Warmoth had been a Union officer in New Orleans during the military occupation. He returned after the war to open a law practice. Charm and skill brought
him to the head of the line of ambitious politicians trying to run Louisiana.
Warmoth made sure that the 1868 constitutional convention set the age
requirement for governor young enough for him to run; he was twenty-six when
he was elected. Warmoth supposedly said “corruption is the fashion” and described himself as being as “honest as any other politician.” He may not have
taken money from the state, but he did make a personal fortune while he was
in office. When he was elected, he talked about the “growing spirit of harmony and good will.” His days as governor did not fulfill this promise.
The lieutenant governor elected in 1868 was Oscar J. Dunn, the first black
to be elected to statewide office. He gained the respect of the Republicans in
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a Venn
diagram or T-Chart to compare and
contrast Lincoln’s Plan and the
Radical Republican Plan for
Reconstruction.
Guiding Question 7-12
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how Congress reacted to the violence in the South. (Knowledge)
• how the violence in the South
changed the direction of
Reconstruction. (Comprehension)
• to identify the provisions of the
Reconstruction Act of 1867.
(Knowledge)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Lagniappe
Section 2
Class Discussion
Top: Many northerners came
south after the Civil War
with their belongings
packed into bags made of
carpet. Above: In 1868,
Henry Clay Warmoth was
elected governor. Born in
Illinois, Warmoth was known
by some as “Louisiana’s
carpetbagger governor.”
Military Reconstruction
357
Ask students
• to identify another name for military Reconstruction. (Knowledge)
• how many years Louisiana was
under military Reconstruction.
(Knowledge)
• how the Reconstruction Act of
1867 increased the political participation of former slaves and
decreased the political participation
of former Confederates. (Analysis)
• to identify which citizens ratified
the Louisiana Constitution of 1868.
(Knowledge)
Guiding Question 7-12
Critical Thinking
Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course
of Louisiana’s history.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 74: Describe the causes and effects of various migrations into Louisiana.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
GLE 76: Trace and describe various governments in Louisiana’s history.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana history (e.g., Rebellion
of 1768, the French and Indian War).
Ask students how the new loyalty
oath created more problems for former Confederates.
BLM Assign students Henry Clay
Warmoth from page 151 in the BLM
book.
T357
his party, as well as many Democrats. Dunn was
part of an important group of African American
political activists. The group also included Dr. Louis
Roudanez and his brother, Jean Roudanez. They
published a newspaper called The New Orleans Tribune, which became a voice for African American
rights.
Although the Republican Party controlled state
government, it had internal conflicts. Unionists
had formed the party in Louisiana before the Civil
War because they wanted the state to stay in the
Union. They lost control of the party to the
northerners who moved in after the war.
These newcomers were called carpetbaggers
throughout the South. A carpetbag was a satchel
or suitcase made of carpeting. The term meant that
these people packed up their few belongings and
headed south to make their fortune. To the white
southerners, they were interfering outsiders. Henry
Clay Warmoth, in fact, became known as Louisiana’s
carpetbagger governor. Southerners gave the local white Unionists who joined the Republicans a
different name. They called them scalawags, as an
insult, and said they had joined the Republican
Party for personal gain.
Reading Skill
Evaluating
Have students make a list of
characteristics of Henry Clay
Warmoth. Based on those characteristics, have them determine if he
was a worthy candidate for governor.
Guiding Question 7-10
Reading Strategy
Building Vocabulary/
Compare and Contrast
Have students distinguish
between carpetbaggers and
scalawags. Have them use a Venn
diagram to compare and contrast
the two groups.
Addressing Learning Styles
Verbal/Linguistic
Have students write questions
they would like to ask carpetbaggers
and scalawags.
Intrapersonal
Have students write journal
entries as former Confederates
expressing their views of
carpetbaggers and scalawags.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• how giving blacks the right to
vote changed Louisiana.
(Application)
• to which political party did the
majority of the former Confederates
belong. (Knowledge)
• to identify the name former
Confederates gave to themselves and
their role in returning Louisiana to
its previous condition. (Knowledge)
T358
Above: Oscar J. Dunn was
elected lieutenant governor
of Louisiana in 1868. He
was the first black to be
elected to statewide office.
Lagniappe
The New Orleans Tribune
was the first black daily
newspaper in the nation.
358
The Redeemers
Under military Reconstruction, General Sheridan set up a system to register
black voters. Many freedmen were registered, and their participation in elections had an effect. In 1868, almost 50 percent of the Louisiana house of representatives and 25 percent of the senate were African Americans.
The former Confederates—generally members of the Democratic Party—
opposed the state government that had been elected in 1868. The Democrats
were angry about a government based on the votes of former slaves. They also
strongly resented not being allowed to vote. They vowed to regain the power
they had before the war. They called themselves Conservatives or “Redeemers.” They wanted to “redeem” or reclaim the state from the Republicans,
carpetbaggers, and scalawags.
After the state election in March 1868, violence increased. A masked group
called the Knights of the White Camellia used threats and physical violence
to keep the freedmen from voting or to force them to vote for Democrats. Some
voters were controlled by telling them they would be fired if they voted for
Republican candidates. Merchants let voters know they had to vote “right” in
order to buy at their stores. By the time the 1868 presidential election took
place in November, the threats had worked. The Republicans lost the
majority of votes they had held in the March election for governor.
Governor Warmoth appointed a board to check the election results.
This board was called the Returning Board because election results are
called returns. The Returning Board had the authority to throw out
the votes from any place if it decided election fraud had taken place.
(Fraud is deliberate deception for unfair or unlawful gain.) The Democrats accused the Returning Board of making sure the radical Republican candidates won.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe the controversy surrounding the election of 1872.
(Comprehension)
• explain why Louisiana had two
governors after the election of 1872.
(Comprehension)
• identify who was ultimately
named governor of Louisiana.
(Knowledge)
• name the first African American
to serve as the governor of any
state. (Knowledge)
Guiding Question 7-12
The 1872 Election
By the 1872 governor’s election, the fighting within the Republican Party had increased. The Republican Party had two factions—one
supported President Ulysses S. Grant and the other opposed him. In
Louisiana, each faction held its own convention. The leader of the Grant
faction called out federal marshals with Gatling guns to control and
protect his meeting. The Grant Republicans ended up nominating
William P. Kellogg for governor.
The other group of Republicans, led by Governor Warmoth, tried to
keep their power by supporting the Democratic candidate, John
McEnery. After the election, both parties claimed victory. Even the
Returning Board was split and could not agree on a winner. Both the
Republican Kellogg and the Democrat McEnery took the oath of office. The United States government, under President Grant’s direction,
declared Kellogg the governor.
During this power struggle, the legislature impeached Governor
Warmoth on charges of corruption. Lieutenant Governor Dunn had died
suddenly in 1871, and State Senator P. B. S. Pinchback became lieutenant governor. Pinchback became the acting governor in December
1872 during Warmoth’s impeachment. This made Pinchback the first
African American to serve as the governor of any state.
Check for Understanding
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. What two actions did Congress require Louisiana to take in
order for military Reconstruction to be removed?
2. Why did former Confederates lose their right to vote?
3. What political party controlled the state?
4. How did former slaves get the right to vote?
5. What was the goal of the Redeemer Democrats?
6. What happened in the governor’s election of 1872?
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 2
Top: The results of elections
during Reconstruction were
often suspect. In 1872,
William P. Kellogg was
declared the governor by the
federal government. Above:
In December 1872, P. B. S.
Pinchback became the first
African American to serve as
the governor of any state.
Military Reconstruction
359
1. Ratify the 14th Amendment
and write a new state
constitution that included the
right to vote for all males
2. They could not swear that
they had been loyal to the
United States during the Civil
War
3. Republican
4. The Louisiana Constitution of
1868 gave them the right to
vote.
5. They wanted to reclaim
Louisiana from the
Republicans, carpetbaggers,
and scalawags.
6. There was fighting and fraud
that resulted in President
Grant’s naming Kellogg as
governor.
Alternative Assessment
Critical Thinking
Critical Thinking
Writing Activity
Reading Strategy
It is said that the Redeemers
tried to overcome the “cure” that
followed the “disease.” Have
students explain what that phrase
means. What do the words cure
and disease stand for? (Cure is
Reconstruction and disease is the
Civil War.) Ask students why
southerners had to overcome the
cure.
Louisiana received people from
many different places throughout
its early history. These people
generally were welcomed and
became an integral part of the
state’s culture. Have students discuss how the immigration of carpetbaggers affected people in
Louisiana differently. Why was
that so?
Have students imagine that
they were history teachers in
Louisiana in 1867 and were
offended by the Reconstruction
Act. Have them write letters to
the editor of a local newspaper
complaining about the forced
changing of the state’s
constitution. (You might have
them propose provisions for the
new constitution.)
Guiding Question 7-11
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
impeach and identify the charges
that led to Governor Warmoth’s
impeachment. Stress that impeach
does not mean remove from office.
However, in Warmoth’s case, he
was impeached and suspended for
the last 35 days of his term.
Guiding Question 7-10
Have students make a poster or
book detailing the problems and
successes in Louisiana as a result of
military Reconstruction.
Lesson Closure
Have students predict how
military Reconstruction set the
foundation for politics in Louisiana
that led to the area being called the
Solid South — in their support of
the Democratic Party.
T359
SECTION 3
THE LAST YEARS OF
RECONSTRUCTION
3
Section
Violence
The Last Years of
Reconstruction
INTRODUCE
Outline
A. Violence
B. The Unification Movement
C. The White League
D. The 1876 Election
Materials
Textbook, pages 360-364
Blackline Masters
The Colfax Riot, page 152
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
As you read, look for:
Below: Violence sometimes
erupted when both parties
claimed victory in an
election. The so-called
Colfax Riot in Grant Parish
was one example. Over fifty
people were killed in the
fighting.
• efforts by white Democrats to regain political control,
• the end of Reconstruction in the South, and
• vocabulary terms anarchy and White League.
Early in this period, Governor Warmoth recorded in his diary that another
Republican said “he [Warmoth] intended to beat the rebels and keep them from
power [even] if in doing so he destroyed the state government and produced
anarchy for twenty years.” This promise was almost fulfilled. Anarchy is an
absence of government or a state of lawlessness. Louisiana came very close to
anarchy during the last years of Reconstruction.
Have students go to www.adena
.com/adena/usa/cw/cw214.htm to
read an account of the Colfax Riot.
Ask them to examine the article and
answer the 5 W’s (who, what, where,
why, when) that are a part of factual
accounts. Ask them if they see any
opinions in the article. (This would
be a good activity to reinforce the
skill of distinguishing fact from
opinion.)
The Unification Movement
Only one real attempt was made to seek a peaceful solution to the strife.
Some businessmen realized that economic recovery was blocked by the political conflict. They decided that only compromise could save the state.
This group, called the Unification Movement, met in New Orleans in 1873.
Former Confederate General P. G. T. Beauregard, who had led the troops that
fired on Fort Sumter, was the chairman of this group. One of the influential
free men of color who also joined was Homer Plessy, who later became famous
because of his Supreme Court case against the Jim Crow laws.
The group planned to push for the right to vote for freedmen and to develop some arrangement between whites and blacks for sharing political offices. However, it was soon obvious that no one could bring so many conflicting
opinions together. The radical Republicans opposed the idea because they would
lose power. The Redeemer Democrats did not even want to consider allowing
the freedmen to vote. The freedmen themselves did not trust the group’s intentions. So this effort failed. And the economy continued to suffer because of
the political unrest.
Focus
Have students think of an
unpleasant experience they have
had. Ask them how long the
experience lasted. Have them think
about the unpleasant period of
Reconstruction. Ask them how they
might have felt as a former
Confederate after twelve years of
“suffering.” Ask if all people viewed
Reconstruction in the same way.
Give examples of differences of
opinion.
TEACH
Internet Activity
Because of voter intimidation in the South, Congress passed
the Enforcement Act in 1870 making it a crime to interfere with
the rights of a citizen. But federal laws did not stop the violence and political fighting in Louisiana. The state spiraled out
of control.
One bitter clash took place in Colfax. Grant Parish was one of
the new parishes formed by the Republican government during
Reconstruction. The parish was named for President Grant. Colfax,
the new parish seat, was established at the site of a former plantation. The old stable became the parish courthouse.
After the 1872 election in Grant Parish, a conflict developed.
The black Republican candidate and the white Democrat both
claimed the office of sheriff. The events of April 13, 1873—
Easter Sunday—became known as the Colfax Riot. Both sides
armed themselves and fought for control of the courthouse. At
least fifty blacks died in the fighting. Some unarmed farmers
who had come to the courthouse for refuge from the whites
were also killed.
The White League
Whites began to organize to reclaim control of the state government. One
newspaper, The Caucasian, was established in Rapides Parish to “unite the white
people.” Reporting on a mass meeting, it described one speaker “carried away
by the power of his arguments and the heat of passion . . . [who] advocated
the murder of the Republican candidates and offered to lead the mob.”
360
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 3
Above: Former Confederate
General P. G. T. Beauregard
was the leader of the
Unification Movement,
which sought to bring racial
cooperation to Louisiana
during the Reconstruction
period.
Lagniappe
The parish seat of Grant
Parish was named for
Grant’s vice president,
Schuyler Colfax.
The Last Years of Reconstruction
361
Reading Skill
Building Vocabulary
Have students define the term
violence and give examples of types
of violence.
Have students define the term
anarchy. Ask them if violence can
lead to anarchy. Have them give
reasons for their answer.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students identify the
violence depicted in the illustration.
Toward whom is the violence
directed? Why did this violence
occur?
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Objectives
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation
(e.g., mass production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and
present, explaining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 66: Analyze how a given historical figure influenced or changed the course of
Louisiana’s history.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 72: Describe leaders who were influential in Louisiana’s development.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 74: Describe the causes and effects of various migrations into Louisiana.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
GLE 76: Trace and describe various governments in Louisiana’s history.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana history (e.g., Rebellion
of 1768, the French and Indian War).
BLM Assign students The Colfax Riot
from page 152 in the BLM book to
record information from their
research.
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• identify the purpose of the
Enforcement Act of 1870.
(Comprehension)
• explain how the 1872 parish election in Grant Parish paralleled the
state election for governor in the
same year. (Analysis)
• identify the objective of the
Unification Movement.
(Comprehension)
• explain how compromise was
regarded as a way of solving
problems. (Application)
Economic Activity
Have students pretend they are
business owners in Louisiana. Have
them generate a list of ways that
the political unrest hurt their
businesses.
Guiding Question 7-3
Critical Thinking
Attempts at compromise between
Radical Republicans and Redeemer
Democrats failed because there were
so many conflicting opinions. Have
students offer a compromise that
would be acceptable to both sides.
Guiding Question 7-11
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Class Discussion
Reading Strategy
Compare and Contrast
Have students make a chart of
major conflicts that occurred during
Reconstruction. Have them include
the name of the conflict, the date it
occurred, a description of what
happened, and an assessment of the
event.
Ask students if violence is ever
justifiable. Ask them to list tactics
of violent behavior, e.g., bulldozing,
and suggest peaceful alternatives for
the methods.
Guiding Question 7-11
Below: Members of the
White League did not
hesitate to use violence.
Here, White Leaguers are
manning a streetcar
barricade in New Orleans.
Writing Activity
Have students pretend they have
witnessed one of the violent
confrontations in Louisiana. Have
each write a letter to a friend
describing the event and their
feelings about it.
Ask students to
• identify the purpose of the
Metropolitan Police. (Knowledge)
• explain what charges were leveled
against the Metropolitan Police by
the Redeemer Democrats.
(Knowledge)
• describe the conditions that
almost led to civil war in Louisiana.
(Comprehension)
• name the Confederate general
who led the Metropolitan Police.
(Knowledge)
Reading Strategy
Violence also struck New Orleans. The Metropolitan Police had been created
by Republican Governor Warmoth. They served as the military arm of the radical Republicans and were used to maintain order. The Redeemer Democrats
claimed that the Metropolitan Police were also used to ensure that the Republicans remained in power.
By September 1874, Louisiana was almost at the point of civil war. The White
League had ordered a large shipment of weapons. The leader of the Metropolitan Police was former Confederate General James Longstreet, who moved to
seize those weapons. A full-scale battle broke out between 4,000 Metropolitan
Police and 8,000 members of the White League. This “Battle of Liberty Place”
gave the White League the opportunity to seize New Orleans City Hall and the
State House. President Grant had to send federal troops and six navy warships
to restore order.
Above: The Battle of
Liberty Place took place in
New Orleans when the
Metropolitan Police tried to
keep a shipment of arms
from the White League. The
White League seized the
New Orleans City Hall and
forced Governor Kellogg to
flee. Federal troops finally
restored order.
The 1876 Elections
The 1876 election to elect Louisiana’s governor was as controversial as the
1872 one had been. The violence and attempts to control voters made the results questionable. The Republicans claimed that their candidate, Stephen B.
Packard, had won. The Democrats said the fair winner was their candidate,
Francis T. Nicholls.
Once again the Republicans appealed to Washington for help. But this time
the answer was different. President Grant did not want to send troops again to
protect the Republican governor. He sent a letter saying that national public
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students to describe the
streetcar barricade in the
illustration. What images foretell a
violent encounter. Ask students
what they think the purpose of the
barricade was.
Class Discussion
Lagniappe
Ask students to identify the
purpose of the White League.
(Comprehension)
Critical Thinking
In 1874, the White League was established. Its stated purpose was “the
protection of our own race against the
increasing encroachment of the NeEleven new parishes were
gro” and the removal from office of
established during
those who “lord it over us.” Working
the Reconstruction period
whites did not want blacks to take any
from 1865 to 1876.
jobs from whites. The White League
intended to restore political power to
the white Democrats, and justified
using violence to do so. They used the term bulldozing to describe their tactics.
Bulldozing was enough to drive Republicans out of office in some parishes;
in others, violence erupted. Red River Parish saw some of the ugly violence
of the time.
Red River Parish was one of the new parishes set up during Reconstruction.
Marshall Twitchell, a carpetbagger, came to Louisiana as an official with the
Freedmen’s Bureau. He soon married the daughter of a local family and established himself in the area. He then brought many of his relatives from Vermont to join him. Soon Twitchell and his family were politically powerful and
prosperous. He arranged for Red River Parish to be created from several existing parishes.
Conflict soon flared, as it did in other parishes where radical Republicans
controlled the government. After hearing rumors of an uprising by the freedmen, a huge mob of White Leaguers gathered in Coushatta, the parish seat of
Red River Parish. Accused of encouraging an uprising, the white Republican
officeholders were shot.
362
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 3
The Last Years of Reconstruction
Reinforcing Vocabulary
To reinforce the term anarchy,
ask students if the events leading
up to the Battle of Liberty Place
approached anarchy.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students examine the
illustration and generate a list of
sensory words to describe the Battle
of Liberty Place.
Writing Activity
Have students use sensory words
to write a description of the Battle
of Liberty Place.
363
Have students write ten opinion
statements describing the Battle of
Liberty Place. (This activity provides
an opportunity to reinforce the concept of distinguishing fact from
opinion.)
Multidisciplinary Activity
Math At the Battle of Liberty
Place, members of the White
League outnumbered members of
the Metropolitan Police, 8,000 to
4,000. Have students calculate
the percentage of supporters for
each side. (Police: 33%; White
League 67%)
T362
T363
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe how the election of 1876
in Louisiana was similar to the election of 1872. (Analysis)
• name the candidates for governor
in 1876. (Knowledge)
• tell why the federal government
did not want to intervene in
Louisiana’s 1872 election.
(Knowledge)
• name the candidates for president
of the United States in the election
of 1876. (Knowledge)
Guiding Questions 7-10 and 7-12
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
1. A black Republican and a
white Democratic candidate
for sheriff both claimed
victory.
2. It pushed for the right to vote
for freedmen and the sharing
of political offices between
blacks and whites.
3. Metropolitan Police and the
White League
4. A compromise called for an
end to military
Reconstruction if those states
that had contested electoral
votes agreed to award them to
Republican Rutherford B.
Hayes.
The Art of Politics
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This political cartoon, entitled the “Great Acrobatic Feat of Rutherford B. Hayes,” refers to the disputed 1876 presidential election.
Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote. The results in three
southern states, including Louisiana, were questioned. Amidst
allegations of fraud, the electoral votes of those three states went
to Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, giving him the victory.
opinion no longer favored using federal military force to keep an unpopular state government in power.
In Washington, the Republicans’
real concern was keeping the presidency in their party. The recent presidential election had the politicians in
confusion. Rutherford B. Hayes of
Ohio was the Republican candidate,
and Samuel J. Tilden of New York was
the Democratic candidate. The returns
in three southern states (Florida,
Louisiana, and South Carolina) were
disputed. The electoral votes were
close enough that the votes from
these states would decide the winner.
Finally, a compromise was reached.
The Republicans agreed to end military Reconstruction and remove federal troops from Louisiana and the
rest of the South. In return, the state’s
electoral votes and those of the other
two states were counted for the Republican, Rutherford B. Hayes.
The compromise meant that the
national Republicans would no longer
help keep the Louisiana Republicans
in power. In 1877, President Hayes
withdrew the last federal troops from
the South; Reconstruction was finally
over. The Redeemer Democrats soon
took control of the state government
in Louisiana.
Check for Understanding
4
Section
SECTION 4
REBUILDING LOUISIANA
Rebuilding Louisiana
INTRODUCE
As you read, look for:
Outline
• economic struggles during Reconstruction,
• daily life during Reconstruction, and
• vocabulary terms sharecropping and credit.
A. Labor
B. Slow Improvement
C. Rebuilding Lives
1. Entertainment
2. Education
D. African American Churches
During the Reconstruction period in Louisiana, politics overshadowed economic
planning. The congressional Reconstruction plan focused on punishment and
political control. There was no plan to rebuild the South’s economy.
To most people, the political struggle was important only in the ways it
affected their daily lives. They wanted peace around them and prosperity for
their families. Restoring the plantation economy seemed logical to the former
Confederates. But rebuilding the plantation system required money, and banks
were reluctant to make loans to the planters because they no longer had slaves
for collateral. (Collateral is something of value pledged as security for a loan.)
Many planters lost their land because they could not make the mortgage payments or could not pay their taxes.
Below: Blacks continued to
provide most of the labor in
the cotton fields, but now
they worked as sharecroppers. Conditions, however,
were close to slavery.
Textbook, pages 365-373
Blackline Masters
The Economy during
Reconstruction, page 153
Read and Write, page 154
Teacher CD-ROM
Transparencies
Online textbook
mystatehistory.com
Focus
Remind students that
Reconstruction was much more than
the geographical and physical
rebuilding of land, homes, and
towns. Introduce them to the idea
that Reconstruction was the
rebuilding of a political, economic,
and social system. Have students
brainstorm how Reconstruction
affected each of these three areas.
1. What event led to the Colfax Riot?
2. What was the goal of the Unification Movement?
3. What two groups fought in New Orleans in September 1874?
4. How did the 1876 presidential election lead to the end of
Reconstruction?
364
Materials
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 4
Rebuilding Louisiana
365
TEACH
Alternative Assessment
To reinforce the skill of
determining fact from opinion, have
students write twenty statements of
fact and ten statements of opinion
about the content of the section.
Lesson Closure
With the end of Reconstruction,
ask students to identify any barriers
that continued to exist between the
North and South.
T364
Class Discussion
Social Studies Skill
Multidisciplinary Activity
Objectives
Interpreting a Political Cartoon
Have students look at the
political cartoon. Ask them who is
pictured in the cartoon. What is
he doing? What do the bayonets
represent? What point of view is
expressed in the cartoon?
Art Have students draw a political cartoon depicting the state or
national election in 1876.
GLE 2: Locate major landforms and geographic features, places, and bodies of
water/waterways on a map of Louisiana.
GLE 6: Describe ways in which location and physical features have influenced
historical events in Louisiana and the development of the state (e.g., Mississippi
River/swamp in the Battle of New Orleans).
GLE 13: Describe factors that contribute to economic interdependence at the
local, national, and global level, as related to Louisiana’s past and present.
GLE 42: Analyze situations involving scarcity (limited resources) at the
individual, group, and societal levels to determine the need for choices or what is
gained/lost by a decision.
GLE 51: Use economic concepts (e.g., scarcity, opportunity cost) to explain
historic and contemporary events and developments in Louisiana.
Reading Strategy
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Ask students what compromise
was reached to settle the
controversy in the election of
1876. Ask them if the
compromise was fair.
Ask students
• which type of reconstruction—
political, economic, or societal—
most closely affected the people.
Have them give reasons for their
choices. (Evaluation)
• why it was difficult to rebuild the
plantations of the antebellum
South. (Comprehension)
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Ask students how life was
different after the Civil War for the
workers in the picture.
T365
A currency shortage also made financial recovery difficult. Confederate money
was worthless. One planter paid his employees with written notes that said
“Good in thirty days to any merchant in Alexandria that furnishes Willis Washington a half barrel of flour.”
Economic Activity
Have students transfer personal
experiences with credit to banking
concepts. Discuss inflation, loans,
and interest.
Have students research current
interest rates and calculate simple
interest on a variety of loan
amounts.
NOTE: Remind students that, during
Reconstruction, systems that are in
place today, e.g., Federal Reserve,
FDIC, did not exist.
Guiding Question 7-5
Class Discussion
Ask students to
• describe the role of brokers in
providing a labor force to rebuild
plantations. (Comprehension)
• determine why workers were paid
more in Louisiana than in the
southeastern states. (Knowledge)
• explain the provisions of labor
contracts. (Comprehension)
• explain why contracts did not
work as well on cotton plantations
as on sugar plantations.
(Comprehension)
Building Vocabulary
Ask students to explain the crop
lien system. Ask how this was a
form of credit. How could
sharecroppers pay off their debt
under the terms of the crop lien
system?
Guiding Questions 7-3, 7-5
Labor
Below: After the war, the
small towns slowly began
to recover. This is a view
of New Iberia in 1866.
Finding workers for the plantations was a constant struggle. Brokers began
operating almost like slave traders, charging a fee for finding workers. Sometimes they cheated the workers, and sometimes they cheated the planters. Some
of the workers were freedmen from other states. Workers were paid more in
Louisiana because the land produced more cotton than in the southeastern
states.
One way to keep workers was with a contract. Labor contracts were started
by the Union commanders during the war. Under the contracts, workers were
paid wages, but they had to stay on a plantation for a year. Often, a part of
their wages was held until after the crop was sold. This contract method worked
well on the sugar plantations but not on the cotton plantations.
On a cotton plantation, there were several months when workers were not
busy. In addition, planters did not have the cash to pay wages, and crops failed
because of floods and insects. For these reasons, sharecropping developed.
Under the sharecropping system, the planter provided the land, the tools,
and a cabin. The workers labored all year in return for a share of the profit
Reinforcing Vocabulary
Ask students how credit, supply
and demand, scarcity, and profit
affect the economy.
Guiding Question 7-5
when the crop was sold. Typically, both the workers and the planter bought
the year’s supplies on credit. That is, they bought what they needed and agreed
to pay for the items later. The store owner usually agreed to take part of the
crop in payment at the end of the year.
This form of credit was called the crop lien system. Sharecropping became a
way of life for most freedmen, and later for many poor whites. Merchants who
sold on credit charged high prices, and the workers’ share of the profit was
rarely enough to pay off the store owner. As a result, the sharecroppers were
always in debt.
Natural disasters made economic recovery even harder. In 1866-1867, major floods hit Louisiana. Because the levees had not been maintained during
the war, the flooding was widespread. Even when there was enough of a crop
to sell, it was difficult to get it to market. The railroads had been heavily damaged during the war. Only the line from Algiers (near New Orleans) to Brashear
City (now Morgan City) was in good shape.
Reading Strategy
Cause and Effect
Ask students to give an example
of how the creation of the system of
sharecropping affected the Louisiana
economy.
Guiding Questions 7-3, 7-9
Reading Strategy
Slow Improvement
After 1867, agriculture and the rest of the economy began to improve slowly.
Sawmills were set up to handle the huge old cypress trees being cut in the
swamps. Spanish moss was baled for sale. And professional hunters brought
ducks and other game to market in the cities and towns.
366
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 4
Above: This general store at
the LSU Rural Life Museum
is typical of the stores
where sharecroppers would
buy items on credit.
Lagniappe
Edmund McIlhenny
produced the first bottles of
Louisiana’s famous Tabasco
brand pepper sauce in 1868.
Rebuilding Louisiana
367
Cause and Effect
Have students explain how one
event can cause a chain reaction
that results in the overall improvement of the economy. (One example
might be: Increased production of
cotton leads to increased supply,
which leads to a need for more and
better transportation, which leads to
the building of more roads and railroads, which leads to the opening of
more markets, which leads to more
money in the hands of the planter,
which leads to more money in circulation, which leads to more buying
of consumer goods, which leads to
an increase in manufacturing and
retail, which leads to the development of more towns and cities.)
Guiding Question 7-9
Geographic Activity
Critical Thinking
Some people say that sharecropping was a form of slavery. Ask students why that comparison might
be made.
Guiding Question 7-3
BLM Assign students The Economy
during Reconstruction from page 153
in the BLM book.
T366
Objectives (Cont.)
Objectives (Cont.)
GLE 58: Describe historical and economic factors influencing the economic
growth, interdependence, and development of Louisiana and the nation (e.g., mass
production, oil boom and decline).
GLE 64: Compare and contrast events and ideas from Louisiana’s past and present, examining political, social, or economic contexts.
GLE 65: Analyze the causes, effects, or impact of a given historical event in
Louisiana.
GLE 69: Propose and defend potential solutions to past and current issues in
Louisiana.
GLE 70: Conduct historical research using a variety of resources, and evaluate
those resources, to answer historical questions related to Louisiana history.
GLE 73: Describe and explain the importance of major events and ideas in the
development of Louisiana.
GLE 75: Describe the contributions of ethnic groups significant in Louisiana
history.
GLE 77: Describe major conflicts in context of Louisiana history (e.g., Rebellion
of 1768, the French and Indian War).
GLE 78: Describe and analyze the impact of Louisiana’s geographic features on
historic events, settlement patterns, economic development, etc.
Have students list ways in which
the geography of Louisiana affected
the recovery of the state’s economy.
(Students might say floods made it
difficult to get products to market
or weather might bring about limited crop production.)
Guiding Question 7-2
T367
Internet Activity
Have students go to rurallife
.lsu.edu/html/albums.html to
access several albums of pictures
from the Rural Life Museum. Ask
different students to access different
photos. Have them research the
topic of their assigned picture.
Topics include photos of folk
architecture, folk culture, and a
working plantation.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Have students look at the picture
and describe the type of life the
people lived. Have them compare
this sparse room with their own
homes.
Spotlight
Rural
Life
Museum
LSU
Rural life in Louisiana before and
after the Civil War is easier to
imagine when you stand on the
grounds of the LSU Rural Life
Museum. The buildings were all
moved to the 450-acre site in the
center of Baton Rouge to create
this history museum. The different types of buildings are examples of folk architecture; that
is, the people built them without architectural plans. You can
see a one-room schoolhouse
waiting for its pupils, a grist mill
waiting for a wagonload of corn,
and a country church waiting for
Sunday worshipers.
You can also see a country store waiting for some
barefoot children in overalls to come for penny candy.
The store once served as a commissary on a plantation farmed by sharecroppers. As you step inside,
you will soon realize that goods were limited, and
many were very different from what you buy today.
Horse collars hang on the wall alongside rub boards
for scrubbing clothes. Instead of ready-made clothes,
the store sold bolts of gingham fabric and sewing
notions. Sugar, rice, and flour were kept in large
wooden barrels and measured out by the pound. The
prices of items were very different too. That gingham cost 20 cents a yard, and sugar cost $1 for eleven
pounds.
The country store at the Rural Life Museum was
also a social center, where people came to get mail,
368
T368
The LSU Rural Life Museum in Baton Rouge has over
twenty buildings that depict life in nineteenthcentury Louisiana. The buildings show how people
lived (above) and where they shopped (opposite
page). Other buildings show how they worked.
supplies, or a little gossip. The store has a wooden
post office window with mailboxes. A pot-bellied
stove heated the store and the men who sat around
telling tales. When the weather was warmer, the
porch benches held the visitors.
At the corner of the porch, a hitching post waited
for a boy to tie his horse or mule. Then he could fill
his can with the kerosene needed for the lamps at
home. The storekeeper recorded the purchase in the
account book under the family’s name.
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 4
Rebuilding Louisiana
Class Discussion
Ask students
• if anyone has ever visited or seen
pictures of an old-time country
store. If some students have seen
this type of building, have them
describe what it was like.
• how a country store is like a
shopping mall.
Critical Thinking
Ask students to hypothesize
what the various items in the picture were used for.
Economic Activity
This picture of a country store
shows that it is void of
advertisements. Advertisements aim
to convince people to buy things.
Have students develop jingles
and/or posters to advertise items
that were sold in the country store.
369
T369
These trade centers began to rebuild. Shreveport and Marksville
added several new buildings. Small
factories in the towns built wagons,
buggies, carts, and railroad cars. The
system for buying cotton shifted from
the factors in New Orleans to towns
near the plantations. These towns had
cotton buyers, gins, a big general
store, a drugstore, a doctor, a school,
a saloon, and several churches. Often,
the general store doubled as the post
office.
But the state’s economic recovery
halted in 1873 when a national depression stopped the country’s
growth. Louisiana stayed poor well
into the twentieth century.
Writing Activity
Have students write want ads for
jobs that existed in the latter part
of the 1800s.
Class Discussion
Ask students
• what events helped bring about
social recovery from the Civil War.
(Knowledge)
• to list some forms of
entertainment during the latter
part of the 1800s. (Knowledge)
Research Activity
Building Vocabulary
P. T. Barnum introduced a
number of words and phrases into
the English language. List the
following words on the chalkboard
and have students guess how they
originated.
Jumbo (The world’s largest elephant;
now the word is used to mean very
large)
Throwing your hat in the ring (A
politician threw his hat into
Barnum’s ring to announce his
candidacy.)
Grandstanding (Referred to
prominent people who sat in the
best stands in the circus to be
noticed)
Let’s get the show on the road. (It
was time to get the animals on the
train.)
Rain or shine (The big top allowed
the show to go on regardless of the
weather.)
T370
Language Arts Have students
interview a member of a local volunteer fire department today. Find out
what they do. Are they a service
and social organization? (Instead of
having students conduct interviews,
you may ask a member of the local
volunteer fire department to speak
to the class about the activities of
the organization. Students could
prepare questions, in advance of the
visit, that they would like to have
answered.)
Rebuilding Lives
Have students use a search
engine to find information on
General Tom Thumb. One source of
information is www.missioncreep
.com/mundie/gallery/little/lit
tle1.htm. Have students list ten
facts they learned from their
research.
Guiding Question 7-12
Reading Strategy
Multidisciplinary Activity
Art Have students design or make
a model of a steamboat.
Politics and the economy were not
the only things in Louisiana that
needed rebuilding after the war.
People—black and white—wanted to
rebuild their lives.
Group Activity
Entertainment
Above: General Tom Thumb
(whose real name was Charles
Sherwood Stratton) and his
wife Lavinia toured all over
the United States, including
Shreveport.
370
The return of the circus helped the
children forget the war years. They
were entertained by trained animals,
acrobats, and clowns. Shreveport was
excited by a visit from the famous General Tom Thumb, a tiny man who stood
only 40 inches tall. A traveling group shocked the town of Shreveport with the
can-can dance. Critics said the performance was a place where “a gentleman
should be ashamed to be seen.” The circuses and other entertainers traveled
on the riverboats that soon filled the waterways.
The riverboats themselves provided entertainment and excitement. Scheduled races attracted onlookers to town landings. In the most famous race, the
Natchez and the Robert E. Lee steamed up the river from New Orleans to St.
Louis in 1870. Because he was a friend of the owner, Governor Warmoth was a
passenger on the Robert E. Lee. He described the way more wood was loaded
during the race. Another steamboat came alongside and the wood was transferred without either boat slowing down. The Robert E. Lee won the race in
three days, eighteen hours, and fourteen minutes.
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
People also created their own entertainment. Community theater groups
were formed in Alexandria and other towns. Parties and dances continued,
although they were simpler than before the war. Charades was a popular party
game. Making and pulling taffy candy was a special treat for young people.
After the war, baseball became popular. Baseball teams were formed as this
new sport began to earn its nickname as “America’s favorite pastime.” The New
Orleans Southerns traveled as far away as Brooklyn, New York, to play. The
Baton Rouge team was called the Red Sticks, and Shreveport had two teams—
the Quicksteps and the Country Boys.
New Orleans continued to be the only true city in the state, providing entertainment and excitement. Visitors reported on the shocking behavior they
saw and often described it as an immoral city. But along with the saloons and
dance halls, New Orleans was also home to operas and the theater.
Section 4
Above: This 1872 painting is
entitled the “Volunteer
Fireman’s Parade.” Volunteer
fire departments often served
as social clubs.
Have students brainstorm a list of
ways that people were entertained
in the latter 1800s. (The list might
include racing, gambling, baseball,
theater, opera, dancing, charades,
candy making, etc.) Put students in
groups and ask each group to
research one of the forms of
entertainment. You may want them
to prepare a brief demonstration of
some of the activities, e.g.,
charades, dancing.
Using Photos and
Illustrations
Rebuilding Louisiana
371
Ask students to discuss the role
of volunteer fire departments in the
past and present. The original
organizations served as social
organizations. Is that true today?
Lagniappe
P. T. Barnum was a somewhat
successful politician who served
several terms in the Connecticut
state legislature. He is credited
with casting the deciding vote in
the state senate to abolish slavery
after the Civil War.
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education. The first colleges for African Americans in Louisiana were started
by these missionary groups and became important institutions in the African
American culture. These included the University of New Orleans, Leland College, and Straight University. The University of New Orleans and Straight University later merged to become Dillard University.
Critical Thinking
Ask students how waterways
provided travel as well as
entertainment and economic
development. Ask them to compare
the use of waterways after
Reconstruction with the use of
waterways in Louisiana today.
Guiding Question 7-2
Reading Strategy
Above: Steamboat races
were a popular form of
entertainment. Perhaps the
most famous was the race
between the Natchez and
the Robert E. Lee. In the
actual race, the boats were
never this close together.
BLM Assign Read and Write from
page 154 in the BLM book.
Class Discussion
Social Studies Skill
Making a Map
Have students find the location
of colleges founded by African
Americans in the post-Civil War
period. Have students use an
outline map of the state to show
the location of these schools.
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One new social organization also had a serious community purpose. Volunteer fire departments were organized in several towns. The fire departments
also served as social clubs, and the members of clubs like the Ascension Hook
and Ladder Company met regularly. Local parades often included decorated fire
wagons. Special young ladies were honored when the fire engines were named
for them.
Education
During the war years, education received little attention except in New Orleans. There, the military commanders established schools and brought teachers from the North to teach the freedmen how to read and write. The Freedmen’s
Bureau operated these schools after the war.
The Reconstruction government directed that the public schools be open to
all students, but only a few schools in New Orleans functioned that way. Wealthy
whites continued to send their children to private schools. Many children, both
black and white, received little or no education. In some parishes, the public
schools were controlled by an African American school board. White parents refused to send their children to these schools. In parishes where whites controlled
the schools, the African American children were not allowed to attend. The corruption and confusion of these years affected education and the state’s future.
Many northern churches helped provide for the needs of the freedmen after
the war. Their most lasting contribution, however, was their involvement in
Compare and Contrast
Have students compare and
contrast educational opportunities
for different groups of people in the
South during and after the Civil War.
Ask students to
• identify the only place in
Louisiana to emphasize education
during the Civil War. (Knowledge)
• describe how education was different for blacks and whites.
(Comprehension)
Ask students
• why slaves usually attended
white churches. (Comprehension)
• how slaves were treated in the
white churches. (Knowledge)
• to identify one of the oldest
African American churches.
(Knowledge)
African American Churches
Research Activity
Have students use a search
engine or other reference material
to research the famous steamboat
race between the Robert E. Lee and
the Natchez VI. Have them find out
what brought victory to the Robert
E. Lee. (Its captain stripped the ship
of extra weight and carried no
passengers — something the
Natchez did not do.)
Guiding Question 7-12
Class Discussion
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The growth of the African American
churches was an important development. In
antebellum times, slaves usually attended
the white churches. The slaves were expected
to sit in a special section and worship in the
style of their masters. Now African Americans wanted their own churches.
Records of the Beulah Baptist Church of
Cheneyville in Rapides Parish show that the
members met in July 1865 to discuss the
attitude of their “colored members.” The
church voted to tell these members to report and repent of their behavior. Instead,
the former slaves petitioned to begin their
own church.
Some churches for African Americans had already been established. The
African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was started in New Orleans in the
antebellum era. Before the war, many of the free people of color were Catholic
because of their French heritage. Some of the slaves had also been Catholic.
Now, however, most of the former slaves chose to join another church. Some of
the former slaves formed Methodist churches, but most of the churches established were Baptist.
These organizations were a source of strength for the African American
community. It was in these churches that the former slaves found the most
freedom. Here they developed their leaders and their sense of community.
Check for Understanding
1. What kind of economy did the former Confederates want?
2. What are two reasons why sharecropping developed on
cotton plantations?
3. Why were sharecroppers almost always in debt?
4. Name two popular kinds of entertainment during this time.
5. What group started the first colleges for African Americans?
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
Section 4
Critical Thinking
Ask students what benefits blacks
received from starting their own
churches.
ASSESS
Check for Understanding
Above: The first colleges
for African Americans in
Louisiana, like Leland
College, were started by
missionary groups.
Lagniappe
Leland College opened in
New Orleans in 1869. It was
destroyed by a storm in
1915. It reopened in Baker in
1923, but closed in 1960.
Rebuilding Louisiana
373
Research Activity
Research Activity
Social Studies Skill
Have students research to
determine the differences
between schools today and in
the latter 1800s in regard to
facilities, textbooks, instructional
materials, equipment, content.
(You may want to put the
students in groups and assign one
item to each group to research.)
Guiding Question 7-11
Have students use a search
engine to research African
American churches that were
begun in Louisiana after the Civil
War.
Guiding Question 7-12
Making a Map
Have students show the location
of African American churches on a
map of Louisiana. Are they concentrated in certain areas of the
state?
Guiding Question 7-1
1. A plantation economy
2. Because there were several
months when workers were
not busy, planters did not
have the cash to pay wages,
and crops often failed
because of floods and insects
3. Merchants charged high
prices, and sharecroppers
rarely made enough profit to
pay off their debt.
4. Circus, steamboat races,
gambling, theater, opera,
baseball
5. Northern missionary groups
Alternative Assessment
Have students propose their own
plan for one of the following:
political Reconstruction, economic
Reconstruction, or social
Reconstruction.
Lesson Closure
Do a classroom round-robin,
asking individual students to list
something that was reconstructed in
Louisiana between 1864 and 1877.
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Reading Strategy
Making Connections
Review with students the purpose
of the loyalty oath. Ask them why
there are two different versions.
Compare and Contrast
Have students read the two
versions of the loyalty oath. Have
them compare and contrast the
provisions of the two documents.
Group Activity
Have small groups of students
rewrite the loyalty oaths.
Answers to Questions
1. A statement swearing or
affirming support to the
government
2. In this document,
Disfranchise: To take away the
right to vote;
Felony: A serious crime;
Executive: A government office;
Judicial: Serving as a judge in
the Confederacy;
Insurrection: An act of rebellion
against the government.
3. “Have not been disfranchised for
participation in any rebellion or
Civil War against the United
States”
4. Possible answers may include:
those who supported the
Confederacy must prove their
loyalty over a longer period,
allowing former Confederates to
assume full citizenship is
disrespectful to the Union
soldiers who died.
5. Answers may vary. “Yes” reason:
because these people had
opposed the United States; “No”
reason: because the constitution
does not cover this issue
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Meeting Expectations
Loyalty Oaths
After the war, southerners were required to sign a
loyalty oath in order to be able to vote. The first oath
shown below was the oath preferred by Presidents
Lincoln and Johnson. The second oath was imposed
by Congress in 1867 during military Reconstruction. Read the
two oaths and then answer the
questions that follow.
Presidential Reconstruction
Loyalty Oath:
I do solemnly swear or affirm, in the
presence of Almighty God, that I will
henceforth faithfully defend the
Constitution of the United States,
and the Union of States there under, and that I will in like manner
abide by and faithfully support all
Laws and Proclamations which have
been made during the existing rebellion, with reference to the emancipation of slaves. SO HELP ME GOD.
against the United States, or for felony committed against
the laws of any state of the United States; that I have never
been a member of any state legislature, nor held any executive or judicial office in any state, and afterwards engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the United States, or given
aid and comfort to the enemies
thereof; that I will faithfully support
the Constitution and obey the laws
of the United States, and will, to the
best of my ability, encourage others to do so, so help me God.
1. What is a loyalty oath?
2. The military Reconstruction
loyalty oath contains
several words that a person
taking this oath must know
in order to understand it.
Above: General Phillip Sheridan
Define these words:
was appointed military commander
disfranchise, felony,
of District 5, in which Louisiana
executive, judicial,
was placed.
insurrection.
Military Reconstruction
3. The military Reconstruction
Loyalty Oath:
loyalty oath required a
I, _________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) in
person to swear that he had not acted against
the presence of Almighty God, that I am a citizen of the
the United States government. What is the
State of _________________; that I have resided in said
phrase that proves this point?
State for _________ months next preceding this day, and
4. List two key points a congressman might have
do reside in the county of _________________, or the parish
used in a speech showing support of the
of ________________, in said State (as the case may be);
military Reconstruction loyalty oath.
that I am twenty-one years old; that I have not been dis5. Do you think Congress had the constitutional
franchised for participation in any rebellion or Civil War
right to require this oath? Why or why not?
374
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
BLM Assign students Government
During the Reconstruction Years from
page 155 in the BLM book.
Chapter Summary
After the War
Reading Strategy
• Louisiana was heavily damaged by the Civil War.
Many men had been killed or wounded, and
parts of the state were left with barren land and
burned buildings.
• President Lincoln put his plan for Reconstruction into effect during the war. He wanted to
restore the Union quickly. Lincoln’s assassination, however, changed Reconstruction.
• The Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help
the former slaves.
• Congress and President Andrew Johnson clashed
over Reconstruction; Congress thought the president was too easy on the former Confederates.
• The former Confederates passed Black Codes to
control freedmen.
• An attempt to give the right to vote to freedmen
caused a riot in New Orleans.
Military Reconstruction
• Congress responded with military Reconstruction, also called radical Reconstruction.
• Former Confederates lost the right to vote.
• Radical Republicans controlled Louisiana politics.
• The former Confederates, called Redeemers,
organized the Knights of the White Camellia to
fight this control.
The Last Years of Reconstruction
• The last years of Reconstruction were filled with
violence and voter intimidation.
• After a contested election in Colfax, many
freedmen were killed.
• The Unification Movement attempted to reach a
compromise, but the effort failed.
• Former Confederates organized the White
League and threatened freedmen to keep them
from voting for Republicans.
Classifying
Have students classify the
statements in the Chapter Summary
under one of the following headings:
Political Reconstruction
Economic Reconstruction
Social Reconstruction
Addressing Learning Styles
Above: Rutherford B. Hayes became president by
agreeing to end military Reconstruction.
• The presidential election of 1876 ended Reconstruction because of an agreement between the
Republicans and Democrats in Washington.
Rebuilding Louisiana
• Louisiana struggled to rebuild the economy.
Towns that had been damaged or destroyed
slowly recovered.
• Sharecropping developed on plantations.
• People wanted to rebuild their lives, and entertainment helped make life easier.
• The Freedmen’s Bureau started schools for
freedmen. Some northern churches also provided
teachers and schools including colleges. But the
political conflicts interfered with education.
• African American churches developed as important institutions.
Chapter Summary
Visual/Spatial
Have students draw a graphic
representation of a chain reaction
that results in the improvement of
the economy. (You may want to use
the example given under Cause and
Effect on page 367 and ask students
to draw a graphic representation of
that sequence, or you may ask them
to come up with an example of their
own to illustrate.)
Guiding Question 7-9
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REVIEW
1. Answers will vary.
2. a. Radical Republicans
b. Knights of the White Camellia
and the White League
c. Unification Movement
d. Returning Board
e. Freedmen’s Bureau
f. Sharecropping
g. Black Codes
h. Carpetbaggers and scalawags
i. Colfax and Coushatta
j. Metropolitan Police
3. a. Many buildings had been
destroyed, and most of the
livestock was gone.
b. He wanted to restore the
southern states to the Union
as soon as possible.
c. The effort to amend the
constitution to give the right
to vote to the former slaves
d. They were not allowed to vote.
e. To help the former slaves
f. Influential free men of color,
former Confederates, and some
Republicans
g. The former Confederates lost
their power and were
resentful. The struggle for
political control led to
violence.
h. New stores and some small
factories were built.
i. The former slaves wanted to
have control over their own
churches and no longer be
directed by white members of
the church.
j. To forget their problems
4. Answers will vary.
CONNECT
With Your World
1. Answers will vary.
T376
Activities
for
Learning
A
w Review
3. Answer these questions.
1. Identify each key person and place and
explain each term in your own words.
a. List two details about the condition of
Louisiana at the end of the Civil War.
2. Connect these statements with a key person,
place, or term.
b. What was Lincoln’s goal in his Reconstruction plan?
a. This group of congressmen thought
Reconstruction should punish the South.
b. These two groups of white Democrats
called themselves Redeemers.
c. This attempt to bring factions together to
solve the political conflict did not work.
d. The Republicans said this group would
keep elections fair, but Democrats said
they just made sure the Republicans would
win.
e. Congress established this government
agency to help slaves, but its efforts were
not completely successful.
f. Former slaves and poor whites both
depended on this agricultural system for
survival.
g. Former Confederates used these laws to
control the lives of the freed slaves.
h. The former Confederates used these two
labels to show their attitude toward the
Republicans.
376
c. What caused the riot in New Orleans?
d. What happened to Confederates when
radical Reconstruction began?
e. What was the purpose of the Freedmen’s
Bureau in Louisiana?
f. What groups were represented in the
meetings to discuss a Unification Plan?
g. How did the ideas of radical Reconstruction
influence Louisiana at that time?
h. What are two examples of recovery in the
towns after the war?
i. Why did new African American churches
develop during this time?
j. Why did people want entertainment?
4. Create a chart showing the effects of the
Civil War on Louisiana. Use the following as
your headings: economy, government,
freedmen, former Confederates.
i. The political instability led to riots in
these small towns.
Connect
j. The Republicans used this group to control
the former Confederates.
With Your World
1. Conflict during this time was often expressed
with violence. Why does conflict lead to
Chapter 11 Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era: Riots and Rebuilding
o
violence? What are others ways people deal
with conflict?
2. Do you think the ideas and events of the
Reconstruction period affect your life today?
Explain your answer.
11. How did the 1876 presidential election bring
about the end of Reconstruction? How did
this affect Louisiana?
12. What was the purpose of the Thirteenth,
Fourteenth, and Fifteenth amendments to the
U.S. Constitution?
With Civics
3. The Louisiana Constitution of 1868 denied
the right to vote to former Confederates.
What arguments might delegates have used
for and against this action?
4. Give two examples of the ways individual
rights were violated during Reconstruction.
Which rights in the Bill of Rights were
violated?
With Economics
5. List two reasons why economic recovery was
difficult.
6. In the sharecropping system, who provided
the human resources?
7. Some congressmen said the goals for
Reconstruction included economic recovery
and economic opportunity for the freed
slaves. Do you think these goals were met?
Explain.
Extend
1. A famous quote from Lincoln’s second
inauguration speech is “With malice toward
none, with charity for all, let us strive . . . to
do all which may achieve a just and lasting
peace.” Write your interpretation of his
meaning. Or, express this idea in visual form.
2. Congress debated President Lincoln’s
Reconstruction plan. Write the preparation
notes for two congressmen. One is opposed to
Lincoln’s plan and one is in favor. List three
arguments each might have given.
3. Create a political cartoon about one of these
topics: the effect of Lincoln’s assassination
on Louisiana, the need to end the violence,
or support of the Unification Plan.
8. How was Louisiana’s physical environment
changed as a result of the Civil War?
4. During Reconstruction, African Americans
gained a political voice in Louisiana for the
first time. P. B. S. Pinchback, Oscar J. Dunn,
C. C. Antoine, and James H. Ingraham were
key leaders. Locate sources that tell you more
about them. Write a biographical sketch of
one of these men.
9. Where did most of the freed slaves settle?
What are two factors that influenced this
decision?
5. Visit the web site of the Louisiana State
Museum at the Cabildo to learn more about
the Reconstruction period in Louisiana.
With Geography
With U.S. History
10. How did the assassination of President
Lincoln affect Reconstruction?
6. Locate the web site of the National Archives
to see the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and
Fifteenth amendments. When were the
amendments ratified?
Activities for Learning
12. 13th: Abolished slavery
14th: Made the former slaves
citizens and gave them due
process and equal protection
under the laws
15th: Forbade the states from
disfranchising the freedmen
EXTEND
1. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary.
4. Answers will vary.
5. Answers will vary.
6. Answers will vary.
2. Answers will vary.
With Civics
3. For: These men have rebelled
against the United States and
committed treason.
Against: To rebuild the state,
everyone must be involved.
4. People who expressed their
opinions were attacked (freedom
of speech); the former slaves
were not allowed to gather in
large groups in some parts of the
state (freedom of assembly)
With Economics
5. The infrastructure was so
damaged, and there was little
money to rebuild.
6. The sharecroppers
7. No, because their lives as
sharecroppers were not much
different than slavery.
With Geography
8. General Grant had canals dug as
he tried to reach Vicksburg. In
Baton Rouge, the trees in the
town were cut down so the
Union army could have a clear
view from the river.
9. Most of them stayed to work as
sharecroppers on the plantations
because they had no money and
no other job opportunities.
377
With U.S. History
10. The Radical Republican plan was
harsh compared to Lincoln’s
approach.
11. The Republicans agreed to
remove the troops from the
South if the Democrats agreed to
give their electoral votes to
Rutherford B. Hayes. The
Democrats then took political
control of Louisiana.
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