CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION IN TEXAS
Lesson 1: Free Enterprise in Texas
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/civilwar/lesson1/
http://www.coolmath-games.com/lemonade/
http://www.gamesheep.com/game/bed-and-breakfast-3/ run a bed and breakfast
RESOURCES:
Lesson 2: Civil War and Reconstruction in Texas
Background Information
Texas entered the United States as a slave state in 1845. The issue of slavery created conflicting points of view in the United States. Slavery, along with other issues over states’ rights eventually divided the country. The Constitution did not list slavery as a power of the United States Congress (Art. I, Sec.8) Therefore, the southern states claimed states had the right to determine the slavery issue. There were other issues that were protested by the southern states such as the tariff, the national bank and the transcontinental railroad. The issues are different today, but the question of states’ rights is still with us. Texas chose to join the Confederacy and to secede from the United States. Texas and other southern states provided many resources to the Confederacy. However, the Confederacy ran out of money, men and supplies. The Civil War brought freedom for slaves, confirmed with an amendment to the Constitution, and new social, political, and economic systems.
Juneteenth – On June 19, 1865, the first U.S. troops sent to occupy Texas after the Civil War landed in Galveston. General Gordon Granger read the Emancipation Proclamation, thus freeing the nearly 250,000 slaves in Texas. Even though President Abraham Lincoln had issued the proclamation in 1863 (most historians feel this was a military move), it had had very little effect in Texas until the federal troops arrived. The first celebrations in 1866 were in Galveston and a few other communities. Over time Juneteenth has developed into a day of celebration of freedom. June 19th was authorized as a state holiday in 1979 and signed by Governor William P. Clements, Jr. (State offices remain open and state employees may use it as one of their floating holidays.)
Reconstruction (1867-1877) – In the post- Civil War period, from 1865 to 1877, the United States confronted the problems of re-admitting the southern states to the Union and integrating the freed slaves into society. At the end of the Civil War northern businesses were prospering due to the increased production required for the war effort and the fact that few battles were fought in that area. In contrast the south was in ruins.
To rebuild the nation, the federal government supported the reformation of governments in the former Confederate states. Some Congressmen believed the South should be further punished for seceding and that Reconstruction should require the following: voting rights for African American males, no voting rights for ex-Confederates, government seizure of land from planters for redistribution to freedmen, and funding of schools for African Americans.
Others, including President Abraham Lincoln, believed in a quick healing without punishment, and only a few conditions to be met before re-entering the union. When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, President Andrew Johnson tried to implement Lincoln’s reconstruction policies, but he was not a strong president. The Southerners elected the same leaders that had been in Congress before the war infuriating other members of Congress. When Congress passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 which advocated the radical approach, Johnson vetoed it, but Congress overrode the veto. Radical Reconstruction gained support and Congress was able to pass the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This marked the beginning of Radical Reconstruction. If Southern states hoped to rejoin the federal government they had to accept the 14th Amendment (the Civil Rights Act of 1866) and they had to rewrite their constitutions so the right to vote could not be denied on the basis of race, the 15th Amendment.
The emancipation of the slaves left thousands of people without work or income. One idea was to create a system to give land to freedmen so they could farm and make a living. This was neither practical nor possible. One of the biggest challenges was creating an economic system to provide for labor and a way to get farms back into production with no money. The freedmen, without homes or jobs, presented problems that were not easily solved. By 1877 it was obvious that Reconstruction was not working and country was ready for it to end.
A 15 member commission was set up to decide disputed electoral votes in the 1877 presidential election. With the Compromise of 1877 Rutherford B Hayes was declared the president and Reconstruction was officially ended. The last of the federal troops were removed from the South, however there was still much to be done. The Southerners set about rebuilding the economy, society and the governments. Black codes and organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan were used to regain white Democratic Party control of the governments, The result was segregation of the races and unequal treatment of blacks and other minorities. Because of competition for jobs and housing this trend continued.
Challenges to this unequal treatment minorities became more united during the civil rights movements of the 1950’s and 60’s. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first piece of landmark legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1866. There is still much to be done to end unequal treatment but much progress has been made.
Links:
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/mhc07 Final Texas Constitution
http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/freemovies/civilwar/ Civil War and Reconstruction
http://www.juneteenth.com/history.htm Juneteenth
http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-lemonade-stand free enterprise practice
http://communicrossings.com/html/js/pfb.htm pico fermi bagel game- for lemonade variables (only works at home)
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