REconstruction: WHat does it mean?

Reconstruction: ​

​The period following the Civil War during which Congress passed laws designed to help rebuild the country and bring the southern states back into the Union.

• Money had NO value

• Banks were closed

• Railroads, bridges, plantations, and crops were destroyed

• Businesses needed to be rebuilt

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Everyone's issue!

• No housing

• Not educated

• Poor clothing

• No to little food

• No Jobs

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​Freed Black American's

Problems faced by virginians during reconstruction

Measures Taken to resolve problems

​Freedmen's Bureau

• A federal government agency that provided food, public schools, and medical care for freed African Americans and others in Virginia.

Freedmen's Bureau

• African Americans pushed for education for their children.

• This directly resulted in African's who worked hard and became doctors, lawyers, and teachers.

• African American's saw education as a path to greater opportunities.

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• During Reconstruction Black people began to have power in Virginia's Government.

• Black and white people could vote and hold office.

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​REconstruction

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• ​Important Black leader before, during, and after the Civil War

• Free black man from Lou​isa County

• Lawyer

• Abolitionist

• Recruited black volunteers for the Civil War

• ​President of the black college "Virignia State University"

• Elected to U.S. Congress from Virginia​

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​John Mercer Langston

• Segregation: The separation of people, usually based on race or religion.

• Discrimination: An unfair difference in the treatment of people.

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​"Jim Crow" and terms to know

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• Gains from Reconstruction were taken away through violence, intimidation, and "Jim Crow" laws passed by Southern States.

  • Legally established segregation!

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​"Jim Crow" Laws and Segregation

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• A system with unfair practices that locked people into poverty.

• Very common in Virginia after the war.

• Freedmen and poor white farmers rented land from landowners by promising to pay the owners with a share of the crops ​

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Sharecropping

• Unfair Poll Taxes and Voting tests

• ​Difficulty Voting or Holding Office

• Forced to use separate facilities such as drinking fountains, restrooms, and restaurants ​

• Had to attend separate schools ​

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​Effects of "Jim crow" laws

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Because of "Segregation and Discrimination" people of color had difficulty with....

• Housing

• Employment

• Health Care

• Political Representation

• Education​

​Effects of "Jim crow" laws

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• After the Civil War, industry and technology, railroads, and cities began to grow and contribute increasingly to Virginia's economy.

• Cities grew

• Railroads expanded business, agriculture, and industry.

• Other industries developed (coal mining)

• Better roads were built

• Tobacco farming became important

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​A Growing Virginia