1009 Morrill Act and Life on the Plain
Farmers on the western plains faced many hardships. The first problem was shelter. Because the wood was scarce on the Great Plains, many farmers built houses of sod—soil held together by grassroots.
1008 Homestead Act & Westward Migration
Congress passed the Homestead Act in 1862. It was the centerpiece of the government’s land policy. The law promised 160 acres of free land to anyone who was the head of a household, who had not fought for the Confederacy, and who paid a small filing fee and improved the land over five years.
1007 Cattle Ranching
A western migration after the Civil War was not without its hardships. Life on the Great Plains for cattle ranchers and farmers alike was both harsh and competitive. Farmers began to form alliances to improve their economic conditions, which eventually led to the formation of the Populist Party.
1005 Politics & Reconstruction in the South
Southern Conservatives resist Reconstruction. Secret societies like the Ku Klux Klan used terror to regain their power in the South. They used violence and even murder to attempt to intimidate African Americans and their white allies.
1002 Assassination & Reconstruction
Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent Plan as a guide to southern states for forming new governments in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War. After Lincoln’s assassination, the task of reunifying the country fell to his successor, Andrew Johnson.
1006 End of Reconstruction
By the 1870s, “reconstruction fatigue” gripped the nation. Many northerners believed they had done all they could to reform the South. For their part, southerners continued to pass legislation limiting the voting rights of African Americans. On the bright side, a new economic vitality has swept the South.
1005B Reconstruction Challenges
Reconstruction governments tried to rebuild the South. They built public schools for both black and white children. Many states gave women the right to own property. In addition, Reconstruction governments rebuilt railroads, telegraph lines, bridges, and roads. Lesson Plan Presentation Study & Practice Assessment CLASS PRESENTATION Instructional Materials Lesson Plans Tier 1 Study, Practice & […]
1004 Problems and New Presidents
President Johnson encouraged former Confederate states to reject the Fourteenth Amendment. He also decided to make the amendment an issue in the 1866 congressional elections.
1003 Reconstruction Roadblocks
Radical Republicans in Congress, dissatisfied with President Johnson’s reconstruction plans, took charge of the process. They even went so far as to impeach President Andrew Johnson, although the Senate refused to convict him.
1001 Reconstruction Unit Preview
(1865–1877)—The end of the Civil War marked the beginning of Reconstruction, the era of trying to put the Union back together. Congress instituted sweeping political, economic, and social changes in the former Confederate States. During this era of reconstruction, African Americans gained many well-deserved rights but were still denied full equality, most notably in the […]
