In which John Green teaches you about Reconstruction. After the divisive, destructive Civil War, Abraham Lincoln had a plan to reconcile the country and make it whole again. Then he was shot, Andrew Johnson took over, and the disagreements between Johnson and Congress ensured that Reconstruction would fail. The election of 1876 made the whole thing even more of a mess, and the country called it off, leaving the nation still very divided. John will talk about the gains made by African-Americans in the years after the Civil War, and how they lost those gains almost immediately when Reconstruction stopped. You’ll learn about the Freedman’s Bureau, the 14th and 15th amendments, and the disastrous election of 1876. John will explore the goals of Reconstruction, the successes and ultimate failures, and why his alma mater Kenyon College is better than Raoul’s alma mater NYU.
Hey teachers and students – Check out CommonLit’s free collection of reading passages and curriculum resources to learn more about the events of this episode.
The period of Reconstruction that followed the Civil War was imperfect and failed to create lasting change after 1876: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/reconstruction
Following the end of the Civil War, many African Americans found themselves turning from slavery to sharecropping, an unfair system that would last until World War II and the Civil Rights Movement: https://www.commonlit.org/texts/from-slaves-to-sharecroppers
Learn more about Reconstruction in episode #19 of Crash Course Black American History: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGPAnLDzQYY
Chapters:
Introduction 00:00
Johnson & the Reconstruction Era 0:33
The Freedman’s Bureau 1:32
Sharecropping 2:14
The Civil Rights Act 3:04
The 14th Amendment 3:55
Mystery Document 4:20
The Reconstruction Act 5:18
The Election of 1868 & the 15th Amendment 5:38
African Americans in Office 6:32
Republican Governments in the South 7:52
Why did Reconstruction End? 8:23
White Violence Against Former Slaves 8:46
Northern Support Retreats 9:33
The Election of 1876 9:52
President Hayes and the Bargain of 1877 10:55
The Legacy of Reconstruction 12:03
Credits 12:29
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