GSESS8H6 | Reconstruction
Analyze the impact of Reconstruction on Georgia.
a. Explain the roles of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments in Reconstruction.
b. Explain the key features of the Lincoln, the Johnson, and the Congressional Reconstruction plans.
c. Compare and contrast the goals and outcomes of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Ku Klux Klan.
d. Examine reasons for and effects of the removal of African American or Black legislators from the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction.
e. Give examples of goods and services produced during the Reconstruction Era, including the use of sharecropping and tenant farming.
b. Explain the key features of the Lincoln, the Johnson, and the Congressional Reconstruction plans.
c. Compare and contrast the goals and outcomes of the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Ku Klux Klan.
d. Examine reasons for and effects of the removal of African American or Black legislators from the Georgia General Assembly during Reconstruction.
e. Give examples of goods and services produced during the Reconstruction Era, including the use of sharecropping and tenant farming.
- Describe the purpose of each of the following amendments: 13th, 14th, & 15th.
- What did the three different reconstruction plans have in common and/or how were they different?
- What was the purpose of the Freedmen's Bureau and the (KKK)? How can they be compared and/or contrasted?
- Why were the Black legislators from the GA General Assembly removed?
- What are some examples of goods and services (in GA) during reconstruction?
- How are sharecropping and tenant farming alike and different?
The Lessons
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STANDARD & ELEMENTS VERSION
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STORY BOOK FORM VERSION
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Vocabulary & Content Review
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VIDEOS IN THE LESSON
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H6.a - 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments of the US Constitution
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H6.b - Lincoln, Johnson, and Congressional Reconstruction Plans
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H6.c Freedmen's Bureau & the Ku Klux Klan
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H6.d - Removal of African American or Black Legislators
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H6.e - Goods & Services in Reconstruction | Sharecropping & Tenant Farming
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The Story | GeorgiaStandards.org
GSESS8H6.a & GSESS8H6.b
From 1865–1872, three Reconstruction plans were enacted in Georgia and three Constitutional amendments were intertwined with these plans. Therefore, standard elements A and B will be addressed together.
The first Reconstruction phase was called Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1866). During this plan, President Andrew Johnson, a native of Tennessee who remained loyal to the Union, was extremely lenient with the Southern states. His plan, based on that of Abraham Lincoln who had been assassinated in April of 1865, allowed the South readmission into the Union if 10% of the population swore an oath of allegiance to the United States. They also were required to ratify the 13th amendment, which officially ended slavery in the United States.
Georgia, taking advantage of this moderate policy, held a constitutional convention in 1866 to secure readmission to the Union. In the new state Constitution, the Ordinance of Secession was repealed and the convention passed the 13th amendment. However, the Constitution was very similar to the one that of the Secessionist Constitution of 1861, including an amendment banning interracial marriage. Nonetheless, because the state passed the 13th amendment, Georgia was readmitted into the Union in December of 1865. This proved to be a temporary situation.
Trouble began brewing again between the Southern states and the Republican controlled Congress when several former Confederate leaders were elected back into the state and national governments. In Georgia, former CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens, and CSA Senator Hershel Johnson, were elected Georgia’s two U.S. Senators. Northern Senators, especially those called Radical Republicans, who favored harsher punishments for the South, were aghast at having these high-ranking CSA officials in Congress and refused to seat them. Additionally, there began to be calls against President Johnson for abuse of power and proceedings for his impeachment started to take place.
Finally, the Radical Republicans were appalled at the South’s treatment of the freedmen under laws that were known as Black Codes. Under these laws, blacks were not allowed to vote, testify against whites in court, and could not serve as jurors. With the South’s treatment of Blacks, the Congress introduced the 14th amendment which made African-Americans citizens of the United States and required that they were given the same rights as all U.S. citizens.
The next plan was called Congressional Reconstruction (1866- 1867). Georgia, along with the other Southern states, refused to ratify the 14th amendment. With this action, Georgia and the rest of the South was placed under the authority of Congress. As a result, Southern states were required to pass this amendment in order to be readmitted into the Union. With the South continuing to refuse to pass this amendment, along with the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act created five military districts in the South, with Georgia, Alabama, and Florida making up the third district.
Under Military Reconstruction General John Pope served as the third district’s first military governor. During this period, Georgia held another constitutional convention, this time in Atlanta. Atlanta was chosen because it was more accepting of the state’s Republican delegates along with the 37 African American delegates that had been elected to serve in the convention. During this convention, Georgia created a new constitution that included a provision for Black voting, public schools, and moving the capital to Atlanta.
After this convention, Republican Rufus Bullock was elected Governor and the Republican-controlled General Assembly began its session. However, the military continued to be a presence in the state due to the continued actions of the Ku Klux Klan and Georgia’s refusal to pass the 15th amendment which gave African-American men the right to vote. Georgia was finally readmitted into the Union in 1870 when reinstated Republican and black legislators voted for the passage of the 15th amendment. However, by 1872 southern Democrats called the redeemers were voted back into office and took control of the Governorship and General Assembly.
GSESS8H6.c
During the Reconstruction period, two organizations emerged that would have an impact on the newly freed slaves. The Freedmen’s Bureau was designed to give freedmen and poor whites an economic boost and an opportunity to learn to read and write through formal education. On the other hand, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorized freedmen through violence and intimidation. By burning schools and intimidating freedmen, the KKK was at odds with the economic and social improvement desired by the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The Freedmen’s Bureau, officially titled “The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,” was created to help African-Americans adjust to their newly gained freedom. This program also supported poor whites in the South. The program provided food to whites and blacks who were affected by the war, helped build freedmen’s schools and hospitals, and supervised labor contracts, and other legal disputes. Overall, the Freedmen’s Bureau was moderately successful. During its early years, the organization fed, clothed, and offered shelter to those most harshly affected by the war. There were also successes in its education programs. The Freemen’s Bureau created the first public school program for either blacks or whites in the state and set the stage for Georgia’s modern public school system. In addition, some of the schools created by the Freemen’s Bureau continue to this day throughout the South, including two of Atlanta’s historical black colleges: Clarke Atlanta University and Morehouse College.
Note: The common view concerning the Freedmen’s schools were that they were almost completely created by northerners and staffed primarily by white, northern women. However, Dr. Ronald E. Butchart, from the University of Georgia, has concluded that almost 1/5 of the teachers in the Freedmen’s schools were native Georgians of both races.
The first incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began in 1867 in Tennessee and was a loosely governed organization consisting mostly of Confederate veterans. This group began as a social club for former Confederate soldiers; however, they became progressively more political and violent. Soon after their creation, they began to use terroristic actions to intimidate freed blacks and white Republicans (derogatorily called Carpetbaggers for those whites who moved from the North, and Scalawags, the Carpetbagger’s white allies from the South) from voting and running for office during the Reconstruction period. Using tactics of intimidation, physical violence and murder against Blacks, the KKK tormented Black organizations such as the Freedmen schools and churches in hopes of establishing social control over African Americans or Blacks and their white allies.
The KKK was successful in their political goals as Democrats gained control of Georgia politics in 1871. Many of the Democrats were members of the Klan, such as former Civil War soldier John B. Gordon. It was over 100 years before Republicans gained a foothold in the state again. Socially, the KKK often used severe acts of violence against the freedmen. In some cases, African Americans or Blacks rebuilt burned schools and churches, and sometimes even fought back when attacked. Nonetheless, the KKK was a major force in the state during the Reconstruction Period and the white supremacy and racial segregation they championed became the norm in Georgia, and the rest of the South, for several decades.
The first KKK disbanded around 1871, when Democrats started to regain political control of the state and Congress passed the Force Act of 1870 and Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also called the Ku Klux Klan Act). These acts authorized federal authority to fight and arrest members of the Klan. The Klan resurfaced in its second incarnation in 1915 after the death of Mary Phagan.
GSESS8H6.d
For a brief period during Reconstruction, African American or Black freedmen were given more political rights than they had ever had and would not have again for 100 years. Primarily, the freedmen were given the right to vote. With this freedom, 32 African Americans or Blacks were elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1867. However, within days of convening of the General Assembly, these African American or Black legislators were expelled from the legislature.
The reasons for the expulsion of the African American or Black legislators were numerous. As recorded in the Journal of the Senate in 1868, the African Americans or Blacks were simply “persons of color” and, as “non-citizens”, were not entitled to hold office under Georgia’s Constitution. Georgia’s Democratic legislators scoured the state Constitution for any passage that supported the expulsion. Some of the expelled legislators were said to be ineligible for a variety of reasons and were summarily discredited by extreme judgements on their personal characters. Examples included Senator A. A. Bradley, who was declared ineligible due to his conviction in New York for “seduction” (the Georgia Supreme Court later ruled him innocent of the charges). Senator George Wallace was said to be illiterate. Representative J. T. Costin was determined to be a non-resident of the county for which he was elected. Representative Henry M. Turner was framed for unethical practices while serving as postmaster of Macon. Republican friends of the African American or Black legislators were not numerically strong enough to prevent the expulsion. When the two houses of the General Assembly brought the vote for removal to the floors of the chambers, some Republicans voted with the Democrats to ensure that their removal would happen. Four members, considered to be mulattos (persons of mixed black and white ancestry), were allowed to retain their seats because their African American or Black ancestry could not be proven.
The effects of the removal were far-reaching. Republican Governor Rufus Bullock was at odds with the removal and expressed indignation at the action. He ultimately took the expulsion case to Congress, soliciting their help to reinstate the legislators. Led by Robert Toombs, Bullock was censured (an official expression of disapproval) by Georgia’s political leaders due to his attempt to un-do the expulsion. As a result of the expulsion, in the eyes of the U. S. Congress, Georgia remained unreconstructed and was not granted legal return to the United States. The ousted African Americans or Blacks also appealed to Congress for federal intervention before Georgia could be readmitted to the Union.
Dissenting opinions on the questions of removal and reinstatement were printed in Georgia newspapers, also stirring up strong feelings about the action throughout the country. Some papers believed that the courts should render a decision in a test court case and that the decision should be final. Other papers believed that each body of the General Assembly should be the sole judge regarding the eligibility of its members. Through the media of the day, the entire country was agitated by the “act of hostility on the part of the Georgia Legislature.” Georgia was negatively compared to other Southern states as a result.
Meanwhile, African American and Black political leaders suffered “outrages” (an act of wanton cruelty or violence; any gross violation of law or decency). Representative A. Colby was removed from his home and beaten after he requested military protection for a Freedmen’s school. Representative Alf Richardson was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. Purported charges of rape, murder, and the use of counterfeit money by the African American or Black political leaders kept them at odds with the white population. They were constantly harassed and threatened by the Klan.
African American or Black leaders met in Macon, Georgia in 1868 in a Colored State Convention. Over 135 delegates representing 82 counties met to criticize the Legislature, calling it “illegal and revolutionary.” The main purpose of the convention, however, was to inform the freedmen of the political standing and to offer guidance for the upcoming fall election. Another meeting was scheduled to occur in Southwest Georgia in the town of Camilla. Ousted Representative Philip Joiner led over 200 African Americans or Blacks on a 25-mile march from Albany to Camilla to attend a Republican political rally. Locals in Camilla, who were determined that the Republican rally would not happen, ambushed the marchers as they arrived in Camilla, killing almost a dozen marchers and wounding over 30 others. News of the Camilla Massacre shaped the state and national opinions about the fall elections, causing both Republicans and Democrats to solidify their positions about the 1868 Presidential election. The violence at Camilla intimidated many African Americans or Blacks from participating in the election. In some places, like Albany, African American or Black votes were either destroyed or changed to Democratic votes (Georgia did not use the secret ballot at that time). Republican members of Congress were appalled at the violence and fraud and required Georgia to once more undergo military rule and Radical Reconstruction.
The postponement of restoring Georgia to the United States was delayed as the state was placed under military control per the Georgia Bill. In December, 1869, Federal troops, under the leadership of General Alfred H. Terry, returned to Georgia. Terry ordered the removal of the General Assembly’s ex-Confederates (24 Democrats who could not pass the test-oath about returning to the Union) and replaced them with Republican runners-up. This was known as Terry’s Purge. The expelled African American or Black legislators were reinstated, thus creating a heavy Republican majority in the legislature. By early 1870, Georgia’s General Assembly ratified the Fifteenth Amendment and chose new Senators to send to Washington. In July, 1870, Georgia was readmitted to the Union.
Note: One of the most important contributions of the black legislators of the Reconstruction period was their support of public education. Due to their efforts, the 1868 Constitution called for free general public education in the State of Georgia (though it did not begin until 1872).
GSESS8H6.e
The end of the Civil War left Georgia in dire straits. From northwest Georgia to Savannah, the state was scarred by Sherman’s devastation of the region. Warehouses, factories and railroads were burned as well as farm implements and other means with which to produce were destroyed. Burdened with a serious labor problem and a banking structure that suffered from the failure of war, Georgia’s economic outlook was dismal.
As the war ended, Georgia farmers (particularly those in Southwest Georgia) were determined to sell the cotton they had in storage. Farmers and plantation owners speculated that future cotton crops would depend on an adequate labor supply. As time progressed, large plantations were sub-divided into smaller farms but the total acreage planted dwindled. The number of coastal farms increased as rice plantation lands were subdivided and sold to new owners.
Georgia’s over-emphasis on cotton production, however, continued to leave the state in distress and to endure continued hardships. Even though it was suggested to “cultivate less land, use more fertilizer, and economize on labor” in 1867, Georgia farmers continued to plant enormous amounts of cotton as cotton prices suggested grand profits. However, the season would be a failure. Repeated crop failures left the state struggling for many years.
During 1865 – 1872, Georgia farmers did grow wheat and corn but diversification of agricultural crops was not to come until the appearance of the boll weevil in the late 1910s.
As restrictions on trade were removed, goods from Northern manufacturers filled shelves of burgeoning businesses in Georgia cities. Buying goods on credit allowed Georgians to purchase items that they did without during the war. Banks eventually opened to take care of the monetary needs of Georgia’s people. Retail stores, often operated by Jews, Northerners and sutlers (people who, during war, followed armies and sold provisions to soldiers), populated the major cities of Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Augusta and Macon. Atlanta, though three-quarters destroyed by Sherman’s army during the war, experienced rapid growth due to the dedication of rebuilding the railroads. With 20,000 people moving to Atlanta by 1867, the city was experiencing growth better than ever. Becoming an economic center was essential to the decision to make Atlanta Georgia’s new state capital. As the rail systems in Georgia were reestablished, Columbus revitalized its manufacturing importance in the state. In Savannah, shipping cotton resumed. Textile mills became a vital part of Georgia’s economy. While some of Georgia’s citizens were benefitting from the rebuilding explosion, many citizens struggled to make ends meet, particularly agriculturally based businesses.
After the Civil War, people in the former Confederate states suffered a serious shortage of hard currency. Due to the printing of what would become worthless Confederate money, many of the major land owners were unable to pay their labor forces, while the members of the labor force were unable to find work that paid adequate wages. In theory, the labor institutions of sharecropping and tenant farming should have been mutually beneficial to both sides where “cash poor” land owners provided land and other resources to the laborer in return for the laborers’ work on the farm. However, landowners soon found ways to keep their employees indebted to them in hopes of preventing them (both poor Blacks and Whites) from gaining the ability to purchase their own land. This also stifled their ability to take leadership roles in the cultural, economic, and political arenas of the South.
There were many similarities between a sharecropper and tenant farmer. Both usually consisted of poor and illiterate blacks and whites. Both agreed to exchange their labor and a portion of their crops to a land owner in return for land to work. Finally, both groups had to buy certain necessities from the landowner’s store which caused many to find themselves deeply indebted to the landowner and decreased their chances of getting out of the system. However, the major difference between the two groups was that tenant farmers usually owned their own tools, animals, and other equipment, while the sharecropper brought nothing but their labor into the agreement.
Sharecropping and tenant farming were entrenched in Georgia’s agricultural system until the mid-twentieth century. The system began to erode for many reasons including the Great Migration of African-Americans, along with rural whites to the North and cities in the South during and after World War I, the devastation of the boll weevil in the 1910s and 1920s, and the technological advances in farming during the time period. Though this system has almost completely vanished in the state, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, there were still 2,607 Georgians who were classified as tenant farmers in 1997.
From 1865–1872, three Reconstruction plans were enacted in Georgia and three Constitutional amendments were intertwined with these plans. Therefore, standard elements A and B will be addressed together.
The first Reconstruction phase was called Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1866). During this plan, President Andrew Johnson, a native of Tennessee who remained loyal to the Union, was extremely lenient with the Southern states. His plan, based on that of Abraham Lincoln who had been assassinated in April of 1865, allowed the South readmission into the Union if 10% of the population swore an oath of allegiance to the United States. They also were required to ratify the 13th amendment, which officially ended slavery in the United States.
Georgia, taking advantage of this moderate policy, held a constitutional convention in 1866 to secure readmission to the Union. In the new state Constitution, the Ordinance of Secession was repealed and the convention passed the 13th amendment. However, the Constitution was very similar to the one that of the Secessionist Constitution of 1861, including an amendment banning interracial marriage. Nonetheless, because the state passed the 13th amendment, Georgia was readmitted into the Union in December of 1865. This proved to be a temporary situation.
Trouble began brewing again between the Southern states and the Republican controlled Congress when several former Confederate leaders were elected back into the state and national governments. In Georgia, former CSA Vice President Alexander Stephens, and CSA Senator Hershel Johnson, were elected Georgia’s two U.S. Senators. Northern Senators, especially those called Radical Republicans, who favored harsher punishments for the South, were aghast at having these high-ranking CSA officials in Congress and refused to seat them. Additionally, there began to be calls against President Johnson for abuse of power and proceedings for his impeachment started to take place.
Finally, the Radical Republicans were appalled at the South’s treatment of the freedmen under laws that were known as Black Codes. Under these laws, blacks were not allowed to vote, testify against whites in court, and could not serve as jurors. With the South’s treatment of Blacks, the Congress introduced the 14th amendment which made African-Americans citizens of the United States and required that they were given the same rights as all U.S. citizens.
The next plan was called Congressional Reconstruction (1866- 1867). Georgia, along with the other Southern states, refused to ratify the 14th amendment. With this action, Georgia and the rest of the South was placed under the authority of Congress. As a result, Southern states were required to pass this amendment in order to be readmitted into the Union. With the South continuing to refuse to pass this amendment, along with the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This act created five military districts in the South, with Georgia, Alabama, and Florida making up the third district.
Under Military Reconstruction General John Pope served as the third district’s first military governor. During this period, Georgia held another constitutional convention, this time in Atlanta. Atlanta was chosen because it was more accepting of the state’s Republican delegates along with the 37 African American delegates that had been elected to serve in the convention. During this convention, Georgia created a new constitution that included a provision for Black voting, public schools, and moving the capital to Atlanta.
After this convention, Republican Rufus Bullock was elected Governor and the Republican-controlled General Assembly began its session. However, the military continued to be a presence in the state due to the continued actions of the Ku Klux Klan and Georgia’s refusal to pass the 15th amendment which gave African-American men the right to vote. Georgia was finally readmitted into the Union in 1870 when reinstated Republican and black legislators voted for the passage of the 15th amendment. However, by 1872 southern Democrats called the redeemers were voted back into office and took control of the Governorship and General Assembly.
GSESS8H6.c
During the Reconstruction period, two organizations emerged that would have an impact on the newly freed slaves. The Freedmen’s Bureau was designed to give freedmen and poor whites an economic boost and an opportunity to learn to read and write through formal education. On the other hand, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) terrorized freedmen through violence and intimidation. By burning schools and intimidating freedmen, the KKK was at odds with the economic and social improvement desired by the Freedmen’s Bureau.
The Freedmen’s Bureau, officially titled “The Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands,” was created to help African-Americans adjust to their newly gained freedom. This program also supported poor whites in the South. The program provided food to whites and blacks who were affected by the war, helped build freedmen’s schools and hospitals, and supervised labor contracts, and other legal disputes. Overall, the Freedmen’s Bureau was moderately successful. During its early years, the organization fed, clothed, and offered shelter to those most harshly affected by the war. There were also successes in its education programs. The Freemen’s Bureau created the first public school program for either blacks or whites in the state and set the stage for Georgia’s modern public school system. In addition, some of the schools created by the Freemen’s Bureau continue to this day throughout the South, including two of Atlanta’s historical black colleges: Clarke Atlanta University and Morehouse College.
Note: The common view concerning the Freedmen’s schools were that they were almost completely created by northerners and staffed primarily by white, northern women. However, Dr. Ronald E. Butchart, from the University of Georgia, has concluded that almost 1/5 of the teachers in the Freedmen’s schools were native Georgians of both races.
The first incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) began in 1867 in Tennessee and was a loosely governed organization consisting mostly of Confederate veterans. This group began as a social club for former Confederate soldiers; however, they became progressively more political and violent. Soon after their creation, they began to use terroristic actions to intimidate freed blacks and white Republicans (derogatorily called Carpetbaggers for those whites who moved from the North, and Scalawags, the Carpetbagger’s white allies from the South) from voting and running for office during the Reconstruction period. Using tactics of intimidation, physical violence and murder against Blacks, the KKK tormented Black organizations such as the Freedmen schools and churches in hopes of establishing social control over African Americans or Blacks and their white allies.
The KKK was successful in their political goals as Democrats gained control of Georgia politics in 1871. Many of the Democrats were members of the Klan, such as former Civil War soldier John B. Gordon. It was over 100 years before Republicans gained a foothold in the state again. Socially, the KKK often used severe acts of violence against the freedmen. In some cases, African Americans or Blacks rebuilt burned schools and churches, and sometimes even fought back when attacked. Nonetheless, the KKK was a major force in the state during the Reconstruction Period and the white supremacy and racial segregation they championed became the norm in Georgia, and the rest of the South, for several decades.
The first KKK disbanded around 1871, when Democrats started to regain political control of the state and Congress passed the Force Act of 1870 and Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also called the Ku Klux Klan Act). These acts authorized federal authority to fight and arrest members of the Klan. The Klan resurfaced in its second incarnation in 1915 after the death of Mary Phagan.
GSESS8H6.d
For a brief period during Reconstruction, African American or Black freedmen were given more political rights than they had ever had and would not have again for 100 years. Primarily, the freedmen were given the right to vote. With this freedom, 32 African Americans or Blacks were elected to the Georgia General Assembly in 1867. However, within days of convening of the General Assembly, these African American or Black legislators were expelled from the legislature.
The reasons for the expulsion of the African American or Black legislators were numerous. As recorded in the Journal of the Senate in 1868, the African Americans or Blacks were simply “persons of color” and, as “non-citizens”, were not entitled to hold office under Georgia’s Constitution. Georgia’s Democratic legislators scoured the state Constitution for any passage that supported the expulsion. Some of the expelled legislators were said to be ineligible for a variety of reasons and were summarily discredited by extreme judgements on their personal characters. Examples included Senator A. A. Bradley, who was declared ineligible due to his conviction in New York for “seduction” (the Georgia Supreme Court later ruled him innocent of the charges). Senator George Wallace was said to be illiterate. Representative J. T. Costin was determined to be a non-resident of the county for which he was elected. Representative Henry M. Turner was framed for unethical practices while serving as postmaster of Macon. Republican friends of the African American or Black legislators were not numerically strong enough to prevent the expulsion. When the two houses of the General Assembly brought the vote for removal to the floors of the chambers, some Republicans voted with the Democrats to ensure that their removal would happen. Four members, considered to be mulattos (persons of mixed black and white ancestry), were allowed to retain their seats because their African American or Black ancestry could not be proven.
The effects of the removal were far-reaching. Republican Governor Rufus Bullock was at odds with the removal and expressed indignation at the action. He ultimately took the expulsion case to Congress, soliciting their help to reinstate the legislators. Led by Robert Toombs, Bullock was censured (an official expression of disapproval) by Georgia’s political leaders due to his attempt to un-do the expulsion. As a result of the expulsion, in the eyes of the U. S. Congress, Georgia remained unreconstructed and was not granted legal return to the United States. The ousted African Americans or Blacks also appealed to Congress for federal intervention before Georgia could be readmitted to the Union.
Dissenting opinions on the questions of removal and reinstatement were printed in Georgia newspapers, also stirring up strong feelings about the action throughout the country. Some papers believed that the courts should render a decision in a test court case and that the decision should be final. Other papers believed that each body of the General Assembly should be the sole judge regarding the eligibility of its members. Through the media of the day, the entire country was agitated by the “act of hostility on the part of the Georgia Legislature.” Georgia was negatively compared to other Southern states as a result.
Meanwhile, African American and Black political leaders suffered “outrages” (an act of wanton cruelty or violence; any gross violation of law or decency). Representative A. Colby was removed from his home and beaten after he requested military protection for a Freedmen’s school. Representative Alf Richardson was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan. Purported charges of rape, murder, and the use of counterfeit money by the African American or Black political leaders kept them at odds with the white population. They were constantly harassed and threatened by the Klan.
African American or Black leaders met in Macon, Georgia in 1868 in a Colored State Convention. Over 135 delegates representing 82 counties met to criticize the Legislature, calling it “illegal and revolutionary.” The main purpose of the convention, however, was to inform the freedmen of the political standing and to offer guidance for the upcoming fall election. Another meeting was scheduled to occur in Southwest Georgia in the town of Camilla. Ousted Representative Philip Joiner led over 200 African Americans or Blacks on a 25-mile march from Albany to Camilla to attend a Republican political rally. Locals in Camilla, who were determined that the Republican rally would not happen, ambushed the marchers as they arrived in Camilla, killing almost a dozen marchers and wounding over 30 others. News of the Camilla Massacre shaped the state and national opinions about the fall elections, causing both Republicans and Democrats to solidify their positions about the 1868 Presidential election. The violence at Camilla intimidated many African Americans or Blacks from participating in the election. In some places, like Albany, African American or Black votes were either destroyed or changed to Democratic votes (Georgia did not use the secret ballot at that time). Republican members of Congress were appalled at the violence and fraud and required Georgia to once more undergo military rule and Radical Reconstruction.
The postponement of restoring Georgia to the United States was delayed as the state was placed under military control per the Georgia Bill. In December, 1869, Federal troops, under the leadership of General Alfred H. Terry, returned to Georgia. Terry ordered the removal of the General Assembly’s ex-Confederates (24 Democrats who could not pass the test-oath about returning to the Union) and replaced them with Republican runners-up. This was known as Terry’s Purge. The expelled African American or Black legislators were reinstated, thus creating a heavy Republican majority in the legislature. By early 1870, Georgia’s General Assembly ratified the Fifteenth Amendment and chose new Senators to send to Washington. In July, 1870, Georgia was readmitted to the Union.
Note: One of the most important contributions of the black legislators of the Reconstruction period was their support of public education. Due to their efforts, the 1868 Constitution called for free general public education in the State of Georgia (though it did not begin until 1872).
GSESS8H6.e
The end of the Civil War left Georgia in dire straits. From northwest Georgia to Savannah, the state was scarred by Sherman’s devastation of the region. Warehouses, factories and railroads were burned as well as farm implements and other means with which to produce were destroyed. Burdened with a serious labor problem and a banking structure that suffered from the failure of war, Georgia’s economic outlook was dismal.
As the war ended, Georgia farmers (particularly those in Southwest Georgia) were determined to sell the cotton they had in storage. Farmers and plantation owners speculated that future cotton crops would depend on an adequate labor supply. As time progressed, large plantations were sub-divided into smaller farms but the total acreage planted dwindled. The number of coastal farms increased as rice plantation lands were subdivided and sold to new owners.
Georgia’s over-emphasis on cotton production, however, continued to leave the state in distress and to endure continued hardships. Even though it was suggested to “cultivate less land, use more fertilizer, and economize on labor” in 1867, Georgia farmers continued to plant enormous amounts of cotton as cotton prices suggested grand profits. However, the season would be a failure. Repeated crop failures left the state struggling for many years.
During 1865 – 1872, Georgia farmers did grow wheat and corn but diversification of agricultural crops was not to come until the appearance of the boll weevil in the late 1910s.
As restrictions on trade were removed, goods from Northern manufacturers filled shelves of burgeoning businesses in Georgia cities. Buying goods on credit allowed Georgians to purchase items that they did without during the war. Banks eventually opened to take care of the monetary needs of Georgia’s people. Retail stores, often operated by Jews, Northerners and sutlers (people who, during war, followed armies and sold provisions to soldiers), populated the major cities of Atlanta, Savannah, Columbus, Augusta and Macon. Atlanta, though three-quarters destroyed by Sherman’s army during the war, experienced rapid growth due to the dedication of rebuilding the railroads. With 20,000 people moving to Atlanta by 1867, the city was experiencing growth better than ever. Becoming an economic center was essential to the decision to make Atlanta Georgia’s new state capital. As the rail systems in Georgia were reestablished, Columbus revitalized its manufacturing importance in the state. In Savannah, shipping cotton resumed. Textile mills became a vital part of Georgia’s economy. While some of Georgia’s citizens were benefitting from the rebuilding explosion, many citizens struggled to make ends meet, particularly agriculturally based businesses.
After the Civil War, people in the former Confederate states suffered a serious shortage of hard currency. Due to the printing of what would become worthless Confederate money, many of the major land owners were unable to pay their labor forces, while the members of the labor force were unable to find work that paid adequate wages. In theory, the labor institutions of sharecropping and tenant farming should have been mutually beneficial to both sides where “cash poor” land owners provided land and other resources to the laborer in return for the laborers’ work on the farm. However, landowners soon found ways to keep their employees indebted to them in hopes of preventing them (both poor Blacks and Whites) from gaining the ability to purchase their own land. This also stifled their ability to take leadership roles in the cultural, economic, and political arenas of the South.
There were many similarities between a sharecropper and tenant farmer. Both usually consisted of poor and illiterate blacks and whites. Both agreed to exchange their labor and a portion of their crops to a land owner in return for land to work. Finally, both groups had to buy certain necessities from the landowner’s store which caused many to find themselves deeply indebted to the landowner and decreased their chances of getting out of the system. However, the major difference between the two groups was that tenant farmers usually owned their own tools, animals, and other equipment, while the sharecropper brought nothing but their labor into the agreement.
Sharecropping and tenant farming were entrenched in Georgia’s agricultural system until the mid-twentieth century. The system began to erode for many reasons including the Great Migration of African-Americans, along with rural whites to the North and cities in the South during and after World War I, the devastation of the boll weevil in the 1910s and 1920s, and the technological advances in farming during the time period. Though this system has almost completely vanished in the state, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia, there were still 2,607 Georgians who were classified as tenant farmers in 1997.
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