Chapter 15 Worksheet

•Who is the author of this chapter and what information can you find about the author elsewhere in the text? 

o The author is Jerrell H. Shofner

o He is a retired professor of history at the University of Central Florida

•According to this chapter, list 2 things that were in desperate need of “reconstruction.”  

o Two things that needed reconstruction were the economy and political institutions.

• Florida stands apart from other areas of the South in the way that General Newton handled two main areas: politics & freedmen.  Discuss both.

o General Newton asked farmers to explain that their slaves were now free, and they would now be paid for their work on the plantations. 

• Demand for cotton was (increasing or decreasing) during the early years of reconstruction.

• White And black farmers alike were given a new structure in which to run their land (called by 3 different terms in the text).  What is one of the names of this new agricultural system used by the author?

o Sharecropping, crop liens, and tenant farming.

• What 2 issues engulfed Florida as well as the entire nations, just as Lincoln feared it would?

o Anger and bitterness engulfed Florida and the entire nation. 

• Shofner describes a very sticky situation regarding President Johnson restoring land ownership to former confederates.  Reflect on how this affects the statewide condition at the time.

o The “direct tax sales” transferred hundreds of pieces of property from Confederates to Unionists and when President Johnson returned the land to confederates it caused much strife across Florida. It epitomized the struggle over Reconstruction in Florida.

• What does the text mean about Lincoln’s “non-punitive ideas”?

o Lincoln’s “non-punitive ideas” means that he did not want to punish the Confederate soldiers for fighting for their state and wanted to “let bygones be bygones.” This included allowing Confederate’s to return to their property, be allowed to vote and hold political office, and still control the economy of the South.

• We know that “Black Codes” took shape despite the efforts of the Freedman’s Bureau.  Discuss the ways that Florida fell into the practices.

o When the first elections took place after the Civil War, all elected officials were white men with only one member of the Union elected. The government of Florida was full of former Confederates. This allowed the state to put into place a lengthy series of laws that caused a discrepancy in the punishment of white and blacks as well as not allowing blacks to give testimony against whites.

• Why was the Civil Rights Act of 1865 so ineffective?

o The Civil Rights Act of 1865 was so ineffective because the federal government was unable/unwilling to enforce the Act in regards to local and state issues that were popping up all over the state. This allowed numerous events and laws to be passed that negatively impacted the life of Freedmen throughout the state.

• What legislative measures marked the end of martial law in Florida?

o The Compromise of 1877 ended martial law in Florida.

• Describe the internal divisions that developed in Florida during the reconstruction years.

o The internal divisions that developed in Florida during the reconstruction years 

• What 2 measures were taken by conservative whites to prevent Freedmen from exercising their rights to suffrage?

o They treated them poorly through the county criminal courts. They were no allowed to give testimony in cases involving whites, and they substituted corporal punishment for fines/ Imprisonment for blacks. 

• What is the contrasting difference between reconstruction effects in middle and peninsular Florida?

o It brought a lot of struggle and conflict to middle Florida because of the political and racial policies. Peninsular Florida was able to benefit from the settlement opportunities that reconstruction brought. 

•When Shofner turns from reconstruction to renewal, list industries and individuals who played a role.

o Frederick DeBary and Henry S. Sanford played a big role. They brought the tourism industry to Florida because it was a warm escape in the winter. Henry also specifically brought the citrus industry to Florida. 

• The late entry of what industry had a negative impact on Florida’s renewal?

o Railroad Construction.

• The political temperature in Florida changed dramatically in the renewal years.  Expound on that and include the one negative piece of legislature that added to already active Black Codes.

o The political atmosphere of Florida went from primarily former Confederates being in power to being controlled politically by Republicans, many of them former Unionists and those who had moved down from northern states, to back to being controlled by Democrats. 

o A poll tax was enacted in 1899, which severely limited black voters from showing up to the polls