leaders from power. This left control of
the Southern states in the hands of African
Americans and whites loyal to the
Union. Some of these whites were criticized
by Southerners, who called them
carpetbaggers. The term referred to the
idea that they were Northerners who
came to the South carrying only what
they could put in a small bag. Southerners
also accused them of coming to take
advantage of the situation. Some white
Southerners cooperated with the blacks
and carpetbaggers. Other Southerners
accused those who cooperated of doing
so in order to further their own interests.
They called them scalawags.
Congress also required Southern states
to ratify (approve) the 14th Amendment
to the Constitution before they
could rejoin the Union. This amendment
guaranteed citizenship to African
Americans. By 1870, all 11 former
Confederate states had approved the
amendment and rejoined the Union.
Freed African Americans
Meanwhile, nearly 4 million former
slaves tried to start new lives in the
South. A government agency called the
Freedmen’s Bureau helped them. It provided
medical care and food. It also built
more than 1,000 schools.
In 1870 the 15th Amendment to the
Constitution guaranteed African Americans
the right to vote. These new voters
helped to elect African Americans to
many offices, including seats in Congress.
Despite these gains, most African
Americans in the South were still poor.
They had no way to buy land and ended
up working on farms for low pay.
Reconstruction Ends
Reconstruction gradually came to an
end for several reasons. Some radical
leaders died. People accused some
A cartoon from the 1870s makes fun of a
Northern politician. It shows him as a carpetbagger,
or a Northerner who moved to
the South with only what he could carry in
a small bag. (At the time, traveling bags
were commonly made of carpet.)
34 Reconstruction BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Reconstruction governments of
dishonesty. New terrorist groups like
the Ku Klux Klan stopped African
Americans from voting or running for
office. As a result, Southern Democrats
(who had supported the Confederacy)
took back control of governments in
the South.
The final blow came with the presidential
election of 1876. The vote was so
close that both Republicans and Democrats
claimed victory. The Democrats
allowed the Republican winner, Rutherford
B. Hayes, to become president only
after making a deal. Hayes promised to
remove U.S. Army troops from the
South. The troops left in 1877. Southern
Democrats were then in complete
control of the South. Reconstruction
was over.
#More to explore
African Americans • American CivilWar
• Hayes, Rutherford B. • Johnson,
Andrew • Ku Klux Klan
Recycling
Recycling is a way to reduce the amount
of garbage that is thrown away. Every
year the United States produces millions
of tons of garbage. The garbage is sent to
landfills, where some of it pollutes the
land and air. As a result of recycling,
some things that would have been
thrown away are reused instead in new
products.
What Gets Recycled
Many items can be recycled, including
aluminum cans, glass bottles, newspapers,
magazines, and plastics. Composting
is also a form of recycling. It involves
saving certain food wastes and mixing
them with grass clippings and leaves.
This creates a nutrient-rich mixture that
can be used in gardens. Even water can
be recycled. Before water is reused, it is
cleaned and purified at a wastewater
treatment plant.
Types of Recycling
There are two types of recycling: internal
and external. In internal recycling,
the waste products from manufacturing
processes are reused within the same
factory. For example, when copper tubing
is being made, the ends of the tubes
are usually trimmed. These copper ends
are melted down and used to make new
tubing.
In external recycling, people collect recyclable
materials. The recyclables are
brought to a recycling facility, where
they are sorted, cleaned, and prepared to
be sold. Industries then buy the material
and use it to make new products.
Recycling starts when recyclable materials
are sorted and left to be picked up.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Recycling 35
Importance of Recycling
Governments and groups that try to
protect the environment have encouraged
people to recycle. They say that
recycling is important in several ways. It
reduces pollution of air, water, and land.
It also protects natural resources such as
trees, minerals, and oil. These do not get
used up as quickly if people can reuse
existing products made from these
resources.
#More to explore
Environment • Natural Resource
• Pollution
Red Cross and
Red Crescent
The International Movement of the
Red Cross and Red Crescent is a
collection of groups that help people
during times of war and natural
disasters. The groups are not religious.
However, the Red Cross is the name
used in mainly Christian countries. The
Red Crescent is the name used in
mainly Muslim countries. (A cross is a
symbol of Christianity and a crescent is
a symbol of Islam.)
More than 180 Red Cross and Red
Crescent societies, or groups, exist
throughout the world. For example,
