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Chapter 12 – Reconstruction
Section Notes
Plans for Reconstruction
Congressional Reconstruction
Republicans in Charge
Reconstruction Collapses
History Close-up
African Americans and
Reconstruction
Quick Facts
Hopes Raised and Denied
Visual Summary:
Reconstruction
Video
Reconstruction
Maps
Military Districts, 1867
The Election of 1876
Images
Human Costs of the Civil War
Freedmen’s Village
Political Cartoon: Reconstruction
In the Shadow of Slavery
Plans for Reconstruction
The Main Idea
Northern leaders had different ideas for dealing with the
many issues and challenges of restoring the southern
states to the Union.
Reading Focus
• What challenges faced the South after the Civil War?
• What actions did Union leaders take during wartime to
reconstruct the nation after the war’s end?
• How did Lincoln’s assassination affect the nation?
• Why did President Johnson and Congress differ over
Reconstruction?
The South after the War
• Property losses
– The value of farms and plantations declined steeply and
suffered from neglect and loss of workers.
– The South’s transportation network was in very poor
shape.
• Challenges for African Americans
– Had gained freedom, but had no money and little if any
education. The poor economy made job prospects bleak.
– They wanted educational and economic opportunities.
• How to treat the South
– Many legal and political questions regarding the South
needed to be answered.
Wartime Reconstruction
The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in March 1865 to help
southern refugees and freed slaves.
Northerners disagreed over how to treat the South, but as he
stated in his inaugural address, Lincoln hoped to treat the
South “with malice toward none and charity toward all.”
New roles for African Americans were tested. In territories
under Union control, freed slaves were hired to work on
plantations for pay, or were allowed to rent and farm the
land. 40-acre plots in South Carolina and Georgia coastal
lands were given away. In Louisiana, freedmen signed
contracts to work for a year for wages. Some planters
deducted basic items from the wages, and little money was
left over.
Reconstruction Plans
Lincoln’s Plan
• The Proclamation of
Amnesty and
Reconstruction, December
1863, gave forgiveness to
those who pledged Union
loyalty and support for
emancipation.
• When 10 percent of voters
had taken the oath, a new
state government could be
organized. The new
government was required
to ban slavery.
• This plan for readmission
was known as the Ten
Percent Plan.
Opposition
• Lincoln’s plan sparked
debate in Congress.
• Some thought only power
to re-admit belonged to
Congress; others thought
the South never officially
left the Union.
• Thaddeus Stevens felt
majority rule was being
discarded.
• Congress refused to allow
members from the states
readmitted under Lincoln’s
plan to be seated.
Congress Makes a Plan
• Wade-Davis Bill
– In 1864, Congress passed its own plan for
Reconstruction.
– A majority of white male citizens would be
required to take a loyalty oath before
elections could be held.
• Lincoln killed the bill using a pocket veto,
ignoring it since it passed in the last 10 days of
the legislative session.
Lincoln’s Assassination
Popular
president
• The president did not live long enough to test his
wartime popularity against Congress for control
of Reconstruction plans.
• Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater on April 14,
1865, and died the next morning.
John Wilkes • John Wilkes Booth was part of a conspiracy,
Booth
and others were supposed to kill Vice President
Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State
William Seward.
• A grief stricken nation mourned Lincoln’s death.
Concern
and grief
• White southerners were concerned. Lincoln’s
death meant a change in Reconstruction plans
and a new president. Some disliked Andrew
Johnson and felt he was a traitor.
Johnson and Congress Differ over
Reconstruction
Republican leaders thought they could work with Johnson,
but they did not understand his views. Born into poverty,
Johnson despised the wealthy planter class, but he held no
ill will toward southerners. He supported states’ rights and
limits on government power.
Johnson’s plan added to Lincoln’s list of exceptions. Wealthy
southerners would have to apply for pardons, but there was
no set percentage of loyal voters. It required a convention
to be called to repeal secession, an amended constitution
banning slavery, and a refusal to pay Confederate debts.
Johnson pushed forward with his plan, and all but one state
was restored when Congress met in December. Congress
was not happy, and the battle for control would begin.
Congressional Reconstruction
The Main Idea
Congress took control of Reconstruction, as a new, radical
branch of the Republican Party began emerging.
Reading Focus
• How did the South respond to Reconstruction under President
Johnson?
• Why did Congress take control of Reconstruction, and what
changes did it make?
• How did Radical Reconstruction differ from earlier Reconstruction
plans, and what were its effects?
Reconstruction under President Johnson
•
Johnson’s attitude
– Deep-rooted prejudice continued. African Americans had rights, but those
rights did not include a role in government. Johnson declared, “White men
alone must manage the South.”
– Johnson pardoned nearly everyone who applied, and prewar leaders were
restored to power. Congress refused to seat these former Confederates.
•
The Black Codes
– Designed to keep freedmen in slavelike conditions, Black Codes gave planters
a cheap labor supply. The laws varied by state, but they allowed freedmen
certain rights, such as the right to marry and to own property. The series of
laws kept freedmen dependent on the plantation for their existence.
•
Keeping a way of life
– Local sheriffs and Civil War veterans supported and enforced these laws. White
citizens formed private groups, supposedly to keep order in the South. The Ku
Klux Klan formed in 1866 and soon began terrorizing African Americans and
whites who were loyal to the Union. Violence against blacks was rarely
prosecuted.
Congress Takes Control of Reconstruction
Northern
concerns
Northerners felt if southern states were allowed to
abuse freedmen, the North’s victory would be
diminished. A New Jersey paper warned, “The
reptile spirit of secession is still alive.”
Congress
fights back
Radical Republicans wanted to reshape southern
society and favored a more thorough program of
Reconstruction. They wanted freed slaves to have
economic opportunities and political equality. But
moderate Republicans still controlled Congress.
Johnson
versus
Congress
Moderates did not want a social revolution, but
wanted to help and protect freedmen. They passed
two bills, including a Civil Rights Act. Johnson’s
vetoes pushed the moderates to help the Radical
Republicans to take control of Reconstruction.
Radical Reconstruction
Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, writing the
Civil Rights Act into the constitution and granting citizenship
to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”
Republicans took control in the election of 1866 after riots
in the South discredited Johnson’s views. Radicals now had
the votes needed to pass the Reconstruction Acts.
These laws put the southern states under U.S. military
control and required them to draft new constitutions.
Congress also passed the Tenure of Office Act in March
1867 to keep Johnson from using his power as commander
in chief to interfere with Reconstruction.
Radical Reconstruction
Johnson’s impeachment
The Fifteenth Amendment
• Edward Stanton, Lincoln’s
secretary of war, had stayed on
in Johnson’s cabinet.
• During the impeachment trial,
Republicans nominated General
Grant as their presidential
candidate.
• Stanton supported congressional
Republicans and prevented
Johnson from undermining
Congress’s program. In response,
Johnson fired him.
• The House of Representatives
voted to impeach Johnson for
violating the Tenure of Office Act.
• The Senate failed to convict by
one vote, and Johnson remained
in office.
• Although no longer in control of
Reconstruction, Johnson
continued to issue pardons, and
by the end of 1868 the rights of
almost all Confederate leaders
had been restored.
• The 1868 election was close, but
the African American vote in the
South gave Grant an electoral
college victory.
• Republicans pushed through the
Fifteenth Amendment, which
extended suffrage to all African
American males nationwide.
• This brought millions of potential
new voters to the Republican
Party and aimed to protect
freedmen from pardoned former
Confederates. However, it did not
ban denial of suffrage for reasons
other than race.
Republicans in Charge
The Main Idea
Republican Reconstruction had significant impact on life in
the South.
Reading Focus
• What changes did Republican government bring to the South?
• What was life after slavery like for African Americans?
• How did Reconstruction affect patterns of land ownership and
land use in the South?
Republican Government Brings Change to the
South
Scalawags
Carpetbaggers
• Scalawag was the name
given to southerners who
supported the shift in
power to Congress and the
army.
• Many were farmers who
had never owned slaves.
• Some joined the
Republicans to prevent the
planter class from
returning to power; others
were southerners ruined
by the war; still others
wanted to end the
dependence on plantation
agriculture.
• The scalawags allied with
carpetbaggers,
northerners who came
south to take part in the
region’s political and
economic rebirth.
• Scorned as low-class
persons who could carry
their belongings in a
carpetbag, many were
educated and came from a
variety of backgrounds.
• Many bought abandoned
land cheaply or formed
partnerships with planters.
Republican Government Brings Change to the
South
• African Americans in government
– Forming the largest group of Republican voters in the South,
nearly 700 African Americans served in southern state
legislatures during Reconstruction. They included Hiram
Revels, who took the Senate seat held by Jefferson Davis
before the war.
• New state governments
– Brought many changes, including the region’s first public school
systems. The infrastructure was repaired, facilities built, and
railroads added. Facilities were open to all southerners, but
were usually segregated by race. The Black Codes were
repealed in every state. The changes angered those formerly in
control, and some freedmen felt more needed to be done to
help them obtain land.
Life after Slavery for African Americans
Freedom meant a variety of things, including reuniting with
family and the search for employment. Some moved west
or north, but most stayed in the South.
Most eagerly sought education and began to establish their
own institutions, including churches and schools. The
churches became centers of community life.
A wide variety of other organizations were created,
including debate clubs, drama societies, trade associations,
fire companies, and mutual aid societies. Freedmen were
taking the lead to improve themselves and gain control of
their lives.
Reconstruction and Land Ownership
Southern
Homestead
Act
Giving away planters’ land to former slaves was
considered too extreme. Instead, Congress passed
a law setting aside 45 million acres of governmentowned land to provide free farms.
New labor
system
Under the new sharecropping system the
employer provided the land, tools, seed—basically
everything but the labor. If able, some switched to
tenant farming, renting the land they farmed
from the landowner. Independence was difficult.
Industrial
growth
Southern cities grew rapidly. Atlanta and other
cities became business centers, with textile mills
and other manufacturing ventures being built.
Workers still earned lower wages in the South, and
many were locked in a cycle of debt.
Reconstruction Collapses
The Main Idea
A variety of events and forces led to the end of
Reconstruction, which left a mixed legacy for the nation.
Reading Focus
• What problems caused support for Reconstruction to decline?
• What events brought Reconstruction to an end?
• What was Reconstruction’s legacy for the South and for the rest
of the nation?
Problems with Reconstruction
Terrorist Groups
• Reconstruction brought
violent opposition
throughout the South.
• The KKK and similar
organizations wanted to
restore the old political
order.
• Their methods included
threats, house burnings,
and killings against not
only blacks but whites as
well.
• State governments were
unable to control violence.
Enforcement Acts
• Three Enforcement Acts
were passed, setting
heavy penalties for anyone
attempting to prevent a
qualified person from
voting.
• They banned the use of
disguises and gave the
army and federal courts
power to capture and
punish KKK members.
• While the KKK was soon
brought under control,
other groups continued to
operate.
Problems with Reconstruction
Support declines
Lost faith
• White southerners felt the
Acts threatened individual
freedoms.
• Costly building programs
raised taxes and put state
governments in debt.
• Northerners were
dismayed that the army
was still needed to keep
the peace in the South.
• Liberal Republicans
helped the Democrats
regain control of the
House of Representatives.
• State governments were
seen as ineffective.
• Economic factors came
into play, with the
depression that began in
1873 taking more
attention.
• There was widespread
poverty and lack of land
reform for African
Americans.
The End of Reconstruction
Supreme
Court
decisions
Redeeming
the South
The election
of 1876
Three Supreme Court decisions seriously weakened
the goals and operations of Reconstruction. The
Slaughterhouse Cases, United States v.
Cruikshank, and United States v. Reese served to
limit the impact of the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Violence increased, and southern Democrats grew
stronger and bolder. Grant refused assistance since
the northern public was “tired out” by South’s
continuing problems. By 1876 Redeemers had
won back almost all of the states.
The presidential election was disputed with charges
of massive voting fraud. With the Compromise of
1877 Republicans agreed to withdraw federal
troops in the South, and in return, Rutherford B.
Hayes became president.
Reconstruction’s Legacy
The 14th and 15th Amendments began permanent changes
across the United States. Former slaves were now citizens
with voting rights.
The New South was becoming industrial, but in many ways
it remained the same. White southerners deeply resented
that the federal government controlled their states.
For a century after Reconstruction ended, the South was
know as the Solid South, always voting Democratic. It was
not until the 1970s that the Republican Party was able to
gain ground in the South.
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