Download Ch 4 S 4 Notes

Notes from The Americans
Chapter 4: The Union in Peril
Section 4: Reconstruction and its effects and Thematic Review
California Academic Standards: 11.1.4
11.1 Students analyze the significant events in the founding of the nation and its attempts to realize the philosophy
of government described in the Declaration of Independence.
.4 Examine the effects of the Civil War and Reconstruction and of the industrial revolution, including demographic
shifts and the emergence in the late nineteenth century of the United States as a world power.
Objectives:
Following lecture and reading of this section, students will be able to:
1. Explain the differing ideas Lincoln, Johnson, and Congress had about Reconstruction
2. Summarize economic conditions in the postwar south
3. Describe the obstacles African Americans faced
4. Identify reasons for the collapse of congressional Reconstruction
The Politics of Reconstruction





Reconstruction- period of time after the Civil War in which the U.S. began to rebuild 1865-1877.
o Term used to describe process federal gov’t used to readmit defeated confederate states to the union.
Congress, Presidents Lincoln and Johnson all held differing views on how Reconstruction should be handled.
Lincoln
Favored leniency
o 10% Plan
 Gov’t pardon all
confederates (except
criminals & high ranking
officials) who swore
allegiance to the Union.
 Once 10% of those who
voted in 1860 took this
oath, the state could form
a new gov’t w/senators
and reps.
 4 states moved toward
readmission this way.
Radical Republicans angered by
Lincoln’s 10% plan.
o Wanted to destroy all
political power of former
slaveholders and wanted
African Americans to be
given full citizenship and the
right to vote.
Assassinated before he could
fully implement his plan.




Plans for Reconstruction
Johnson
Differed just slightly from
Lincoln’s.
o Tried to break the planters’
power by excluding highranking Confederates and
wealthy southern landowners
from taking the oath needed
for voting privileges.
o Pardoned 13,000 former
Confederates because “white
men needed to manage the
south.”
7 remaining states agreed to
Johnson’s plan
Republicans see weaknesses in
Johnson’s plan.
Vetoed Civil Rights Act of 1866
that would give full citizenship
to blacks and prohibit
discrimination based on race.





Congress
Republicans angered by
Johnson’s actions tried to shift
Reconstruction power from the
executive branch to the
legislative branch.
Passed 14th amendment
overriding Johnson’s veto of the
CRA of 1866 and the
Freedmen’s Bureau Act.
14th Am.- Prevented states from
denying rights and privileges to
any U.S. Citizen.
Refused to recognize state gov’ts
readmitted by Lincoln &
Johnson.
Forced ex-Confederate states to
allow African-American men to
vote & to ratify 14th Am. to be
readmitted to the Union.


Johnson impeached on a technicality because republicans hated him.
o Senate did not convict so he remained in office.
The 15th Am. passed; no person can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous servitude.”
Reconstructing Society





A devastated economy, dropped property values, and a drastically reduced population make rebuilding the
South difficult.
Southern Republicans-scalawags, carpetbaggers, and African Americans- have very different goals, especially
regarding civil rights equality, leading to a lack of unity in the republican party.
o Scalawags- White Southerners that joined Republican Party. Generally small farmers who wanted to
improve their economic position and keep former wealthy planters to regain power.
o Carpetbaggers- Northerners who moved to the south after the war because of low cost.
Former slaves test new freedoms, form churches, schools, and take an active role in politics.
Freed slaves want their own land
o Promised 40 acres and a mule by General Sherman
o Republicans do not want to take land
Economic necessity forces many former slaves and poor whites to become sharecroppers
The Collapse of Reconstruction




The Ku Klux Klan terrorizes African Americans
o Killed 20,000 men, women, and children.
o Congress passed Enforcement Acts to help stop KKK violence.
Supreme Court decisions undermine the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments
Democrats regain control of the South
Reconstruction ends without much real progress against discrimination.
State
Seceded from
Union
Joined
Confederacy
Readmitted into
Union
Democratic Party Establishes
Control
South
Carolina
December 20,
1860
February 4, 1861
July 9, 1868
April 11, 1877
Mississippi
January 9, 1861
February 4, 1861
February 23, 1870
January 4, 1876
Florida
January 10, 1861
February 4, 1861
June 25, 1868
January 2, 1877
Alabama
January 11, 1861
February 4, 1861
July 14, 1868
November 16, 1874
Georgia
January 19, 1861
February 4, 1861
July 15, 1870
November 1, 1871
Louisiana
January 26, 1861
February 4, 1861
June 25 or July 9,
1868
January 2, 1877
Texas
February 1, 1861
March 2, 1861
March 30, 1870
January 14, 1873
Virginia
April 17, 1861
May 7, 1861
January 26, 1870
October 5, 1869
Arkansas
May 6, 1861
May 18, 1861
June 22, 1868
November 10, 1874
North
Carolina
May 21, 1861
May 16, 1861
July 4, 1868
November 28, 1876
Tennessee
June 8, 1861
May 16, 1861
July 24, 1866
October 4, 1869