Download Reconstruction 1865 – 1876: Reconstruction – postwar reunification

Reconstruction
1865 – 1876: Reconstruction – postwar reunification
“Freedmen” = free slaves
 They wanted:
- Right to vote
- Access to education
- Land of their masters
 Their idea of colonization is relocating the whites. They maintained the land and made it
valuable, not their masters.
 Favored by Reid, the author:
- He talks about how polite, refined, well-dressed, and industrious they are
- He’s astonished that whites demand their constitutional rights back
- He’s impressed by the freedmen’s education – they’re literate and have accumulated
property.
- The whites are lazy and overly-demanding
Chase is skeptical of enfranchising freedmen
 He is afraid it will raise the number of ignorant voters. They’ll be tricked into voting for the
people their masters vote for.
- He’s particularly afraid of field hands being ignorant.
 Blacks responded: they will educate the ignorant
- The Union League read newspapers aloud to inform blacks about candidates
Whites in Savannah
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They wanted:
- The restoration of all rights
- Rejection of social equality
- Apprenticeship of freedmen so they’d basically remain field hands
- State legislatures to make decisions about the status of freedmen, not the federal
government
Lincoln’s Plan
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Offered during the war in an effort to weaken the Confederate war effort
Disliked by radical republicans
Only in effect in 3 states with Union control (LA, TN, AR)
In Louisiana, sugar planters controlled the state government before and after the war
They decided on using annual labor contracts that provided room and board for freedmen, but
only gave them 5% of the crop profit and only paid them at the end of the year
They also passed a vagrancy law that required people to get a job, or otherwise get arrested.
Criticism: Congress doesn’t like this because it’s too much like slavery
Johnson’s Plan
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In effect in 8 states after the war
The Black Codes were a consequence of the state decision on labor to replace slavery.
The Black Codes were state laws that:
- Forbid slaves from buying and renting land
- Required buying a license to open a business
- Passed vagrancy laws that made unemployment illegal
- They basically limited their options to funnel freedmen back to annual labor contracts
White men voted and drew up a Constitution and ratified the 13th amendment. Congress was
horrified when Confederate leaders asked to join, and refused.
Radical and moderate republicans liked it initially, but after they see the aftermath, they
rejected it.
Lincoln’s plan (1863)
(3 States)
Johnson’s plan (1865)
(8 States)
Congressional
legislation (1866-1870)
Would confederates be
punished?
Lenient
Stricter
14th Amendment
General pardon for
most if 10% of voters
took an oath of loyalty
in a state and the state
ratified the 13th
amendment
General pardon for all
except high-ranking
officers if state took the
loyalty oath
Reconstruction Act
(disenfranchisement;
military rule)
What kind of labor
would replace slavery?
Not stated; vague
States decide
Resulted in annual
labor contracts
Resulted in Black Codes
which led to annual
labor contracts
Civil Rights Act:
freedmen can sue,
own/rent land, own a
business
14th Amendment
What rights would the
freed slaves be given?
Not stated; vague
The worst political tension in U.S. History
Johnson vs. Congress
States decide
14th Amendment
Resulted in no rights
being given
Reconstruction Act
(enfranchise black men
and ratify the 14th to
reenter Union)
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Johnson = conservative republican who was originally a Democrat but changed parties. His
sympathies were not with the slaves.
Congress = moderate and radical republicans
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14th
Amendment
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It was passed by Congress  vetoed by Johnson who thought states should decide  overruled
by Congress
Repudiated the Dred Scot decision which said that blacks weren’t citizens
Repudiated the Black Codes
Guaranteed blacks equal protection under law, rights of life, liberty, and happiness, due process
in court trials – similar to the Civil Rights Act
- But an amendment is more permanent than a law
Shift in the view of federal government and shift in the balance of power:
- In the 10th Amendment: the villain was the federal government and was seen as a
threat. In this time period (1780s) there was a fear of tyranny.
- In the 14th Amendment: the villain was the states who were taking away the rights of
Voting:
- Enfranchising black men and connecting citizenship with voting
- Defining who can vote: all men over 21
- The federal government is defining who can vote for the 1st time  shift in power
(before=states decided)
- States can disenfranchise them, but will have less representation in Congress
Punishment: Confederates can’t be Senators or Representatives in the House, or Electors unless
Congress votes otherwise
1st words to be used in the Constitution:
- “equal” = guarantees all persons equal protection (involves all cases of discrimination)
- “male” = denies suffrage to women even though they had fought for it
Reconstruction Act
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Starting over: canceled Lincoln and Johnson’s Plan
Established military rule in Southern States
- Generals’ primary task = register voters, set up state governments, enfranchise black
men, and ratify the 14th amendment in each state  state can then reenter the Union
Brought black political participation
- Black men could vote to create the new state governments. Blacks elected black
officers:
- Local= sheriffs, magistrates (600 to legislatures); National = Congress (16 to Congress)
- Unprecedented – no other country immediately enfranchised slaves
Who voted republican in the South?
- Freedmen, scalawags (=Southerners who switched from Democrat to the Republican),
and carpetbaggers (=Northerners who came down to the South)
- Disenfranchised Confederates
Republicans:
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Taxed land
Spent revenue on 1st public school system in the South and public building projects
(hospitals, railroads, etc.)
Southerners saw these governments as corrupt and illegitimate because they didn’t
represent interests of white Southerners
Impeachment
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Impeachment means to be accused of charges
Who can be impeached: President, Vice President, all Civil Officers of the U.S. (NOT Congress)
- A person can be impeached for conviction of treason, bribery, or other severe crimes
House of Representatives has the power to impeach
After the House impeaches someone, the Senate conducts a trial to determine whether the
impeached president is guilty of the charges
In order to be removed from office, the person must be convicted as guilty by the Senate
Only 2 presidents have been impeached:
1) Johnson:
- Accused for breaking Tenure of Office Act (=the president can’t fire any official chose by
Congress without the Senate’s approval). Congress passed this act because they feared
Johnson would fire Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War who sympathized with
moderate republicans
- Impeached, not convicted – not removed
- 2/3 vote: need 36 votes, and the final was 35:19
- Why? The evidence wasn’t serious enough and there was a fear of permanently
weakening the presidency
2) Clinton
- Impeached, not convicted – not removed
- Accused of lying under oath
Consequences of impeachment (but not removal): it’s humiliating, weakens their power, and is
a distraction