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History Block II Review Information
Westward Expansion after the Revolution
Review from prior block:
13 original colonies: Maine, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Won independence from
England in 1781.
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 formally ended the American Revolution.
England ceded all lands west of the original colonies to the Mississippi
River (except Florida) to the new United States of America: Michigan,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West VA, Kentucky, Vermont, New
Hampshire, Mississippi, Alabama.
Louisiana Purchase from France (1803) – France owned Louisiana
(everything west of 13 colonies to Rocky Mountains)
Bought from France for $15 million ($219 million today). Doubled the size
of the U.S. Purchasing new lands was not in constitution, but Jefferson
thought it was too important and bought territory for $15 million doubling
the size of the country (800K sq miles and 200K people). Sent James
Monroe to France to do negotiating. Originally wanted to purchase New
Orleans for $2 million. Were surprised when Napoleon offered the entire
territory.
New Material:
Thomas Jefferson, president, sent Lewis and Clark to scout west of the
Mississippi River ( Montana, N Dakota, S Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming,
Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark Expedition – 1804-1806. Started in St.
Louis on Mississippi River. Indian Guide was a 17-year-old Shoshone Indian
guide named Sacagawea. Returned after two years after many thought
were dead (only 1 person died). Made it to the Pacific Ocean via the
Missouri and Columbia Rivers.
Ceded - To take land by “treaty”
Annexed - To take land by “force”
Territory - Land before it becomes a formal state
Monroe Doctrine - 1823
Written by John Quincy Adams when he was Secretary of State. New
attempts to colonize Americas (entire Western Hemisphere) are seen as
acts of aggression. Existing European colonies were not included in this.
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The idea of Manifest Destiny was that the United States was destined to
expand across the continent from the Atlantic seaboard to the Pacific
Ocean. Advocates believed that this expansion was not only wise, but
that it was obvious (manifest) and unchangeable (destiny). Term used by
congressman and newspaper editors in mid 1800’s that the US was
destined (by God) to expand coast to coast.
Treaty with Spain in 1819 – got Florida.. Ceded by formal treaty for $5M.
Western boundary in dispute between Spain and US. Dispute over Spain’s
claim to Oregon Territory was also resolved by Florida treaty of 1819.
Texas was an Independent Republic (country) in 1836 “Lone Star State”.
Annexed to U.S. in 1845 becoming 28th state. Pressure to make it a slave
state to maintain balance of power. (“Texas or Disunion” was campaign
slogan in the south). Many bloody battles, including the Alamo. Texas was
admitted without the formality of a treaty. It added 376,000 square miles
to the territory of the United States.
Treaty with Great Britain for the Oregon Country in 1846 – U.S. got Idaho,
Washington, Oregon.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848 – ended Mexican-American war (184648). Received Alta California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona.
Discovery of gold in California create rush that increased population
enough to apply or statehood in 1849. As it was a free state, it tipped the
balance of in favor of the union, reigniting the slavery issue.
Gadsden Purchase - In 1853 the United States bought from Mexico a strip
of land for $10M, now forming that part of Arizona and New Mexico lying
south of the Gila River and extending from the Rio Grande, near El Paso,
on the east, to the Colorado River on the west. GEN. JAMES GADSDEN
was at that time ambassador to Mexico and negotiated the transfer, and
this territory, 45,000 square miles, has always borne his name. It was
needed for southern route of Transcontinental Railroad.
Alaska - This valuable fur and mineral producing country was first claimed
by Russia by right of discovery. By treaty of March 30, 1867, ratified by the
Senate in special session, June 20, 1867, Russia ceded the whole of the
territory, 557,390 square miles in extent, to the United States for $7,200,000.
Hawaii – Annexed 1898.
Trails of the American West
Be familiar and be able to identify the following Trails:
Lewis and Clark
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Overland/Pioneer Trails
Transcontinental Railroad (Union and Central Pacific)
Trail of Tears (Indian Removal)
Plight of Native Americans
1823 – Supreme Court decision that NA could occupy but not own land in
US. “No Title/No Land”
1830 – President Andrew Jackson’s “Indian Removal Act”. By 1837, the
Jackson administration had removed most Native American people from
their land east of the Mississippi and had secured 94 treaties. Most
members of the five southeastern nations (Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek,
Cherokee, Seminole) had been relocated west, opening 25 million acres
of land to white settlement and to slavery.
Early Pioneers: Overland Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 miles route that
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from
1846 to 1868.
The Mormon Trail extends from Nauvoo, Illinois, principal settlement of the
Latter Day Saints from 1839 to 1846, to Salt Lake City, Utah, which was
settled by Brigham Young and his followers beginning in 1847.
Transcontinental Railroad
The First Transcontinental RR in the United States was built in the 1860s,
considered to be one of the greatest technological feats of the 19th
century. One of the crowning achievements of the presidency of
Abraham Lincoln, completed four years after his death. Lincoln signed
into law the Pacific Railway act on July 1, 1862 an act establishing two
main Rail lines -- the Central Pacific from the west and the Union Pacific
from the east.
Completed on May 10, 1869, it gave America a nation-wide
transportation network, forever changing the American West. Motivated
in part to bind California to the Union during the American Civil War. It
accelerated the populating of the West by white homesteaders and
freed slaves
Slavery in the U.S.
Before the American Revolution, slavery existed in all 13 colonies. It had
begun in the earliest days of the English colonies as a means of cheap
labor, and filled a void when indentured servants from England became
harder to come by. From the beginnings of slavery in British North America
around 1619, when a Dutch ship ran aground near Jamestown and
brought 20 enslaved Africans to the Virginia colony, nearly 240 years
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passed until the Thirteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution officially
ended slavery in 1865. This means that about 12 generations of blacks
survived and lived in America as enslaved people-direct descendants of
the nearly 500,000 enslaved Africans imported into North America by
European slave traders.
After the Revolution the new Northern states--those of New England along
with New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey--came to see slavery as
contradictory to the ideals of the Revolution and instituted programs of
gradual emancipation. By 1820 there were only about 3,000 slaves in the
North, they were not a vital part of Northern economies. There were
plenty of free white men to do the sort of labor slaves performed.
Circumstances in the newly formed Southern states were quite different.
The African American population, both slave and free, was much larger.
Southern whites were convinced that free blacks would be savages--a
threat to white survival. So Southerners believed that slavery was
necessary as a means of race control.
Of equal importance in the Southern states was the economic role that
slaves played. These states were much more dependent on the
agricultural sector of their economies than were Northern ones.
Northeastern economy consisted of industries and factories building trains,
canons, stoves, steel mills, railroad ties and track, building braces,
furnaces, steel bridges, carriages, cooking pots, utensils, farm equipment.
There were small farms and homesteads, but mostly bustling cities with
little need for slavery.
The southern economy depended on large farms (plantations) growing
cotton, tobacco, sugar, corn, and potatoes. They needed workers to
harvest their crops. Their solution was to kidnap and buy huge numbers of
Africans and ship them to America. A man’s wealth was counted in the
number of slaves he owned. Most Southerners did not own large numbers
of slaves, only large plantation owners.
Two initially unrelated events caused slavery to become entrenched in
the Southern States. They were the invention of the cotton gin by Eli
Whitney of Connecticut in 1793 and the closing of the international slave
trade in 1808. Along with this expansion in cotton growing came a
restriction on the supply of slaves needed to grow it. The transatlantic
slave trade was one of the most savage and inhumane practices in which
people have ever engaged. The writers of the Constitution had
recognized its evil, but to accommodate the demands of slave owners in
the lower South, they had agreed to permit the transatlantic slave trade
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to continue for twenty years (The Great Silence) after the Constitution was
ratified. Thus, it was not until 1808 that Congress passed legislation ending
the transatlantic trade. This caused slaves to be in high demand, and
expensive to replace. The numbers of slaves increased naturally after this
point, not from an increase in importation of new slaves from Africa. As a
result, the vast majority of African Americans in slavery in the United States
after 1810 were not African captives, but native-born Americans, some of
whose ancestors had been in this country nearly as long as the oldest
white families.
Timeline of Events leading to the Civil War
1784 Abolition Effort. Congress narrowly defeats Thomas Jefferson’s
proposal to ban slavery in new territories after 1800. (from prior block)
1787 Northwest Ordinance bans slavery in the Northwest Territory; makes
Ohio River the boundary between free and slave territory between the
Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River. Mason and Dixon line
remains the dividing line in east. (from prior block)
1790—First United States Census. Nearly 700,000 slaves live and toil in a
nation of 3.9 million people.
1793 Fugitive Slave Act The United States outlaws any efforts to impede
the capture of runaway slaves.
1794—Cotton Gin Eli Whitney patents his device for pulling seeds from
cotton. The invention turns cotton into the cash crop of the American
South—and creates a huge demand for slave labor.
1808 United States Bans Slave Trade. Importing African slaves is outlawed,
but smuggling continues.
1820—Missouri Compromise Missouri is admitted to the Union as a slave
state, Maine as a free state. Slavery is forbidden in any subsequent
territories north of latitude 36°30´. Slave population in Census: 1,538,000
1822 Slave Revolt: South Carolina Freed slave Denmark Vesey attempts a
rebellion in Charleston. Thirty-five participants in the ill-fated uprising are
hanged. (Not in laminates/keynote)
1829 David Walker publishes Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World
calling on slaves to revolt. (Not in laminates/keynote)
1831 Slave Revolt: Virginia Slave preacher Nat Turner leads a two-day
uprising against whites, killing about 60. Militiamen crush the revolt then
spend two months searching for Turner, who is eventually caught and
hanged. Enraged Southerners impose harsher restrictions on their slaves.
William Lloyd Garrison begins publishing The Liberator.
1835 Censorship: Southern states expel abolitionists and forbid the mailing
of antislavery propaganda.
1846-48 Mexican-American War. Defeated, Mexico yields an enormous
amount of territory to the United States. Americans then wrestle with a
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controversial topic: Is slavery permitted in the new lands?
1847 Frederick Douglass’s Newspaper. Escaped slave Frederick Douglass
begins publishing the North Star in Rochester, New York.
1849 Harriet Tubman. Escapes After fleeing slavery, Tubman returns south
at least 15 times to help rescue several hundred others.
1850 Compromise of 1850 In exchange for California’s entering the Union
as a free state, northern congressmen accept a harsher Fugitive Slave
Act.
1852 Uncle Tom’s Cabin Published Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel about
the horrors of slavery sells 300,000 copies within a year of publication.
1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act Setting aside the Missouri Compromise of 1820,
Congress allows these two new territories to choose whether to allow
slavery. Violent clashes erupt. In uproar against Kansas-Nebraska Act, new
Republican party is formed with anti-slavery base across North. Abraham
Lincoln emerges as Republican leader in West. The Kansas-Nebraska Act
of 1854 created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska, opened new
lands, repealed the Missouri Compromise of 1820, and allowed settlers in
those territories to determine if they would allow slavery within their
boundaries. The act was designed by Democratic Senator Stephen A.
Douglas of Illinois.
1857 Dred Scott Decision The United States Supreme Court decides, seven
to two, that blacks can never be citizens and that Congress has no
authority to outlaw slavery in any federal territory. The Court also ruled that
because slaves were not citizens, they could not sue in court. Lastly, the
Court ruled that slaves—as chattel or private property—could not be
taken away from their owners without due process.
1858 Lincoln and Douglas debate; Lincoln emerges as nationally known
moderate spokesman for Republicans. He loses senate bid to Douglas –
but edits and publishes transcripts from debates into book.
1859 John Brown attempts to ignite slave rebellion in Virginia by attack on
federal armory at Harper's Ferry; no rebellion; captured, tried for treason
to state of Virginia, and hung; becomes martyr to North; alarms South as
exemplar of fanatical Yankee abolitionist trying to start bloody race war;
Republican Party disavows Brown, who had financial support from Boston
abolitionists.
1860 Slave population in Census: 3,954,000
1860 Abraham Lincoln Elected Abraham Lincoln of Illinois becomes the
first Republican to win the United States Presidency.
Biography of Frederick Douglass 1817(8)-1895
A mostly self-taught, fugitive slave who was a crusader for the abolition of
slavery and women’s rights. He became a publisher, author, and orator
as well as an advisor to President Lincoln during the Civil War, helping to
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recruit black soldiers for the Union. He was the first black to serve officially
in the US Government.
Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
Harriet Tubman was a fugitive slave, who after achieving freedom
became a conductor on the “Underground Railroad”. She led 19 trips,
freeing over 300 slaves without ever being caught or losing a slave. At
one point there was a $40,000 reward for her capture. Later during the
Civil War, she served as a nurse and spy for the union.
During this time there were states in the northern United States where
slavery was outlawed. Slaves would try to escape to the north using the
Underground Railroad. This wasn't a real railroad. It was a number of safe
homes (called stations) that hid slaves as they traveled north. The people
that helped the slaves were called conductors. Slaves would move from
station to station at night, hiding in the woods or sneaking onto trains until
they finally reached the north and freedom.
Compromise of 1850
1850 – California applies for statehood. Threatened the balance of power
in the Senate. Compromise of 1850 – Henry Clay wrote the deal in the
Senate: California would be admitted as a free state. To pacify slavestate politicians, who would have objected to the imbalance created by
adding another free state, the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.
Of all the bills that made up the Compromise of 1850, the Fugitive Slave
Act was the most controversial. It required citizens to assist in the recovery
of fugitive slaves. It denied a fugitive's right to a jury trial. Also, according
to the act, there would be more federal officials responsible for enforcing
the law. For slaves attempting to build lives in the North, the new law was
disaster. Many left their homes and fled to Canada. During the next ten
years, an estimated 20,000 blacks moved to the neighboring country.
many were captured and returned to slavery. Free blacks, too, were
captured and sent to the South. With no legal right to plead their cases,
they were completely defenseless. Anyone caught helping a fugitive
slave would be fined $1000 or be imprisoned.
The South Secedes
Secede: withdraw formally from membership in a federal union, an
alliance, or a political or religious organization.
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When Abraham Lincoln, a known opponent of slavery, was elected
president in November 1860, along with Republican Party majorities in the
House of Representative and Senate, the South Carolina legislature
perceived a threat. Calling a state convention in December 1860, the
delegates voted to remove the state of South Carolina from the union
known as the United States of America. The secession of South Carolina
was followed by the secession of six more states a month later -Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas -- and the
threat of secession by four more -- Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and
North Carolina. These eleven states eventually formed the Confederate
States of America.
February 1861 -- The South Creates a Government.
At a convention in Montgomery, Alabama, the seven seceding states
created the Confederate Constitution, a document similar to the United
States Constitution, but with greater stress on the autonomy of each state.
Slavery is permitted in the constitution, but it is still illegal to import slaves.
Jefferson Davis was named provisional president of the Confederacy until
elections could be held.
February 1861 -- The South Seizes Federal Forts.
When President James Buchanan -- Lincoln's predecessor -- refused to
surrender southern federal forts to the seceding states, southern state
troops seized them. At Fort Sumter, South Carolina troops repulsed a
supply ship trying to reach federal forces based in the fort. The ship was
forced to return to New York, its supplies undelivered.
March 1861 -- Lincoln's Inauguration.
At Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, the new president said he had no
plans to end slavery in those states where it already existed, but he also
said he would not accept secession. He hoped to resolve the national
crisis without warfare.
April 1861 -- Attack on Fort Sumter.
When President Lincoln planned to send supplies to Fort Sumter, he
alerted the state in advance, in an attempt to avoid hostilities. South
Carolina, however, feared a trick; the commander of the fort, Robert
Anderson, was asked to surrender immediately. Anderson offered to
surrender, but only after he had exhausted his supplies. His offer was
rejected, and on April 12, the Civil War began with shots fired on the fort.
Fort Sumter eventually was surrendered to South Carolina.
April 1861 -- Four More States Join the Confederacy.
The attack on Fort Sumter prompted four more states to join the
Confederacy: North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas. With
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Virginia's secession, Richmond was named the Confederate capitol.
June 1861 -- West Virginia Is Born.
Residents of the western counties of Virginia did not wish to secede along
with the rest of the state. This section of Virginia was admitted into the
Union as the state of West Virginia on June 20, 1863.
June 1861 -- Four Slave States Stay in the Union.
Despite their acceptance of slavery, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and
Missouri did not join the Confederacy. Although divided in their loyalties, a
combination of political maneuvering and Union military pressure kept
these states from seceding.
Biography of Abraham Lincoln
Summary - Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the U.S., guided his
country through the most devastating experience in its national history –
the Civil War. He is considered by many historians to have been the
greatest American president and is largely responsible for the
emancipation of slaves and the Transcontinental Railroad.
The Civil War
Most people in the North and the South thought the war would last only a
few months. Southerners liked soldiering – they were adventurous and
heroic. The southern generals were distinguished graduates of West Point.
They were sure the Yankees were cowards. They waited eagerly to meet
them on the battlefield – they’d scare the Yankees to death! Or so they
boasted to their wives and girlfriends.
The northern men were just as confident. They thought there would be
one big battle, and the war would be over. They believed in the North’s
advantages: more men, more industry, more money. They were sure the
Southerners were lazy – after all, didn’t they have slaves to do all their
work for them? They’d run for the hills in the face of an attack by the
North! Or so they boasted to their wives and girlfriends.
Both sides believed in their own superiority, but they both had advantages
and disadvantages:
Strengths
Population
North
Industry
Weaknesses
Had to invade and
hold the South
Goals
Blockade southern
ports
Always on the
Control the
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Resources
offensive
Navy
Capture the CSA
capital, Richmond,
Virginia
Railroad system
South
Lincoln – intelligent
leadership
Fought on their own
soil, defending their
homes
Superior military
leaders
Mississippi River and
cut the South in two
Small population of
soldiers
Few weapons
factories
Few food farms
Win recognition as
an independent
nation
Defend their
homeland
Fewer trains for
transport
Leadership - South
As soon as the South seceded, President Lincoln summoned Robert E. Lee
to the White House and offered him the command of the Union army. Lee
thought hard about this choice, but could not accept. He said, “ I oppose
secession and I deprecate war, yet I can take no part in an invasion of
the Southern states.” Later that day he resigned his command in the army
of the United States. Within a few months, President Jefferson Davis of the
CSA offered Lee the command of the Confederate army. He accepted.
Leadership – North
There were numerous Generals in the North and President Lincoln was
often dissatisfied with their performance and fired several of them.
North Union – General Winfield Scott lead Mexican American war. “Old
fuss and feathers”. To obese to mount his horse – out of shape. Great
mind – thought war would last 2-3 years. Developed Anaconda Plan
(strangle – slow death) – eventually what happened. People thought he
was crazy – war would only last a few weeks. Lincoln fired him.
Lincoln hired George Brinton McClellan. Go for heart – attach capital
(Richmond) and end war quickly. 35 years old – posed like Napoleon.
Strong-Handsome looking. Very good organizational skills. One problem –
he didn’t like to fight. Always thought he was outnumbered. Eventually
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blew attack on Richmond – major setback. Lincoln “If you are not using
the Army, can I borrow them for a few days?”
Lincoln went though other generals – none of them fought how he
wanted.
Lincoln eventually found someone he liked, Ulysses S. Grant, or U.S. Grant.
He was winning battles out west. He trapped a whole confederate army
and took them all prisoner. Lincoln called him “the quietest little fellow
you ever saw”. Went to West Point. Average student – but too small to
excel in any sports except horse riding. Fought in Mexican American war
– there he met once met General Robert E. Lee. Grant would eventually
win the war and become so famous he would become president.
Warfare
There was very little preparation before the was on either side – a lot was
learned as the war progressed and there was a lot of disorganization
Many battles had different names by the Confederates and Union troops.
For example: the confederate name was “Manassas”, named for a
railroad depot nearby, and the Union name was “Bull Run” for a nearby
stream.
Over 620,000 Americans died in battle or from disease. This is more than
all wars combined in US History. Battle of Gettysburg had almost as many
deaths as entire Vietnam War and was bloodiest battle overall
Battle of Antietam was bloodiest single day in US History. South was left in
ruins – way worse than Europe after WWII. North left in debt.
Southern soldiers had to steal boots and clothes off of dead union soldiers
after battles. North wore blue uniforms, South wore grey.
Reconstruction
Just six days after Lee’s surrender to Grant, Presidential Lincoln was dead,
killed by an assassin’s bullet. The man who wanted to be lenient to the
South with “malice toward none” was now gone. All across the South,
everything was collapsed and in disarray. There was no government, no
courts, no post offices, no sheriffs, no police. There were 4 million free
slaves who couldn’t read or write, who wanted to learn, but had no
chance.
Lincoln was “moderate republican” – another group called the “Radical
Republicans” wanted to move more aggressively to deal with
confederates and abolish slavery. Lincoln was for a quicker and easier
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solution to reconstruction. Lincoln stated that confederates must first
surrender and accept Emancipation Proclamation (later becomes 13th
Amendment to the constitution in December 1965) and 10% of voting
population must take oath of allegiance to Union.
Even radical republicans feared what would happen in 1870 when census
took place. They were concerned the south would regain power just due
to added population. Should former slaves be counted more than
3/5ths? One Illinois Republican expressed a common fear that if the South
were allowed to simply restore its previous established powers, that the
"reward of treason will be an increased representation"
Lincoln’s assassination in 1865 changed the political environment. Andrew
Johnson Era began.
Andrew Johnson, VP took over presidency. He was a southerner from
Tennessee and a democrat. How did that happen? Explanation – only
southern senator to remain loyal to union. Lincoln appointed him military
governor of Tennessee during war. Lincoln new he needed someone like
Johnson for reconstruction –and added him to the ticket in the election of
1864. Today that would be unheard of – but the country was in unique
circumstances and Lincoln was an “out of the box” political thinker.
As VP, Andrew Johnson had taken a hard line and spoke of hanging rebel
Confederates, but when he succeeded Lincoln as President, Johnson
took a much softer line, pardoning many Confederate leaders and former
Confederates. Jefferson Davis was held in prison for two years and later
fled the country for several years, but other Confederate leaders were
not.
There was another conflict. While Johnson supported the abolition of
slavery, he, like many southerners, did not really believe in equality so he
tried to veto many actions by the radical republicans to establish rights for
the newly freedmen.
In March 1865, Congress had established the Freedmen's Bureau. The
Bureau provided food, clothing, and fuel to destitute former slaves and
white refugees, as well as advice on negotiating labor contracts. It
attempted to oversee new relations between freedmen and their former
masters. Many northerners came south to help the F.B. – including former
slave and teachers. Freed slaves were hungry for education.
In December 1865, the 13th Amendment was passed abolishing slavery
and indentured servitude.
Southern states regained their voting rights through series of compromises
with Johnson and Radical Republicans. Approximately 10-15K
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confederates lost their voting rights, but far less than what the Radical
Republicans wanted. Southern state governments quickly enacted the
restrictive "black codes". The Black Codes indicated the plans of the
southern whites for the former slaves. The freedmen would have more
rights than did free blacks before the war, but they still had only a limited
set of second-class civil rights, no voting rights, and, since they were not
citizens, they could not own firearms, serve on a jury in a lawsuit involving
whites or move about without employment. The Black Codes would limit
blacks' ability to control their own employment.
The Black Codes outraged the Radical Republicans. They tried to
overthrow them, but Johnson vetoed them, saying they violate states
rights. In 1866 elections, the Radical Republicans gained enough control
of congress to override a presidential veto. Black codes were overthrown
by the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that gave the Freedmen full legal equality
(except for the right to vote).
Democratic party emerged in south became the “white” party.
Blacks in south began to be terrorized by whites. A group that wore masks
emerged, eventually becoming the KKK or Klu Klux Klan. None of the
killings or crimes against blacks seemed to be brought to justice.
The last moderate proposal was the Fourteenth Amendment. It was
designed to put the key provisions of the Civil Rights Act into the
Constitution, but it went much further. It extended citizenship to everyone
born in the United States (except visitors and Indians on reservations),
penalized states that did not give the vote to Freedmen, and most
importantly, created new federal civil rights that could be protected by
federal courts. Johnson used his influence to block the amendment in the
states since three-fourths of the states were required for ratification (the
amendment was later ratified in July 1968.). More political tension with
Johnson ensued.
Congress took control of reconstruction in 1866. This period is often
referred to as congressional reconstruction.
5 Military Districts were formed in the south placing the south under military
control. Tennessee was excluded as it was already readmitted to the
union. Military rule allowed close supervision of policies and voting.
Along with the13th amendment, the 14th and 15th amendments were
ratified. These are often referred to as the Reconstruction Amendments.
The 14th Amendment was proposed in 1866 and ratified in 1868,
guaranteeing United States citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in
the United States (except Native Americans), and granting them federal
civil rights. The 15th Amendment, proposed in late February 1869 and
passed in early February 1870, decreeing that the right to vote could not
be denied because of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".
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Many blacks were entered into politics including 2 senators (Blanche
Bruce, and Hiram Revels). Revels took Jefferson Davis’s old seat. In total,
about 1500 Blacks entered local, state, and federal politics during
reconstruction.
Grant won presidential elections in 1868 and 1872 – but proved a better
military leader than a politician. He did attempt to suppress the KKK.
Economy faltered in 1873 – cotton dropped in half and Railroad
investments went bad. Republicans lose power during his reign. Southern
Democrats begin to reemerge.
The elections of 1876 were accompanied by heightened violence across
the Deep South. A combination of ballot stuffing and intimidating blacks
suppressed their vote even in majority black counties. After Republican
Rutherford Hayes won the disputed U.S. Presidential election of 1876, the
national Compromise of 1877 was reached. The white Democrats in the
South agreed to accept Hayes's victory if he withdrew the last Federal
troops. By this point, the North was weary of insurgency. The removal of
federal troops was considered the end of the Reconstruction periods.
Racial Segregation and The Civil Rights Movement
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws,
demands, or commands of a government. Civil disobedience is
commonly defined as nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil
resistance, another is that of peaceful protest. In India, known as ahimsa
or satyagraha, it is said that it is compassion in the form of respectful
disagreement. Ghandi, a peace leader from India, influenced 20th
century peace leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr.
Women’s Suffrage
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton drafted the amendment
and first introduced it in 1878. It was forty-one years later, in 1919, when
the Congress submitted the amendment to the states for ratification. A
year later, it was ratified by the requisite number of states, becoming the
19th Amendment to the Constitution.
Many historians consider the reconstruction a failure, because the time
period that followed saw the decline of conditions for black Americans .
It was followed in the South by the dominance of the Democratic Party at
the state and local level, which would persist as late as the 1970s
By 1900 there was a complete system of racial segregation in our country
that kept apart the two races, white and black, in schools, restaurants,
restrooms, and even drinking fountains. In the South, African Americans
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were ordered by law to ride in the back of buses, use separate entrances
to restaurants, go to schools for blacks only, and use separate public
bathrooms. In the North, there were unwritten rules about where African
Americans could live, work, and play. Two things kept segregation alive in
the US: (1) a constant threat of violence against African Americans and
(2) the southern states’ practice of keeping African Americans from
voting.
Despite the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments to the Constitution, the laws were
ignored as segregation took hold and became commonplace in both the
North and the South. White supremacist groups and racial terrorists were
responsible for killing and terrorizing thousands of AAs.
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted
between 1876 and 1965. They mandated racial segregation in all public
facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black
Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that
were usually inferior to those provided for white Americans, systematizing
a number of economic, educational and social disadvantages.
AA leaders had opposing ideas about segregation. Booker T. Washington,
(1858-1915) born into slavery, founded Tuskegee U. in Alabama. Believed
AAs should try to make the best of segregation and accept it. W.E.B.
DuBois (1868-1963) fought for equality for AAs in all aspects of life. He
formed the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of
Colored People), one of the first civil rights organizations.
Protests against segregation increased after WWII when thousands of AA
soldiers fought bravely to protect their country, yet came home to inferior
jobs and lower pay than white men received.
Civll Rights Movement
In the 1950’s the civil rights movement began to change some of the
racist practices against AAs. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled against
segregation for the first time. In the case of Brown v. the Board of
Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Court ruled that separate schools for
AAs were illegal. However, it would take years for the ruling to be put into
action.
In 1955, Rosa Parks, an AA woman, boarded a bus in downtown
Montgomery, Alabama. By law, she was supposed to sit in the back of the
bus, but she couldn’t find a seat, so she sat in the front. The driver asked
her to give up her seat to a white man. She refused and was arrested.
Within a few days, the AA population of Montgomery staged a bus
boycott, refusing to ride the buses. For over a year, they and people who
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agreed with their protest, walked, rode bicycles, and carpooled rather
than give their money to the bus system. In 1956, the S.Court ruled that the
Montgomery bus system must desegregate. The yearlong protest showed
the AAs were well organized and willing to endure hardships to peacefully
protest segregation. The young minister who organized this protest was
named Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspired by Gandhi, King visited the Gandhi family in India in 1959. The trip
to India affected King in a profound way, deepening his understanding of
non-violent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil
rights.
In the 1960’s the Civil Rights Movement saw bitter and violent opposition
from whites who believed AAs should not have equal rights. AAs and fairminded whites who protested segregation were often ridiculed, beaten,
and even killed for expressing their opposition to racist policies. In August
of 1963, 250,000 demonstrators of all races came together in the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom. It was there that MLK gave his famous
“I have a dream” speech when he said, “I have a dream that my four
little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by
the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a
dream today!”
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act of
1964, which was initiated by the late President John F. Kennedy in 1963,
ensuring equal treatment of all races. That year, King became the
youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Sadly, five years later, Dr.
King was shot and killed by a man named James Earl Ray. The end of
legal segregation did not wipe out racism directed against AAs.
Desegregation of both the North and the South took many, many years
full of both violent and peaceful protests. AAs still earn less than whites,
causing poverty, poor health, and other kinds of discrimination. AAs
continue to be discriminated against in various parts of the same country
that promises that “all men are created equal…endowed by their
creator with certain unalienable (non- transferable) rights… among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
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