Download Reconstruction (2015).

Welcome to Class!
March 20, 2015
What was the
period of time
called that
followed the
Civil War?
And that's what happened
to the dinosaurs.
Reconstruction 1865-1877
Questions as Reconstruction began...
* What were the newly freed people’s expectations?
* What would southern whites who had supported the rebellion have to do to have
their citizenship restored?
* To what extent would whites comply with efforts to guarantee the civil rights of
former slaves?
* Who in Washington, D.C. would be in charge of Reconstruction – the President or
Congress?
The South is Destroyed
 The
Civil War ended April 9, 1865.
 Most of the land in the South was
destroyed by the Civil War. The
South would need to be rebuilt.
 This rebuilding of the South
was called Reconstruction.
Rebuilding the Union
 After
the Civil War,
members of Congress were
unsure about how to put the
nation back together.
 Radical
Republicans,
especially Thaddeus
Stevens, wanted to use
federal power to create a
South that would give full
citizenship to freed AfricanAmericans.
13th Amendment



On February 1, 1865, President Lincoln approved the
13th Amendment.
The 13th Amendment did what the Emancipation
Proclamation could not, end slavery in the U.S.
The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution
provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their
jurisdiction.
The Freedmen’s Bureau
 The
Freedmen’s Bureau (signed into
law on March 3, 1864) distributed food,
clothes, and fuel throughout the South
after the Civil War.
 The Freedmen’s Bureau was established
to help poor blacks and whites in the
South.
 The Freedmen’s Bureau also raised
money for schools and helped families
reunite after being torn apart by
slavery and war.
Freedmen Celebrate Emancipation
Lincoln’s Second Inaugural
Address
 On
March 4, 1865, President Lincoln
laid out his approach to Reconstruction
in his second inaugural address.
 He hoped to reunite the nation and it’s
people.

“With malice [hatred] toward none, with
charity for all, with firmness in the right
as God gives us to see the right, let us
finish the work we are in, to bind up the
nation's wounds, to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for his
widow and for his orphans, to do all
which may achieve and cherish a just
and a lasting peace among ourselves
and with all nations.
-- Abraham Lincoln
Reconstruction Plan
 President
Lincoln wanted to reunite
the nation as quickly as possible.
 Any southern state with at least 10%
of its voters making a pledge to be
loyal to the U.S. could be readmitted
to the Union.
 The South also had to accept a ban
on slavery.
Lincoln’s Plan
and easy “10%
Plan” (the states never
really left the Union)
HARSH
 Quick
pardon all
but high-ranking officials
MEDIUM
 Government
 10%
of voters take oath
of allegiance
EASY
Lincoln is assassinated
 Just
six days after the war ended,
on April 15, 1865, President
Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
while watching a play.
 Lincoln was assassinated by John
Wilkes Booth, a Southerner who
was angry at Lincoln, and
conspired with others to
assassinate Lincoln, Johnson, and
Seward (Secretary of State).
 Vice-President Andrew Johnson, a
Democrat, became president.
Ford’s Theater, Washington DC
The hanging of four of Booth’s eight convicted
co-conspirators (including one woman) in July 1865
President Johnson



Johnson was a Democrat
and former slave-holder
He demanded that all states
ratify the 13th Amendment,
ending slavery.
However, some Southern
states refused. Instead,
they formed new
governments that were
just like the old ones and
passed Black Codes.
Andrew Johnson’s Plan
takes over from Lincoln
 Presidential Reconstruction
 States have to…
–Withdraw secession
–Swear allegiance to the
U.S.
–Annul war debts
–Adopt 13th amendment
HARSH
 V.P
MEDIUM
EASY
The Black Codes
 The
Black Codes were laws passed
by Southern states that limited the
new-found freedom of African
Americans.
 Black Codes forced African
Americans to work on farms or as
servants. They also prevented
African Americans from owning
guns, holding public meetings, or
renting property in cities.
Radical Republicans



The Black Codes angered many
Republicans in Congress who felt the
South was returning to its old ways.
The Radical Republicans wanted the South
to change more before they could be
readmitted to the Union.
They were angry at President Johnson for
letting the South off so easy.
The Civil Rights Act of 1866



Radical Republicans urged Congress to
pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, stating
that all persons born in the United States
were citizens--entitled to equal rights.
Johnson shocks Congress by vetoing the
bill! He says it “would operate against the
white race”.
Congress overrides the president’s veto by
a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate,
making it a law.
Johnson strikes again…




President Johnson also refused to support the
ratification of the 14th Amendment because it
would protect citizenship and equality in the U.S.
Constitution.
This caused Congress to change it’s lenient policy
towards letting the Southern states back into the
Union. They passed the Reconstruction Acts of
1867, dividing the South into 5 military districts.
Each district was run by a military commander.
Before Southern states could come back to the
Union, they had to ratify the 14th Amendment and
give the vote to all adult males.
This was known as Radical Reconstruction.
The 14th Amendment
 The
14th Amendment guaranteed
citizenship to all people born or
naturalized within the U.S. except for
the Native Americans.
 It
said that state governments could
not “deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due
process of law.”
Radical Republicans Plan
Reconstruction
 Wanted to punish the South
for “starting the war”
 Iron clad oath – 100%
 Military occupation
 Attempted to impeach
Johnson when he rejected
this plan
HARSH
 Congressional
MEDIUM
EASY
Southern states give in…


In 1867, Southern delegates drafted new Constitutions.
Three years later, they had all been approved.
Two groups of people that were not trusted by
Southerners were the scalawags & carpetbaggers.
(Scalawags were Southern Republicans that went along
with Radical Reconstruction. Carpetbaggers were
Northerners that rushed to the South after the war in
order to take advantage of the weak state of the
South.)

Former Confederate states were allowed back into the
Union and sent representatives to Congress.

During Reconstruction, more than 600 AfricanAmericans served in state legislatures in the South.
Hiram Revels

Hiram Revels served as
the first African American
U.S. Senator for the state
of Mississippi. He
actually took the place of
Jefferson Davis.
Johnson’s Impeachment
Johnson remained unpopular in Congress, especially among the
Republicans. Congress passed the Tenure of office act which
prevented the president from firing Cabinet members without
Senate approval. The House of Representatives voted to impeach
him. Johnson was impeached after he fired his Secretary Of War in
1867 without the Senate’s approval. However, he escaped removal
from office by a single vote.
Ku Klux Klan


In 1866 a group of white southerners created the
Ku Klux Klan.
The KKK was a secret society opposed to African
Americans obtaining civil rights, particularly the
right to vote.

The KKK used violence and intimidation to frighten
blacks.

Klan members wore white robes and hoods to hide
their identities.

The Klan was known to have murdered many
people.
WHITE SUPREMACY
End of Reconstruction


In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant
(Republican) beat Horatio
Seymour (Democrat) in
the presidential election,
largely due to freedmen’s
votes.
Radical Republicans
pushed the 15th
Amendment through
Congress, allowing all
men the right to vote in
America.
15th Amendment
 In
1870 the 15th Amendment
became law.
 The 15th Amendment gave African
American men the right to vote
(Native Americans were still not
included!)
 Women’s rights activists were angry
because the amendment did not also
grant women the right to vote.
Voting Rights
 Other
laws were passed to keep
blacks from voting such as literacy
tests.
 One law, called a poll tax, said
former slaves had to pay a tax to
vote.
 And another was passed that said a
person could only vote if their
grandfather had voted in the 1860s.
These laws were called the
Grandfather Clause.
“Boy, You ain’t a votin’ here”!
Texas Mississippi and Virginia were not allowed to vote
in the election because they had not been readmitted
into the Union yet.
President Grant’s Shaky
Cabinet


Grant did not choose his
advisors well. He chose
old Army buddies and
friends of his wife for
government positions.
Some of these officials
took bribes.
In 1873, several Eastern
banks ran out of money
after making bad loans,
causing the Panic of
1873.
The Panic of 1873
Banks closed across the land
 The Stock Market closed down
 89 Railroads went broke, leaving farmers
with no way to transport their crops
 In 5 years, more than 18,000 companies
had closed
 Americans blamed Republicans for the
crisis, and started electing Democrats in
Congress

Election of 1876
Rutherford B.
Hayes ran against
Samuel J. Tilden
in the 1876
election, but the
race was so close
that a commission
was chosen to recalculate the
Votes.
Compromise of 1877
A commission of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats met
and agreed to elect Rutherford B. Hayes under the
following conditions:
Republicans:
– Remove all federal troops from the South
– Provide land grants and loans for RR construction
– Appoint a Democrat into Hayes’ cabinet
Democrats:
– Agree to respect the civil and political rights of
African-Americans.
As a result of this Compromise, the Southern Democrats
will once again dominate the politics in the South.
After Reconstruction
After Reconstruction, most AfricanAmericans still lived in poverty.
However, protection for civil rights
became part of the U.S. Constitution.
Segregation and Jim Crow Laws
 Starting
in 1881, blacks had to stay
in separate hotels, sit in separate
parts of theaters, ride in separate
rail cars, and have separate schools,
libraries, and parks. This is known
as segregation.
 Segregation - the legal separation of
blacks and whites in public places
 Jim Crow Laws - laws that forced
segregation
Continued Fight for Civil Rights
 Civil
Disobedience - the refusal to
comply with certain laws or to pay
taxes and fines, as a peaceful form
of political protest.
 Civil
Rights leaders like Martin Luther
King, Jr. and others will use this
practice during the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1960s.
Dawes Act
 Authorized
the President of
the United States to
survey American
Indian tribal land and
divide it into allotments for
individual Indians. Those
who accepted allotments
and lived separately from
the tribe would be granted
United States citizenship.
Freedmen were abandoned to
a redeemded SOUTH.
Amendments to the Constitution
th
13
(XIII) – Abolished
Slavery (FREE)
th
14 (XIV) – granted
citizenship & due process
(CITIZENS)
15th (XV) – granted voting
rights (VOTE)