Download Rebuilding the Union 18-1

Rebuilding the Union
18-1
Mrs. Enright
Presidential Reconstruction
Reconstruction Under Lincoln
After the war, the nation began Reconstruction (18651867)
Lincoln promised to reunify the nation in his Second
Inaugural Address (1865)
Congress established the Freedman’s Bureau, an agency to
help assist former slaves
Set up schools and hospitals along with distributing food,
clothes, and fuel
Reconstruction Under Johnson
When Lincoln was killed, Andrew Johnson became
president
Believed that the Reconstruction was the job of the
President, not Congress
He insisted that states followed the Thirteen Amendment,
which banned slavery
He offered amnesty to most white southerners
Eventually, almost everyone gained amnesty
Johnson’s Failure
Southern states rebuilt themselves when Congress wasn’t
in session
Some states refused to follow the Thirteenth Amendment
Johnson’s main plan was to have the South follow the
Reconstruction and for them to become Union states
He never did meet the needs of slaves
Southern states passed laws, known as black codes, that
limited freedom of enslaved people
North suspected that the South was bringing back the
“old South”
Congressional Reconstruction
Congress States Its Intentions
Refused to let in Southern Representatives
Set up a committee to observe the South
Republicans outnumbered Democrats in both houses
Radical Republicans, a group of congressmen using federal
power to promote citizenship for freed African Americans,
wanted the government to play an active role in remaking
Southern politics
Civil Rights for African
Americans
Congress passed a bill encouraging civil rights
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 confirmed that all people
born in the US were citizens, except for Native Americans
Republicans were shocked, Johnson vetoed the bill
They wanted equality to be protected by the Constitution,
so they proposed the Fourteenth Amendment
It stated that all people born or naturalized in the US had
the same rights
Radical Reconstruction
Johnson refused to support this Amendment
So did every other former Confederate state except
Tennessee
The two groups collaborated and passed the
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Before Southern states joined the Union they must:
1) Approve new state constitutions that gave the vote to
all adult men, even African Americans
2) Ratify the Fourteenth Amendment
The Impact of Reconstruction
Constitutional Delegates
Many Republicans were poor farmers, and Democrats
called them scalawags
Carpetbaggers were the people who originated from the
North but moved to the South after the war
African Americans made up the last group of delegates,
most of them teachers or skilled workers
New Southern Governments
The new constitutions gave the vote to all adult males
By 1870, all Southern states had their new constitutions
Union let the states come into Congress
During Reconstruction, almost 700 former slaves served
state legislatures, while 16 served as US Congressmen
Johnson Is Impeached
Johnson’s conflicts with Congress eventually led up to a
showdown
Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867,
prohibiting the president to fire government personnel
without Senate approval
In 1868, Johnson fired his Secretary of War
The House impeached the president, and the case moved to
Senate