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CHAPTER 5
THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA 1865 - 1877
CHAPTER 5
Objectives:
• Assess the influence of significant people or groups
on Reconstruction
• Describe the issues that divided Republicans during
Reconstruction
• Distinguish freedoms guaranteed by the 13th, 14th
and 15th amendments
Essential Question:
• What lasting events arose from the struggles of
reconstruction?
ISSUES OF RECONSTRUCTION
• Reconstruction – the time period where the federal
government struggled with how to return the eleven
southern states to the Union, rebuild the South’s
economy, and promote the rights of former slaves.
ISSUES OF RECONSTRUCTION
• How will Southern states rejoin the Union?
• Constitution provided no guidance to answer this question.
• Some argues the states should be allowed to rejoin the
Union quickly with few conditions.
• Many wanted stipulations such as the South swearing
loyalty to the federal government and adopting state
constitutions that guaranteed freedmen’s rights.
• How will the Southern economy be built?
• Some people proposed that government seized land
should be given to the nearly 3 million newly freed slaves
• Southern landowners objected to this idea – even some
newly free slaves objected to this idea
ISSUES OF RECONSTRUCTION
• What rights will African Americans have?
• The Thirteenth Amendment freed African Americans from
slavery, but it did not grant them the privileges of full
citizenship.
• Former slaves hoped they would gain voting rights, access
to education, benefits that most northern African Americans
did not have.
• Most Republican leaders favored African American rights,
however, many white southerners opposed the idea. They
feared it would undermine their own power and status in
society.
LINCOLN SETS A MODERATE COURSE
• Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan
• Created in 1863 before the war’s end the ten percent plan
offered leniency to the South.
• Terms stated that 10 percent of a state’s voters needed to take
an oath of loyalty to the Union, once this was done the state
could set up a new government. If the state’s constitution
abolished slavery and provided education for African
Americans, the state would regain representation in Congress.
• Lincoln was willing to grant pardons to former Confederates
and he considered compensating them for lost property.
• Lincoln did not require a guarantee of social or political
equality for African Americans, as he recognized pro-Union
governments in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee even
though they denied African Americans the right to vote.
RADICALS OPPOSE THE 10 PERCENT
PLAN
• Members of Lincoln’s own party opposed the 10 percent
plan. Leaders such as Thaddeus Stevens and Charles
Sumner too control of the newly formed “Radical
Republicans.”
• Radical Republicans insisted that the Confederates had
committed crimes – by enslaving African Americans and
by entangling the nation into war
• The Radical Republicans advocated full citizenship,
including the right to vote for African Americans. They
favored punishment and harsh terms for the South, and
they supported Sherman’s plan to confiscate
Confederates’ land and give farms to freedmen.
RADICALS OPPOSE THE 10 PERCENT
PLAN
• Radical Republicans and Congress pass the WadeDavis Bill which required that a majority of a state’s
prewar voters swear loyalty to the Union before the
process of restoration could begin. The bill also
demanded guarantees of African American
equality.
• President Lincoln vetoed the plan because he
thought it was too harsh to the South.
GOVERNMENT AIDS FREEDMEN
• One Radical Republican plan did receive support by
Lincoln. This was the Freedman’s Bureau which was
created a few weeks before Lincoln’s death.
• The Freedmen's Bureau sought to provide food, clothing,
healthcare, and education for both black and white
refugees in the South.
• The Freedman’s Bureau also helped reunite separated
families, negotiated fair labor contracts between former
slaves and white landowners, and even represented
African Americans in the court of law.
• The Freedman’s Bureau continued its efforts until 1872.
JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN
• Like Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson wanted to
restore the political status of the southern states as
quickly as possible. He offered pardons and the
restoration of land to almost any Confederate who
swore allegiance to the Union and the Constitution.
• His main requirement was that a state needed to
ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and draft a
constitution that abolished slavery – Johnson
however resented wealthy planters which had to
personally write him to appeal for a pardon.
JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN
• Johnson did not seek to elevate the status of African
Americans. He expected the United States to have a
“government for white men.” He did not want African
Americans to have a vote.
• Johnson supported states’ rights, which would allow the
laws and customs of the state to outweigh federal
regulations. States would then be able to limit the
freedoms of former slaves.
• By December, 1865 most Confederate states had met
Johnson’s requirements for readmission – Radical and
moderate Republicans were concerned about the lack
of African American suffrage, but hoped that black
political rights would soon follow.
SOUTHERNERS AIM TO RESTORE OLD
WAYS
• Radical and Moderate Republican hopes were soon
dashed. States met at their conventions to restore their
prewar world. Many states specifically limited the vote to
white men – some states sent their Confederate officials
to the US Congress – all of the states instituted Black
Codes (laws that sought to limit the rights of African
Americans and keep them as landless workers)
• Black Codes required African Americans to work only
certain professions like servants or farm laborers – some
states prohibited African Americans from owning land
and all states set up vagrancy laws (laws that an African
American can be sent to jail for not having a job)
• Even though the South was under Union military rule,
white southerners openly used intimidation and violence
to enforce the Black Codes.
CONGRESS FIGHTS BACK
• Both Radical and Moderate Republicans were infuriated
by the South’s disregard for the spirit of Reconstruction –
Many in the North denied the Southern representatives
their seats in Congress
• Johnson vetoed bills that would encourage African
American rights
• Allowing of the Freedman’s Bureau to continue its work and
provide its’ authority to punish state officials who failed to
extend rights to African Americans
• Civil Rights Act of 1866 – sought to overturn black codes and
allow the federal government to ensure civil rights and
supersede any state that limited them.
• Johnson accused Congress of trying to “Africanize” the
southern half of the country.
CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION
• As violence in the South increased, moderate and
Radical Republicans blamed Johnson for his lenient
policies – Congress did something unprecedented –
for the first time ever Congress with a 2/3 vote
passed major legislation over a President’s veto.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1866 became law!
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RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION BEGINS
• Feeling their strength in Congress, Radical and moderate
Republicans spent nearly a year designing a sweeping
Reconstruction program.
• Congress passed the 14th Amendment which stated that any
state that refused to allow African Americans to vote would
risk losing the number of seats in the House of Representatives
that were represented by their African American population.
MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT 1867
• Congress passes the Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 which
divided the 10 southern states that had yet to be readmitted into the
Union into 5 military districts governed by former Union generals. The
act stated how long each state had to create their new government
and receive congressional recognition. In each state voters were
required to elect delegates to
write a new state constitution
which guaranteed suffrage for
African American men. Once
the state ratified the
14th Amendment they could
be readmitted.
CONGRESS IMPEACHES THE PRESIDENT
• The power struggle between Congress and the President reached
its crisis in 1867. To limit the President’s power Congress pass the
Tenure of Office Act which stated the President needed approval
from the Senate first before removing certain officials from office.
• When Johnson tried to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, the last
Radical Republican in his cabinet, Stanton barricaded himself in
his office for two months.
• Angrily, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson
for trying to fire Stanton. The trial lasted through the spring of 1868.
• In the end, the Radical Republicans failed by only 1 vote to
impeach Johnson – several moderate Republicans backed away
from conviction as they thought using an impeachment to get rid
of a President who disagreed with Congress would upset the
balance of power in government.
• During his impeachment trial, Johnson promised to enforce the
Reconstruction Acts – a promise which he kept.
15TH AMENDMENT
• In 1868, the Republican candidate, former Union general
Ulysses S. Grant was elected President.
• In 1869, Congress passed the 15th Amendment forbidding any
state from denying suffrage on the grounds of race, color, or
previous condition of servitude.
15TH AMENDMENT
• Unlike previous measures, this guarantee applied to
the northern states as well as southern states
• Both the 14th an 15 amendments, however,
contained loopholes that left room for evasion.
States could still impose voting restrictions based on
literacy or property qualifications, which in effect
would exclude most African Americans – soon the
South will do just that
RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH
• By 1870, all of the former Confederate states had
met the requirements under Radical Reconstruction
and rejoined the Union – Republicans dominated
the newly established governments
• Almost 1,500 African American men helped usher
the Republican party in the South serving as school
superintendents, police sheriffs, mayors, and other
public service jobs
YOU SCALAWAG!
NO, YOU’RE A CARPETBAGGER!
• Not only were black southerners attracted to the
Southern Republican party but others were as well.
• Scalawag: White men who had been locked out of pre-Civil
War politics by their wealthier neighbors – welcomed in by
the Republican Party
• Carpetbagger: Northerners who moved south in hopes of
improving their economic or political situations – in some
cases these northerners moved South to help make a better
life for freedmen – name comes from the carpet-clothed
suitcase often carried by northerners.
REPUBLICAN PARTY SUCCESSES AND
FAILURES
• The Republican Party did not support women’s
suffrage arguing that they could not rally national
support behind African American suffrage if they
tried to include women too.
• The Reconstruction South did offer women more
occupational advantages with jobs at medical
facilities, orphanages, and other relief agencies.
• The South’s school system was expensive since
many southerners supported segregation or
separation of the races
• Some Southerners supported integration – combining the
school – this suggestion was unpopular
REPUBLICAN PARTY SUCCESSES AND
FAILURES
• Illiteracy in the South remained high
• The quality of medical care, housing and economic
production was lagging far behind that of the North,
and in some cases the West.
• Legal protection for African Americans was limited and
racial violence remained a problem well into the
twentieth century.
• Political offices were becoming a route to wealth and
power rather than positions of honor
• Corruption was present in government
• Mismanagement of finances – Railroad loans
• Many said that Southern African American politicians were
dishonest or incompetent
FREED PEOPLE BUILD NEW
COMMUNITIES
• Many freedman deliberately moved away from the plantation
• For the first time many African American men and women could
legalize and share their marriages, create homes for their families, and
make choices about where they could reside
• Many African Americans headed for Southern cities where
they could develop churches, schools, and other social
institutions.
• Skilled men might find work as carpenters, blacksmiths and
cooks – women took in laundry or did child care or domestic
work
• Most often black workers had to settle for what they had under
slavery: substandard housing and poor food in return for hard labor
• The majority of African American families remained in rural
areas and would work in lumbering, railroad building, or
farming land for landowners
SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES
• Freed people realized the importance of education –
learning to read and write – making sure they could vote
against people who may cheat them
• Freedmen’s Bureau school filled up quick – by 1866 there
were as many as 150,000 African American students –
adults and children – acquiring basic literacy
• 3 years later the enrollment was about 300,000
• Mostly the schools taught the basics of reading, writing, and
math but some also taught health and nutrition and how to
look for a job
• African American churches were built all throughout the
South – provided an arena for organizing, and for public
speaking – a considerable amount of African American
politicians began their careers as ministers
REMAKING THE SOUTHERN ECONOMY
• Many of the South’s problems resulted from uneven
distribution of land – in 1860, the wealthiest 5% of white
southerners owned almost half of the regions land – By 1880,
about 7% of the South’s land was owned by African
Americans
• Sharecropping – embraced most of the South’s black and
white poor, a landowner dictated the crop and provided the
sharecropper with a place to live, as well as seeds and tools,
in return for a “share” of the harvested crop.
• Share-tenancy – much like sharecropping except the
farmworker chose what crop he would plant and bought his
own supplies; he then gave a share of the crop to the
landowner.
• Tenant farming – the tenant paid cash rent to a landowner
and then was free to choose and manage his own crop – and
free to choose where he would live.
VIOLENCE UNDERMINES REFORM
EFFORTS
• Already resentful of the Republican takeover of
local politics and of occupation of federal troops,
white southerners from all economic classes were
united in their insistence that African Americans not
have full citizenship.
• The Ku Klux Klan, formed in Pulaski, Tennessee in
1866, roamed the countryside, especially at night,
burning homes, schools, and churches, and
beating, maiming, or killing African Americans and
their white allies – they discouraged African
Americans from voting
TERRORISM IN THE SOUTH
• The Ku Klux Klan, formed in Tennessee in 1866,
roamed the countryside, especially at night,
burning homes, schools, and churches, and
beating, maiming, or killing African Americans and
their white allies – they
discouraged African
Americans from voting
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
RESPONDS TO VIOLENCE
• Racial violence grew even more widespread in the
North as it did in the South, after the 15th Amendment
was passed.
• Republican legislators were murdered, riots broke out,
and the Klan carried on their terror in the South
• The US Congress takes action by passing the
Enforcement Acts (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Acts)
in 1870 and 1871. The acts made it a federal offense to
interfere with a person’s right to vote.
• Congress used the Acts to indict hundreds of Klansmen
in the South and the violence did decrease – though it
would flare up again in the coming decades.
PRESIDENCY OF ULYSSES GRANT
• Ulysses was a popular war hero but a disappointing
President.
• He allied with the Radical Republicans and promised to
take a strong stand against southern resistance to
Reconstruction.
• Grant’s ability to lead was marred by scandal
• Grant gave high level advisory jobs to untrustworthy friends
who used their power to put money in their own pockets
• The public’s discontent was worsened by economic
turmoil and uncertainty – bank failures, job losses,
and an uncertain economy were among the
concerns
WHY RECONSTRUCTION ENDS
• The Radical Republicans power had declined since they
failed to impeach President Andrew Johnson
• Gradually and quietly, beginning in 1871, troops were being
withdrawn from the South due to high costs of military
operations and other pressing concerns in the North such as
the economy and reforming politics.
• The death of Radical Republican leader Charles Sumner also
contributed to the fade of the Radical Republicans as strong
leaders were not capable of carrying on the message
• The Supreme Court chipped away at African American
freedoms in their interpretations of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments
• The Redeemers in the South (Democrats) regain control in
Congress
THE COMPROMISE OF 1877
• With the Radical Republican’s loss of power, the stage
was set to end northern domination of the South.
• Republican Rutherford Hayes was running for President
against Democrat Samuel Tilden
• Tilden received 51% of the popular vote and carried all the
Southern states – the Republicans claim the votes were
miscounted – in a recount the Republicans found enough
mistakes to swing the election to Hayes by one electoral vote
• When Southern Democrats protested the results, Congress
created a special commission to make a decision – The
decision became known as the Compromise of 1877 in which
Hayes was elected President, all remaining federal troops were
withdrawn from the South, a southerner was appointed to a
powerful cabinet position, and southern states were
guaranteed money to build railroads and improve their ports
• Federal Reconstruction officially was over
THE EFFECTS OF RECONSTRUCTION
• The introduction of tax-supported school systems in the
South and an infusion of money to modernize railroads
and ports
• The Southern economy expanded from one crop –
cotton – to a range of agricultural and industrial
products
• There was a transition to a wage economy from a barter
and credit system
• Reconstruction failed to heal the bitterness between the
North and the South or to provide lasting protection for
freed people – It did, however, raise African Americans’
expectations of their full citizenship, and it placed before
Americans the meaning and value of the right to vote.
EFFECTS ON AFRICAN AMERICANS
• By 1877, a few southern African Americans owned
their own farms – that number would gradually
grow through the next decades
• Reconstruction gave African Americans the right to
voluntarily work the jobs they wanted to work
• Families were reunited through the Freedmen’s
Bureau
• The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments provided hope
for inclusion in society – it would take later
generations to use those amendments to gain
racial equality
EFFECTS ON THE WOMENS SUFFRAGE
MOVEMENT
• One of the ironies of Reconstruction is that it gave
the vote to black American men, while fragmenting
the women’s movement that had often been
supportive of black freedom
• The women’s movement
made small progress in
Wyoming territory but will
have to work for decades
in order to obtain the right
to vote in the states
EFFECTS ON STATE AND NATIONAL
POLITICS
• African Americans came to embrace the Republican
party, whereas white southerners tended to shun it
• The Democratic Party came to dominate the white
South
• Following Reconstruction, the national Republicans
became the party of big business – a reputation that
continues to the present
• The national Democratic Party, which identified with
industrial laborers, differed from the southern Democrats
and had to maintain a delicate balance with the
southern faction on this issue as well as on the question
of race.
EFFECTS ON STATE AND FEDERAL
LEVEL
• The power between the federal government and
the individual states
• During Reconstruction, the federal government asserted its
authority not only over southern states but over state laws in
other regions as well
• In the end, American voters and their representatives in
government opted for a balance of power, at the expense
of protecting freed people in the South.
• With the demise of the Radical Republicans, most
congressmen concluded that it was better to let the South
attend its own affairs than to leave a whole region under
the control of federal military power and federal political
control. That choice would have far-reaching social,
political, and economic implications.