Download Reconstruction under Lincoln

BEFORE
READ
Focus
MAIN IDEA
READING
U.s. leaders had
differing views
about how to
reconstruct the
United States and
about what rights
to extend to African Americans.
• What were the main points of
presidential Reconstruction
under Lincoln?
fRulLDING
I ;ft~r
You
• What were the main points of
presidential Reconstruction under
Johnson, and what conflicts arose
between Johnson and Congress?
• What were the major policies and
achievements of Congressional
Reconstruction?
KEY TERMS AND
PEOPLE
Ten Percent Plan
Wade-Davis Bill
John Wilkes Booth
Andrew Johnson
Black Codes
Radical Republicans
Charles Sumner
Thaddeus Stevens
Civil Rights Act of 1866
Fourteenth Amendment
Reconstruction Acts
Fifteenth Amendment
BACKGROUND
u.s.
the Civil War, the
government began Reconstruction, the process of rebuilding the South and reuniting the nation. While the government helped former slaves
begin the difficult task of building new lives, northern leaders debated how to treat the
defeated Confederate states. Deep-seated animosity remained between the North and
the South, and many northerners supported stiff penalties for the rebel southern states.
President Abraham Lincoln, however, stated in 1865 that he hoped northerners would
treat the South "with malice toward none, with charity for all." •
Reconstruction under Lincoln
During the Civil War, President Lincoln had hoped to reunite the United States as
quickly as possible. In 1863, well before the war ended, he had developed a plan for
restoring rebel states to the Union. A quick restoration was not to be, though. Opposition from Congress and a great tragedy would soon derail Lincoln's hopes .
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Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan
Lincoln's Reconstruction plan included three main parts. First, southerners who
took an oath ofloyalty to the United States and agreed that slavery was illegal would
receive amnesty and regain their citizenship. High-ranking Confederate officials
were excluded, however. Second, at least 10 percent of a state's citizens who had voted
in 1860 had to swear loyalty before they could form a new state government. Third,
the state had to amend its constitution to ban slavery. Lincoln would then recognize
the state and its new government as part of the Union. This plan became known
as the ;fen Percent Plan. By the war's end, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee had
rejoined the Union under the plan' and elected new members to Congress.
ACADEMIC VOCABULARY
1. Use the context, or surrounding words in the sentence, to
write a definition of amnesty.
.3
BLACKSIN THE RECONSTRUCTIONERA
139
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opposition to Lincoln's Plan
Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan met with strong opposition from Congress. Many Republican members-particularly
the more radical Republicans-thought the plan was too
~ lenient. They wanted a more demanding Reconstruction plan that imposed stiffer penalties against the South. A Republican senator from Michigan expressed this view.
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HISTORY'S VOICES
"The people of the North are not such fools as to .. , turn around
and say to the traitors, 'all you have to do [to return] is ... take an
oath that henceforth you will be true to the Government.'"
-Senator Jacob Howard, 38th Congress, 1st Session, 1863-1864,
quoted in Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, by Eric Foner
.. President Abraham
Lincoln died on April 15,
1865, after John Wilkes
Booth assassinated him.
INFO TO
KNow
To kill the Wade-Davis Bill,
Lincoln used a pocket veto.
This veto power is available
only during the last 10 days
that Congress is in session.
During that time, the president can kill a bill simply by
not signing it. Usually, if the
president does not sign a bill
while Congress is in session,
the bill becomes law after
10 days. Congress cannot
overturn a pocket veto.
~ Reading Check
2. Find the Main Idea What
was the Ten Percent Plan, and
why did many Republicans in
Congress oppose it?
140
CHAPTER 6
Another reason that some members of Congress opposed Lincoln's plan had to do
with a question of government power. Who had the power to allow the seceded states
to rejoin the Union-the president or Congress? President Lincoln thought he did,
but many members of Congress disagreed.
To show its opposition, Congress refused to seat the new members from the
states admitted under Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan. Congress then proposed a stricter
Reconstruction plan in the Wace-Davis Bffil. Under this plan, a state had to meet
two conditions to rejoin the Union. First, a majority of the state's adult white male
citizens had to take a loyalty oath before the state could form a new government.
Second, the state constitution had to be amended to abolish slavery and prohibit
secession. In addition to these two conditions, the bill prohibited anyone who had
voluntarily supported the Confederacy from voting or holding office.
This plan would make rejoining the Union much harder for southern states. At
the time, the Civil War had not yet ended, and Lincoln thought the plan's tough conditions would make southerners more committed to fighting. He therefore refused
to sign the Wade-Davis Bill into law. Many Republicans harshly criticized Lincoln for
this action. Such criticism from Lincoln's own political party proved to be a sign of
the bitter struggle that Reconstruction was to become.
J
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The Assassination of Lincoln
What new Reconstruction plan Lincoln might have proposed remains unknown.
On the evening of April 14, 1865-less than a week after the war's end-Lincoln and
his wife attended a play at Ford's Theater in Washington. During the performance, a
southerner named John Wilkes Booth sneaked into the president's theater box and
shot him. The next morning, Lincoln died.
Lincoln's tragic death produced one of the greatest outpourings of grief in
American history. As a train carried the president's body to Illinois for burial, huge
crowds gathered along the way to show their respect. In a letter, black poet Frances
Ellen Watkins Harper expressed her sadness. "Sorrow treads on the footsteps of the
nation's joy ... To-day a nation sits down beneath the shadow of its mournful grief.
Oh, what a terrible lesson does this event read to us!" In the former Confederacy,
some white southerners reacted to Lincoln's death with concern. Reconstruction was
now in the hands of Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's vice president. A southerner who
had supported the Union, Johnson was a traitor in the eyes of many people in the
South. Meanwhile, many members of Congress hoped to find an ally in Johnson. ~
Reconstruction under Johnson
Many Republicans in Congress hoped that Johnson, as the new president, would support more demanding Reconstruction policies. During the Civil War, Johnson had
taken a tough stand against the Confederacy. "Treason is a crime;' he had declared,
"and crime must be punished:' Conflict, however, would soon erupt between Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction.
Johnson's Reconstruction Plan
Johnson issued his Reconstruction plan in May 1865, less than a month after becoming president. In some ways, Johnson's plan was similar to Lincoln's. Almost all white
southerners who took a loyalty oath to the United States would receive amnesty.
They would then regain their U.S. citizenship and property, with the exception of
their former slaves. However, high-ranking Confederate officials as well as southerners who owned property worth $20,000 or more had to obtain presidential pardons
to receive amnesty. Unlike Lincoln's plan, Johnson's plan did not require a certain
percentage of state voters to pledge loyalty. Instead, delegates at a state convention
had to repeal secession, amend the state constitution to abolish slavery, and nullify
all Confederate debts. Once these steps were taken, state voters could form a new
state government and elect representatives to Congress.
Johnson's Reconstruction plan moved forward during the summer of 1865-with
surprising results. Despite his strong words against treason, Johnson pardoned nearly
every planter and former Confederate official who applied. He eventually pardoned
several thousand southerners. These pardons enabled many prewar leaders and former
Confederates to gain political office. In fact, southern voters elected to the u.s. Congress
10 former Confederate generals, two former Confederate cabinet members, and the
former vice president of the Confederacy. Many Republicans in Congress, which was
in recess during this period, were far from satisfied with this turn of events. When
Congress met for its session in December 1865, the members refused to seat the
newly elected southern representatives.
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3. List the main
requirements of
President Johnson's
Reconstruction plan.
Black Codes
In the meantime, Johnson had approved most of the new southern state governments. The state's legislatures had then quickly begun passing discriminatory laws
against African Americans. Called 'Black Codes, the laws resembled the slave codes
that had controlled African Americans under slavery. Although slavery had ended,
deep-rooted prejudice against African Americans remained in the South. Most white
southerners hoped to restore the white power structure they had enjoyed before the
war. The Black Codes were designed to control African Americans and to put them
back into an inferior and slavelike condition. At the same time, the laws were meant to
ensure white planters of a dependent black labor force.
The Black Codes, which varied by state, did ensure freedpeople of some rights.
For example, in most states, blacks could marry and testify in court against other
blacks. Most Black Codes, however, denied rights. Some states enforced segregation,
or racial separation, in public areas. Some did not allow freedpeople to own guns.
Many states banned interracial marriage and prohibited African Americans from
testifying in court against white citizens.
BLACKS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION
ERA
141
All the states' Black Codes limited
former slaves' economic opportunities.
For example, some states taxed freedpeople who did not work on plantations
Many white southerners were horrified and threatened by former
or as servants. Some states banned forslaves suddenly moving around freely. To control freedpeople, southmer slaves from buying land or renting
ern states passed laws known as Black Codes. The following is an
excerpt from Mississippi's BlackCode, passed in November 1865.
property in certain areas. Most states
required freedpeople to sign labor conSection 7. Be it further enacted [passed], that every civil officer
tracts, which bound workers to their
shall, and every person may, arrest and carry back to his or her
employers for a certain period, such
legal employer any freedman, free Negro, or mulatto [person
as a year. Workers who left before the
of mixed race] who shall have quit the service of his or her
period ended could be arrested or lose
employer before the expiration [end] of his or her term of service
their wages. Even more, in many states,
without good cause, and said officer and person shall be entitled
freedpeople without labor contracts or
to receive for arresting and carrying back every deserting
jobs could be arrested, fined, and then
employee aforesaid [mentioned before], the sum of $5, and
forced to work to payoff the fines,
10 cents per mile from the place of arrest to the place of delivery.
The Freedmen's Bureau and the
U.S. military were able to prevent some
Black Codes from being enforced. In
4. Draw Conclusions Howdoes the excerpt
addition, the Bureau tried to help freedabove restrict the freedom of AfricanAmericans
people obtain fair labor contracts. Even
and resemble actions taken under slavery?
so, the Black Codes denied African
Americans many rights and restored
the South's white power structure.
Southern blacks were subjected to curfews, arrest, and humiliating treatment.
Local law officers invaded African
Americans' homes and seized their
property. Unable to obtain land or better jobs, many former slaves had to go back to
the plantations to work under labor contracts.
The Black Codes angered and alarmed African Americans. One black Civil War
veteran asked, "If you call this Freedom, what do you call Slavery?" To oppose the
V Reading Check
Black Codes, some black leaders in the South held conventions to call for change. In
5. Identify Cause and
South Carolina, for example, a black convention sent a petition to state officials.
Effect Howdid Johnson's
Reconstruction plan affect
HISTORY'S VOICES
AfricanAmericans in the South?
Black Codes
"We simply ask ... that the same laws which govern white
men shall govern black men ... that, in short, we be dealt
with as others are-in
equity [equality] and justice."
-Convention of the Colored People of South Carolina, 1865
A few African Americans took more direct action to oppose the Black Codes.
In Louisville, Kentucky, horse-drawn streetcars were restricted to white passengers.
Some young black men began boarding the streetcars and refusing to leave until
arrested. Their efforts helped convince the streetcar company to change its policy
and allow black riders. Similar events occurred elsewhere. Such gutsy stands foreshadowed the struggles of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
142 CHAPTER
6
Congressional Reconstruction
HISTORICAL DOCUMENT
Opposition to President Johnson's Reconstruction plan increased as the months
passed. Many northerners were disturbed by the events taking place in the South.
"Public sentiment [there] is still as bitter and unloyal as in 1861;' the New York Times
reported. These northerners thought that the nation's enormous wartime sacrifices
would be wasted if the South returned to its prewar ways. A growing number of
members in Congress agreed and soon moved to take control of Reconstruction.
Go online to read a
historical document from
the Reconstruction era.
Congress Opposes Johnson
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In Congress, the members most fiercely opposed to Johnson's Reconstruction plan
were the Radical ~.publicans. This small group was led by Senator Charles Sumner
of Massachusetts and Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania. The Radicals wanted to impose harsh terms on the defeated southern states and to force them
to make dramatic changes before rejoining the Union. "The whole fabric of southern
SOciety must be changed;' proclaimed Stevens.
In addition, the Radicals criticized Johnson for not providing African Americans
with the right to vote or with any role in the new state governments. In contrast, Johnson thought that each state should decide
what black civil rights to provide, such as the right to vote. When
some black leaders met with him to discuss black voting rights,
Johnson declared, "It is the people of the states that must for
themselves determine this thing:' Black leader Frederick Douglass
firmly responded, "You enfranchise [give the vote to] your enemies
and disenfranchise your friends:'
Most Republicans in Congress did not share the Radicals' views.
These more moderate Republicans formed the largest group in
Congress. Although they mainly disliked Johnson's Reconstruction
plan, they hoped to work with him. At the same time, they opposed
the Black Codes and saw the need to protect freedpeoples rights.
To do so, Congress passed two bills in early 1866. The first bill
was the Freedmen's Bureau Bill. It extended the life of the Freedmen's Bureau and enabled it to try some legal cases involving African Americans, thereby removing such cases from possibly unfair
southern courts. The second bill was the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
This bill provided African Americans with the same legal rights
as white Americans. Anyone who denied freedpeople their equal
rights could be tried in a federal court.
Johnson vetoed both bills. He insisted they were unconstitutional and unnecessary. Freedpeople should not have equal rights,
he declared, because they did not yet understand "our institutions:'
He further declared that Congress could not pass laws until all of
the states were represented. Johnson's actions alienated many moderate Republicans in Congress. They joined forces with the Radicals and passed both bills over the president's vetoes. The battle for
control of Reconstruction had begun.
BLACKS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA
143
6. What U.S.
Supreme Court case
did the Fourteenth Amendment overturn, and how did
overturning that case help
African Americans?
Go online to read a
historical document from
the Reconstruction era.
The Fourteenth Amendment
Republicans in Congress worried that the US. Supreme Court might later overturn
the Civil Rights Act of 1866. To ensure the rights it protected, Congress passed the
fiourteenth AmenCIment to the US. Constitution. This amendment, which was ratified in 1868, granted US. citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United
States. This guarantee overturned the Dred Scott decision of 1857, in which the US.
Supreme Court had ruled that African Americans were not US. citizens. In addition,
the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed all US. citizens equal protection under the
law and prohibited any state from depriving a citizen's rights without due process of
law. Last, the new amendment prohibited all prewar officials who had supported the
Confederacy from holding state or national political office.
The Fourteenth Amendment infuriated many white southerners, and every
seceded state but Tennessee refused to ratify it. President Johnson and many northern Democrats strongly opposed the amendment as well. Because of this opposition,
civil rights for African Americans became a key issue in the 1866 congressional elections. In preparation, Johnson began a tour of the nation to promote his policies and
the candidates who supported them. However, during the tour he often argued with
his audiences and lost some people's support. About the same time, race riots broke
out in Louisiana and Tennessee when white mobs attacked African Americans. Dozens of people-most of them black-were killed. These events helped increase support for the Republicans, and northern voters elected them in large numbers.
Radical Reconstruction
After the 1866 elections, the Radical Republicans in Congress had enough numbers
and support to take control of Reconstruction. In 1867 and 1868 Congress passed
several strong RecanstructioA Acts. These laws invalidated the state governments
In the space provided, list what each amendment stated and whenit was ratified.
7. Thirteenth Amendment
144 CHAPTER 6
8. Fourteenth Amendment
9. Fifteenth Amendment
that Johnson had approved and divided the South into five military districts
under U.S. Army control. Only Tennessee, readmitted to the Union in July
1866, was exempt. The other seceded states had to meet three conditions
to rejoin the Union. First, they had to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.
Second, they had to give adult black male citizens the vote. Third, they had
to let voters, including black men, elect new state government officials. Military commanders had the authority to register black voters and to remove
southern officials who did not cooperate.
Johnson hotly denounced the Reconstruction Acts, which he claimed
used "powers not granted to the federal government or anyone of its
branches:' He vetoed each act in turn, but Congress overrode every veto.
Tensions further heightened when Congress passed a law requiring Senate
approval for the president to remove Cabinet members. Johnson refused to
obey the law, and in 1868 the U.S. House of Representatives impeached him.
The Senate, however, lacked one vote to convict Johnson and remove him
from office. Nonetheless, Johnson's power as president was broken.
Later that year, Ulysses S. Grant was elected as the new president. The
former general in chief of the Union forces, Grant was a popular war hero.
He also supported Congressional Reconstruction. By the time he took office,
Congress had admitted seven more southern states to the Union-Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina.
The Fifteenth Amendment gave all
adult black men in the United States
the right to vote.
~ Reading Check
10. Identify What did the
Reconstruction Acts do?
The Fifteenth Amendment
The Reconstruction Acts gave the vote to black men-but only in the South. In much
of the rest of the nation, black men still could not vote. To give all black men the vote,
Congress passed the Fifteentl1 ~enCiment
to the U.S. Constitution in 1869. This
amendment, which was ratified in 1870, stated that no U.S. citizen could be denied
the right to vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. Abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison praised "this wonderful, quiet, sudden transformation of
four millions of human beings from ... the auction block to the ballot-box:' ~
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Reviewing Ideas, Terms, and People
11. Recall What was Lincoln's plan for Reconstruction, and what was it called?
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12. Compare How did the Black Codes resemble slavery?
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~. 13. Evaluate Which element of the Reconstruction Acts do you think was the
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BLACKS IN THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA
145