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Reconstruction
Reconstruction Battle Begins
Reconstruction: rebuilding the South after the Civil War
Amnesty: pardon
Lincoln’s Plan~ 10% of state’s voters in 1860 election had taken the oath (all granted amnesty) THEN organize new
state gov.
Thaddeus Stevens led the Radical Republicans with the idea that they didn’t want to reconcile with the South
Radical & Moderate Republicans
RR Plan~ 1. No Confederate leaders in power
2. Become more powerful in South
3. Political equality for A.A. by right to vote
Plan for Radical & Moderate Republicans
Wade-Davis Bill~
Majority of white men oath to the Union
New state gov. by constitutional convention
which MUST include abolish slavery, deny
all debts made during the war, and all
Confederate leaders and gov. officials
couldn’t vote or hold office
Lincoln thought the WD Bill was too harsh so he blocked the bill using a pocket veto.
Pocket veto: letting the session of Congress expire without signing the bill.
*WHY MIGHT THE PRESIDENT USE A POCKET VETO IN THE FUTURE?
The Freedmen’s Bureau
Freedmen: thousands of freed African Americans
Set up to feed and clothe war refugees in the South using the army surplus supplies
Helped them find work, negotiate pay and hours worked on plantations
Provided schools, paid teachers, helped establish colleges for training A.A. teachers
Some freedmen served in the U.S. Calvary, those stationed in the southwestern US were called buffalo soldiers.
Lincoln’s Assassination
When? April 14, 1865, just days after he introduced his “plan”
By Who? John Wilkes Booth, actor
Where? Ford’s Theatre in Washington D.C.
How? Shot in the back of the head
Why? B/c of his proposed plan
Result? Vice President Andrew Johnson takes office as president
Johnson Takes Office
Followed Lincoln’s idea about wanting a reasonable plan/policy
Johnson’s Plan~ 1. Pardon all in Confederacy
2. Return their property
3. Confed. leaders and officials must ask president for pardon individually
4. Ratify the 13th Amendment
Congressmen were upset that Confederate leaders and officials were elected into Congress
Radical & Moderate Republicans rejected these new members
Black Codes
Laws passed by states that limited the rights to freedmen.
Intended to keep A.A. in conditions similar to slavery
Made Northerners mad
Congressional Reconstruction
A. Civil Rights Act of 1866: gave citizenship to all persons born in the US, except Native Americans
*Also gave A.A.the right to own property and to be treated equally in court
*Further, it granted the U.S. gov. the right to sue people who violated these rights.
B. Fourteenth Amendment: granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
*No state could deprive any person of life, liberty or property “without due process”
Johnson was against
Caused increased violence against A.A. and their supporters in the South
C. Military Reconstruction Act: dismissed Johnson’s Plan
*Divided the former Confed. states(except TN) into 5 military districts
*Hold another constitutional convention for a new constitution that Congress HAD to approve
D. Fifteenth Amendment: the right to vote could not be denied on account of race, color, or previous servitude
*passed in 1870
E. Tenure of Office Act: the Senate must approve the removal of any gov. official whose appointment had required the
Senate’s approval
*Pres. Johnson challenged T.of O.A. by firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton
*resulted in one vote short of impeachment
Impeach- charge with misconduct EX: Clinton
Republican Rule in the South
By 1870 all former Confederate states had rejoined the Union.
Carpetbaggers- Northerners that moved to the South sometimes in carpet suitcases
Scalawags- white Southerners who worked with the Republicans and supported Reconstruction
Hiram Revels was the first A.A. in the U.S. Senate
Corruption supported Republican reforms and high taxes became common in the South
Graft- getting money illegally through politics
African American Communities
By 1876 about 40% of all A.A. children attended schools in the region.
Churches served as the center of many African American communities
Many were working to gain an education
Southern Resistance
Secret societies (Ku Klux Klan) terrorized supporters of the Republican gov. such as A.A., white Republicans,
carpetbaggers, teachers in A.A. schools, and anyone else whom supported equality for A.A.
In 1870 and 1871, Congress passed three Enforcement acts which made the activities of the KKK illegal.
The Troubled Grant Administration
Ulysses S. Grant was elected in 1869 after Johnson to become the 18th President of the United States(2 terms)
Grant believed his only role as pres. was to carry out the laws
Grant’s secretary of war accepted bribes from merchants operating at Western army posts
Grant’s private secretary filled false tax reports
Reconstruction Ends
Election of 1876
Rutherford B. Hayes (R) wanted to end
Reconstruction
Samuel Tilden (D)
*so much election fraud hard to tell who won
Compromise of 1877: Hayes becomes president but promises to pull federal troops out of the South
This ended Republican gov. and Reconstruction in the South
A “New South Arises”
Southerners wanted a “New South” with a strong industrial economy
Capital from Northerners built RR and new industries
South still based off of agriculture
Most A.A. had little political power and worked under unfair conditions
Tenant farmers- paying rent for the land they farmed
Sharecropper- paid a share of their crops to cover rent and faming costs
Although sharecropping allowed African American farmers to control their own work schedule and working
conditions, it also trapped them in poverty because they could not make enough money to pay off their debts and buy
their own land.