Download Chapter 11: Reconstruction Begins

Chapter 11: Reconstruction Begins
The Civil War settled the questions of slavery and secession within the United States, but the
Reconstruction years between 1865 and 1877 raised new questions and reshaped the Union. How
would blacks integrate into the nation? Who would play the leading role in formulating new
policy, congress or the president? How would former Confederates be admitted back into the
United States?
President Lincoln in 1865 authorized the creation of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands, better known as the Freedmen’s Bureau. The Bureau helped provide the basic
needs for former slaves and freedmen. To help in their transition to freedom, blacks were
provided with food, housing, and education. The Freedmen’s Bureau also helped negotiate fair
contracts with plantation owners. The Bureau proved successful in many aspects but failed to
help blacks gain access to what many believed the way to true freedom: land. African Americans
also formed communities and groups outside of government support. Churches and mutual aid
societies helped provide a sense of community and other needs for the growing black population.
The Union League, one such organization, helped promote loyalty to the Union and Lincoln as
well as support Republican policies. The Union League provided a way for African Americans to
participate in politics.
After the death of Lincoln, President Andrew Johnson organized the Reconstruction policies
governing how southern states would return to the Union. Despite his background as the only
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prominent white southern federal officeholder to treat secession as treason, Johnson never gained
the full trust of the Republican leadership. Johnson supported a more lenient policy toward
readmitting rebellious states into the Union. As a result, many former Confederate leaders were
elected to federal office. The idea of serving with the same men who committed treason and
brought the nation to war troubled many Republicans. Under Johnson’s Reconstruction policies
Black Codes were passed throughout the South, similar laws to the prewar slave codes and a
precursor to the Jim Crow laws.
After the 1866 elections, Radical Republicans gained control of Congress and were able to stop
Johnson from controlling policies regarding Reconstruction. In 1866, Congress passed the Civil
Rights Bill, which overruled the Supreme Court decision in the Dred Scott case and confirmed
all freed peoples as American citizens. To ensure that no future Supreme Court could overturn
the law the Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868 promising citizenship, due process, and
equal protection for all freed people and citizens. The Military Reconstruction Acts sent Union
military forces into southern communities to enforce black civil rights. Former Confederate
states were required to rewrite their constitutions, granting the right to vote to blacks. In 1870,
Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment prohibiting discrimination in voting.
In 1868, growing animosity between President Johnson and Congress led to impeachment
proceedings against Johnson. Congress accused Johnson of violating the Tenure of Office Act
when he fired his Secretary of War without Congressional approval. Johnson escaped conviction
but lost any political power he held for the remainder of his term. The Union General Ulysses S.
Grant secured his election as President in 1868 with the Republican Congress’s support.
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Many southerners resisted Reconstruction policies. Whites complained of former slaves
attempting to act as their equals. Secret organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan formed to
combat black political activism. The KKK used violence, terror, and threats to keep blacks from
voting or gaining political office. The federal government passed the Force Act in 1870 and the
Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 to try to stop the Klan and other organizations from violence. By
1872, Republican-led Reconstruction was well on its way but not without its troubles.
Republicans and Democrats fought over the definition of what America would be. Democrats
blatantly advertised as the “white man’s party” while the Republicans tried to be more inclusive
by supporting their black members.
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