Download The Reconstruction Era was less about reconstructing the South and

The Reconstruction Era was less about
reconstructing the South and ending the
institution of slavery following the
devastation of the Civil War and more about
a multilevel power struggle for dominance.
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Main Idea A. Key Questions
1. How do we
bring the South
back into the
Union?
2. How do we
rebuild the
South after its
destruction
during the war?
4. What branch
of government
should control
the process of
Reconstruction?
3. How do we
integrate and
protect newlyemancipated
black freedmen?
What was the Civil War really about?
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Main Idea B. Political Factions
1. Republicans v. Democrats
Northerners v. Southerners
 When Southern states rejoined Union,
Democrats would be reunited, which
threatened Repub nationalistic legislation for
 railroads, tariffs, bank and currency.
 Many in Northerners wished to see Southerners
punished for suffering rebellion caused
 Repubs split between Conservatives, Radicals
and moderates – why? (hint – think how the
Republicans came to be)
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
2. Conservatives - mild peace
 rapid restoration of defeated states to Union.
 Insisted that South accept abolition
 but did not propose to interfere with race, religions, or
alter region social system
3. Radicals (Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner) stood for







harder peace
Confed. civil and military leaders subjected to severe punishment
large # of S Whites disenfranchised
legal rights of Blacks be protected
property of South that aided Confed be confiscated and be
distributed among the freedmen.
Some Radicals favored giving suffrage to former slaves as a means
of creating a Repub. electorate in South
Others hesitated to state a position for fear of altering public
opinion- many N states did not permit Blacks to vote
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
4. Moderates stood between Radicals and
Conservatives
 Rejected punitive goals of Radicals but supported
expecting some South concession on the matters
of Blacks Rights
 Group that would determine the fate of the RCN
process
Main Idea C. Lincoln’s Plan - 10% Plan - Officially
called The Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
(December 8, 1863)
*
He didn’t consult Congress regarding
Reconstruction.
1. Pardon to all but the highest ranking military
and civilian Confederate officers.
2. When 10% of the voting population in the 1860
election had taken an oath of loyalty to the
Union (“loyal rule” not majority rule) and
established a government, it would be
recognized.
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
3. Wade-Davis Bill 1864
 President to appoint a governor
Senator
Benjamin
Wade
(R-OH)
 Once majority of people took an “iron clad
oath” of allegiance (swearing they had never
voluntarily aided the rebellion ) then gov. to
call for a const. conv.
 Const. to abolish slavery, exclude
Confederate leaders
Congressman
Henry
W. Davis
(R-MD)
 Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen’s
liberties.
4. Wade-Davis Manifesto - blistering denunciation of the veto which warned the
President not to interfere with the powers of Congress to control RCN
• Lincoln could not ignore bitterness and strength of Radical opposition
• Practical as always, he realized that he’d have to give in to some Radical demands,
and began to move toward a new approach to RCN; however, …
LINCOLN’S ASSASSINATION




April 14, 1865 Lincoln assassinated by
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth removed any
possibility for a benevolent federal
government’s forgiveness
Hysteria in N w/ accusations of
conspiracy.
Militant republicans exploited suspicions
for months, ensured a mild plan would
not come soon
WANTED~~!!
Now He
Belongs
to the
Ages!
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
Main Idea D. Johnson’s Plan Nicknamed Restoration – seceded states
never left the union
 Enacted while Congress was in recess during
summer 1865
1. Offered amnesty upon simple oath of
allegiance to all except
Confederate civil and military officers and those
with property over $20,000 (they could apply
directly to Johnson)(possibly a power trip)
2. In new constitutions, they must accept minimum
conditions repudiating slavery (must ratify the
13th amendment), secession and state debts.
3.
EFFECTS
?
1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates.
2. Pardoned planter aristocrats brought them back
to political power to control state organizations.
3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite
were back in power in the South!
6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION
4. End of 1865- all states not reorganized
under L plan complied with Johnson’s
requirements
 All seceded states were reconstructed and
were ready to enter back into the Union if
Congress chose to recognize them in 12/1865
 Radicals rejected Johnson governments just as
they opposed L government
 North growing alarmed


Astounded that “loyal” states elect former leaders of
C to Congress Ex. Alexander H. Stephens (GA)
Revival of southern defiance – Black Codes
KEY TOPIC: 7. RISE OF RADICAL
RECONSTRUCTION



Next months,
radicals advanced to
a more severe
program than the
WD Bill of 1864
Johnson refused to
compromise his
plan, helping
Radicals gain
Moderate support
N were learning
about what was
happening in the
defeated South
which persuaded
them that more
drastic measures
were needed than
Johnson’s plan
Slavery is Dead?
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
A. Main Idea - Black Codes – Loop
Hole Slavery
1.
Many southern planters had begun
establishing black codes on the local and
state levels.
2.
Black Codes authorized officials to
apprehend unemployed blacks, fines them
for vagrancy and then hire them out to
private employers to satisfy the fine (loop
hole slavery).
3.
Additionally, part of the Black Codes S
state legislatures passed laws preventing
farm ownership or certain jobs
4.
Many
Radicals
are
concerned
and
advancing a plan that is more restrictive
than even WD Bill
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
B. Republican Congress v. Johnson
1. Congress bars Southern Congressional
delegates.
2. Congress set up Joint Committee on RCN
to investigate conditions in S and to
advise Congress in laying down a RCN
policy of its own
3. February, 1866  President vetoed the
Freedmen’s Bureau bill-to extend its
power
4. March, 1866  Johnson vetoed the 1866
Civil Rights Act. gave fed govt power to
intervene to protect rights of citizens
 Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s
vetoes  1st in U. S. history!!
“The Constitution as it is,
and the Union as it was.”
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
C. Main Idea - 1865, Congress
created the Freedman’s Bureau
1. to help former slaves get a new
start in life.
•
This was the first major relief
agency in United States history.
2. Bureau’s Accomplishments
• Built thousands of
schools to educate
Blacks.
• Former slaves rushed to
get an education for
themselves and their
children which was
difficult and dangerous to
gain.
• Southerners hated the
idea that Freedmen
would go to school.
• Poor whites took
advantage as well
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
3. Education improvement
benefited whites and
blacks



large network of schools
created (over white opposition
of giving blacks “false notions
of equality”)
by 1870s comprehensive
public school system led
to great percentage of
white and black
population attending
school
System segregated,
integration efforts failed
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
 4. Many former northern
abolitionists risked their lives to
help southern freedmen.
 Called “carpetbaggers” by white
southern Democrats.
Freedmen’s Bureau
Critics(1865)
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
D. Main Idea - Congressional
Election 1866
1.
N public showed support for
Radical programs in congressional
elections of 1866
2.
“Swing Around the Circle.” Johnson attempted to derail
Radicals by campaigning for
Democrats and Republican
conservatives

3.
but caused more harm than good by the
intemperate, brawling, and drunken
speeches he made on a tour from DC to
Chicago and Back
Voters returned a majority of R to
Congress, most Radicals:


In Senate, 42 R, 11D
In House, 143 R, 49D
CONSEQUENCE: Republicans had a
mandate - they could enact any kind
of RCN plan that they could agree on.
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction
4. 14th Amendment
 Radicals offered to readmit those who ratified amendment,
only TN did so
 Ratified in July, 1868.
 Provide a constitutional guarantee of the rights and
security of freed people.
 Insure against neo-Confederate political power - Former
Confed members couldn’t hold state or fed office unless
pardoned by Congress
 Southern states would be punished for denying the right
to vote to black citizens
 Radicals could point to race riots in NO and other S cities
where Blacks were victims as evidence that Johnson’s policy
was inadequate
7. Rise of Radical Reconstruction




After compromising differences with
Moderates, Radicals formed another RCN plan
in 3 bills that Congress passed in 1867 which
were all vetoed by Johnson and repassed –
override of Johnson veto
FINALLY a final plan
Two year delay had effects on how S would
react to the program
Congress plan based on the idea that seceded
states had forfeited their political identity
8. Congressional Reconstruction
A. Main Idea – Congressional Reconstruction Acts 1867



L and Johnson governments had no legal standing, and 10 seceded
states (not TN) were combined into 5 military districts
Each district was to have a military commander and troops that would
prepare the provinces for re-admission as states
Institution of a registration of voters, including all black males and
those whites not disqualified by participation in the rebellion
8. Congressional Reconstruction
1. MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT


State Constitution
 After registration completed in each province,
commanding general called the voters to elect a
convention to prepare a new state constitution
 Must include provisions for Black suffrage
 If document was ratified by the voters, elections
for a state government could be held
State could rejoin the Union when:
 Congress approved the state constitution
 State Legislatures ratified the 14th Amendment
 the 14th amendment was adopted by req. # of
states and became part of the Constitution
8. Congressional Reconstruction
2. Command of the Army Act
*
The President must issue all
Reconstruction orders through
the commander of the military.
3. Tenure of Office Act
*
The President could not remove
any officials [esp. Cabinet members]
without the Senate’s consent, if the
position originally required Senate
approval.
 Designed to protect radical
members of Lincoln’s government.
 A question of the
constitutionality of this law.
Edwin Stanton
8. Congressional Reconstruction
4. President Johnson’s Impeachment

Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868.

Johnson replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to
Radical Reconstruction.

The House impeached him on February 24 before even drawing up the
charges by a vote of 126 – 47!
• Senate Trial
•
•
11 weeks
Johnson Acquitted 35
to 19 (1 vote short of
required 2/3rds vote)
8. Congressional Reconstruction
B. Main Idea – Congressional Reconstruction Acts The South would be
1867
reconstructed under the
Radical Republicans plan.
1. Republicans would
elect Grant as their
President and he
would carry out the
Radical Reconstruction.
“The Strong
Government”, 1869-1877.
Grant enforcing the
Reconstruction Act of
1867 and “forcing” the
South to change.
8. Congressional Reconstruction
Reconstruction Amendments
2. 13th Amendment
Abolished slavery
(1865)
3. 14th Amendment
Provided citizenship & equal
protection under the law.
(1868) (overturns Dred
Scott)
4. 15th Amendment
Provided the right to vote for
all men which included white
and black men. Women’s
rights groups freaked (1870)
8. Congressional Reconstruction
Main Idea C. Republicans maintain control of
the South
1.
2.
In ten states recognized under congressional plans
only up to ¼ of whites voted until 1872.
These restrictions later lifted, but Repubs kept
control:


Scalawags - southern whites Republicans (most former
Whigs, wealthy planters, businessman), felt Republicans
were better for their (southern) economic interests
Carpetbaggers - northern Republicans (mostly
professionals or veterans) who moved South after war to
take advantage of new opportunity
• What did carpetbaggers and scalawags
have in common?
8. Congressional Reconstruction
The Balance of
Power in Congress
State
White Citizens
Freedmen
SC
291,000
411,000
MS
353,000
436,000
LA
357,000
350,000
GA
591,000
465,000
AL
596,000
437,000
VA
719,000
533,000
NC
631,000
331,000
8. Congressional Reconstruction
3. Most republicans, however, were
black freedmen who held
conventions, became senators and
representatives and created black
churches that gave them unity and
political self-confidence.

Modern Souls to the Polls movement
4. Corruption

Southern Corruption Reconstruction governments’
records were mixed- there were
charges of corruption and
extravagance.

Northern Corruption - corruption
also rampant in North because of
 economic expansion of govt
services that put new strains
on elected officials.
 Larger budgets reflected
needed services previous govts
had not offered: public
education, public works, and
poor relief
8. Congressional Reconstruction
D. Main Idea - Southern states
redeemed
1.
1872 - S whites regained suffrage
and the worked as majority to
overthrow Repubs.
2.
In areas of black majority whites
used intimidations and violence
(Ku Klux Klan) to prevent blacks
from political activity
 Klan led by former Confed Gen
Nathan Forrest.
 1890s increased violence
(lynchings) to inhibit black
movement for equal rights.

Worked to advance interest
of those who would gain
most -planter class and
Democratic party.
8. Congressional Reconstruction
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
KKK
Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret
society or an inner circle
Organized in 1867, in Polaski,
Tennessee by Nathan Bedford
Forrest.
Represented the ghosts of dead
Confederate soldiers
Disrupted Reconstruction as much
as they could.
The Klan sought to eliminate the
Republican Party in the South by
intimidating voters.
They wanted to keep African
Americans as submissive laborers.
They planted burning crosses on
the lawns of their victims and
tortured, kidnapped, or murdered
them.
Opposed Republicans,
Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and
Freedmen.
8. Congressional Reconstruction
3. Most of all, however, economic pressure used

The Birth of Jim Crow - Laws segregated almost
every area of southern life.

White policies shifted from subordination to
segregation

Got around 15th Amendment through
 poll tax
 property requirement
 literacy/understanding test
8. Congressional Reconstruction
4. Grant’s War On Terrorism The Enforcement Act of 1870
 banned the use of terror, force,
or bribery to prevent people
from voting.
 fed govt given power to
prosecute violations.
 Allowed pres to use military to
protect civil rights, suspend
habeas corpus in some
situations
 Grant used law in lawless
counties in SC
 An anti-lynching movement did
emerge led by Ida B. Wells to
pass national law enabling fed got
to punish those responsible for
lynchings
FEDERAL RESPONSE
- THE KU KLUX KLAN
ACTS
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
WANING
NORTHERN
COMMITMENT
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Main Idea A. Panic of 1873
undermined
Reconstruction
The Greenback Question
• paper currency printed during the Civil
War.
• Debtors wanted more greenbacks in
circulation to have more money in
circulation
Panic of 1873- began w/ failure of
investment bank, later debtors wanted govt
to redeem war bonds w/ greenbacks
• Grant and other Repubs creditors wanted
• sound currency based on gold that
would favor banks and creditors
• didn’t want to put more money in
circulation – hurt debtors
1. N industrialists explained poverty and
instability thru “Social Darwinism”
where those who suffered did so b/c of
own weakness.
•
Viewed poor blacks in this light
•
favored little govt intervention to help
•
15th Amendment was help enough
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
2. Depleted treasury led people to want to spend little on
freedmen, poor state govts cut back on social services
3. In Congressional elections of 1874 Dems won majority in
House for first time since 1861
 Grant used army to maintain Repub control in SC, FL, LA
4. Grant administration continued to try to protect Southern
Rep. governments - only to prevent the emergence of a strong,
Democratic party in the region
 Presence of federal troops wasn’t enough to prevent white S
from overturning many R governments that they believed had
been ruthlessly been thrust upon them – more Dem rebellion
 1875 -Specie Redemption Act
• Repubs passed - pegged greenback dollars to the price of
gold.
• Satisfied creditors
• hard for debtors b/c money supply grew little
• 1876 Greenback Party formed unsuccessful but kept money
issue alive
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Main Idea B. Legal Challenges to the 14th and 15th
Amendments
1. The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
 The court offered a narrow definition of the 14th Amendment.
 It distinguished between national and state citizenship.
 It gave the states primary authority over citizens’ rights.
 Therefore, the courts weakened civil rights enforcement
Bradwell vs. Illinois (1873)
 Myra Bradwell, a female attorney, had been denied the right to
practice law in Illinois.
 She argued that in the 14th Amendment, it said that the state
had unconstitutionally abridged her “privileges and
immunities” as a citizen.
 The Supreme Court rejected her claim, alluding to
women’s traditional role in the home.
 Therefore, she should NOT be practicing law
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Legal Challenges to the 14th and 15th Amendments
2. U. S. vs. Reese, et. al. (1876)
 The court ruled that the STATE alone could confer voting rights
on individuals.
 The 15th Amendment did NOT guarantee a citizen’s right to
vote, but just listed certain impermissible grounds to deny
suffrage.
 Therefore, a path lay open for Southern states to
disenfranchise blacks for supposedly non-racial reasons [like
lack of education, lack of property, etc.]
 U. S. vs. Cruickshank (1876)
 LA white supremacists accused of attacking a meeting of Blacks &
were convicted under the 1870 Enforcement (KKK) Acts.
 The Court held that the 14th Amendment extended the federal
power to protect civil rights ONLY in cases involving
discrimination by STATES.
 Therefore, discrimination by individuals or groups were NOT
covered.
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
3. The Civil Rights Acts of 1875

Crime for any individual to deny full & equal use of public
conveyances and public places.

Prohibited discrimination in jury selection.

Shortcoming  lacked a strong enforcement mechanism.

No new civil rights act was attempted for 90 years!
Civil Rights Cases (1883)

The Court declared the 1875 Civil Rights Act unconstitutional.
 The Court held that the 14th Amendment gave Congress the
power to outlaw discriminations by the states, but NOT by
private individuals.(US v. Cruickshank)
 Black people must no longer “be the special favorites of the
laws.”
 Therefore, this marked the end of federal attempts to protect
African American rights until well into the 20c!
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
4. The Birth of Jim Crow Laws
• The systematic practice of
discriminating against and
segregating Black people,
especially as practiced in the
American South from the end of
Reconstruction to the mid-20th
century
• Court validated separation of
races- Plessy v Ferguson
(1896) ruled separate
accommodations did not
deprive blacks of equal rights if
accommodations were equal.
• Cumming v County Board of
Education (1899)- laws for
separate schools valid even if no
comparable school for blacks
existed
Derogatory name for a Black
person, ultimately from the title
of a 19th-century minstrel song.
Goal: Take away political and
constitutional rights guaranteed
by Constitution: Voting and
equality of all citizens under the
law.
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Main Idea C. Post Reconstruction and the New South
1. Presidential Election of
1876
 Tilden won popular vote but
dispute over 20 electoral votes
from 3 states.
 Tilden one vote shy of electoral
vote majority, Hayes needed all
20 votes to win.
 Congress created special
electoral commission to judge
disputed votes
“Compromise of 1877”
• between Repubs and Southern Dems
• Hayes would take the presidency
• Hayes would withdraw last fed troops
from S
• also involved more financial aid for
railroads and internal improvements
in S in order to help Dems grow
business and industrialize
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
2. The Redeemers v. Readjusters





By 1877 w/ final withdrawal of troops every
southern state govt “redeemed” (white Dems held
power).
Redeemers/Bourbons members of powerful
ruling elite, mostly new class of merchants,
industrialists, financiers.
Committed to “home rule”, social
conservatism, economic development
Dem govts lowered taxes, reduced services (incl.
public education) ”Schools are not a necessity”
VA Readjuster Movement - By 1870s
dissenters protesting service cuts and the
Redeemer govt that was commitment to pay off
prewar and Reconstruction debts
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
3. Industrialization and the “New South”
 Leaders in post-Reconstruction south wanted to develop
industrial economy, New South of industry, progress, thrift and
grew:
 Textile manufacturing b/c of water power, cheap labor, low
taxes.
 Tobacco-processing industry also grew, including James Duke’s
American Tobacco Company.
 Iron + steel industry
 Railroad development increased dramatically, 1886 greater
integration with rest of country when changed its gauge
 Growth of South merely regained what it had done before war,
average income in the South substantially lower than North
 Manufacturing growth required industrial labor force. Most were
women, wages much lower than in N.
 Mill towns and Farm towns were tightly restricted by
company and general store owners because labor unions
were suppressed and the crop-lien system, economic
control (credit thru company)
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
4. Literature of time indicates reference for the



“Lost Cause” and Old South – romantic and nostalgic view
of the Old South and the values fought in the Civil War as
noble
Joel Chandler Harris’ 1880 Uncle Remus. – portrayed
slave society as harmonious and marked by close emotional
bonds between races
growth of minstrel shows – romanticism of the old South
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
D AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEW SOUTH
1.
2.
3.
Crop-lien system is a new system of credit for farmers (system
by which farmers borrowed money against their future crops)
resulted in many losing land, majority of people in S became
tenant farmers
Growth of Tenancy
 During Reconstruction 33% of farmers were tenants
 by 1900 70% became tenants
Sharecropping type of tenancy where farmers promised large
share of crop for land, seeds, tools- little money left over after
payments.
 Subsistence farming gave way to only growth of cash crops
 increased poverty
 Coupled w/ “fence laws” (prevented ppl from raising
livestock) led to decline in living self-sufficiency
 Backcountry v. Tidewater
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Sharecropping
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
D AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE NEW SOUTH
4. Some blacks attracted to New South ideals of progress and
self improvement, entered middle class by becoming
professionals, owning land or business
 This small rising group of blacks believed education vital to
future of race- supported black colleges
 Spokesman for this idea was Booker T Washington
(founder of Tuskegee Institute)- believed blacks should
attend school and learn skills in agricultural or trade, win
respect of white population by adopting middle class
standards of dress.
 His “Atlanta Compromise” sought to forgo political rights,
concentrate on self-improvement and economic gains to
earn recognition
 WEB Dubois
9. Abandonment of Reconstruction
Black & White Political
Participation
Establishment of
Historically
Black Colleges in
the South