Download CH 22 Part 1 Notes

Notes CH 22 Part 1 pp. 477 – 488 “republican”
The Ordeal of Reconstruction
1865-1877
There is a lot  here… take your time to read through this a few times … take your own notes from
these… I have attempted to enlarge and color what I believe to be the most important ideas---but remember
this is a story where chronology is important and understanding the actors and the intentions of each is
significant. At the heart of the story---is-- What kind of America does each group want—once war is
over? and What are they willing to do/or not willing to do--- to construct their vision?
IMPORTANT NOTE: Reconstruction, 1865 -1877, goes through many phases and changes
due to the constant changing dynamic of power within the Federal Government and the power
vacuum (who is in charge) which occurs in the South with the fall of the Slave-Labor system and
the fall of the CSA at the conclusion of the Civil War. Huge changes politically, economically, and
socially occur and with these changes comes very different views of what actually should be
accomplished during this period… and there is a “2nd Civil War” to determine who and what
groups would determine what this NEW SOUTH would look like. It is a complex time. 
Reconstruction begins during the Civil War as Union Troops begin to occupy areas of the
South. They then have the responsibility to attempt to bring stability and government to these
areas. How they do this during the War is scripted by Abraham Lincoln…starting in
1863 with his Proclamation of Reconstruction and Amnesty…or the basis of the
10% plan. Lincoln’s policies are consistently evolving during the war due to the changing
conditions and he is learning from trial and error how best to resolve the myriad of issues as time
passes… Congress is involved during this period beginning in 1864 with the Wade-Davis Bill yet
is ineffective due to Lincoln’s pocket veto of this bill and his firm grasp of War Policy as
commander-in-chief…especially after his re-election. Lincoln addresses the future some in his
public statements…he mentions that he [Lincoln] believes that some freedmen should have the
vote… he mentions freedmen working for wages, the FREE-LABOR ideology taking over from the
Slave-Labor system…BUT his death precedes the end of the War….and so Reconstruction as a
complete policy is never completed by Lincoln***…and after his death Johnson, certainly
very different in his views of blacks and what this new southern society should look like than AL
AND REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS (remember he IS a DEMOCRAT), AJohnson begins HIS
PRESIDENCY BY IMMEDIATELY IMPLEMENTING his views and his plan…due to Congress not
being in secession until December of 1865… BUT THERE WILL BE A CONFLICT
BETWEEN THESE TWO [a Republican controlled Congress and AJohnson]…AS WELL AS THE
SOUTHERN PLANTERS ATTEMPTING TO IMPLEMENT THEIR PLANS…
As you begin now to study RECONSTRUCTION—THERE
ARE 3 PLANS***
1-Lincoln’s begun during the War called the 10% plan—
2-Andrew Johnson’s Plan---the 10% plan “+” …done with
Congress not in session…and opposed by Congress which
leads to ---
3-Congress’ MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION—begun in
earnest after AJ is impeached and continued during U.S.
GRANT’S PRESIDENCY {1869-1877} until the end of
RECONSTRUCTION WITH THE COMPROMISE OF 1877****
****3 Significant Constitutional Amendments are passed during this
period….the 13th, 14th, and 15th . These together are called, “The
Reconstruction Amendments.” You need to know the details of each. 
These 3 Amendments are the 1st to actually give the Federal Government
power.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the
right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him
who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and orphan, to do all which many achieve and
cherish a JUST AND LASTING PEACE AMONG OURSELVES and with all nations.”
Abraham Lincoln-Second Inaugural, March 4, 1865
Lincoln clearly calls for a “just and lasting peace” in the spirit of “charity.” What will
this look like after the war ends a little over 8 weeks after his second inaugural
address and what effect will his death, which occurs about 5 weeks later, have on
this “PEACE?”
THERE ARE A LOT OF QUESTIONS AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT GROUPS THAT HAVE
ANSWERS…HOW WILL…THESE ANSWERS …BE RESOLVED…HOW WILL THE ANSWERS LEAD TO
OTHER CONFLICTS…answers that some say….. their effects still linger with us today.
Intro
THE STAGGERING CHALLENGE OF PEACE…after a civil war…
**********FOUR QUESTIONS LOOMED LARGE: VERY
IMPORTANT TO CONSIDER********
1 HOW WOULD THE SOUTH, PHYSICALLY DEVASTATED BY WAR AND SOCIALLY REVOLUTIONIZED
BY EMANCIPATION, BE REBUILT?
- Depending on your perspective…the least of the concerns, initially….but an overarching theme to
these four questions is that they all have to be considered to be intertwined or their answers
considered contextually as effecting each other.
2 HOW WOULD THE LIBERATED BLACKS FARE AS FREE MEN AND WOMEN?
-Again…perspective….for some THIS IS THE CENTRAL ISSUE…for others…ISN’T BEING FREE
ENOUGH and for many Southerners this is NOT RIGHT AT ALL… this question still lingers with us
today, as we are aware. Consider: Is the North willing to fight another WAR to
guarantee that these newly freed people are allowed to be FULLY FREE
CITIZENS OF THE USA? To what length will the North go…to what length
will the desperate WHITE South go to continue their HERRENVOLK
DEMOCRACY?
3 HOW WOULD THE SOUTHERN STATES BE REINTEGRATED INTO THE UNION?
-The question below will dictate the answer to this question…and because power is not static, and
shifts dramatically, the answer will change over time*** FROM THE PRESIDENTS, AL & AJ, TO
CONGRESS, TO SOUTHERN PLANTERS… AND NO ONE is REALLY PLEASED WITH THE END RESULT.
4 WHO WOULD DIRECT THE PROCESS OF RECONSTRUCTION – THE SOUTHERN STATES
THEMSELVES, THE PRESIDENT, OR CONGRESS?
THE ANSWER TO THIS QUESTION DICTATES ALL
OTHERS…and this is a fluid, dynamically changing situation.
-
-AT first…The President, LINCOLN being COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF allows him to dictate the
beginning of this process because we are at War still…it begins with experimentation by AL in
Louisiana, Tennessee, and parts of many other States where the Union Army is in control….
however, it is contentious between Lincoln and Congress-even MORE SO after the WAR
ENDS>>>between JOHNSON, who implements his own plan… and Congress, and even between
Grant and Congress as time passes. CONGRESS NEXT TAKES CONTROL DURING THE JOHNSON
ADMINISTRATION, AND CREATES MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION**** as Grant takes office in 1868
and during Grant’s two terms…. THE NORTHERN RESOLVE BEGINS TO EASE (especially after the
depression of 1873)…..Eventually, THE PLANTER ARISTOCRACY of the South (BOURBONS“redeemers”) TEAM UP WITH ELITE NORTHERN BUSINESS INTERESTS TO TAKE OVER THIS
PROCESS beginning slowly in the 1870’s and fully by 1877…with their common PATRIARCHAL
interests, Scientific Racism, $$$, at heart THEY DICTATE THE FINAL SOLUTION… one that will take
over 100 years to overcome, if it truly ever has. Both groups {Northern Captains of
Industry and Southern Plantation owners} want to overcome the growing
political power of the masses—Jacksonian Democracy—which began before the WAR--in the North it is the power of the immigrant voting groups in the ever enlarging cities that
concerns many “Captains of Industry” ---In the South---it is the growing power of 4 million freed
slaves who now due to the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are “citizens” with the males being a
powerful voting block in the South--- this leads to the combination that ends reconstruction in the
South and will continue to reconcile to attempt to control politics in the hands of the WEALTHY (of
course for the “good of all” because, of course, being wealthy they are the “FITTEST” AND MOST
EDUCATED, AND MOST FAVORED BY “GOD” TO KNOW WHAT IS BEST FOR THE MASSES---who are
uneducated and due to their racial limitations do not know what is best for themselves—and need to
be taken care of and guided to what is best, by their “betters.”
The Problems of Peace
What should be done with the captured Confederate leaders, all of whom had to answer to charges
of TREASON?
Jefferson Davis, former President of the CSA – 2 year imprisonment then released.
ALL Rebel leaders were eventually pardoned by President Andrew Johnson by Christmas of 1868.
BUT…. Some Confederate Leaders lost their ability to vote or serve in any government for almost
30 years. This leads to the “Redeemers” violent approach to Reconstruction---to RE-ESTABLISH
THE “HERRENVOLK” (MASTER RACE) DEMOCRACY IN THE SOUTH---TO “REDEEM” THE SOUTH.
Question #1 from the Intro…How would the South physically be rebuilt…(slowly)-“THE NEW
SOUTH”***
The economic and social structure of the South had collapsed. Most major cities were in ruins, banks
and many businesses were closed due to runaway inflation and destruction, the few Factories were
dismantled, the transportation system was in ruins, Agriculture – the former lifeblood of the South was
crippled…weeds grew in place of crops, -the slave-labor system was abolished - seed was scarcelivestock was plundered by both sides during the war…(there were pockets of recovery in this area due
to some areas that were either not touched by the fighting or minimally) NOT UNTIL 1870 DID THE
SOUTHERN STATES PRODUCE AS LARGE A COTTON CROP AS 1860, MUCH OF THAT CAME FROM THE
LESS DEVASTATED SOUTHWEST…Arkansas, Texas, Western Louisiana..
The Planter Aristocrats (Bourbon Democrats[conservative probusiness]-Redeemers) were humbled by the war, TEMPORARILY…mansions burned and
gutted, lost investments, ALMOST worthless land…lost 2 Billion$ in slaves. BUT they would not stay
down for long….they were DANGEROUSLY DEFIANT AND CURSED THE “DAMNYANKEES”THESE
FORMER CONFEDERATES CONTINUED TO BELIEVE THEIR VIEW OF SECESSION WAS CORRECT…AND
THAT THE WAR WAS JUST…IT WAS A “LOST CAUSE,” BUT ONE THEY STILL CONTINUED TO
FIGHT…JUST NOT ON A BATTLEFIELD…THE “WAR” WOULD CONTINUE…THIS TIME TO
DEFEND THE “HERRENVOLK DEMOCRACY,” (WHITE MAN’S POLITICAL AND
ECONOMIC DOMINANCE) and they used every ounce of their blood to maintain their
SUPREMACY…even if it took combining with some of he leading Northern capitalist
industrialists[pro-business-Monopolists ]- who had their own battles with their human refuse
(immigrants) to deal with….THIS DOES NOT BODE WELL FOR THE NEWLY FREEDMEN AND WOMEN OR
Elitism…
*******Social Darwinism – “survival of the fittest,” scientific
racism….backs this COMBINATION OF THE
ARISTOCRACY….TO GAIN COMPLETE POLITICAL AND
ECONOMIC CONTROL OF THE USA….THE GILDED AGE
(named by Mark Twain) 1865- 1900.
THE POOR OF BOTH REGIONS…THE FOCUS BECOMES INDUSTRY AND WEALTH …
Freedmen Define Freedom
Confusion and Chaos ran rampant throughout the South.
How do slaves receive their freedom?
*****UNEVENLY…depending on where they lived…the circumstances varied dramatically. Many slaves
being freed and then re-enslaved several times. FOR MANY SLAVES THE SHACKLES OF BONDAGE WERE
NOT STRUCK OFF IN ONE DRAMATIC BLOW BUT…LINK BY LINK…
What were the varieties of responses to emancipation?
Complex…for sure…some slaves were loyal to their former masters…while some reacted violently to their
former masters… EVENTUALLY ALL MASTERS WERE FORCED TO RECOGNIZE THEIR SLAVES
PERMANENT FREEDOM.
-Tens of thousands TOOK TO THE ROADS…some to test their new found freedom, others to SEARCH
FOR THEIR FAMILIES…and formalized slave marriages and brought families back together. Some went to
towns or cities or formed communities of Blacks for protection and mutual assistance…an example
from 1878 to 1880, 25,000 blacks from Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi leave and settle in
KANSAS…CALLED EXODUSTERS…
THE CHURCH BECAME THE FOCUS OF BLACK COMMUNITY LIFE
AFTER EMANCIPATION. They formed their own churches pastored by their own ministers
and they grew quickly. 500,000 n the Black Baptist Church…400,000 in the African Methodist-Episcopal
Church… These churches formed the bedrock of black community life…and from these
organizations sprang many others that attempted to help these newly freed people find their way
in a strange capitalistic democratic competitive society and to PROTECT THEIR NEW FOUND
FREEDOM AND HELP TO DEFINE WHAT EXACTLY WHAT FREEDOM MEANT. THE UNION
LEAGUE FOR EXAMPLE*** organizing, after the 15th amendment, the Black Vote…Black
Businesses…
EDUCATION was important for these newly freed people….Learning to read and write had been
denied most due to the laws of the South. THIS WAS A MAJOR FOCUS FOR ALL NEWLY FREED
PEOPLE…and they wasted no time in creating self-improvement organizations to raise $$$ to purchase
land, build businesses, build schoolhouses, and hire/train teachers. THE SCHOOLHOUSE WOULD BE
THE FIRST PROOF OF THEIR INDEPENDENCE. The American Missionary Association, as well as
other private benevolent associations, most funded by white churches (Methodists and Baptists most
notably) SENT A HUGE NUMBER OF WHITE WOMEN INTO THE SOUTH TO TEACH. THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT ALSO HELPED…..ESPECIALLY THE
FREEDMEN’S BUREAU********
The Freedmen’s Bureau
Unskilled, Unlettered, without Property or Money, and little knowledge of the capitalistic system they
were about to enter, YET they were FREE…was this enough…to SURVIVE…maybe…but could this be
enough to PROSPER…probably not.
To cope with the above-mentioned issues, and some others, THE FREEDMAN’S BUREAU was created
March 3, 1865 (about a month before the end of the war) …by CONGRESS and ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The
Freedman’s Bureau survives, barely, Andrew Johnson’s attempt to kill the agency…and ends in 1872…
FB was intended to be a WELFARE AGENCY…(the 1st in our nations history****) The FB provided food,
clothing, medical care, and EDUCATION (ITS GREATEST SUCCESS******) to FREEDMEN & POOR WHITE
REFUGEES….
GENERAL O.O. HOWARD {OLIVER OTIS-I knew you would be curious } later he founds Howard
University in Washington DC….GEN. OLIVER HEADS THE FB.
THE FB GREATEST SUCCESSES WERE IN EDUCATION…educating over 200,000
FREEDPEOPLE had a passion for education …to be able to participate in society and to READ THE WORD
OF GOD.
THE FB’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN OTHER AREAS WAS MEAGER AT BEST*****sometimes even seemingly
working against the best interests of the people they were supposed to aid. ESPECIALLY IN LAND
DISTRIBUTION TO THE FREED PEOPLE. [40 acres and a mule became a joke…some take advantage of the
SOUTHERN HOMESTEAD ACT…but this was very limited and most often whites persuaded
blacks to apply and then sell them the land for close to nothing…a kind of swindle…you give me your land
or you die) OTHER AREAS: the
slave-labor system was crushed…so what
would take its place? Often SHARECROPPING –TENANT FARMING…
WHERE YOU SIGN A CONTRACT TO FARM SOMEONE ELSE’S LAND…OFTEN THESE POOR BLACKS AND
WHITES WERE DEPENDENT ON LOANS TO FARM ANYTHING….AND PAID THEIR LOANS BACK FOR
SEED,ETC..WITH A “SHARE” OF THEIR CROP…OFTEN THE PERSON WHO OWNED THE LAND AND
LOANED THEM $$$ FOR SEED ETC.. WOULD ALSO CHARGE THEM TO LIVE IN THE SAME SLAVE SHACK
ON THEIR PROPERTY…AND THAT LANDOWNER WOULD ALSO BE THE ONE WHO “VALUED” THE CROP,
OFTEN TO THEIR BENEFIT…WHICH
LEFT THESE POOR WHITES AND
BLACKS PERPETUALLY IN DEBT*********HUGE*********
Often the FB representative/agent in an area would encourage and sometimes help negotiate “LABOR
CONTRACTS” between the white landowners and the former slaves…THIS “INTERFERENCE” WAS
OFTERN RESENTED BY SOUTHERNERS…due to it threatening in some instances WHITE RACIAL
DOMINANCE IN THE SOUTH AFTER THE CIVIL WAR….some FB rep’s are just murdered to get them out of
the way….most often they were not replaced…too dangerous in some places in the South.
Johnson: The Tailor President
Johnson came from humble beginnings, born in NC and orphaned at a young age, he perseveres…taught
himself to read… and was apprenticed to a tailor at age ten…he was a self-made man, like Lincoln, BUT
HE HAD A HUGE CHIP ON HIS SHOULDER….AND WAS VERY RACIST…BUT ALSO HATED THE PLANTER
ARISTOCRACY…at least temporarily…until they began to manipulate him with praise…
ALWAYS AN IMPASSIONED CHAMPION OF THE POOR WHITE MAN…AJ was elected to Congress from his
new home state, Tennessee, and later when Tenn. seceded…HE REFUSED TO SECEDE WITH HIS
STATE… and after Tenn. was taken by the Union Troops and began to be RECONSTRUCTED…before the
end of the war… HE WAS APPOINTED MILITARY GOV.
AJ became AL’s VP in the Union Party [remember a combination of WAR DEMOCRATS (Johnson)
and Republicans {Lincoln]-- election of 1864…. Although a WAR DEMOCRAT…he was added to the
ticket to appeal to many in the Border States….He was a champion of STATES RIGHTS AND THE
CONSTITUTION…. [this puts him at odds with the majority REPUBLICANS {the Union Party was a
temporary election measure}] JOHNSON WAS A SOUTHERNER WHO DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE
NORTH…AND REALLY DID NOT CARE TOO…HE WAS DISTRUSTED BY BOTH SIDES…certainly in a
difficult position following the Martyred Lincoln and having to deal with the issues that presented
themselves… HOTHEADED, CONTENTIOUS, AND STUBBORN…(TEXT) HE WAS THE WRONG MAN IN THE
WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME…His Reconstruction Plan was doomed.
Presidential Reconstruction
Note: ***** There are three (3) somewhat formal plans…Lincoln’s 10% plan which is in effect
during the war and very flexible and changing due to the circumstances which are constantly
changing, announced in 1863, Congress responds to this with the WADE-DAVIS bill in 1864, which
is somewhat harsher but Lincoln defeats this bill with a POCKET VETO, and continues his program
that was ever evolving… put into effect in areas as the Union Army takes areas in the South[esp.
Tenn/La/Ark] …Lincoln had a variety of different objectives as war was ending…His 10% plan
evolves accordingly. After the Wars end and Lincoln’s Death, almost simultaneous… AJohnson
has a different plan from Lincoln—but with some similarities as well***…Congress
is not yet in session and will not be for several months…His plan is
implemented and the South is “reconstructed”****** according to him by
the time Congress comes to DC…HOWEVER, Congress, dominated by Republicans
is NOT PLEASED WHITH WHAT THEY OBSERVE GOING ON IN THE SOUTH….AND
THEY FIGHT TO GAIN CONTROL OF “RECONSTRUCTION.” Eventually AJ is “Impeached,”
but not removed from Office, and the “Radical” Republicans begin to create their
reconstruction Plan called “MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION.” US Grant is elected President
in both 1868 and 1872 and is in office until 1877…he seems to work reasonably well with the
Radical Republican Congress and attempts to implement Military (Congressional)
Reconstruction…BUT THE NORTHERN WILL TO ENFORCE THE LAWS OF THE USA IN THE SOUTH
FAILS OVER TIME…and by the election of 1876…and the CONTROVERSY THAT EXISTS – WHO WINS
THE ELECTION – EVENTUALLY IS RESOLVED WITH A BARGAIN [COMPROMISE OF 1877*****]
BETWEEN THE REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS …THE AGREEMENT ALLOWS THE REPUBLICAN
HAYES TO BE PRESIDENT….BUT ….THE COST IS GREAT FOR FREEDMEN…ALL TROOPS ARE PULLED
OUT OF THE SOUTH AND RECONSTRUCTION ENDS….with the victors in most
estimations being the WHITE SUPREMACISTS WHO RECREATE THE
HERRENVOLK DEMOCRACY AND THE JIM CROW SYSTEM WHICH WILL
LAST UNTIL THE 1970’S.
The above short story…should help give you a background in what is to come….hopefully 
Back to the text-notes:
Note: Presidential Reconstruction includes both Lincoln’s and Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans.
Who would control the process of Reconstruction (bringing the seceded states back into the Union)?
Lincoln, believed that the states never left legally it was impossible….therefore the PRESIDENT would
control the process of reconstructing their economy and society. (Congress opposed this belief…and
would ultimately during the Johnson presidency gain control of this process)
Lincoln began to consider how this process would take place and the details of what it would involve as
the Union Armies began to rule large Areas of the South in 1863….Someone had to provide Government
(stability) to these areas under Union Army control…and Lincoln knew that eventually that process
would have to include Southerners…. SOME had recently pledged their allegiance to the USA…. Due to the
fact that he knew that Soldiers could not stay in the South Forever… or should they in a democracy.
********Lincoln’s Plan is called the 10% Plan, 1863 (Proclamation of
Amnesty and Reconstruction) [In the middle of the War]
Lincoln believed that due to the fact that the Southern States had never left the Union…bringing them
formally back in would be relatively simple>>> Each State after 1-10% of its voters in the 1860
Presidential election took an oath of allegiance to the Union and 2-the State pledged to agree to
emancipation and 3-the State created a new constitution (that included emancipation) and 4-elected a
new gov’t (no former confederate leaders) Lincoln would then recognize that State as a part of the Union.
In Congress the Republican majority was not happy…. They feared the restoration of the planter
aristocracy to power and the possible re-enslavement of all the blacks. In 1864 Their counter-offer was
called the WADE-DAVIS BILL – it required 50% of the states voters in 1860 take the oath of allegiance to
the Union and demanded stronger safeguards for emancipation…LINCOLN POCKET-VETO’S THIS BILL.
(IT WAS PASSED WITH ONLY A FEW DAYS BEFORE THEY ENDED THEIR SECESSION, AND LINCOLN
JUST HELD ON TO THE BILL, THEY ENDED THE SECESSION WITHOUT LINCOLN ACTING ON THE BILL,
THEREFORE IT WAS CONSIDERED DEAD…(POCKET VETO)
****This conflict between AL and Congress revealed a difference in their opinion of WHO WOULD HAVE
THE POWER TO CONTROL OR SET RECONSTRUCTION POLICY….HAD THE STATES LEFT THE UNION?
PRESIDENTS LINCOLN AND JOHNSON SAID NO…THEREFORE…THE PRESIDENTS CONTOLLED THE
POLICY….CONGRESS BELIEVED THE STATES HAD LEFT THE UNION….AND WHEN THEY COULD TAKE
THE POWER FROM AJ (IMPEACHMENT) THEY TOOK CONTROL… They, Congress, believed that the
States “committed suicide” by leaving thus forfeited all of their rights….they could be readmitted only as
“conquered provinces,” on the conditions only Congress would determine.
While the War was still raging however….The Commander-in Chief was firmly in control.
Congressional Republicans were split as well between Moderates and Radicals.****
-The majority (close) Moderates tended to agree with Lincoln that the rebel states should be restored as
simply and quickly as possible.***** [while Lincoln was Pres…they change after the war….still less
punitive but…more harsh than AJ]
- ******The Radical Republicans***- SUMNER ,WADE, STEVENS…ETC.. – BELIEVED
THAT THE SOUTH SHOULD BE PUNISHED….BEFORE THE SOUTH WAS TO BE RESTORED, THE
RADICALS WANTED THE SOUTH’S SOCIAL STRUCTURE UPROOTED, THE PLANTERS PUNISHED, AND
THE FREED SLAVES PROTECTED BY FEDERAL GOVERNMENT POWER.***** [ BY 1867 THEY ARE
SUCCESSFUL** IT IS CALLED “MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION.”]
*****Johnson’s Plan – AJ agreed with AL that the seceded states had never left…(of course
that way he was in charge)…. He quickly recognized some of the 10% governments created during the
war under Lincoln’s plan…HE THEN ISSUED HIS PLAN ON MAY 29, 1865….1-Leading Confederates were
disenfranchised- all with taxable property worth more than 20,000 …to get their citizenship back they
had to apply PERSONALLY TO AJ for a PARDON. 2-Each state had to have special state constitutional
conventions in which 2a-they had to repeal their ordinance of secession, 2b-repudiate all Confederate
debt, and 2c-ratify the 13th Amendment (passed by Congress just before AL’s death) States that complied
with these conditions would be swiftly be considered reconstructed and could join the Union again
legally.
The Baleful Black Codes****
Johnson’s Reconstructed Governments in their required state constitutional conventions
passed
BLACK CODES***- these were laws intended (purpose) WAS: to solve the economic
problem caused by the end of the slave system (ensure a stable and subservient labor force)…and
regulate what rights the freed blacks had in their new societies…like the slave laws had done previous
to emancipation. Mississippi passed the 1st Black Codes in November of 1865 and its legislation served as
a model for other states, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, (purpose and Louisiana all pass
codes in 1865, Florida, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, and Arkansas all pass codes
early in 1866. The text claims that Mississippi’s was the harshest and Georgia’s the most lenient…
The South’s economy could not recover until the Agricultural based economy had begun to plant and
harvest crops…therefore control over the labor that was required to do the work… was essential to
the WHITE owners of these lands… PENALTIES…were also imposed on freed people who “jumped” their
labor contracts…which usually committed them to work for someone for 1year…usually at very low
wages. They could be forcibly arrested and forced to work where the state
chose…”CONVICT LABOR,” was sold in the South until the 1970’s (yes, late
20th century)
The Black Codes also attempted to restore the pre-emancipation system of race relations…”THE
HERRENVOLK DEMOCRACY.” (WHITE SUPREMACY) Freedom was recognized BUT… ALL CODES
FORBADE BLACKS TO SERVE ON A JURY, SOME EVEN BARRED BLACKS FROM RENTING OR LEASING
LAND, IF UNEMPLOYED BLACKS COULD BE ARRESTED AND THEIR LABOR SOLD (same as if they left a
labor contract) by the state prison system…NO STATES ALLOWED BLACKS TO VOTE.
Obviously these laws mocked the idea of freedom, purchased with BLOOD, and made it very difficult
for the newly freed people to survive…and certainly did not help or encourage economic
independence…Lacking capital ($ or something worth $$) and with only their labor to
sell…hundreds of thousands had little choice but to accept unfair labor contracts or become
sharecroppers-tenant farmers. As do many landless whites. SHARECROPPING/TENANT FARMING
forced many into a kind of medieval peonage-serfdom…and were forced due to mounting debt due to the
unfair economic control of the large landowners….were forced to stay on the land until death…again
leaving with debt was not an option…due to being “caught by negro catchers” and put in prison where
their labor was sold by the state. This cycle of poverty was what the white large landowners wanted,
a controllable subservient dependent labor system that exploited the workers and benefitted
them with either owning the people’s perpetual debt or huge profits from their crops which they
acquire for next to nothing, ripping the renter off.
Even SHARECROPPING/TENANT FARMING upset the WHITE LAND OWNERS…. The idea that they had to
work with these poor blacks and whites at all upset them…and they resent that idea greatly.