Download Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson: 1. Vice President under Abraham Lincoln a. Become president following Lincoln assassination 2. Political career began in Tennessee a. Governor b. Congressman c. U. S. Senator d. Vice President e. President 3. He was the only senator from a Confederate state that remained loyal to the Union. a. Other southern senators saw him as a traitor to his region 4. Supported abolition a. Former slave owner 5. Favored strong state rights 6. Hated wealthy planters from the south a. He held them responsible for dragging poor whites into a civil war 7. Did not favor former slaves gaining voting rights 8. He originally endorsed a harsh punishment for Confederate leaders a. As president he had to decide the fate of Confederate leaders i. Punish? ii. Pardon? 9. Had the job of how to bring Confederate states back into the Union. a. Announced his “Presidential Plan for Reconstruction” in May 1865. i. Remaining Confederate states could be readmitted to the Union after meeting certain conditions. 1. Withdraw its secession 2. Swear an allegiance to the Union 3. Annul Confederate war debts 4. Ratify the 13th Amendment a. Abolition of slavery 10. His plan had some proponents different from Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan a. Wanted to prevent most high‐ranking Confederates and wealthy southern landowners from taking the oath needed to satisfy privileges b. Failed to address the needs of former slaves i. Land ii. Voting rights iii. Protection under the law. 11. He vetoed the Civil Rights Act and the Freedman’s Bureau Act which ended his Presidential Reconstruction. 12. Brought up on Impeachment charges by the Radical Republicans a. Radical Republicans felt he was not carrying out his constitutional obligations to enforce the Reconstruction Act. i. Removed military officers that tried to enforce the Act. ii. Failed to comply with the “Tenure of Office Act” 1. Fired Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War b. Radical Republicans failed to get the votes necessary to Impeach Johnson. Reconstruction:
1. The name given to the period when the United States rebuilt following the Civil War. a. This lasted from 1865 through 1877. 2. Refers to the process the federal government used to re‐enter Confederate states back into the Union. 3. There were problems with Reconstruction. a. Lincoln, Johnson and Congress all had different ideas of how the Confederates reentry should be handled. i. Lincoln’s plan was based on the premise secession was constitutionally impossible; therefore the Confederate states never left the Union. 1. Believed individuals not the states had rebelled so he wanted the following a. Wanted lenient reconstruction policy b. Wanted Southern states to return to the Union as fast as and easily as possible ii. Introduced a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in December 1863. 1. Also called the “Ten Percent Plan” Ten Percent Plan:
1. Also known as the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction a. Government would pardon all Confederates with the exception of high ranking Confederate officials i. Included officials and military officers who were accused of crimes against prisoners of war b. After 10% of the citizens on the 1860 voter list took the oath of allegiance could form a new state government and gain representation in Congress. Radical Republicans:
1. Congressional Republicans that believed they needed to destroy the political power of former slaveholders. a. Most of the members of the Radical Republicans wanted African Americans to have full rights as citizens. b. Wanted to ensure African Americans have the right to vote. 2. Thaddeus Stevens was one of the two leaders of the Radical Republicans. a. His partner was Charles Sumner of Massachusetts. 3. The group was against Lincoln’s “Ten Percent Plan” a. Introduced the “Wade‐Davis Bill” in July 1864. i. Proposed that Congress should be responsible for reconstruction. ii. Rules for Confederate states government to return to the Union had to adhere to the following criteria: 1. A majority not 10% of eligible voters of 1860 would have to take an oath of allegiance to the Union. 4. Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade‐Davis Bill. a. Radical Republicans were outraged by the veto. i. Declared Congress not the President had supreme authority over Reconstruction. ii. Setup a showdown between Congress and the President. Thaddeus Stevens:
1. Radical Republican leader from Pennsylvania. 2. Known for his wit and sarcasm. 3. Practiced law before being elected to Congress a. Defended runaway slaves 4. Hated slavery a. Hated white southerners i. Believed anyone who would permit slavery was a traitor to liberty and God. Freedmen’s Bureau: 1. Established by Congress in 1865. a. Passed a law to continue and enlarge the bureau in 1866 2. Purpose was to help southerners in need a. Distributed clothing b. Distributed food c. Setup more than forty hospitals d. Setup approximately four thousand schools e. Setup sixty‐one industrial institutes f. Setup seventy‐four teacher‐training centers Black Codes:
1. They were discriminatory laws that severely restricted African Americans lives after the Civil War. a. These laws were passed beginning in 1865. a. Mississippi b. South Carolina 2. Codes restored many of the restrictions of slavery. g. Restricting the right to carry weapons h. Not allowed to serve on a jury i. Not able to testify against whites in a trial j. Prohibited from marrying whites k. Had to have travel permits l. Some states outlawed African Americans from being landowners. 3.
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Some Congressional members believed passing Black Codes as an effort to keep African Americans as slaves. Andrew Johnson created a battle between his position as President and Congress over black codes. a. Vetoed two major legislations stating they went beyond Constitutional authority. i. Civil Rights Act ii. Freedman’s Bureau Act b. Vetoes alienated moderate Republicans i. They were trying to improve his Reconstruction Plan c. Angered Radical Republicans i. His action appeared to support Southerner’s right to deny full rights to former slaves. Fourteenth Amendment:
1. Provided a constitutional basis for the Civil Rights Act 2. Made “all persons born or naturalized in the United States” citizens of this country. 3. Entitled everyone to equal protection under the law. 4. No state could deprive a citizen of Life, Liberty, or Property without due process of law. 5. Did not give African Americans specifically the right to vote a. Did specify that if any state preventing any males of a specific position from voting the state would lose a percentage of its Congressional seats. i. Loss would be equal to the percentage of citizens kept from the polls. 6. Bared most of the Confederate leaders from holding federal or state offices. a. The exception was if they were permitted to do so by two‐thirds majority vote by Congress 7. President Johnson believed the amendment treated former Confederate leaders too harshly. a. Thought it was wrong to force states to accept the amendment that legislators had no input in the original draft. b. Advised Southern states to reject the amendment 8. All but the Southern state of Tennessee rejected the amendment a. It was not ratified until 1868 Impeachment: 1. The process of accusing a public official of wrong doing followed by formal charges and a hearing for misconduct. 2. Radical leaders felt President Johnson was not carrying out his constitutional obligations of Reconstruction. a. Removing military officers who tried to enforce the Reconstruction Act. 3. Wanted to charge Johnson with misconduct in office. a. He was referred for Impeachment. Fifteenth Amendment:
1. Introduced in 1868. a. Introduced by Radicals in Congress. i. Feared pro‐Confederate Southern whites might try to limit black suffrage. b. The amendment stated no one can be kept from voting because of race, color, or previous conditions of servitude. i. This also affected the North. 1. At time they also barred Blacks from voting c. Ratified in 1870 d. Some Southern states refused to enforce the law i. Used violence to prevent Blacks from voting e. Enforcement Act of 1870 was passed by Congress in response to the violence in the South. i. Gave federal government more power to punish those who tired to prevent Blacks from exercising their right to vote Scalawags:
1. White Southerners who joined the Republican Party during Reconstruction. a. Some members hoped to gain political offices with the help of the Black vote. a. Used the offices for financial gain b. Believed the Republican government offered the best opportunity for the South to rebuild and industrialize. a. Majority were small farmers i. Wanted to improve their position 1. Economically 2. Politically a. Wanted to prevent former wealthy planters from regaining power. Carpetbaggers:
1. Northerners who moved south after the Civil War. a. Name refers to the belief Northerners arrived in the south with so few belongings everything fit into a Carpetbag suitcase. 2. Southerners believed Carpetbaggers wanted to exploit the South’s postwar turmoil for profit. a. There were mixed motives among the Carpetbaggers. i. Some that went south felt they had a moral duty to help former slaves. 1. Freedman Bureau agents 2. Teachers 3. Ministers ii. Others wanted to buy land 1. Hoped to start a new industry legitimately iii. Others were dishonest business people Hiram Revels:
1. First African American Senator from Mississippi. 2. Had many professions. a. Ordained minister in the African Methodist in Baltimore, Maryland b. A Barber c. Chaplin of a Negro regiment in the Civil War 3. Established a school for Freedman in St. Louis in 1886. 4. Elected alderman in Natchez, Mississippi in 1886 5. Elected to State Senate in 1870 6. Elected to the United States Senate in 1870 a. After his credentials had been challenged 7. First African American Secretary of State a. Interim of Mississippi in 1883. 8. President of Alcorn Agricultural College a. 1876‐1882 Sharecropping:
1. System where landowners divide their land in to specific plots. a. Gave each worker a few acres of land to plow, seed and tools. b. In return, workers gave a share of the crop to the landowner. i. Usually half the crop 2. In theory, sharecroppers who save a little and bought their own tools would be able to seek a better bargain with landowner. a. Seldom worked that way b. Might rent land for cash and keep all the harvest i. System is known as “Tenant Farming” c. Eventually they would improve their economic stature to landowner. 3. Reality of tenant farming. a. Arrangement seldom worked in practice i. Most did purchase supplies on credit ii. Most rarely harvested enough to pay the rent and the debt for supplies and purchase new supplies b. End result was few made enough money to purchase land Ku Klux Klan:
1. Originally founded as a social club for Confederate Veterans a. Started in Tennessee in 1866 i. Rapidly spread though out the South b. Many of the new chapters turned into terrorist organizations i. Used violence ii. Wanted to prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights. 2. “Between: 1868‐1871” the Ku Klux Klan along with other secret groups killed thousands of people a. The vast majority were African American i. Burned churches ii. Burned schools iii. Burned property b. Whites who tried to help the African Americans were also victims. i.
Renting them land ii.
Purchasing their corps iii.
Trying to educate them 3. Objective was to turn Republican’s that established the Reconstruction government out of power. a. Assassinated government officials who were supported by African Americans. 4. Concealed their identity when they would attack 5. Terrorist campaigns frightened the majority of African Americans away from voting polls a. Preventing Republicans from being elected. 6. Klan along with other secret organizations tried to prevent economic and political gains by African Americans. a. African Americans who were property owners or worked in other occupations were subject to attacks and property destruction. Panic of 1873: 1. A series of financial failures that triggered a five year depression. 2. Resulted from over investing in businesses without enough profit to pay off debts. a. Small banks closed b. Stock market temporarily collapsed i. Eighty‐nine railroads went broke in a year ii. 18,000 plus companies folded by 1875 iii. Three million lost jobs Redemption:
1. A term used by Southern Democrats for their return to power in the South in 1870’s a. Resulted in the end of Congressional Reconstruction Rutherford B. Hayes:
1. Republican candidate for President in 1876. 2. Governor of Ohio a. Considered stodgy 3. Unable to get legislative support for his idea of Civil Reform even from his own party a. Did what he could through executive orders and appointments b. Named able independents to his cabinet i. One set up a merit system in his department. ii. Another fired clerks that were not performing well enough Samuel J. Tilden:
1. Governor of New York 2. Democratic candidate for President in 1876. a. Ran against Rutherford B. Hayes 3. Known to have been instrumental in “cleaning up” graft in New York City under Boss Tweed’s Ring. 4. Was the popular vote in the 1876 election by less than 250,000 votes a. Lost the electoral vote to Hayes Compromise of 1877:
1. Democrats controlled the House of Representatives during the election of 1877 when they had to decide on the election. a. The election results in four states were challenged. i. Florida ii. Louisiana iii. Oregon iv. South Carolina c. An electoral commission set up to rule on the validity of the returns i.
Gave Hayes the presidency by one vote ii.
Democrats in the House of Representatives protested. 2. To defuse the crisis, Republicans and southern Democrats struck a deal. a. The Compromise of 1877. b. Agreement’s exact terms are today in dispute but it is known that in return for the Democrats acceptance of Hayes as president Republicans agreed not to use the military to enforce Reconstruction legislation. i. Reconstruction government fell as a result of the agreement. ii. Redeemers rewrote state constitutions and overturned many of the Reconstruction government’s reforms. 3. Democrats wanted federal money for: a. A railroad from Texas to the West coast b. Improvements on southern rivers, harbors and bridges. 4. Democrats wanted Hayes to appoint a Conservative Southerner to his cabinet. Home rule:
1. Election disputes in Louisiana and South Carolina’s elections in 1876 a. Elections resulted in two rival state governments in both states. 2. After Hayes was inaugurated he removed federal troops from both states Democrats took over. a. Part of the agreement in the Compromise of 1877 3. Voting returns in question went to the state supreme court a. Ruled in favor of Democrats b. Republicans no longer controlled any of the southern state governments. 4. Democrats had achieved the goal of running their state governments without federal intervention a. Referred to as “Home rule” 5. Redeemers had set out to rescue the South from what they considered Northern mismanagement. a. Included Republicans and African Americans 6. Immediately they restructured African American rights. a. Stopped social programs b. Cut taxes c. Dismantled public schools Return to Gold Standard:
1. Economic depression that resulted from the Panic of 1837 also fueled arguments over currency. a. Dispute went back to the Civil War i. Money was being printed without being backed by gold 2. End of the war, economic experts recommended taking the greenback out of circulation a. Return to a currency backed by gold b. Reduce the numbers of dollars in circulation 3. Southerners, Western farmers and manufacturers wanted more money put in circulation a. Easy money would help them pay off their debts 4. Congress passed the Specie Resumption Act in 1875. a. Promised to go back to the gold standard b. Sparked debate over monetary policies i. Died down as the economy recovered c. Debate over money in the 1870’s took the focus off Reconstruction Scandals and Money Crises Hurt Republicans:
1. Republican Party weakened in the early 1870’s a. Widespread political corruption in the federal government i. During Grant’s administration ii. Took attention away from conditions in the South Fraud and Bribery:
1. Grant’s administration was riddled with scandal a. Appointees were friends and acquaintances of Grants i. Chose them for friendship not their ability ii. Group was very dishonest 2. Scandal from Grant’s administration became public in 1872. a. Exposed Credit Mobilier Affair i. Construction company skimming off large profits from government railroad contract ii. Involved several leading Republicans and Grant’s vice president 1. Schuyler Colfax Republican Unit Shattered:
1. Republicans angered by corruption formed the Liberal Republican Part in 1872. a. Called for an honest and efficient government b. Hoped to remove Grant from office in the next election 2. Held separate conventions for 1872 election from other Republicans a. Chose Horace Greely as their candidate i. Editor of New York Tribune ii. Vocal pre‐Civil War abolitionist iii. Supported Radical Republican causes 1. Broke from Radical Republicans when called for universal amnesty for Confederates 2. Wanted to end military rule in the South a. Believed Reconstruction government’s had achieved its goal b. Felt former slaves should find fend for themselves b. Democrats also nominated Greely i. Wanted to get rid of Grant c. Greely lost the election to Grant by a large margin d. Died a few weeks after the election i. Before the electoral college made his defeat official 3. Liberal Republicans weakened Radical Republicans even though they lost the election a. Break down of the party’s unity made it more difficult for Radicals to continue their Reconstruction Plan in the South 4. Scandals and corruption continue with Grant’s administration a. Whiskey Ring in 1875 was exposed i. Internal Revenue collectors and other officials were accepting bribes from whiskey distillers 1. Wanted to avoid paying taxes on their product a. Defrauding the government of millions of dollars 2. Indictments of 238 persons a. Included Grant’s personal secretary i. General Orville E. Babcock 3.
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Grant refused to beehive Babcock‘s guilt a. Helped him escape conviction Another investigation in 1876, found Secretary of War accepted bribes. a. William W. Belknap took money from merchants trading in Indian territory i. Wanted to keep the profitable business ii. Belknap impeached by the House of Representatives 1. he immediately resigned Secretary of Navy took bribes from shipbuilders. Secretary of Interior questionable dealings with land speculators.