Download Reconstruction

Ms. Susan M. Pojer
Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY
Edited by: Renee Payne
Alabama School for the Deaf Talladega, AL
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?
Reconstruction
• Time form 1865-1877 when the United
States started to rebuild after the Civil War
President Lincoln’s Plan
 10% Plan
*
*
*
Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (December 8, 1863) also
called “The 10% Plan”
Pardon to all but the highest ranking
military and civilian Confederate
officers.
When 10% of the voting population in
the 1860 election had taken an oath of
loyalty and established a government, it
would be recognized.
President Lincoln’s Plan
Lincoln’s plan upset the
Republicans in Congress
They were called the Radical
Republicans
They responded to Lincoln’s
10% Plan with the
Wade-Davis Bill
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
 Required 50% of the number of
1860 voters to take an “iron
clad” oath of allegiance
(swearing they had never
voluntarily aided the rebellion )
to the Constitution.
Senator
Benjamin
Wade
(R-OH)
 Enacted specific safeguards of
freedmen’s liberties.
Congressman
Henry
W. Davis
(R-MD)
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
Was vetoed by Lincoln
Radical Republicans were upset
They warned Lincoln to leave
Reconstruction to Congress.
President
Lincoln
Pocket
Veto
Wade-Davis
Bill
Lincoln’s Assassination
• In April 1865, President Lincoln was
assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.
• Andrew Johnson became the 17th
President of the United States.
• His plan for Reconstruction was called
Presidential Reconstruction.
President Andrew Johnson
 Agreed with Lincoln’s
plan.
 Wanted to punish the
wealthy landowners in
the south.
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+)
 Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except
Confederate civil and military officers and those with
property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to
Johnson)
 In new constitutions, they must accept minimum
conditions refusing slavery, secession and state debts.
 Named provisional governors in Confederate states and
called them to oversee elections for constitutional
conventions.
1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates.
EFFECTS?
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!
Major Reconstruction
Legislation
•
•
•
•
•
Freedman’s Bureau Acts of 1865
Civil Rights Acts of 1866
Reconstruction Act of 1867
Enforcement Act of 1870
Civil Rights Act of 1875
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
 Established by
Congress
 Northerners called
moved south to help
with food, clothes,
schools, and other
services
 Called “carpetbaggers”
by white southern
Democrats.
 Southerners who
became Republicans
were called “scalawags”
Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through
Southern
Eyes
Plenty to
eat and
nothing to
do.
Freedmen’s Bureau School
Civil Rights Act of 1866
 Passed to help forbid black codes
 Black Codes:
Couldn’t carry weapons
Couldn’t serve on a jury
Couldn’t testify against whites
Couldn’t marry whites
Couldn’t start a business
Couldn’t travel without permits
Black Codes
 Purpose:
*
*
Guarantee stable labor
supply now that blacks
were emancipated.
Restore pre-emancipation
system of race relations.
 Forced many blacks to
become sharecroppers
[tenant farmers].
Congress Breaks with the President
 February, 1866  President
vetoed the Freedmen’s
Bureau bill.
 March, 1866  Johnson
vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
 Angered Radical and Moderate
Republicans.
 They worked together AND
 Congress passed both bills over
Johnson’s vetoes  1st in
U. S. history!!
The 1866 Bi-Election
 An issue of Radical Reconstruction.
 Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda
tour around the country to push his plan.
 Republicans
won a 3-1
majority in
both houses
and gained
control of
every northern
state.
Johnson’s “Swing around
the Circle”
Radical Plan for Readmission
 Civil authorities in the territories were
subject to military supervision.
 Required new state constitutions,
including black suffrage and ratification
of the 14th and 15th Amendments.
 In March, 1867, Congress passed an act
that authorized the military to enroll
eligible black voters and begin the
process of constitution making.
14th Amendment – Civil Rights
 Ratified in July, 1868.
*
*
*
Provide a constitutional guarantee of the
rights and security of freed people.
Insure against neo-Confederate political
power.
Enshrine the national debt while rejecting
that of the Confederacy.
 Southern states would be punished for
denying the right to vote to black
citizens!
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
 Military Reconstruction Act
*
*
Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that
refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.
Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military
districts.
*Tennessee was excused because they had been readmitted into
the union and ratified the 14th amendment
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
 Command of the Army Act
*
The President must issue all
Reconstruction orders through
the commander of the military.
 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, like
Edwin Stanton – Secretary of War.
 A question of the constitutionality of
this law because it made Exec Branch
answer to the Legislative Branch.
Edwin Stanton
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!
The Senate Trial
 11 week trial.
 Johnson acquitted
35 to 19 (one short of
required 2/3s vote).
Johnson the Martyr / Samson
If my blood is to be shed
because I vindicate the
Union and the preservation
of this government in its
original purity and character,
let it be shed; let an altar to
the Union be erected, and
then, if it is necessary, take
me and lay me upon it, and
the blood that now warms
and animates my existence
shall be poured out as a fit
libation to the Union.
(February 1866)
Ulysses S. Grant
• Democrats knew they couldn’t win with
Johnson, so they nominated U.S. Grant as
their candidate.
• To help ensure there would not be limits
on black suffrage, the Radical Republicans
introduced the 15th Amendment.
15th Amendment – Voting Rights
 Ratified in 1870.
 The right of citizens of the United States
to vote shall not be denied or abridged by
the United States or by any state on
account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.
 The Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
 Women’s rights groups were furious that
they were not granted the vote!
Reconstruction
Part 2

The 1868 Republican Ticket
Grant and Colfax
The 1868 Democratic Ticket
Seymour and Blair
1868 Presidential Election
President Ulysses S. Grant
Grant Administration Scandals
 Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented
growth and
corruption.
*
Credit Mobilier
Scandal.
*
Whiskey Ring.
*
Tweed Ring
Grant Administration Scandals
 Credit Mobilier Scandal – Involved the Union
Pacific Railroad.
 Whiskey Ring – Involved whiskey distillers
paying only part of the taxes they owed
government
 Tweed Ring – Involved William “Boss” Tweed
who stole millions of dollars from New York
City through fraudulent contracts.
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Stockholders w/Union
Pacific Railroad, formed
a company “Credit
Mobilier.”
The Credit Mobilier
company sold supplies to
the government to use for
the railroad, but they sold
them at a higher price.
The Whiskey Ring
The IRS tried to steal
money from the
government by allowing
distillers of whiskey
(makers) to pay only part
of the taxes they owed.
In exchange, the IRS
agents would be bribed
(paid off).
The Tweed Ring
in NYC
William Marcy Tweed
(notorious head of Tammany
Hall (the Democratic Club of
NY) He and his “ring” of
associates controlled contracts
for goods and services in the
city. Through the contracts
they overcharged for services
or made up false receipts,
stealing millions of dollars from
the city and citizens.
Thomas Nast  crusading cartoonist/reporter]
Who Stole the People’s Money?
The Election of 1872 - Grant vs. Greeley
 Rumors of corruption
during Grant’s first
term discredit
Republicans.
 Horace Greeley runs
as a Democrat/Liberal
Republican candidate.
 Greeley attacked as a
fool and a crank.
 Greeley died on
November 29, 1872!
1872 Presidential Election
Popular Vote for President: 1872
Presidential Election Results - 1872
Even with all the scandals that
happened during his first
election, Ulysses S. Grant
became the President again in
1872.
Grant had won his 2nd term in
office.
And They Say He Wants a Third Term
The Panic of 1873
 A depression hit in 1873
 People took advantage of
business opportunities in the
south by borrowing money
from the bank
 Many lost money and could
not repay the debt
 Banks went broke and closed
 The series of financial
failures started the Panic of
1873 with more than 3million
workers jobless!
Currency Dispute
 During the Civil War the
government issued
“greenbacks” Paper
money that was not
backed by an equal value
in gold.
 Many wanted to go back
to the pre-war system of
“hard money” or gold.
 Specie-Resumption Act –
passed in 1875 to put the
country back on the gold
standard.
Legal Challenges
to the 14th & 15th Amendments
 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!
Legal Challenges
to the 14th & 15th Amendments
 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 reduced her “privileges and
immunities” as a citizen which was unconstitutional.
 The Supreme Court rejected her claim, alluding to
women’s traditional role in the home.

Therefore, she should NOT be practicing law!
Legal Challenges
to the 14th & 15th Amendments
 U. S. vs. Reese, et. al. (1876)
 The Court restricted congressional power to
enforce the KKK Act.
 The court ruled that the STATE alone could
give voting rights to 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.]
Legal Challenges
to the 14th & 15th Amendments
 U. S. vs. Cruickshank (1876)
 LA white supremacists accused of attacking a
meeting of Blacks & were convicted under the
1870 Enforcement 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.
Legal Challenges
to the 14th & 15th Amendments
 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.
 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!
Reconstruction
Part 3

Politics
At the end of Reconstruction, Southern
Democrats gained control of the
government.
People in the South tended to vote for
Democrats so often that they called the area
the Solid South
African Americans were still not allowed to
vote because when the troops left no one
protected these rights
Economy
• After the Civil War, the South was in ruin
• Farms were destroyed, family members
had died, animals were killed, homes were
vacant
• There were few jobs
• The newly freed slaves turned to the job
they knew, farming.
40 Acres and a Mule
• For some freed slaves, General Sherman
had promised those who fought with him
40 acres of land and the use of an army
mule at the end of the war
• They were given this land in Georgia and
South Carolina
• Many of them, however, had none of the
tools they needed, so a new system was
developed.
Sharecropping
Sharecropping is a system
where landowners divide their
land and give each worker
(freed slaves or poor whites) a
few acres, seed and tools.
When crops are ready, the
worker shares ½ the crop with
the landowner as rent for the
year.
Sharecropping
Tenant Farming
Tenant farming is a system
where tenants pay a landowner
cash to rent land for farming.
Tenancy & the Crop Lien System
Furnishing Merchant
 Loan tools and seed
up to 60% interest
to tenant farmer to
plant spring crop.
 Farmer also secures
food, clothing, and
other necessities on
credit from
merchant until the
harvest.
 Merchant holds
“lien” {mortgage} on
part of tenant’s
future crops as
repayment of debt.
Tenant Farmer
 Plants crop,
harvests in
autumn.
 Turns over up to ½
of crop to land
owner as payment
of rent.
 Tenant gives
remainder of crop
to merchant in
payment of debt.
Landowner
 Rents land to tenant
in exchange for ¼
to ½ of tenant
farmer’s future
crop.
Industry in the South
• The south had resources and workers, but they
did not have the money needed to start
businesses or the transportation to get the
products to market.
• With help from the Democrats, the south
improved transportation and they developed
textile mills and industry
Industrialization in the South
• Iron, Steel and Coal (centered in
Birmingham, AL)
• Tobacco Processing (centered in North
Carolina)
• Cotton Processing (now the industry came
to the South instead of shipping the cotton
to Europe)
New Freedoms
• After the Civil War, newly freed slaves had
many rights
– They could marry within their race and they did
so in large numbers
– They could form their own churches
– They could develop their own schools – even
universities
– Families who had been separated through
slavery, searched for each other
– They took a leadership role in politics with voting,
organized conventions, and served in congress
– Many of the black codes were repealed
Black & White Political Participation
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
Establishment of Historically
Black Colleges in the South
Black Senate & House Delegates
Colored Rule
in the South?
Blacks in Southern Politics
 Core voters were black veterans.
 Blacks could register and vote in states since
1867.
 The 15th
Amendment
guaranteed
federal voting.
Anti-Black Violence
• Many who had lost their money and power
were angry and took it out on the newly
freed African Americans.
• They did not want the North to influence
the South
• Secret resistance societies began to form
against the African Americans
• The best known was the Ku Klux Klan
(KKK)
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
The Failure of Federal Enforcement
 Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871
[also known as the KKK Act] passed
to stop KKK violence..
 The acts helped
slow KKK activity
BUT
 Individual acts
continued.
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
 Crime for any individual to deny full &
equal use of public places.
 Prohibited discrimination in jury
selection.
 Shortcoming  lacked a strong
enforcement mechanism.
 No new civil rights act was attempted
for 90 years!
Waving the Bloody Shirt!
Republican “Southern
Strategy”
Northern Support Wanes
 “Grantism” & corruption.
 Panic of 1873 [6-year
depression].
 Concern over westward
expansion and Indian wars.
 Key monetary issues:
*
*
should the government
retire $432m worth of
“greenbacks” issued during the Civil War.
should war bonds be paid back in specie or
greenbacks.
1876 Presidential Tickets
“Regional Balance?”
1876 Presidential Election
The Political Crisis of 1877
 “Corrupt Bargain”
Part II?
Hayes Prevails
Alas, the Woes of Childhood…
Sammy Tilden—Boo-Hoo! Ruthy Hayes’s got my
Presidency, and he won’t give it to me!
A Political Crisis: The
“Compromise” of 1877