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Pursuing Equality for
African-Americans During
Radical Reconstruction
Freedmen in the South Carolina Sea Islands
The End of the Civil War
When the Union won the Civil
War the big questions were:
What should Southern states have
to do to be readmitted to the
Union?
What should happen to
southerners who participated in
the war effort?
Jefferson Davis, President
of the Confederacy
What should happen to the newly
emancipated slaves?
Views of Reconstruction
Republican leaders agreed that
slavery had to be permanently
destroyed and all forms of
Confederate nationalism had
to be suppressed
Moderates thought this could
be accomplished as soon as
Confederate armies
surrendered and the southern
states repealed secession and
ratified the 13th Amendment
All of this happened by the
end of September 1865
General Lee surrendering to General
Grant at Appomattox Courthouse
Johnson Alienates
Radical Republicans
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President Andrew Johnson
President Johnson
supported votes for Black
army veterans in 1864 and
1865
By 1866, however, Johnson
broke with the moderate
Republicans and aligned
himself with the Democrats
who opposed equality and
opposed the Fourteenth
Amendment
Radicals attacked Johnson’s
policies, especially his 10%
Plan and his veto of the Civil
Rights Bill for the Freedmen
Plans for Reconstruction
Led by Charles Sumner and
Thaddeus Stevens, the Radical
Republicans wanted the
Southern states to be punished
for their treasonous behavior
They called for harsh
punishment of Confederate
officers and soldiers and equal
rights for Freedmen
Radical Republicans Gain
Control of Congress
The election of 1866
dramatically changed the
balance of power in congress,
giving the Radical Republicans
enough votes to overcome
Johnson's vetoes
Though he avoided (by one
vote) the Radical Republican
attempt to impeach him
Johnson remained almost
powerless regarding
Reconstruction policy
“Time Works Wonders” by Thomas Nast
Black Codes
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African American men who were
arrested for vagrancy due to
unemployment
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White Southerners sought
ways to control newly freed
African Americans
They wrote Black Codes to
regulate civil and legal rights,
from marriage to the right to
hold and sell property
In many ways the codes
guaranteed African
Americans would continue
working as farm laborers
Radical Reconstruction
Radical Republicans implemented
a federal reconstruction plan
They used the Army to combat
the effect of black codes and
enforce new laws that
guaranteed rights to African
Americans in Southern states
Federal reconstruction took the
vote away from 10,000 to 15,000
white men who had been
Confederate officials or soldiers
Radical Republican Leaders
The Civil Rights Act of 1866
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave
rights to freed slaves including the
rights to make contracts, sue,
witness in court, and own private
property
President Johnson vetoed the bill
saying it would "operate in favor of
the colored and against the white
race“
Congress overrode the presidential
veto in April of 1866
The act declared that all persons
born in the U.S. were now citizens,
without regard to race, color, or
previous condition of servitude,
excluding Indians
Former Slaves and Wounded Union
Veterans Celebrating the Passage of
the Civil Rights Act of 1866
The 14th Amendment
In order to ensure
permanent change the
14th amendment granted
citizenship to African
Americans
The amendment also
guaranteed the right to
due process under the law
to African Americans
The 15th Amendment
Granted African American men
suffrage in 1870
This did not guarantee African
American men would be allowed
access to their local polls
Violence against African
Americans at polling places was
common
Literacy tests, poll taxes and other
voter qualification laws became
The First Black Voters
African Americans Vote
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Hiram Revels, the first
African American elected to
the U.S. Senate
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Slowly Southern states held
elections in which Freedmen
voted
These elections usually
produced Republican state
governments
For the first time African
Americans were elected to
local, state and federal offices
The End of Radical Reconstruction
Federal Reconstruction ended in
1876 with the election of
Rutherford B. Hayes to the
presidency
A few weeks after taking office
Hayes issued an order for the
removal of all federal soldiers
stationed in the South
The end of Reconstruction led to
a drastic reduction of rights for
African Americans
President Rutherford Hayes