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Transcript
Civil Rights Movement— Causes NOTES I. The failure of Reconstruction allowed problems that would make the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s necessary. Essential or Guiding Question: Why was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 1960’s necessary? A. Following the American Civil War (1861-1865), President Abraham Lincoln set about putting the nation back together in his program called Reconstruction. After Lincoln’s death, Reconstruction continued under his Vice President Andrew Johnson, although the Radical Republicans in Congress redirected the program. Ultimately, Reconstruction fell short of its intended goals. 1. Lincoln’s plan was forgiving of the Southern states that seceded. He sought to readmit them into Union as quickly as possible and pardoned—to formally forgive someone of a crime—most Confederates, except the top leaders. 2. The Radical Republicans in Congress thought Lincoln’s plan was too lenient. They wanted to destroy the political power of the former slaveholders and rebuild the South, bringing the freedmen—the freed slaves—into politics and society. After Lincoln’s assassination, the Radical Republicans intentions toward Reconstruction started to take over. a. Lincoln’s successor, Democrat Andrew Johnson, tried to continue Lincoln’s vision of Reconstruction. Under Johnson, the Southern states were all readmitted to the Union. However, thanks to his Presidential pardons, many former Confederate officials regained political power both in the state governments and in the federal government. b. Upset by the lack of political change made by Reconstruction under Johnson, the Radical Republicans found themselves at odds with the President. He vetoed more acts of Congress than any other President. c. Reconstruction did little to help the freedmen become a part of American society. When Johnson claimed Reconstruction was complete in late 1865, the Radical Republicans attempted to make more changes to Southern society, but Johnson stood in the way. 1) One way Congress tried to improve life in the South for the freedmen was by enacting the Freedman’s Bureau. It was originally established by Congress towards the end of the Civil War to distribute clothing and food to freedmen and poor whites in the South. It was responsible for setting up hospitals, schools, vocational education programs and teacher training centers. In 1866, Congress wanted to continue and expand the role of the Bureau, but Johnson vetoed it. 2) Another action Congress took was passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866. (a) Civil rights are the freedoms that are universally expected to be free from government interference, such as freedom of speech, freedom from unwarranted government action (such as search and seizure), freedom from discrimination, etc. (b) This act was passed as a direct response to the emergence of black codes—laws passed specifically to restrict the lives of and discriminate against blacks in the South. Black Codes were designed to keep the freedmen socially and politically inferior to whites. These laws denied AfricanAmericans rights, prohibiting blacks from carrying weapons, serving on juries, testifying against whites in court, marrying whites and traveling without a permit. c. Again, Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, staging a battle between the President and Congress. Congress overrode Johnson’s veto by getting a 2/3 majority and the bill became a law. 3) In 1866, in an effort to cut President Johnson out of Reconstruction, Congress drafted the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It granted the freedmen citizenship and equal protection under law. Again, this action was caused by the Southern states refusal to grant African-Americans their civil rights. This amendment was so controversial that it did not get ratified until 1868. 4) With the Reconstruction Act of 1867, Reconstruction took an even more radical turn. Congress changed Lincoln’s original plan to readmit Southern states into the union by making new requirements for new states governments. AfricanAmerican males were to be a part in electing the politicians set to make the new state Constitutions. Johnson vetoed this act too, but Congress was able to override it. 3. The Radical Republicans controlling Congress felt President Johnson stood in the way of the changes the believe the South needed so Congress set a trap to impeach him and almost removed him from office. a. In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act. This law made it illegal for the President to remove someone from office without the Senate’s approval. b. Johnson violated the law by firing Secretary of War William Seward. This was the cause of the House’s impeachment—the accusation of a public official for committing “high crimes and misdemeanors”—of Johnson. c. Ultimately, the Senate—who tries impeachment hearings to find out if the official is guilty—was only one vote short from being removed. Johnson was disgraced for the remainder of his Presidency. d. The next president was Republican war hero Ulysses S. Grant, who won thanks to 500,000 AfricanAmerican votes. He did not stand in the way of the Radical Republicans Reconstruction plan. e. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870. It was passed after concern was raised that Grant’s narrow victory would encourage white Southerners to disenfranchise—which is to take away political power from—AfricanAmericans. The Amendment makes it illegal to deny anyone the right to vote due to “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” f. Congress then passed the Enforcement Act in 1870. It gave the federal government the power to enforce the 15th Amendment and punish anyone who violated African-Americans right to vote. B. Reconstruction did not only deal with readmitting formerConfederate states into the Union. It also had to do with rebuilding the war-torn South. Additionally, the Radical Republicans also wanted to restructure Southern society. 1. Southerners were resistant to bringing the freedmen into mainstream society and, perhaps even more importantly, politics. Because of the obstacles being imposed, such black codes and poll taxes, some Northern reformers went South to try and change things. a. Northerners who went South were called carpetbaggers— named after suitcases that were popular at that time. This term was meant as an insult, as they were resented by whites in the South. b. Some Southerners believed in and cooperated with Reconstruction. They were called scalawags. Some “scalawags” only participated in the reform movement in hopes of gaining political power in the new South. Others were committed to change. Whichever the case, they were also looked on as traitors by most Southerners. 2. One plan to try and bring the freedmen into white society was the ‘40 acre and a mule’ plan. a. African-Americans were promised land for helping the Union in the Civil War. b. Some believed that if African-Americans were given land and some tools to farm it, they would be able to become self-sufficient economically, which would lead to political and social equality. c. Unfortunately, the politicians did not come through. Most land reform measures were dismissed or poorly implemented. An example in the 1866 Homestead Act that set aside 44 million acres to be given to freedmen. Most of the land, however, was undesirable and unsuitable for farming. C. The “New South” wasn’t really that new. In several ways, the Reconstructed South wasn’t really different. 1. Political a. Although the freedmen had been guaranteed the right to vote by the Constitution with the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments, in practice, they were kept from exercising their voting rights. 1) Once the power of the black vote became apparent in the 1870 presidential election, white Southerners saw the threat AfricanAmericans posed at the polls. 2) To minimize the impact of African-American participation in politics, practices, such as black codes, literacy tests and poll taxes, prevented AfricanAmericans from voting. Poor and uneducated whites were exempted by these measures by the grandfather clause, which said that if someone couldn’t pass the literacy test or pay the poll tax, they’d still be eligible to vote if his father or grandfather was eligible to vote before 1867. No blacks had the right to vote before this time, so the grandfather clause only protected whites. 3) Terrorist groups like the Ku Klux Klan committed acts of terrorism to also keep blacks from voting. 4) Local and state governments in the South did not protect the rights of AfricanAmericans. The federal government found it difficult to force the South to respect these rights. b. With the Johnson administration’s pardon of the politicians of the old South, the new South was run by the same people who ran it before the Civil War. These politicians did not want things to change. b. With the Johnson administration’s pardon of the politicians of the old South, the new South was run by the same people who ran it before the Civil War. These politicians did not want things to change. and, in fact, tried to put things back to the way they used to be as much as possible. 2. Economic a. Although the slaves had been set free, the only thing the freedmen were qualified to do for a living was farm. But without land, they were at the mercy of the rich plantation owners they worked for before 1) Some black leaders, like Booker T. Washington, pushed the need for vocational education programs to provide blacks with opportunities in the a) Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute, a school that trained AfricanAmericans for professions. b) Washington believed that African-Americans could only achieve social equality once they improved their standard of living by coming out of poverty. 2) Other leaders, such as W.E.B. Dubois, thought that equality would come as African-Americans became educated. b. The system of sharecropping developed. 1) In this system, the landowner “rented” a plot of land to a farmer and provided him with tools and supplies to farm the land. 2) The farmer was allowed to keep only enough food to feed his family. All surplus had to be given back to the landowner as rent. 3) Sharecropping created a cycle of poverty. In theory, a freedman could save up enough money to become a tenant farmer, moving up the economic ladder. But in reality, sharecroppers were in a system of virtual slavery, being kept perpetually poor and dependant on the land owner. Sharecroppers were also forced by the landowner to grow cash crops, such as cotton or tobacco. 4) Other problems plagued the freedmen in the sharecropping system. During the Civil War, many countries found other sources for cotton. With the added competition, cotton was no longer as profitable. 3. Social a. Economic hard times are tied to racial tensions. 1) African-Americans were blamed by many whites for economic problems in the period after the Civil War. This added to the preexisting racism. 2) This race hatred led to a rise of terrorist organizations, like the KKK and other, in the decades after the Civil War. 3) Whites were determined not to accept the freedmen into white society. b. Segregation became the law of the land. 1) Southern society became strictly segregated by race. Segregation is the separation of groups. Blacks and whites were kept apart in both public and private facilities. 2) The segregation measures called black codes during Reconstruction continued after, being called Jim Crow laws. Racial segregation was put into effect in schools, hospitals, parks, and transportations systems. Even public bathrooms and drinking fountains were segregated. Blacks were also barred from hotels, restaurants and theaters. 3) When challenged in the Supreme Court in the Plessy v. Ferguson case in 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal, as long as the facilities were “separate but equal.” In reality, everyone knew that things were not equal. D. Due to corruption (Grant’s presidency was severely marred by corruption), economic problems and lack of political and popular support, Reconstruction ran out of steam by the 1880’s. 1. Grant used the spoils system and gave mean political jobs to friends and political allies. As a result, many scandals erupted during his presidency. Most historians believe that Grant’s lack of political experience led to him surrounding himself with people who took advantage of him. a. One of these events was the Credit Mobilier scandal. The Credit Mobilier construction company was helping build the Union Pacific Railroad. It skimmed off large profits off it. Several political officials in Grant’s administration we involved in receiving bribes, including his Vice-President. b. Other scandal from the time was the Whiskey Ring. Whiskey distillers bribed government officials to avoid paying millions of dollars in taxes. These are two examples of many scandals from Grant’s era. c. All in all, these events led to a distrust of the presidency and helped cause the era of weak presidents that followed. 2. The economic problems caused by the war, most notably Confederate debt, caused racial tensions and also made everyone tired of Reconstruction. 3. The Compromise of 1877 essentially ended Reconstruction. The Presidential election of 1876 to replace Grant pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel Tilden. a. Tilden won the popular vote by a small margin, but the Electoral College vote was going to be close. b. A secret deal was struck where the Republicans were given the Presidency if they agreed to end Reconstruction and withdraw Federal troops from the South. 4. With Northern support evaporated, Reconstruction ended without realizing its goals, leaving the problems to be solved later.