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Chapter 8
The Reconstruction Era
1865-1877
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
 The Federal
government had to
figure out how the 11
states would rejoin the
Union, rebuild the
southern economy, and
promote the rights of
former slaves.
The South’s Economy After the
War
 About ¼ of southern white men between the
ages of 20 and 40 died in the war.
 3 million newly freed slaves were now
without homes and jobs.
 The land was utterly destroyed.
 “Forty Acres and a Mule”?
Ten Percent Plan
 In 1863, Lincoln issues the
proclamation of amnesty and
reconstruction. (10% Plan))
 It said that when a 10% of the
state’s voters took the loyalty
oath, the state could set up a
new government.
 If the state’s constitution
abolished slavery and gave
African Americans an
education, then the state
would regain representation
in Congress.
 Lincoln also wanted to pardon former confederates
and give them compensation for lost property.
 He did not require a guarantee for social/political
equality for African Americans.
 Radical Republicans such as Thaddeus Stevens and
Charles Sumner were against the plan because they
thought African Americans should have full
citizenship (voting), severe punishments for the
South and they supported Williams Sherman’s plan
to take the South’s land and give it to freed men.
The Wade-Davis Bill
 Congress rejected the 10% plan
but passed the Wade-Davis Bill.
 The bill stated that a majority of
state’s prewar voters swear
allegiance and guarantee African
American equality before
restoration could begin.
 Lincoln pocket vetoed this by
withholding his signature
beyond the 10 day deadline.
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands.

Many former northern abolitionists
risked their lives to help southern
freedmen.

Called “carpetbaggers” by white
southern Democrats.

Carpetbaggers: Term coined by
Southern Whites to describe Northern
businessmen and politicians who
came to the South after the Civil War
to work on Reconstruction projects or
invest in Southern infrastructure.
Freedmen’s Bureau Seen
Through
Southern
Eyes
Plenty to eat
and nothing
to do.
Freedmen’s Bureau
 Primitive Welfare Agency.
 Provides food, clothing, medical care, and
education to both freedmen and white
refugees.
 Union General Oliver O. Howard headed the
bureau.
 He later founded Howard University In D.C.
 Taught an estimated 200,000 blacks how to
read.
Freedmen’s Bureau School
Freedmen’s Bureau
 AKA – The Bureau of
Refugees, Freedmen, and
Abandoned Lands.
 Goal was to provide food,
clothing, healthcare and
education to black and
white refugees.
 Helped reunite families,
get fair working contracts
Andrew Johnson
 Assumed the presidency when
Lincoln was assassinated.
 He gave pardons and land to
anyone who pledged allegiance
and the states needed to accept
the 13th and have a state
constitution that got rid of
slavery.
 He was a supporter of state’s
rights but not of African
American suffrage or rights
 He wanted “Government for
white men”
Black Codes!
 Black Codes – Laws that sought to limit the rights of
African Americans and keep them as landless workers.
 They required that they work in only a few occupations such
as servants or farm laborers.
 The vagrancy laws stipulated that if blacks weren’t working
they could be arrested and sent to work as prison labor.
 Congress was mad at this and tried to pass a bill that would
allow the Freedman’s Bureau the right to punish the S. if
they didn’t give blacks rights but Johnson vetoed it.
 Civil Rights act of 1866 – Federal government would be
able to guarantee civil rights over state laws…Johnson
vetoed this as well but Congress overturned the veto.
Congressional/Radical
Reconstruction
 Radicals and moderates
passed the 14thAmendment –
Guaranteed citizenship to
African American’s and
states can’t pass laws that
take away citizens rights.
 Any state that refused to let
blacks vote might lose seats
in the House by black pop.
 Also, leading confederate
officials couldn’t hold state or
federal office.
Military Reconstruction Act
1867
 Johnson vetoed this also
but it was overturned.
 Divided the 10 states that
hadn’t been readmitted into
5 military districts
governed by former Union
generals . Map on page 275
 These states had to write a
constitution that allowed
blacks to vote and accept
the 14th Amendment.
Impeach Johnson
 Congress thought Johnson was abusing his power
so they passed the Tenure of Office Act which said
the president needed Senate approval to remove
people from office.
 He tried to fire Radical Republican...Edwin
Stanton...and the House impeached (remove) him
for his actions.
 The Senate let him off, by one vote.
 In the Election of 1868, (R) Ulysses S. Grant won
th
15
amendment
 Passed in 1869 and
ratified in 1870
 You can’t deny voting
rights to any male
based on race, color or
pervious condition of
servitude (slavery).
 Excludes Women of
Course!
Republican Governments
 By 1870, all of the Southern states had rejoined the
Union.
 Republicans dominated the South.
 Blacks began serving in politics.
 Both MS and SC had a black Speaker of the
House. Some served in the U.S. Congress.
 Some Southerners were not eligible to vote because
they did not take the oath of allegiance.
Yankee Go Home
 Scalawags: Southern white
men who had been denied
involvement in southern
governments before the
Civil War, but now joined
the Republican Party.
 They teamed up with
northern whites and blacks
who came to the South
looking for prosperity.
 Southerners called them
“Carpetbaggers” because
they carried carpet
suitcases.
Jim Crow Era Begins
 Women worked in medical
facilities, orphanages, and
shaped the public school
system.
 Got the public school
system up and running but
it was expensive because
of segregation (2 of
everything)!!
 Tax supported system
Government Business as
Usual
 Besides illiteracy, the South (and
other parts of the nation) were
experiencing corruption in
politics.
 They would lend money to Rail
Roads to get them built and
sometimes the loans were stolen
or mishandled.
 Some of the black politicians got
blamed (even though it wasn’t
their fault)
Reconstruction Gains
 Blacks started utilizing the Freedmen’s
Bureau schools and by 1866, 150,000
attended.
 Also, black colleges were set up.
 Blacks found comfort in churches which
were set up all across the South. They b/c
school site, employment agencies,
community center and political rallying
points.
Southern Economy - Land
 Post Civil War: 90% of the land was owned by 50% of
the people. After the war there were a lot of people
looking for land.
 3 choices – 1) Sharecropping – A landowner gave a
sharecropper a place to live, seeds, tools in return for a
share of the crop and he told them what to plant…land
owner got supplies on credit from a supplier 2) Sharetenancy – farm worker chose what crop to plant and
bought his own supplies 3) Tenant Farming – The
tenant paid the owner rent, managed his own crop and
chose where to live.
Rise of the KKK



1.
2.
3.
4.


Some Southerners resented that blacks
began to gain rights.
The Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1866
as an organization to terrorize black and
white sympathizers, carpetbaggers.
They tried to prevent people from going
to the polls…
Grandfather Clause
White Primaries
Poll Taxes
Literacy Tests
In response, the government passed the
Enforcement Acts/KKK acts which
made it a federal offense to interfere
with the right to vote.
Many members were indicted.
Corruption
 Grant gave high level jobs to his friends who then
stole. His VP, Schuyler Cofax was implicated in
stealing from Union Pacific RR.
 Boss Tweed was stealing millions. “The Tweed
Ring.”
 Grant still won in the Election of ‘72 but confidence
in political officials was going down.
 Also in 1873 a big bank failed due to all the loans
to Railroad companies…now the North’s economy
was in trouble as well.
Reconstruction’s End
 1871 troops were with
withdrawn from the South
 1872 – freedmen’s bureau
was shut down.
 1874 – Radical Republican
Sumner died
 Southern whites began to
gain back more power by
uniting Democrats and
Republicans to exclude
blacks…they were called
the “redeemers”
Election of 1876
 (R) Rutherford B Hayes v. (D) Samuel Tilden
 Tilden got 51% of the vote and carried all Southern
states but Republicans claimed there were
miscounts in 3 southern states where the
Republicans controlled the counts.
 When they recounted they found enough mistakes
to give Hayes the win.
 Southern D. were mad and Congress stepped in
 Compromise of 1877 – Hayes wins: 1)troops out of
the S. 2)southerner gets cabinet position.
3)subsidies ($) to build RR and ports in South.
The Whiskey Ring
 (R) were caught in 1875
for stealing millions of $ in
tax revenue on liquor.
 110 convictions came out
of it and $3 mil was
recovered.
 This led to the downfall of
reconstruction