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Reconstruction
1865-1877
A. Issues of Reconstruction
• 1. Main Issue - Because the Constitution did not
deal with the issue of secessionism, it did not
address the issue of how a state may "reenter" the
Union or who was responsible for reconstructing
the South.
• 2. Readmission of the Southern States to the
Union
• 3. Treatment of Ex-Confederates, those who had
taken up arms against the US
• 4. Civil Rights of Black citizens, most of whom
were former slaves.
5. Make-up of the New State Governments
B. Goals of Reconstruction
1. Northern politicians hoped to reconstruct Southern
Society, so that rights for former slaves were insured, and a
political base for the Republican Party could be formed.
2. Lincoln hoped to produce a speedy recovery for the South
a. If the South were part of the Union, a crippled South
would cripple the nation.
b. A political realist, he also hoped to attract former Whigs,
pro-Unionists and newly enfranchised Blacks into
Republican ranks.
3. Presidential Reconstruction -- Ten Percent Plan
a. Abraham Lincoln did not recognize a states' right to
leave the Union and proceeded to determine the policies of
reconstruction based on these liberal secessionist views .
b. By Jan 1864, Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas offered
loyal state governments on the basis of Lincoln's
Reconstruction Plan.
B. Goals of Reconstruction cont.
4. Congressional Reconstruction - Congress
assumed that reconstruction was a legislative
prerogative, not of the executive branch, because
statehood was under their jurisdiction
a. Congressional beliefs
(1) Many Congressmen believed that
the South should be more severely punished
for bringing the war to the nation and should
be made to pay war costs.
(2) While agreeing with Lincoln that mass
executions for treason were not in order, they
did not want key Confederate political or
military leaders to emerge as leaders of postwar South.
4. Congressional Reconstruction Cont.
b. Wade-Davis Bill
(1) Congress, led by Sen. Benjamin Wade of
Ohio and Rep. Henry Davis , passed a much
harsher plan of reconstruction (Wade-Davis Bill).
(2) The plan required a total of fifty percent of the
number of voters in 1860 before a new
government could be formed, while exempting
most Ex-Confederates from participation.
(3) State constitutions had to repudiate
Confederate debts and prohibit slavery.
c. Although the bill passed Congress, it was within
two weeks of adjournment and was therefore
pocket vetoed by Lincoln.
B. Goals of Reconstruction Cont.
5. Brutal Mistake for the
South
a. Lincoln's plan would
have produced a speedy
recovery for the South,
and would have provided
Federal funding for
rebuilding the South, but
unfortunately, Lincoln was
assassinated on 14 Apr
1865 at Ford's Theater, by
John Wilkes Booth
b. Booth was himself
allegedly shot in a barn on
26 Apr near Bowling
Green VA
C. Struggle Between the Legislative and Executive
Branches over Reconstruction
1. Presidential Reconstruction Under Andrew
Johnson
a. As a Southern Democrat, he was known to
despise Southern aristocratic plantation owners
and favored the 13th amendment, proposed by
Congress in Feb 1865.
b. Lincoln's death temporarily shifted momentum
to Congress, many of whom waited to see what
the new President would do, hoping he would
favor a harsher plan, similar to the Wade-Davis
Bill
(Reconstruction under Johnson cont.)
c. Johnson's Plan
(1) Because Congress was adjourned when Lincoln was
killed, Johnson offered reconstruction to Southern states
which soon revealed that he favored a plan much like
Lincoln's 10% Plan.
(2) When Congress reconvened in December, all Southern
states had accepted the President's requirements except
Mississippi sending all-white delegations to congress for
roll call, including representative Alexander Stephens
(GA), former Confederate vice-president.
(3) Johnson also granted amnesty to thousands of exrebels, barring only those with sizable property holdings
from taking oaths of allegiance (although many wealthy
CSA supporters were pardoned after directly petitioning
Johnson)
d. Johnson Governments
(1) Many new Southern governments placed restrictions on former
slaves
(a) Denying blacks (males) the right to vote.
(b) Not allowing for the education of former slaves.
(c) Taking steps to keep blacks from acquiring real property.
(d) Black Codes (1865-66) in many cases resembled the former
slave codes with the name "freedman" written in where the word
"slave" had been.
i) The codes did recognize black marriages.
ii) They also permitted blacks to sue and to testify in court in
some cases.
iii) In some cases blacks could obtain certain types of property.
(2) These "Reconstructed Governments" left former slaves in little
better condition than as slaves, reducing them to a subordinate
role and into sharecropping as a way of life for most.
2.
Congressional Response -- Radical
Reconstruction
a. Congressional Makeup
(1) Radical Republicans - wanted Southern states
treated more like conquered provinces, to insure that
Blacks had certain civil rights, especially the vote.
(2) Senator Charles Sumner (1811-74) MA (Senator
from 1851 until his death) - desired immediate racial
equality and punishment for the South.
(3) Demoralized Democratic minority - size greatly
reduced by the South's defection
(4) Small conservative Republican faction - desired a
quick return to normalcy
(5) Large moderate Republican faction - provided the
crucial swing vote.
Congressional Response cont.
(b) Civil Rights Act Apr 1866
i) It granted full citizenship to all persons born on US soil
(except Indians, not taxed) with full rights of the civil laws
to which any citizen were entitled.
ii) It gave black citizens the same rights as whites, and
prohibited the states from restricting the rights of Blacks to
testify in court or to hold court.
iii) Johnson's veto along constitutional lines claimed that it
diminished a states' right to make its own laws and
weakened the limits on Federal power.
iv) But a further explanation that it would provide
"security for the colored race, safe-guards which go
infinitely beyond any that the General Government has
ever provided for the white race," again lost him crucial
moderate support in Congress, which again overrode his
veto (the first major piece of vetoed legislation overridden
by Congress).
Congressional Response cont.
(2) Midterm Elections – 1866
a. Radical Republicans win 2/3 of congressional
seats, every contested governor’s seat and
control of all northern legislatures
b. Congress was now veto-proof and radical
reconstruction goes into full swing
3. Radical Reconstruction
a. 1st Reconstruction Act of 1866
(1) Confederacy divided into 5 military
districts, each governed by a major general
appointed by the president
(2) Each state was to call new constitutional
conventions elected by all adult males,
excluding ex-confederates
(3) Military empowered to register voters
when Southerners refused to call such
conventions
(4) State constitutions had to guarantee the
right to vote to Blacks and legislatures had to
recognize the 14th Amendment
b. Other Congressional Acts
(1) Command of the Army Act (March 1867)
-- Prevented the President from interfering
with major generals by requiring all
presidential orders go through the General of
the Army (Grant)
(2) Tenure of Office Act (March 1867)
-- Prevented the President from removing
anyone from office who had been approved by
congress w/o congressional approval
-- Johnson tests the constitutionality by firing
Sec. Of War, Stanton twice.
-- Congress responds by impeaching Johnson
C. Johnson’s Impeachment (Feb. 1868)
(1) By a simple majority, the House voted to impeach
Johnson for high crimes
(a) He was charged with 11 counts (9 relating to the
Tenure of Office Act; 2 related to his behavior toward
Congress).
(b) He never appeared at the trial, but was represented by
former AG Henry Stanberry
(2) The Senate vote 35-19 (7 Republicans/ 12 Democrats)
failed by 1 vote to convict and remove Johnson.
(a) The deciding vote was cast by Republican Senator
Edmund G. Ross (KS), which ruined his political
career.
(3) Stanton resigned as soon as the trial ended and Congress
adjourned.
(4) Johnson finished his term ineffectively after which he
returned to the US Senate (1875), although he died after
5 months into its term.
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
1. Compromise of 1877
1. Disputed election bring Hayes to power
2. Compromise reached, in part to gain southern support
for election results
3. In return for southern support and southern
guarantees of Black civil rights, Hayes agreed to four
things:
1.
2.
3.
4.
No second term
Remove remaining federal troops from SC, LA, & FL
Make a fair # of appointments to federal positions from
among Southerners, including at least one cabinet position
Spend fairly federal funds for internal improvements in the
South
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
2. Constitutional Amendments
a. 13th – Abolished Slavery
b. 14th – Guaranteed rights of citizenship to all natural
born Americans
c. 15th – Guaranteed suffrage to Black men
3. Corruption
Corruption in Southern gov’t. existed but no more
than other similar governments and Northern
municipal gov’t.
b. Southern governments were never controlled entirely
by Blacks (No Black governors, SC lower house only
one to have a majority of Blacks)
a.
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
4. Positive Accomplishments
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
more equitable tax system.
an expansion of State Railroad systems
promoted physical reconstruction
increased public services
created a lasting public school system.
5. Support
a. Scalawags
b. Carpetbaggers
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
6. Resistance
a. Drawing the Color Line (race rather than economics)
a. Poor whites aligned themselves with other whites
rather than with poor blacks against the wealthier
whites who controlled Southern politics and
economics.
b. Democratic dominance emerged again in the New
South
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
6. Resistance cont.
b. Ku Klux Klan
•
•
•
Several secret white organizations (Knights of the White
Camellia, Society of the White Rose) arose in the post-war
era to aid the return to a pre-war relationship between the
races.
Founded in Pulaski TN in 1865-66 as a social club by 6 exconfederate soldiers, including Gen Nathan Bedford
Forrest , the Ku Klux Klan (Greek kuklos - "circle") spread
quickly throughout the South.
Although Forrest was "Grand Wizard of the Empire" in
1867, Klan goals increasingly deteriorated to keeping Blacks
out of politics, using violence against scalawags and blacks.
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
b. KKK cont.
•
To curb violence, Forrest ordered the Klan to disband
(1869), but at a Grand meeting in Nashville, the
Invisible Empire of the South was born with secret
rituals and many levels - Grand Wizard, Grand
Dragon, Grand Fury, Grand Titan, Grand Hydra,
Grand Nighthawk
•
Repeated violence increasingly offended Northern
public opinion and many respectable KKK members
withdrew from the organization but local Klavens
would not disband nor discontinue its violence.
C. Reconstruction Wrap-up
• The rise of the KKK, which peaked in
1868-72, paralleled the return of
conservative control of the Southern
legislatures with the withdrawal of federal
troops.
• By the end of Reconstruction, all Southern
governments had been returned to
Southerners who overturned much that had
been done for Blacks in the South.