Download ThePoliticsofReconstruction

The Politics of
Reconstruction
1865 - 1877
Abraham Lincoln, Second
Inaugural Address, March 1865

With malice [hatred] toward none; with
charity for all; with firmness in the right, as
God gives us to see the right, let us strive
on to finish the work we are in; to bind up
the nation's wounds; to care for him who
shall have borne the battle, and for his
widow and his orphan; to do all which may
achieve and cherish a just and lasting
peace among ourselves and with all
nations.
Questions
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1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
How would the South rebuild its shattered society and
economy?
What would be the place in that society for 4 million freed
slaves?
To what extent was the federal gov. responsible for helping exslaves adjust to freedom?
Should the Confederate states be treated as states or
conquered territory?
Under what conditions would the Confederate states be fully
accepted back into the Union?
Who had the authority to decide these questions – the
president or Congress?
President vs. Congress
Three Plans for Reconstruction
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1. Lincoln’s Plan
 1. 10% Plan (3 parts)
2. Johnson’s Plan
 1. 4 main parts
 2. Major difference from Lincoln’s Plan
3. Congress’ Plan
 1. Wade Davis Bill, Freedmen’s Bureau, Civil Rights Act of
1866, 14th Amendment, Reconstruction Act of 1867, 15th
Amendment, Enforcement Act of 1870
Lincoln’s Plan

He offered a pardon, forgiveness, to any
Confederate who would swear allegiance to
the Union and accept the end of slavery.

Note: Confederate military and government
officials and those who had killed African
American POW’s were excluded
Lincoln’s Plan

When 10% of those who had voted in the
1860 election had taken the oath in their
state, that state could hold a constitutional
convention. After the delegates to the
convention had written a constitution
endorsing the 13th Amendment, their state
could return to its proper place in the Union.

His plan did not require the new constitutions explicitly to ensure African
Americans rights.
Johnson’s Plan

Who was Andrew Johnson?
Johnson’s Plan
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1. Confederate states to withdraw its
secession.
2. Swear allegiance to the Union
3. Annul Confederate war debts
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)

1. Wade Davis Bill
Proposed that Congress should be responsible for
reconstruction.
Rules for Confederate states government to return to the
Union had to adhere to the following criteria:
1.
A majority not 10% of eligible voters of 1860
would have to take an oath of allegiance to
the Union.
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)
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2. Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
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Purpose was to help southerners in need
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Distributed clothing
Distributed food
Setup more than forty hospitals
Setup approximately four thousand schools
Setup sixty-one industrial institutes
Setup seventy-four teacher-training centers
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)
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Civil Rights Act of 1866
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1. gave African Americans citizenship
2. did not allow states to pass black codes
3. granted citizenship and equal protection
under the law to African Americans
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)
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14th Amendment
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Makes all persons born or naturalized in US
citizens
States that prevent male citizens from voting
would lose a % of congressional seats
Barred most Confederate leaders from holding
political office
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)
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Reconstruction Act of 1867
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Abolished governments formed under Lincoln &
Johnson plans
Divided Confederate states into 5 military
districts each headed by a Union general.
In order to be readmitted state constitutions had
to ensure African American men the right to vote
and ratification of 14th amendment.
Congress’ Plan (Radical
Republicans)
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15th Amendment
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States that no one could be kept from voting
because of “race, color, or previous condition of
servitude”
Enforcement Act of 1870

Protected voting rights of African Americans and
gave the federal gov. power to enforce 15th
amendment.