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VUS.7 d, e, and f Narrative – Reconstruction (1865 – 1877)
Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia in 1865 brought
an end to the Civil War, and the Reconstruction Era immediately followed. Reconstruction was the federal
government’s plan to rebuild and re-establish the states of the former Confederacy. In short, Reconstruction
was the period when the federal government tried to rebuild the South and restore the Union after the Civil
War. The Civil War and Reconstruction resulted in Southern white resentment (bitterness) toward both
Northerners and Southern African-Americans. Reconstruction ultimately led to the political, economic, and
social control of the South by whites. Unfortunately, the economic and political gains of former slaves were
temporary.
As a result of the North’s military victory, President Abraham Lincoln’s view that the United States
was one nation indivisible had prevailed (won). Lincoln believed that since secession was illegal,
Confederate governments in the Southern states were illegitimate (not legal governments) and the states had
never really left the Union. As a result, Lincoln believed that Reconstruction in the Southern states was a
matter of quickly restoring legitimate state governments that were loyal to the Union. Lincoln also believed
that once the war was over, the federal government should not punish the South. Instead, it should reunify the
nation as quickly as possible. In his second inaugural address President Lincoln outlined how he believed the
United States government should act during Reconstruction. Lincoln said, “With malice towards 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.”
Just a few days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham
Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. Vice President Andrew Johnson succeeded Lincoln as
president. Lincoln’s assassination enabled Radical Republicans to gain control of Reconstruction. The
Radical Republicans were members of the Republican Party, who wanted to punish the former Confederate
states for causing the Civil War. First, the Radical Republicans refused to allow the Confederate states to
reenter the Union until they had undergone a period of military occupation. In other words, the former
Confederate states were under the rule of a general in the United States army, and American military troops
remained stationed in the South. Second, the Radical Republicans also believed in aggressively guaranteeing
voting and other civil rights to African-Americans. The Radical Republicans, who controlled Congress,
repeatedly clashed with President Andrew Johnson over the issue of civil rights for freedmen (freed slaves).
Johnson, who had succeeded Lincoln as president, was a native of Tennessee, racially prejudiced, and
unwilling to extend citizenship rights to former slaves. The Radical Republicans became so frustrated with
Johnson’s efforts to prevent their program on behalf of freedmen that the House of Representatives impeached
him. However, the United States Senate failed by one vote to remove President Johnson from office.
(Impeachment is the process of bringing an official to trial for misconduct in office. Under the Constitution
the House of Representatives may impeach – bring formal charges against – a president for “treason, bribery,
or other high crimes and misdemeanors.” The United States Senate then sits as the jury at the president’s
impeachment trial. If two-thirds of the senators vote to convict the president, then he is removed from office.)
To carry out their program to help African-Americans the Radical Republicans added three
amendments to the United States Constitution. These three amendments were a major political result of the
Civil War and Reconstruction and are sometimes called the “Civil War Amendments.” The Thirteenth
Amendment permanently abolished (ended) African-American slavery in the United States. The Fourteenth
Amendment granted American citizenship to all African-Americans and said no state could “deny…any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” In other words, the Fourteenth Amendment
prohibited the states from denying any American equal rights under the law. Finally, the Fifteenth
Amendment gave African-American males the right to vote by guaranteeing voting rights regardless of “race,
color, or previous condition of servitude” (former slaves).
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The Civil War and Reconstruction also had an important economic impact on the United States. First,
the Southern states were left embittered and devastated by the Civil War. Farms, railroads, and factories had
been destroyed throughout the South, and Confederate money was worthless. Many Southern towns and
cities lay in ruins, including Richmond and Atlanta. The source of labor also changed greatly in the Southern
states, because of the loss of life during the war and the end of slavery. As a result, the South would remain a
backward, agriculture-based economy and the poorest section of the nation for many decades afterward.
Second, the North and Midwest emerged from the war with strong and growing industrial economies. This
development laid the foundation for the sweeping industrialization of the nation (other than the South) during
the next half-century and the emergence of the United States as a global economic power by the beginning of
the twentieth century. Finally, the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental (across the continent)
railroad at Promontory, Utah soon after the war ended (1869) connected the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.
This transportation development intensified (increased) the westward movement of settlers into the states
between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean.
The Civil War had a big impact on African-Americans, the common soldier, and the home front in
Virginia. First, the Emancipation Proclamation allowed for the enlistment of African-American soldiers. In
addition, during the war enslaved African-Americans seized the opportunity presented by the approach of
Union troops to achieve freedom. Second, for the common soldier, warfare often involved hand-to-hand
combat. Warfare was brutal and camp life was lonely and boring. War time diaries and letters home record
this harsh reality. After the war, especially in the south, soldiers returned home to find homes destroyed and
poverty. Many soldiers returned home wounded or crippled, and soldiers on both sides lived with permanent
disabilities. Third, on the home front during the Civil War, women were required to assume nontraditional
roles. They managed homes and families with scarce resources and often faced poverty and hunger. Many
women also assumed new roles in agriculture, nursing, and in war industries.
Many key leaders of the Civil War made important post-war contributions. After the Civil War, both
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant urged reconciliation (understanding) between the North and the South.
Grant urged Radical Republicans not to be harsh with former Confederates. He was elected president in 1868
and served as president during most of Reconstruction. President Grant advocated (supported) rights for the
freedman and opposed retribution (payback) directed at the defeated South. At the end of the war, Robert E.
Lee urged Southerners to reconcile (reunite) and rejoin the United States. Lee served as President of
Washington College in Lexington, Virginia, which today is known as Washington & Lee University. As a
college president, Lee emphasized the importance of education to the nation’s future.
After the Civil War, Frederick Douglass became the leading spokesman for African-Americans in the
nation. During Reconstruction, Douglass supported full equality for African-Americans and advocated
(campaigned) for the passage of the 14th and 15th Amendments. He also encouraged federal government
actions to protect the rights of the freedmen in the South. Later in his career, Douglass served as the
American ambassador to Haiti and held other jobs in the federal civil service (government jobs).
The Reconstruction period ended following the extremely close presidential election of 1876. In
return for support in the electoral vote from Southern Democrats, the Republicans agreed to end the military
occupation of the South. (Under the Constitution, the Electoral College is the group of people who cast the
official votes that elect the President and Vice President. A state’s number of electoral votes equals its total
representation in Congress, which is its number of members in the House of Representatives plus two for its
U.S. senators.) Known as the Compromise of 1877, this political deal enabled former Confederates who
controlled the Democratic Party to regain power in the Southern states. It opened the door to the “Jim Crow
Era,” the period in which Southern states required racial segregation (separation) of blacks and whites in
public schools, transportation, and other public facilities. During the era of Jim Crow, African-Americans in
the South lost most of the political gains they had made during Reconstruction, including the right to vote and
sit on juries. In short, Reconstruction’s end marked the beginning of a long period in which AfricanAmericans in the South were denied the full rights of American citizenship. Although slavery had ended,
African-Americans did not begin to achieve full equality during the next 100 years.
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VUS.7 d,e,f Narrative Questions
1. What was Reconstruction?
2. What was the result of Reconstruction?
3. How did the Reconstruction period ultimately affect African Americas? Is this what the leaders of the
Union had envisioned?
4. Lincoln believed secession was illegal. How did this affect his view of Southern governments
established during the Civil War?
5. How did Lincoln want Reconstruction to be handled?
6. What was Lincoln’s feeling regarding punishment of the South after the War?
7. What was Lincoln’s quote about his goal for Reconstruction?
8. Who became President after Lincoln was assassinated?
9. What were the two specific ideals the Radical Republicans wanted to pass once they gained power?
10. What specific ideas did Radical Republicans clash with President Johnson over and why did Johnson
feel this way?
11. How did the Radical Republicans react to Johnson’s efforts to block their program for freedmen?
12. What is the 13th Amendment?
13. What is the 14th Amendment?
14. What is the 15th Amendment?
15. How did the Civil War affect Southern towns, Confederate money, and the source of labor in the
South?
16. What was the long-range affect of the Civil War on the South?
17. How did the Civil War affect the North?
18. What was the long-range affect of the Civil War on the North?
19. The completion of what engineering feet increased movement of people to the west?
20. How did the war affect each of these groups of people:
a. African Americans
b. The common Soldier
c. People on the home front
21. What were Lee and Grant’s ideas about how people should react after the Civil War was over?
22. What did Fredrick Douglass advocate during Reconstruction?
23. What was the Compromise of 1877?
24. How did the Compromise of 1877 affect African Americans in the South?
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