Download Introduction to Reconstruction

Introduction to Reconstruction (1865-1877)
The Civil War was caused by political, economic, and social conflict between the North and
South. Both sections had different positions on each of the following questions.
Political Issue
Economic Issue
Social Issue
Who will be more
What type of economy will
What will the status of the
powerful?
the United States have?
freedmen (AfricanAmericans) be?
State Governments
Agricultural
or
or
Second-class citizens
National Government
Industrial
or
Equal citizens
The Civil War was fought to answer these three questions. In the decade and a half following the
Civil War, the country struggled to put these answers into action. In other words, would change
actually come to the South?
The struggle to change the South is known as the era of RECONSTRUCTION
The first issue that must be addressed during Reconstruction:
How should the Confederate states be brought back into the Union? Should the national
government punish them and make it difficult to be readmitted into the Union or should the
national government be nice and make it easy to be readmitted into the Union?
This issue became a huge source of conflict during Reconstruction as two different plans
emerged:
Name of Plan
Level of Difficulty
to be readmitted
into the Union


Details of Plan


Reason for this
approach
Years that plan
was in effect

Presidential Reconstruction
(Lincoln and Johnson)
Congressional Reconstruction
(Radical Republicans)
EASY
HARD
10% of states voters must take

oath of allegiance to U.S.
Each state must ratify 13th
amendment (abolition of slavery) 
Right to vote for certain
Confederate leaders will be
denied

Southern states need to be readmitted quickly in order to get
things back to normal.
The country (South included) is
not ready for radical social
change
1865-1867
In-Depth:


States must recognize 13th, 14th,
and 15th amendment protections
for freedmen
No military or political leader of
the Confederacy would be allowed
to hold state or federal office
South would be occupied by
federal troops and governed by
army generals in order to
maintain law and order
Southern states must be punished
for the death and destruction of
the war
Southern states will not accept
equal rights for blacks, therefore
they must be forced to do so
1867-1877
The Conflict Between President Johnson and the Radical Republicans in Congress
As you are watching the documentary Reconstruction: The Second Civil War, please answer the
following questions to the best of your ability
1. Get some details about Johnson’s background. Where is President Andrew Johnson
from? Who does he see himself as a supporter of? Why does Johnson hate the
planter class (the wealthy plantation owners)?
2. How does Johnson feel about black equality? WHY DOES HE FEEL THIS WAY?
3. How do the Radical Republicans feel about Johnson? What is the goal of the
Radical Republicans?
4. What does Johnson do to the Civil Rights Law of 1866 passed by the Radical
Republicans?
5. Radical Republicans believe that in order to protect black rights, what needs to be
changed? What amendment do they pass?
6. What happens at the black political convention in New Orleans? What effect does
the violence have on public opinion in the North?
7. After gaining 3/4ths of the seats in Congress in the election of 1866, who do the
Radical Republicans send to the South to oversee Reconstruction?
8. After gaining 3/4ths of the seats in Congress in the election of 1866, what right for
blacks do the Radical Republicans propose?
9. How will whites react to blacks getting the right to vote? What problem will this
create for whites?
10. What happens to Andrew Johnson as a result of the conflict between him and the
Radical Republicans in Congress?
Why is Andrew Johnson so lenient on the South if he hates the planter aristocracy (the very
people who started the war by seceding)? Why doesn’t he punish the South and force them
to accept black equality?
Social Structure in the……….
The Old South
The New South
ANSWER:
Johnson is a supporter of poor whites. Poor whites fear blacks would compete
with them for jobs and political power. Poor whites benefit by having someone
below them – it gives them “status.”