Reconstruction 1863-1877
Essential Question Explain the extent to which constitutional and social developments contributed to maintaining continuity as well as fostering change during the Civil War to the end of Reconstruction.
A Series of Challenges How would the South rebuild its shattered economy and society? What would be the place in society of 4 million freedmen? To what extent was the federal government responsible for helping them? How should the former Confederate states be treated? Recognize secession, or not? How would they be brought back into the Union? Who has the authority to decide these questions? Congress or the President?
Plans for Reconstruction Lincoln s Plan Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863) Full pardons for: Oath of allegiance Accepting emancipation of slaves States can draw constitution and be reestablished as soon as ten percent of voters took oath (10% Plan)
lans for Reconstruction Wade-Davis Bill Congressional Plan (1864) Required 50% of 1860 population to take iron-clad oath Required state constitutional convention to be held before elections for office Only non-confederates could vote Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen s liberties State Suicide & Conquered Province Theories Lincoln pocket vetoed
Lincoln s Last Speech The colored man too, in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring, to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps toward it, than by running backward over them? Concede that the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it? Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the national Constitution. To meet this proposition, it has been argued that no more than three fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this, further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persistently questioned; while a ratification by three-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable I repeat the question, "Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Government? What has been said of Louisiana will apply generally to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain to each state, and such important and sudden changes occur in the same state; and withal, so new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive, and inflexible plan can be safely prescribed as to details and colatterals [sic]. Such exclusive, and inflexible plan, would surely become a new entanglement. Important principles may, and must, be inflexible. In the present "situation" as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am considering, and shall not fail to act, when satisfied that action will be proper.
The Freedmen s Bureau March, 1865 Welfare Agency Food, shelter, and medical aid Resettlement Hampered by Johnson s pardons Successes: Established 3,000 schools, including several colleges Educated over 200,000 African Americans
Johnson and Reconstruction Andrew Johnson Democrat from Tennessee, only senator from the South to remain loyal Anti-aristocrat, White Supremacist Reconstruction Policy Continue Lincoln s Plan Additional Provisions (Ten Percent Plus Plan): Disfranchisement of: Former Confederate leaders and officeholders Confederates with more than $20,000 in taxable property Gave president the power to pardon disloyal Southerners Johnson pardoned over 13,000(!)
Johnson s Reconstruction
Johnson and Reconstruction Results: Expedited eligibility of states to become functioning members of the Union Pardons allowed for return of Confederate office holders and the planter aristocracy to power Battle between Johnson and the Republicans Use of the Veto
Southern States begin to retaliate against the 13 th Amendment Purpose: Guarantee stable labor supply Restore pre-emancipation system of race-relations Black Codes
Results: Contract-labor system Sharecropping Black Codes
Congressional Reconstruction The Radical Republicans Retaliate Led by Charles Sumner & Thaddeus Stevens Provisions: Civil Rights Act of 1866 Sought to override Johnson vetoes Nullify Dred Scott Shield against Black Codes 14 th Amendment (ratified 1868) Citizenship for all persons born or naturalized in the United States Afford due process and equal protection Punished the South
Radical Reconstruction Report of the Joint Committee (June, 1866) Congress, not the President, had sole authority to determine readmission of Southern states. Officially rejects Presidential Reconstruction plans Election of 1866 Failure of Johnson s swing around the circle tour Waving the bloody shirt Referendum for radicals 3 to 1 majority in Congress
Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Military Reconstruction Act Command of the Army Act Tenure of Office Act Radical Reconstruction
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Passage of Tenure of Office Act Senate s advise and consent applies not only to nominations, but terminations as well. To combat the Military Reconstruction & Command of the Army Acts, Johnson fires Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War House responds by drawing up 11 articles and impeaching Johnson for high crimes and misdemeanors Senate falls one vote short of removal.
Reforms After Grant s Election Election of 1868 Grant vs. Seymour Black vote garners victory for Grant 600 African American elected to State Assemblies Majority in SC lower house
Reforms After Grant s Election Electoral Gains for African Americans 15 th Amendment (ratified 1870) First black senator Hiram Revels, MS (1870) 8 African Americans elected to House of Representatives (by 1875)
Reforms After Grant s Election Civil Rights Act of 1875 Prohibited discrimination in public places and prohibited courts from excluding blacks Weak enforcement
Primary Source Analysis Text: Colored Rule in a Reconstructed State (The members call each other thieves, liars, rascals, and cowards.) Columbia: You are Aping the lowest whites. If you disgrace your Race in this way you had better take Back Seats.
Reconstruction in the South Composition of the Reconstruction Governments Republican occupation until Reconstruction requirements were met. Governments consisted of primarily Republican legislators, freedmen, and recently arrived Northerners. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
Black Adjustment in the South The Taste of Freedom Freedom of movement Land Ownership Sherman s 40 acres and a mule Freedom to Worship Black Churches (Baptist, Methodist, Episcopal) Freedom to Learn
Black Adjustment in the South Sharecropping crop-lien Landowner retained ¼ to ½ of production Cycle of debt (mortgage lien ) By 1880, less than 5% of Southern blacks owned land
The North During Reconstruction Industry drove both Northern economics and politics. Greed and Corruption The New Spoils System Corruption in Business and Government Grant Administration Scandals Jay Gould and James Fisk Crédit Mobilier Whiskey Ring Indian Ring Rise of Bossism and Political Machines Tammany Hall & Boss Tweed
Election of 1872: Grant vs. Greeley Republican: Grant Liberal Republican: Greeley Election held Nov. 5 th Greeley dies Nov. 29 th
Evaluating the Republican Record Accomplishments State Constitutions Universal manhood suffrage Property rights for women Debt relief Modern penal codes Economic Reform Social Reforms Failures Corruption Graft and wasteful spending Kickbacks and bribes Most improvements were short term & met with resistance redeemer governments would emerge Did not improve the social, political, or economic positions of African Americans and poor whites.
The End of Reconstruction: Causes Political Grant Administration Corruption Southern Politics Rise of Bourbons Redeemer Governments Solid South Supreme Court Decisions Texas v. White Slaughterhouse Cases Bradwell v. Illinois U.S. v. Cruikshank U.S. v. Reese
The End of Reconstruction: Causes Social Rise of Sharecropping Increase in Black Codes advent of Jim Crow Laws target: voting rights Increase in Violence & Lynching Ku Klux Klan Force Acts (1870 & 1871) White League (1874) Segregation and socio-economic disparity
The End of Reconstruction: Causes Economic Limited Southern Industrialization Textiles, tobacco processing, railroads 11k 29k miles Coinage Act of 1873 Demonetization of silver Panic of 1873 Collapse of southern economy Cotton ½ value Widespread bankruptcy Specie Resumption Act (1875) Back to gold standard
Contrasting Views of the Franchise
The End of Reconstruction Election of 1876 Hayes (R) vs. Tilden (D) Tilden wins popular, but lacks electoral majority Compromise of 1877 The Corrupt Bargain, Part II? Troops Removed from South
Primary Source Analysis Thomas Nast, Worse Than Slavery, 1874