Important For What It Failed To Do Reconstruction 1864-1877
Outline 1. The Residue of War (1860-1865) 2. Presidential Reconstruction (1865-1867) 3. Congressional/Radical Reconstruction (1867-1877) 4. Abandoning Reconstruction (1877-1954?)
1. The Residue of War How wartime developments and destruction affected postwar decisions
Lies, Damn Lies, and Some Statistics: 285,000 dead Confederate Soldiers 360,000 dead Union Soldiers 4 million freed slaves with nowhere to go and no resources How many wounded? How many maimed? Psychological costs? Damage to Southern Infrastructure
Big Stats North Population: 22 million South Population: 9 million Northern Forces: 2.1 million Southern Forces: 1.1 million
Cold Harbor
Charleston
They won their freedom and not much else
Legal Legacy of the War Emancipation Proclamation, January 1, 1863 Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863 Lincoln Assassinated, April 14, 1865 Thirteenth Amendment, December 6, 1865
Practical Reconstruction, Practical Emancipation
Out of necessity By 1862, Lincoln had named military governors for Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana
Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863) A rebel state could form a new state government when 10% of those who had voted in 1860 had taken an oath of allegiance to the union. They also had to swear to support all laws and proclamations regarding emancipation Some groups of Southerners, those considered particularly traitorous, such as military men who had been part of the army before the war, and high officials of the confederate government
Walking the Line Presidential Reconstruction, 1865-1867
Not as obvious as it appears In most wars, how is peace made? Why might this not work following the American Civil War?
A Peculiar Problem Premise of the war: The South has no right to secede Technically they never left Do they need to be re-admitted?
The North never recognized the Confederacy as a real government You cannot sign a peace treaty with a bunch of criminals, traitors, or rebels
$1,000,000 Question How were the Southern States to be brought back into the Union?
The Issues The Vote for Blacks? Land for freed Slaves? Loyalty of Southerners? Confederate Soldiers/Traitors? How to form new governments? Who should pay to rebuild the Southern economy?
Lincoln and Reconstruction Moderate More concerned with re-union than slavery Puts forth a plan in 1863 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
The Lincoln Plan Southern State governments accept slave emancipation All southerners take an oath of loyalty to the Union When 10% of the state has taken the oath, they can form a state government and will be readmitted
Congressional Resistance Republicans Control Congress during the Civil War when Southern Democrats withdrew and seceded Republican Congress was determined to maintain their influence and not have their industrial legislative program overturned
Wade-Davis Bill (1864) A majority (not 10%, but 51% had to take the oath) Appoint a provisional governor to each state to oversee the creation of state governments (South not to be trusted) Former confederate soldiers could not vote in this initial creation
Southern Reconstruction Plan - 1865 Must put Emancipation in their new state constitutions Wade-David bill passed and Lincoln vetoed it They didn t work it out before Lincoln was assassinated
Andrew Johnson Lincoln s VP War Democrat from Virginia Chosen to placate South in 1860 election Initially continued Lincoln s moderate policies
Johnson Clashes With Congress Johnson placates Southern leaders in hopes of extracting enough change to satisfy the radicals in Congress Doesn t work - the South makes few concessions, begins passing the Black Codes Congress becomes increasingly alarmed
Cannon Conquer, but they do not necessarily convert Southern Resistance to Reconstruction
None of us realize that we are no longer wealthy yet thanks to the Yankees, the cause of all this unhappiness, such is the case. As long as I thought we would conquer in our just cause, I cared nothing for the loss of property for I felt as if we would be rich if we had Our Rights & Our Country left us but now they are lost too, & we have suffered in vain. In vain! There is where the bitterness lies! ~Amanda Worthington, Plantation mistress from Mississippi
Copperheads Northerners that favored the Union but hated the war, blaming it on abolitionists. Also applies to Southerners that did business with them, often at great cost to the South Scalawags White Southerners that supported Reconstruction and were in bed with those awful Nuthuners Carpetbaggers Northern politicians and businessmen that exploited the South
Black Codes * Guarantee stable labor supply now that blacks were emancipated. * Restore preemancipation system of race relations. * Forced Blacks to become sharecroppers legal slaves
Freedmen s Bureau (1865) Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands. Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help (and often exploit) southern freedmen. Called carpetbaggers by white southern Democrats.
FREEDMAN S BUREAU assisted former slaves by setting up schools, hospitals and distributing food and clothing in the South
Most slaves went to school to learn to read and write Adults and children flocked to Freedman s Schools
Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South
Freedmen s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes Plenty to eat and nothing to do.
After the War It seems humiliating to be compelled to bargain and haggle with our servants about wages
Post-War Anger One mother said she trained her children to fear God, love the South, and live to avenge her.
Political Resistance Repealing vs. Repudiating Ordinances of Secession Mississippi & Texas refuse to ratify 13 th Amendment Georgia ratified it on condition of slave holders being compensated States refused to grant rights to former slaves Passing of Black Codes
A less-than-hidden agenda Legal for slaves to marry, own property, and sue in court Required a special license for Blacks to work in any area except agriculture
Could not serve on juries and could not testify against Whites Vagrancy Laws
[Reconstruction included] a striking embodiment of the idea that although the former owner has lost his individual right of property in the former slaves, the blacks at large belong to the whites at large. ~Carl Schurz, Republican politician
What must Reconstruction do? Reconstruction must revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, and manners.the foundations of their institutions must be broken and relaid, or all our blood and treasure have been spent in vein. ~Thaddeus Stevens
The Freedmen will be tyrannized over, abused, and virtually re-enslaved without some legislation by the nation for his protection. ~Lyman Trumbull, Senator
Retribution Congressional (radical) Reconstruction
14 th Amendment (Passed 1865) Defined citizenship and guaranteed rights of the Constitution, by both the State and Federal government Enforced suffrage for all adults males (nothing said about race)
14 th Amendment Ratifying the 14 th Amendment was now the only requirement for Southern state readmittance to Union
The Radical Congressional Program Punish Confederate leadership, civilians and military Actively protect legal rights of Blacks Disenfranchise disloyal white Southerners Confiscate land of wealthy Confederates and distribute it to freed Blacks
Conspiracy?
8 Men Out
Johnson himself was an intemperate and tactless man, filled with resentments and insecurities.
Election of 1866 After 1866, radical Republicans in Congress puts together a specific and coherent plan for Reconstruction (Democrats lost 9 seats)
Re-Admittance Under Lincoln and Johnson, all the Southern states had prepared to reenter the Union. When Congress met in 1865, they refused to seat Southern Congressmen and senators sent by re-admitted states.
10 States had satisfied the requirements for re-admittance under Lincoln and Johnson Later, Congress rejected those governments
15 th Amendment (1866) Congress added another requirement, the 15 th Amendment Forbade states and the federal government to deny the suffrage to any citizen an account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Tenure of Office Act (1866) Designed to keep the President from interfering with Congress plan for Reconstruction Forbade him from removing executive branch officials confirmed by the Senate without the consent of the Senate.
Impeachment Johnson considered the act unconstitutional Violated it in hopes of bringing about a court case Congress used this as a pretext to impeach him House only
Congress Breaks with the President Congress bars Southern Congressional delegates. Joint Committee on Reconstruction created. February, 1866 President vetoed the Freedmen s Bureau bill. March, 1866 Johnson vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Congress passed both bills over Johnson s vetoes 1 st time ever
The South Redeemed The End of Reconstruction
Election of 1874 Blue=Democrats House=Democrats Senate=Republican
The Balance of Power in Congress State White Citizens Freedmen SC 291,000 411,000 MS 353,000 436,000 LA 357,000 350,000 GA 591,000 465,000 AL 596,000 437,000 VA 719,000 533,000 NC 631,000 331,000
Upper South White majorities Almost completely re-enfranchised by 1872 Easy to take control
Lower South Black majorities Intimidation and violence to undermine reconstruction KKK & Knights of the White Camellia
Strongest Weapon: Economic Pressure! Some planters refused to rent land to Republican Blacks; storekeepers refused to extend them credit; employers refused to give them work. ~Alan Brinkley
Sharecropping
Panic of 1873 Collapse of the stock market Subsequent depression lasted 6 years Hurts Republicans in Congress Efforts turn to economic recovery and away from Reconstruction and race politics
Northern Support Wanes Grantism & corruption. Panic of 1873 (through 1879) a 6-year depression Concern over westward expansion and Indian Wars. Key monetary issues: * should the government retire $432m worth of greenbacks issued during the Civil War. * should war bonds be paid back in specie or greenbacks.
D-O-N-E Done! 13 th, 14 th and 15 th Amendments Blacks were free and had the Vote Take care of themselves
Election of 1876
Election of 1876 Nearly dead-even Electoral college vote with 4 contested states No procedures in Constitution for how the Congress should determine winner Split legislature (Dem s in house, Rep s in Senate) could not agree Popular vote had been for Democrat Samuel J. Tilden
The Commission 5 Republicans from Congress 5 Democrats from Congress 5 Supreme Court justices: 2 from each party plus one independent, David Davis
His Fraudulency Illinois legislature elected Davis to U.S. Senate Resigned from Commission Seat was won by a Republican justice Vote went on party lines (8 to 7) for Republican candidate Rutherford B Hayes
Compromise of 1877 Democrats were going to filibuster Parties negotiated behind the scenes Democrats agree to drop filibuster in exchange for several guarantees Included: withdraw federal troops from South and end Republican military governments South would be solidly in Democratic hands
Evaluating Reconstruction
Can t Please Anyone To many white Southerners, Reconstruction was a vicious and destructive experience a period when vindictive Northerners inflicted humiliation and revenge on the prostrate South. Alan Brinkley
View from the North Northerners argued that their policies were the only way to prevent unrepentant Confederates from restoring southern society as it had been before the war; without forceful federal intervention, there would be no way to forestall the reemergence of a backwards aristocracy and continued subjugation of blacks no way, in other words, to prevent the same sectional problems that had produced the Civil War in the first place.
Evaluating Reconstruction Failure in most respects, at least in the long run Failure to address issue of race, it would be addressed dramatically 100 years later Embittered Americans about the race issue, made them hesitant to deal with it on a political level
Why failure? Inherent racism, North and South Deeply imbedded values of states rights Respect for private property and free enterprise made efforts at income redistribution weak
The End of Reconstruction