Now That We Are Free Reconstruction and the New South 1863-1890
The South After the War Entire plantation system collapsed, Southern economic and social structure destroyed, transportation shut down, major cities in ruins, agriculture crippled. Emancipated blacks established schools and churches in an attempt to protect their new freedoms Reconstruction is a battle over the implications of Emancipation Just how Emancipated would Freedmen be????
Issues of Reconstruction= 3 R s Reconstruction Rebuild the war torn South Reestablish the Union torn apart by secession Remake Southern society without Slavery
Preparing for Reconstruction Lincoln s 10% Plan Lenient Pardoned (except military & officials) oath to Union & emancipation 10% of voters create new state with malice toward none and Honey, charity lets go for all to to achieve the show and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves.
Preparing for Reconstruction the South for Radical Republicans Offer a Different Vision Wade-Davis Bill- harsh Punish & destroy economy Majority take ironclad oath Confederates striped of citizenship Committed to Union, emancipation, and freedmen s rights Lincoln vetoed bill Abe and Radicals agree 13 th Amendment-free slaves Freedmen s Bureau All purpose relief agency 1 st attempt social welfare Foundation of Reconstruction We will punish what they did and we will end slavery!!! Pay back time!!!! Senator Benjamin Wade (R-OH) Don t You think guys this started bill will the bring war the and Union now you back must together, pay!!! quickly. So, I will Thaddeus pocket veto Stevens it!!!! Congressman Henry W. Davis (R-MD)
Fruits of Freedom Freedom of Movement Unfettered movement No passes/look for family Rise of black pop. Urban Offered community Symbolic of freedom Forty Acres and a Mule Sherman s Field Order No. 15 Confiscated land redistributed to freedmen Physical proof of freedom Temporary
Fruits of Freedom Education Read & write could conduct own legal affairs, jobs, read newspapers and citizens Primary and Colleges 1 st education system in south Black Church Source of spiritual and psychological support Place to assume leadership roles
Struggle to Define Reconstruction Presidential Reconstruction- Very Lenient & White Supremacy 1. Amnesty and Pardon Return all property $20,000- personally pardon 2. Terms of Admittance 13 th Amendment Renounce secession Repudiated CSA debts Elections Congress out of session By 1865 ALL 11 states back in the Union Outraged 1. Most States did not accept 13 th 2. Ex-Confederates back in power 3. State Govts passed Black Codes Had the War been fought in vain?
Under Johnson s Reconstruction Black Codes Vagrancy Must sign work contracts Living locations Outlawing interracial Barred black from jury HYPERLINK FOR TODAY S ARTICLE
Struggle to Define Reconstruction Congressional Reconstruction & 14 th Amendment Congress Refused to admit Southerners Investigation on status of South CHAOS!!! Counter Johnson s Plan Freedmen s Bureau reauthorized Civil Rights Bill African Americans (except N.A.) are citizens Johnson vetoed both bills Congress then overrides his vetoes (They know that another Congress can overwrite it.) 14 th Amendment
Struggle to Define Reconstruction 14 th Amendment 1. All born in USA/Citizens 2. Equal protection of the law applied Bill of Rights. 3. Deny right to vote/loss of representation in DC 4. Confederates banned from office 5. Repudiated CSA Debt/no compensation for loss of slaves Johnson vs. Radical Republicans Both campaigned at 1866 Midterm elections on 14 th Radicals win seats!!!
Radical Republicans Take Control 1. South should be punished for the war and forced to protect the rights of freedmen (former slaves). 2. Reconstruction Act of 1867: (Over Johnson Veto) *Divided South into 5 military districts and placed them under military rule (Military Governor). *Effectively disbanded state governments established under Lincoln/Johnson plans *Required states to ratify 14 th amendment Guaranteed freedmen a vote at new constitutional conventions where all Southern states were to write NEW state constitutions 15 th Amendment: Suffrage for African-Americans (but not women) Struggle to Define Reconstruction
Struggle to Define Reconstruction 1867:Congress passes Tenure in Office Act Prohibits President from firing cabinet officials without consent of Congress(limit powers of President during Reconstruction) 1868: Pres. Dismisses Sec. of War Stanton (Radical) replaced him with Grant House votes to impeach, fails in Congress by 1 vote would have seriously weakened executive branch. Bad precedent One year left Wade, really??? Benjamin Wade, the president pro tem of the Senate was a unknown???
White Southerners especially despised these three groups: Carpetbaggers: Northerners who came down to make a profit through rebuilding, land speculation, etc. Held state offices during Republican rule. Scalawags: White Southerners who supported Republican policies. Most were small farmers from mountainous regions had owned no slaves and sought to get ahead during Reconstruction. Eventually, most drifted back to Democrats Freedmen: Backbone of Southern Republicanism provided 8 of 10 Republican votes Implementing Reconstruction
Vote early Implementing Reconstruction and vote often! For Democrats!!! Creating Reconstruction Governments in the South Ushered in a brief period of Republican dominance in Southern States as most freedmen registered Republican. More than 700,000 freedmen enfranchised; 10-15% of white voters disenfranchised (Republican rule in the South is brief only lasts a decade) Voted for internal improvements (public works) paid for with higher taxes (some on land for the first time ever in the South) Passed laws using tax $$ to support black education, schools, etc. Created a public school system (segregated) that had been non-existent in the South previously Greatly outraged Southern whites and Democrats called it Negro Rule Most of Republicans were white 1869-1901: 22 African Americans did serve office (2 senators 20 representatives) and over 600 in state offices No African American became Governor Corruption was exception not the norm North was more corrupt than South (Boss Tweed Tammany Hall) Show Clip from Gangs of NY again.
Election of 1868 U. S. Grant (R) vs. Seymour (D) Grant stood for moderation Seymour fear monger Grant wins Reality Many supported Seymour s racist ideas Freedmen made the difference for Grant KKK an effective tool in south Implementing Reconstruction
Implementing Reconstruction suffrage hour 15 th Amendment (1869-1870) African American males were implied in the 14 th, to vote, but Congress wanted it guaranteed in the wake of Southern resistance. Women s rights activist were disappointed for being left out States could prohibit IF they did not invoke race, color, or previous condition of servitude. No it s universal hour Elizabeth Cady Stanton It s the Negro s Frederick Douglas
Implementing Reconstruction Rise of White Resistance KKK Purpose Keep social order (whites on top) Prevent poor whites and blacks alliance Prevent Voting Enforcement Acts 1870 Military protected freedmen Revealed how vulnerability of Freedmen w/o military presence
Corruption and Scandal Grant s tenure is noted by extreme corruption (Grantism) and scaling back of military presence in the South that allows Redemption of the Southern states to begin. Credit Mobilier Scandal Union Pacific Railroad bribes VP Whiskey Ring Scandal No taxes collect by Treasury Sec. North Retreats Grant supported Amnesty Act Pardon almost ALL Confederates Accomplished Goal-no need for strong fed. govt. Citizenship Civil Rights Suffrage 1869: Congress allows Freedmen s Bureau to expire and close shop Mismanagement of South by Republican Rule Reconstruction Abandoned
Reconstruction Abandoned Election of 1872 Grant (R) vs. Greeley (D) Reconstruction Issue still alive, but fading Panic of 1873(-1877) Boom after Civil War ends 9,000% inflation rate in post-war South 15% unemployment nationally Increases outrage in the South against Republican governments who raise taxes to help Freedmen In 1874, Democrats (Redeemers) regain House for the first time since 1857. Distracted Reconstruction Remember what we were fighting for Remember the bloody flags
Reconstruction Abandoned Return of Terrorism KKK resurges in South w/o military intervention Colfax Massacre 100 African Americans killed (5 th Hour 12/15/11) Mississippi Plan Intimidation at polls Military support was denied /Democrats regain power Redeemers Civil Rights Act of 1875 Equal access to public facilities 1883 Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional Last Act until 1960 s
Reconstruction Abandoned End of Reconstruction Compromise of 1877 Democrats will concede electoral votes and thus the White House if Republicans will: Remove last military forces in South Send federal monies for internal improvements Require Hayes to appoint Southerners to cabinet positions Reconstruction is OVER Redemption complete
Reconstruction Abandoned Redemption Sharecropping- undermined 13 th Amendment Segregation- undermined 14 th Amendment Plessey v. Ferguson- undermined the 14 th Amendment Disenfranchisement-undermined the 15 th Amendment Poll Tax- In FL you paid $1.00 a year, but if you don t pay for 10 years must pay $10.00 a year plus interest Literacy Test Grandfather Clause (only in effect for 10 years/ unconstitutional) LA- 1896: 130,000 Blacks vote 1904: 1,000 Blacks vote 27% of whites could not vote as a result of restrictions
Reconstruction at a glance Presidential Reconstruction: (1865-1867) Lenient, quick readmission of states, 10% oaths, enables Southerners to adopt black codes and limit freedoms of freedmen Republican/Radical Reconstruction: (1867-1873) More severe, includes passage of Reconstruction Amendments, Civil Rights Act and Force Acts, enables black Republican voters to briefly exercise power at a state level. Requires Federal Military Presence in the South to enforce. Redemption: (1873-1877) With Republican and Northern public support for a military presence in the South fading, Southern democrats use intimidation (Klan) and legal means (challenging elections) to redeem their states. The Solid South is born and much of the gains made for freedmen are reversed.
Black Reconstruction : Efforts by Freedmen in the South to establish their own institutions and preserve their own identities and liberties. Growth of black churches that provided community, relief, funds for schools and support for Republican policies Black schools: by 1869 4,000 black schools in south (partly funded by Northern philanthropic societies) Advanced schools like Howard, Atlanta and Fisk Universities opened for blacks (where future civil rights leaders will attend) Family bonds were strengthened as marriages became legal and broken families were reunited Together, groups pooled resources to buy land or they entered into sharecropping in the crop-lien economy Increased voting and office holding (Before Redemption )
Two Major Failures in Reconstruction 1. No LAND REFORM!!! 2. NO LASTING FEDERAL MILITARY PRESENCE IN THE SOUTH TO ENFORCE EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW
Troubled Legacy of Reconstruction Much resentment of the North in the South Blacks still oppressed by Democratic state governments and black codes will become Jim Crow laws South becomes the Solid South (democrat) Some much needed reform is passed during Radical/Republican Reconstruction phase