RECONSTRUCTION POLICY & SC Standard Indicator 8-5.1
Rewind Review Civil War Ended Emancipation of Slaves Broke & decimated south Huge life loss on both sides
Federal Reconstruction Policies: Impacted SC politics & society Rebuilding SC economy was not federal government s responsibility Economic rebuilding was responsibility of individuals, state & local governments Did not include reconstruction of towns, factories, farms, & transportation systems SC faced serious economic problems
Freedman s Bureau: first line of assistance to people affected by Civil War: Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen & Abandoned Lands under control of US Army Established by Congress prior to war s end Designed to help whites & freedmen Provided food, clothing, medical care, education, and some protection from the hostile white government Helped find jobs Established courts to protect illiterate workers
Freedmen s Bureau & Economic Help: Could not provide land that would provide economic independence for freedmen Established share-cropping system: landless freedmen provided labor for worker-less plantation owners Sharecropping system kept African Americans & poor whites in economic dependence & poverty Share-cropping a role in the economic reconstruction of SC (1:39) Most important contribution by the Freedman s Bureau was the establishment of over 1,000 schools in the south
Freedmen s Bureau Continued: Distributed lands abandoned during war to freedmen Distributed land confiscated by Union as disloyalty to Union to freedmen Bureau was forced to return land when President Johnson pardoned white landowners & returned their property Congress would not pass laws giving land to freedmen due to constitutional rights of southern whites to their landed property
Reconstruction Plans: Developed & promoted by elements in the Federal government President Lincoln s Plan: Ten Per Cent Plan President Johnson s Plan Congressional Plan: Radical or Republican Plan
Lincoln s Plan for Reconstruction Purpose: to end the war as quickly as possible First: Required only 10% of Southern population to swear allegiance to Union Second: with 10% swearing allegiance states could reconstitute state governments Third: Send representatives to Congress Fourth: State governments had to recognize end of slavery Hoped this would convince South To surrender
President Johnson s Reconstruction Plan: (6:02) Lincoln is assassinated Johnson basically continued Lincoln s 10% Presidential Plan Added personal purpose of humiliating the southern elite Required individual request for a pardon from president Added ratification of 13 th Amendment freeing slaves Johnson quickly pardoned those asking
Congressional Reconstruction Plan: Purposes To protect the rights of the newly freed slaves To maintain the Republican s political power
Congress felt need for plan because after Appomattox while Congress not in session: The legislature of SC & other southern states passed Black Codes Southern states elected former Confederates to Congress Congress refused to admit returning Southern officials
Course of Reconstruction Changed by: Increased violence against freedmen President Johnson s opposition to Congressional effort to secure the rights of the freedmen Johnson s veto of extension of Freedmen s Bureau Johnson s opposition to the 14 th Amendment citizenship for former slaves) Result: public reaction was to vote a Radical Republican majority in congressional election of 1866
Congressional Plan (Radical Republican Plan): Military occupation of the former Confederacy Created 5 military districts (SC was in the 2 nd district) Each had a military governor & army to enforce the provisions of plan Congress impeached President Johnson to ensure he could not undermine their military rule & plan Johnson was not removed from office, but his power was curtailed Union Army enforced Reconstruction,13 th, 14 th, & 15 th amendments
Impact of 13 th Amendment: Ratification required of southern states to form new state governments Effected emancipation of slaves throughout US & social change Freedmen consolidated families & communities Freedmen established churches, schools, etc. Freedmen claimed equal citizenship Freedmen get an education Carve out independence in lives for themselves
Impact of 13 th Amendment on whites: Little social changes in the beginning Social classes remained fairly stable despite loss of economic status by the planter elite Black codes showed white SC not willing to recognize the social and political rights freedmen (10:31)
Relationship Between Freedmen & Whites: Both preferred to maintain social distance (separation) African Americans created church congregations of their own Freedmen moved away from plantations to own communities Separation & lack of control of freedmen caused anxiety among whites to escalate & fear of retaliation & tension to increase White resentment & fear led to terrorist groups like the (Ku Klux Klan) to keep freedmen in their place socially, politically, & economically (9:55)
14 th Amendment: Designed to protect the political & social rights of freedmen from intimidation Overturned the Dred Scott decision by recognizing African American citizenship Upheld rights of all citizens to equal protection before the laws & due process of the law Required 2/3rds votes of Congress to grant amnesty to ex-confederates before they could hold public offices Reduced representation in Congress of states that did not allow African Americans to vote
15 th Amendment: Ensured that all Americans could not be denied right to vote based on race, creed or previous condition of servitude Was motivated by desire of the Republican Party to secure political power in the South Southern voters: largely African American contributed to Grant s 1868 election SC refused to ratify the 14th & 15th Amendments so military governor required SC to hold convention to write constitution to recognize the amendments
SC s Refusal & Consequences SC refused to ratify the 14 th & 15 th Amendments As a result of Congressional Reconstruction, the military governor of Military District 2 required SC to hold a convention to write a new state constitution that would recognize the amendments