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1863 to 1877
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to gain an to gain an understanding of understanding of
Reconstruction; the Reconstruction; the various policies towards various policies towards the defeated states of the defeated states of the Confederacy after the Confederacy after
the Civil Warthe Civil War
Purpose
SpecificallySpecifically. . . .. . . .
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1.Federal Reconstruction policies and reactions to them:
– Presidential Reconstruction
– Congressional Reconstruction
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2.The situation of freedmen in the South
3.The efforts of Reconstruction state governments in the South
4.White resistance to Reconstruction in the South
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5.Economic and social developments in the South
6.The end of Reconstruction
7.judicial conservatism and a changed political situation in the North.
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- Union Generals confiscate lands and distribute to former slaves in order to
1863-1865
punish rebelshinder South’s economygive restitution to slaves
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–General Sherman issues Special Field Order #15Gives Confederate land to freedmen
40,000 freedmen settle in Sea Islands of SC & GA
they believed FED. GOVT. gave it to them
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–Should Confederate states be re-formed or returned to former status?
–Who should be in charge—the President or Congress?
Debate in Washington
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Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plans
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~ During the War, Lincoln plans reintegration of the South (a quick re-Union
~ 1863-formulates the “Ten Percent Plan”~ former states would be
readmitted if 10% of white voters took an Oath of Loyalty to the Union
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Radical Republicans oppose Lincoln’s plan as too easy
demand much more stringent measures in the
Wade-Davis Bill
Congressional Congressional Reaction & Reaction &
PlanPlan
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Provisional governors in the South until the end of the War
re-establish civil governments after ½ of male white citizens take Oath of Loyalty
Conf. officers colonel or above, and civil officers above minister are excluded from amnesty
Wade Davis Bill
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Lincoln refuses to sign:–It was placed on his desk just before Congress adjourned
–Did not want to be “inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration”
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Effectively Lincoln and Congress block each other’s plans until Lincoln’s death.
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Andrew Johnson‘s Reconstruction
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Johnson (Tennessee): small farmer‘s advocate with a hatred for big plantation owners.
outlines relatively restrictive policy, excluding rich Southerners from political involvement
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1. Amnesty to most southerners
2. Restoration of former property if they take the Oath of Allegiance
Johnson’s Plan
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3. Exclusion from amnesty:–high ranking Confederate officials
–military officers– large plantation owners
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Johnson undermines his own policy by liberally pardoning Southerners, even high office-holding politicians of the Confederacy
Alexander Stephens (former Vice-President of the CSA) is re-elected to Congress in 1865
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ResultsSouthern states quickly take up Johnson‘s
plan by summer of 1865, seven
states set up new governments and elected U.S. Rep.’s & Sen.’s
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pass highly restrictive “black codes“ to keep freedmen under control and bound as agricultural labor
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Republicans in CongressRadicals & Conservatives
are outraged. refuse to seat the new
delegates quickly pass laws to
repudiate black codes
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effectively block
Johnson‘s policy.
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Pushed into alliance by Johnson‘s policies and outright support of Democratic party goals
start formulating a reconstruction policy of their own
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Congressional Reconstruction
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The 14th Amendment1866: first cornerstone of
Congressional Reconstruction
repudiates Dred Scott & gives citizenship and due process of law to all persons born in the US.
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fairly conservative document (esp. Section 1), shows the influence of Conservative Republicans.
still a central part of US constitutional thought.
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1. US citizenship for all persons born in the US;
--equal protection and due process of law for all citizens in all states.
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2. 3/5ths clause abolished.
States may exclude blacks from voting but will have representation in Congress decreased if they do.
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3. Confederate officeholders are excluded from being elected into political office.
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4. Confederate debt is
repudiated.
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Reactions to the 14th Amendment
Andrew Johnson
v.
Thaddeus Stevens
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President Johnson and Democrats denounce the document and lobby vigorously against it.
No ex-confederate state except Tennessee ratifies it. (Ratification did not take place until 1868.)
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Republicans of both factions came to realize that only Republican control of the South would achieve meaningful change.
A strong sentiment emerged in the North that supported harsh sanctions against the former Confederacy.
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The Reconstruction Act of 1867
The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was the high point of
Congressional Reconstruction.
It dissolved Southern state governments and temporarily
reimposed military rule.
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It enfranchised the freedmen and required new state constitutions drafted by conventions elected by both blacks and whites.
It required state legislatures to ratify the 14th amendment and get a final ok from Congress to fully reenter the Union.
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Military districts in the South
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Impeaching Andrew Johnson
The implementation of the 1867 Act brought relations between Congress and president to a boiling point.
Congress passed several laws to bring Johnson under control.
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1867: Congress passes Tenure of Office Act to keep Johnson from firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who supported Republican goals.
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Johnson fires Stanton anyway.
Republican leaders start impeachment proceedings
against Johnson for violating the Act – this was more a political than a criminal
offense.
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Johnson’s conviction is narrowly defeated.
(35-19: 1 vote short of 2/3 needed to convict)
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Impeachment remained a tool to
punish criminal wrongdoings rather than political ones.
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The 15th AmendmentLast major piece of Congressional
Reconstruction legislation.
Prohibits the exclusion of male adults(21) from the vote on the basis of race or former condition of servitude.
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Designed to make sure that freedmen franchise would remain.
Passed by Congress in 1869, its ratification became a precondition for reentering the Union; it was ratified in 1870.
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The Freedmen’s
Situation
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A Freedmen‘s school
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The newly freed slaves universally cheered their freedom.
For many, finding displaced family members became the first priority.
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Black institutions, most importantly churches, were established.
The freedman were hungry for education.
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The Freedman‘s Bureau set up over 4,000 elementary schools.
By 1877, over 600,000 African Americans were enrolled.
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Economic Ambitions
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Most freedmen wanted to get enough land to start subsistence farming.
Reconstruction laws did not include land reform, which was opposed by Conservative Republicans and Democrats alike.
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Southern whites tried to keep blacks from owning land.
Freedmen lacked money.
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As a result, very few freedmen were able to realize this very Jeffersonian dream.
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Political Involvement
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Blacks participated in Reconstruction
legislatures – universally as Republicans.
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members of the South Carolina legislature
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Some (16) black Representatives
and Senators were sent to Washington.
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Extra Credit!
Who was the first black governor in the U.S.?
From what state was he elected, and in what
year?
3 pts.
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In state legislatures freedmen politicians normally pursued a policy of reconciliation with white Southerners – to no avail.
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At the same time, they tried to achieve key demands such as a land reform and full social equality.
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Reconstruction in StatePolitics
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As the Republicans had hoped, the freedman vote gave them a temporary advantage in the South.
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However, instead of vigorously defending the interests of their main constituency – freedmen – Republicans tried very hard to attract white Southern voters.
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These efforts were ultimately doomed as the vast majority of whites remained Democrats and rejected Republican policies outright.
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Most Reconstruction governments lasted only a few years; as the 1870s progressed, white Democrat governments regained power in the South.
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Carpetbaggersand
Scalawags
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a sheet music cover
showing a carpetbagg
er
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As hard times hit the South, most white Southerners blamed Republican reconstruction governments and their alleged corruption.
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White Northerners who immigrated to
the South were called
“carpetbaggers”.
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White Southern Republicans --
called
“scalawags”
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Accused of (coming to the South) only to use black votes to gain political power and money.
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Perception was actually ungrounded:
most C’s & S’s were middle class professionals who saw opportunities in the South.
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Many C’s actually moved to the South before enfranchisement.
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ViolentResistance
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Many white Southerners resisted
reconstruction efforts with
violence.
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Vigilante groups intimidated, attacked, and killed freedmen
[lynchings] and white supporters, and destroyed black
institutions.
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The best-known such group was the Ku Klux Klan, but others such as
the White League and the Order of the White
Camelia also were active.
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1871: The KKK was outlawed but little else was done to
protect the freedmen.
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A Thomas Nast cartoon criticizing the oppression of
freedmen by white supremacist
terrorist groups
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Sharecropping
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As the post-war years continued, a new labor system emerged in the cotton economy.
Both blacks and whites became sharecroppers.
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Sharecroppers rented land and paid the owner with a share – usually 50% - of the crop.
They also paid the owner for seed and supplies at a price determined by the owner.
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Despite some advantages, the system led many sharecroppers into a state of perpetual debt because of the need to often take loans based on future harvests.
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The Supreme
Court
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Reconstruction was less than successful in practice, and the Supreme Court removed its legal basis with a series of rulings.
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The Slaughterhouse
Cases(1869)
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effectively made the citizenship rights of the 14th amendment worthless by distinguishing between a protected, but limited national citizenship and an unprotected state citizenship.
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United Statesv.
Reese(1876)
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allowed the disenfranchisement of blacks on grounds other than race, thus dismantling the 15th Amendment
Soon Southern legislatures set up voting requirements that freedmen could not meet.
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Plessy v.
Ferguson(1896)
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Allowed for facilities that were “separate but equal”
The final point of a string of decisions that allowed racial segregation in practically all areas of public life
Along with the changing political situation they allowed white Southerners to construct a segregation system
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“Jim Crow” laws
disenfranchised blacks and kept them unequal
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Loss of Republican
Support
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As the 1870s progressed, Radical Republicans lost influence and the
Republican party turned away from
reconstruction.
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Ulysses S. Grant (1869 – 1877)
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Administration was riddled with corruption scandals that proved to be a difficult political liability.
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“Liberal Republicans” break away from the party in protest to the corruption scandals and take several Radical Republicans with them who now demand public service reform, not reconstruction.
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Democrats make important inroads in Congress, further weakening reconstruction advocates
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1873: severe depression breaks out, making economic problems the main political issue in the North.
Interest in reforming the South, or even treating the former Confederacy harshly, wanes
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The Electionof
1876
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Rutherford B. Hayes(R., OH)
Samuel J. Tilden(D., NY)
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Tilden: 184 E.V.Hayes: 185 E.V.
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Initial results indicate narrow victory for Tilden(D), but Republicans contest results in three Southern states (+ OR)
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8(LA)
1 (OR)
4(FL)
7(SC)
Total contested = 20
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The Compromise
of 1877
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Implicit compromise:–Democrats accept Hayes as President
–Republicans cease any resistance to white Democrat “home rule” in the South
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Reconstruction was over.
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Conclusions
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Reconstruction was an ambitious effort to effect
profound social and political change in the
South, giving the freedmen political and civic rights and end Democratic domination
of the South.
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However, support for Reconstruction was based on
a shaky coalition between Conservative and Radical Republicans on the federal
level and problematic efforts to attract white voters in the
southern states.
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As Reconstruction governments proved
ineffective, the Supreme Court intervened and the issues of federal politics were transformed, and
support for reconstruction subsided.
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In the South, “home rule” quickly turned
into a racially segregated, highly unequal, society.
