Reconstruction

1865-1877

Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural AddressMarch 4, 1865

“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Political Viewpoints

• Democrats: Mostly from the South and West – wanted the government to stay out of state affairs..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CSA_FLAG_28.11.1861-1.5.1863.svg

Political Viewpoints

• Democrats: Mostly from the South and West – wanted the government to stay out of state affairs.

• Republicans: Moderate – wanted the government to stay out of state affairs.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CSA_FLAG_28.11.1861-1.5.1863.svg

Political Viewpoints• Democrats: Republicans:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:CSA_FLAG_28.11.1861-1.5.1863.svg http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents

Radical Republicans: Wanted the government to play an active role in Reconstruction.

1. Full and equal citizenship for all.2. Get new leaders.

Thaddeus Stevenshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Thaddeus_Stevens_-_Brady-Handy-crop.jpg

Political Viewpoints

• Democrats: Mostly from the South and West – wanted the government to stay out of state affairs..

• Republicans: Moderate – wanted the government to stay out of state affairs.

• Radical Republicans: Wanted the government to play an active role in Reconstruction.1. Full and equal citizenship for all.2. Get new leaders.

Lincoln’s 10% Plan

1. 10 percent of voters had to swear a loyalty oath to the US Constitution.

Lincoln’s 10% Plan1. 10 percent of voters had to

swear a loyalty oath to the US Constitution.

2. A new state constitution could be written.

--The state constitution must outlaw slavery.

Wade – Davis Bill

Radical-Republican plan

1. 50% had to swear a loyalty oath.

Wade – Davis Bill• Radical-Republican plan1. 50% had to swear a loyalty oath.

2.Set up state constitutional conventions

(White men, non-CSA, could vote)A. CSA officials not eligible for office.

B. Slavery had to be abolished.

Wade – Davis Bill• Radical-Republican plan1. 50% had to swear a loyalty oath.2. Set up state constitutional conventions (White

men, non-CSA, could vote)A. CSA officials not eligible for office.

B. Slavery had to be abolished.

Lincoln used a “pocket veto” and encouraged the South to rejoin the

Union by either this plan or his.

Freedmen’s Bureau

• Freedmen – former slaves

• Established in March, 1865.• They provided

food, medicine, and education.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedmen's_Bureau

Freedmen’s Bureau• Freedmen – former slaves• Established in March, 1865.• They provided food, medicine, and education.

• Originally tried to establish labor agreements and the selling of land that was confiscated in the Civil War.

“40 Acres and a Mule”

Lincoln’s Assasination

• April 14, 1865

• Murdered at Ford’s Theater by John Wilkes Booth while attending the play “Our American Cousin”

• 1st U.S. President to be assassinated.

“Next to the destruction of the Confederacy, the death of Abraham Lincoln was the darkest day the South has

ever known.”

-- Jefferson Davis

• Democrat• Former slave

owner.

• Believed that Reconstruction was the job of the President. He preferred to call it “Restoration”

Johnson’s Plan

1.New states must ratify the 13th amendment.

Johnson’s Plan

1.New states must ratify the 13th amendment.

2.They must accept the supreme power of US government.

Johnson’s Plan1. New states must ratify the 13th

amendment.2. They must accept the supreme power

of US government.

3.Amnesty & return of property to most white Southerners that swore a loyalty oath. Eventually, CSA officers were included.

13th Amendment

•FREE• This

amendment ended slavery in all of the United States.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1.jpg

Reaction to Johnson’s plan

• Southern states changed little – many old CSA leaders were re-elected.

“Black Codes” – laws passed by new governments that limited freedoms of former slaves.

• December, 1865: Congress elects to decide whether “new” southern officials were fit to serve.

Civil Rights Act - 1866

1. All people born in the U.S. (except Native Americans) were citizens.

2. All citizens are equal – regardless of race.

• Vetoed by Johnson• Congress overrides Johnson’s veto.

Civil Rights Act - 1866

1. All people born in the U.S. (except Native Americans) were citizens.

2. All citizens are equal – regardless of race.

•Vetoed by Johnson•Congress overrides Johnson’s

veto.

14th Amendment

•Citizens• This amendment

allowed all men born in the United States to be citizens.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1.jpg

14th Amendment

•Citizens• Radical Republicans wanted to

make sure that the Civil Rights Act – 1866 was protected by the Constitution.

• Johnson did not support this amendment.

• TN is the only southern state that passed the 14th Amendment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1.jpg

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

•Passed by Republicans & Radicals Republicans after the South’s lack of support for the 14th.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867• Passed by Republicans & Radicals Republicans after

the South’s lack of support for the 14th.

1. Divided the south into 5 military districts.

2. States must present new state constitutions giving suffrage to African American men.

3. States must ratify the 14th Amendment

Johnson is Impeached!Impeach – to accuse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Andew_Johnson_impeachment_trial.jpg

Johnson is Impeached!

Impeach – to accuse

• Charged by the House of Representatives with bringing, “the high office of the President into contempt, ridicule, and disgrace, to the scandal of all good citizens.”

Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson

• 2/3 of Senate must vote “guilty” to remove Johnson from office.

• Three months long.

• Johnson’s argument: He had committed no crime; it was a difference of opinion.

• Johnson is found “not guilty” by one vote:

35 – 19.

Southern Reconstruction

• The Army was sent south to register voters (Reconstruction Acts of 1877)

• Voters included the following groups:1. Freedmen2. White Southerners who opposed the war

(nicknamed “scalawags”)3. Northerners who moved south after the war

(nicknamed “carpetbaggers”)

Ulysses S. Grant• Winner of the

Election of 1868 (Republican)

1. Supported Reconstruction

2. Supported the equal rights of African-Americans

Ulysses S. Grant• Winner of the Election of 1868

(Republican)

1. Supported Reconstruction2. Supported the equal rights of

African-Americans

Able to win with the help of ½ million African-American votes in the South.

15th Amendment

•Vote• This amendment

granted suffrage to all men born in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1.jpg

15th Amendment

•Vote“The capstone and completion of

our movement; the fulfillment of our pledge to the Negro race; since it secures to them equal political rights with the white race.”--American Anti-Slavery Society

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Constitution_of_the_United_States,_page_1.jpg

New State Constitutions

• Delegates were elected to re-write the state constitutions.

• 25% of all delegates were African-American; many were Republican.

New State Constitutions

• Delegates were elected to re-write the state constitutions.• 25% of all delegates were African-American; many were

Republican.

• Many state constitutions focused on social services:–Ended imprisonment for debt–Created public schools–Guaranteed suffrage to males

New State Governments

• Majority of elected officials were Republicans.

• 1/5 of elected officials were African-American.

Hiram Revels

New State Governments

• Majority of elected officials were Republicans.

• 1/5 of elected officials were African-American.

• By 1870, every state had ratified the 14th & 15th Amendments and been re-admitted.

• To pay for Reconstruction, southern states raised taxes. (Average: 400% over 10 years).

Hiram Revels

White Terrorism

• Hate groups created to intimidate African Americans from voting & participating in society.

White Terrorism• Hate groups created to intimidate

African Americans from voting & participating in society.

• Ku Klux Klan• White League

Lynching (hanging) and

other acts of violence were used.

The Enforcement Acts (1870-71)

Made it illegal to stop anyone from voting through bribes, force, or fear.

• President Grant sent the Army into the South to enforce these laws.

• There were few convictions, because people were too afraid of the KKK to testify.

The Amnesty Act of 1872

• Non-Radical Republicans asked to restore voting rights to white southern men.

This act pardoned most Confederates.

Increased the political power of the Democratic power in the Southern states.

More Westward Expansion• Homestead Act: 1. Offered 160 acres of land to settlers.2. Those receiving land must live there for 5 years & make

improvements.

• Morrill Act:1. This act provided for the creation of land-grant colleges. 2. These schools would teach agriculture & military training in

addition to other curriculum

• Dawes Act:1. Allowed the government to survey, divide, and sell Indian

tribal lands to individuals.

Transcontinental RailroadMay 10, 1869

Dignitaries and railworkers gather to drive the "golden spike" and join the tracks of the transcontinental railroad at Promontory Point, Utah, on May 10, 1869. The Central Pacific's wood-burning locomotive, Jupiter, stands to the left, the Union Pacific's coal-burning No. 119 to the right.

http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/five/65_05.htm

The Election of 1876Rutherford B. Hayes – Republican

Samuel Tilden – Democrat

• Tilden won 250 thousand more popular votes, but was 1 electoral vote short.• Hayes was 20 electoral votes short.• Dispute over 20 electoral votes in FL,

SC, & LA

The Election of 1876Rutherford B. Hayes – Republican

Samuel Tilden – Democrat• Tilden won 250 thousand more popular votes, but was 1 electoral vote

short.• Hayes was 20 electoral votes short.• Dispute over 20 electoral votes in FL, SC, & LA

Congressional Committee of 8 Rep and 7 Dem gives the 20 votes to Hayes. (the vote is 8-7)

Rutherford B. Hayes

• Republican• Governor of Ohio

• Moderate views on Reconstruction

The End of Reconstruction

Compromise of 1877:Deal to settle the Election of 1876 dispute.

1.All troops withdraw from Southern states.

2.African – American rights would be protected

3.Increased aid would be given to southern region

The End of Reconstruction

Compromise of 1877:

“…your rights and interests would be safer if this great mass of intelligent white men were left alone by the general government.”

-- President Rutherford B. Hayes

“Redeemer” Democrats

•Democrats elected after the end of Reconstruction.• Called “redeemer” because they “saved” the South from Republican control.

“Redeemer” Democrats

Believed in:• Lower Taxes• Reduced Social Services• Smaller Government• Developing the economy• Against Northern influence

Plessy v. Ferguson

• Supreme Court – 1896• This decision said that Jim Crow laws

did not violate the 14th Amendment, as long as facilities were “separate, but equal”.

Segregation is constitutional.

Legacies of Reconstruction

1. Sharecropping – sets a pattern of debt & poverty

2. Many free public schools closed3. African Americans lose voting rights

Poll taxesLiteracy testsGrandfather clause – January 1, 1867

4. Democratic Party controls southern politics (“Redeemer Democrats”)

5. “Jim Crow” laws – segregation. (Plessy v. Ferguson)

“The Slave went free; stood a brief moment

in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.”

-- W.E.B. Du Bois