UNIT 5CH.15

Reconstruction1863-1877

Lincoln’s Policies

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction Full presidential pardons to southerners who took an oath of allegiance

and accepted emancipation of slaves. State government could be reestablished as soon as 10% of voters took

the oathWade-Davis Bill

50% of voters had to take oath and only non-Confederates could vote for a new state Constitution

Lincoln pocket vetoed the billFreedmen’s Bureau

Provided food, shelter, and medical care for those made destitute by the war (black and white)

Established nearly 3,000 schools for freed blacksLincoln's Last Speech

Alluded to support for voting rights for blacks

Johnson and Reconstruction

Johnson’s policy Maintain Lincoln’s plan plus disenfranchisement of former

Confederate leaders and confederates with over $20,000 in taxable property

Southern governments of 1865 Ratified the Thirteenth Amendment Did not extend voting rights to blacks Former Confederate leaders were elected to Congress

Black Codes Adopted by southern legislatures Prohibited blacks from renting land or borrowing money to buy

land Forced to sign work contracts Could not testify against whites in court

Johnson and Reconstruction

Johnson's vetoes Vetoed a bill to increase the services and protection offered

by the Freedmen's Bureau Vetoed a civil rights bill that nullified Black Codes and

guaranteed full citizenship and equal rightsElection of 1866

Johnson’s campaign speeches appealed to racial prejudices by suggesting that equal rights for black would mean an “Africanized” society

Republicans reminded voters of the hardships of the war and branded Democrats as rebels and traitors

Republicans won over 2/3 of the seats in both houses of Congress

Congressional Reconstruction

Radical Republicans Charles Sumner, Thaddeus Stevens, Benjamin Wade Supported extended military occupation of the South

so blacks could exercise their rightsCivil Rights Act of 1866

Pronounced all black Americans to be U.S. citizensFourteenth Amendment

All persons born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens

States had to respect rights and provided equal protection under the law and due process

Congressional Reconstruction

Report of the joint committee Congressional report recommending former states of

the confederacy not be allowed representation in Congress.

Congress possessed the authority of determining when states could be readmitted

Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Placed the south under military occupation Increased requirements for readmission into the

Union Ratify 14th Amendment Enfranchise all adult males

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Tenure of Office Act Prohibited the president from removing a federal or

military commander without the approval of the Senate Radical Republicans didn’t want Edwin Stanton removed

form office Johnson removes Stanton and is charged with 11

“high crimes and misdemeanors” Johnson was impeached but not removed from office

Election of 1868 Republicans- Ulysses Grant Democrats- Horatio Seymour

Grant Elected

Fifteenth Amendment Prohibited any state from denying or hindering a

citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

Civil rights Act of 1875 Guaranteed equal accommodations in public places Prohibited courts from excluding blacks from juries Poorly enforced

Frustrated with trying to reform the South Afraid of losing white votes in the North

Reconstruction Governments

State Legislatures Dominated by Republicans that included native-born

white southerners , freemen, and recently arrived Northerners

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers Nicknames for southern whites who supported

Republicans and the recently arrived Northerners respectively

Black legislators Most were educated property owners

Hiram Revels took over the Mississippi Senate seat that once belonged to Jefferson Davis

Disenfranchised ex-Confederates were bitter

Republican Record in the South

Accomplishments Universal male

suffrage Property rights for

women Debt relief Modernized penal

codes Infrastructure

improvements State-supported public

school system hospitals

Failures Graft Wasteful spending Kickbacks bribes

Adjusting to Freedom

Building black communities Black churches and schools were established quickly

after the war Black ministers became leading members in the black

community Howard, Atlanta, Fisk, and Morehouse Universities

were establishedSharecropping

Landlord provided seed and farm supplies in return for a share of the harvest

Sharecroppers usually remained dependent on the landowner

Greed and Corruption

Rise of spoilsmen Political manipulators that used the patronage system

to gain wealth and powerCorruption in business and Government

Grant’s presidency was notoriously corrupt Grant himself was not involved, though he was loyal to

people who were Numerous schemes involving cities and companies

included kickbacks, bribes, and the general assumption of wealth at the taxpayers expense

Election of 1872

Liberal Republicans and Democrats- nominated Horace Greeley Supported civil service reform, end of railroad

subsidies, withdrawal of troops from the south, reduced tariffs, and free trade

Republicans- Ulysses Grant Used a technique called “waving the bloody shirt” in

which they reminded the country of the war’s hardships

Panic of 1873 Over speculation and overbuilding by railroads led to

failed businesses and a five year depression

End of Reconstruction

White Supremacy Ku Klux Klan- destroy Republican party, aid planters,

and prevent the black community from exercising their political rights

Force Acts of 1870 & 1871 Passed to curb KKK activities and protect the civil rights

of citizens in the SouthAmnesty Act of 1872

Removed the last of the restrictions on ex-Confederates except for top leaders

Allowed Democrats to retake control of Southern legislatures

End of Reconstruction

Election of 1876 Republicans- Rutherford B. Hayes Democrats- Samuel J. Tilden Democrats won the popular vote; votes were

contested in 3 southern states and Tilden only need one of those votes to win in the electoral college

Compromise of 1877 Southern Democrats in Congress agreed to accept

Rutherford B. Hayes as president if federal troops were withdrawn and if the new government would build a southern transcontinental railroad