AP US HistoryDecember 3 – 7 2018

MONDAY Discuss the key provisions of Presidential Reconstruction 1863 – 1866 (POL-3) (WXT-4) (CUL-2) Explain the Wade-Davis Bill 1864

Materials Strategy/FormatPpt Lecture-discussion

Student Thinking SkillsChronological Reasoning 1,3Historical Argument 6,7Interpretation/Synthesis 8,9

Introduction This will be our last topic before the midterm exam. All materials dealing with Reconstruction will be on

the Midterm Exam. One of the most important political themes of American History is the sometimes tenuous relationship

between the executive and legislative branches (with the judicial branch also sometimes tossed into the mix. The Constitution, though clear for the most part on the branches and their powers, does sometimes have gray areas. We already saw that one such gray area was the notion of implied vs. expressed powers. This was, after all one of the reasons why the party system first developed.

Another issue that was a root cause of the Civil War was the issue of state versus Federal powers. We know that slavery was the main issue but others had cropped up as well involving civil liberties (Alien and Sedition Acts), the funding of internal improvements, and tax policies involving the tariff. The Jacksonian destruction of the Bank of the U.S. was also a state vs. Federal issue. While the Civil War ended most of these debates, we will see them crop up on occasion. Which ones have we seen lately in our own time?

The Reconstruction Period 1863 – 1877 is very clearly defined and is divided into two parts: Presidential and Congressional (sometimes called Radical) Reconstruction. This illustrates a key tension about the three major questions of the Reconstruction Period:

a. How do we best reintegrate the South back into the Union?b. How do we protect the rights of former slaves (freedmen)?c. And finally, whether or not and, to what degree should the South be punished?

Presidential Reconstruction

By late 1863 Lincoln saw that the Union might now be saved. Gettysburg was a great blow to Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia and the Western front was ended at Vicksburg. Already plans were being made for Sherman’s March to the Sea cutting off any retreat by Lee’s forces into the Deep South. So, in December 1863 Lincoln issued the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction. The name clearly outlines Lincoln’s philosophy of leniency but also reflects a desire to sway some CSA states back into the Union with a sign of goodwill. (A further sign being the choice of Andrew Johnson, a Tennessee Democrat as his running mate for the 1884 Election). Lincoln’s plain is often called “the 10% Plan.”

President Lincoln announces a plan for reconstructing those Confederate states already under Union control. He offered to pardon Confederates who take an oath to support the Union. When 10% of a state's citizens eligible to vote in 1860 swear an oath of allegiance (the so-called “ironclad oath”) and a state has abolished slavery by accepting the soon to be passed 13th amendment, he promises to readmit the state to the Union.

Take a look at the plan. It is too lenient? Lincoln’s plan was issued while the war was still raging and his attitude probably reflected this fact to a degree. However, it can be inferred from other writings that Lincoln was interested in some level of forgiveness. Is this within Lincoln’s constitutional power? Well, he thought so since this was part of a military operation his power as commander in chief.

The Wade Davis Bill July 1864

At this point, Congress reviewed Lincoln’s Plan. Many Congressional Republicans (so called “Radical Republicans”) believe that the 10 Percent Plan was too lenient since it does nothing to end the economic and political power of the planter class or protect the civil rights of ex-slaves (both good points). They also believed that the president was overstepped his authority by issuing a plan for reconstruction without consulting Congress.

Congressional Republicans outline their plan for reconstructing the union. The Wade-Davis Bill requires each state to abolish slavery, repudiate their acts of secession, and refuse to honor wartime debts. It also stipulates that a majority, rather than 10 percent, of voters in 1860 take an oath of allegiance before a state could be reorganized. Finally, it specifies that anyone who wanted to vote in a constitutional convention in a former Confederate state must swear that he had never voluntarily supported the Confederacy. These ideas will become central to Congressional Reconstruction.

Lincoln did not like the Wade-Davis Bill because he found it to be too inflexible and he believed that it would cause unnecessary anger inhibiting and not helping Reconstruction. So, he used a maneuver called a “pocket veto.” The Constitution grants the President 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the President has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law. Lincoln knew that soon Congress would adjourn for recess (one envisions Congressmen on a playground) and all unfinished business would have to be re-introduced. Lincoln was stalling for time. Under Lincoln’s Plan, TN, AR, and LA were technically returned into the Union.

However, there was one proposal of the Republicans in Congress that Lincoln did whole-heartedly support and that was the creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau. Its function was to coordinate efforts to protect the rights of former slaves and provide them with education and medical care. One of the bureau's most

important functions is to oversee labor contracts between ex-slaves and employers. Finally the Bureau did help to reconnect family members divided by the war. Funded by Congress, this may have been one of the first examples of social welfare in American History.

Lincoln’s Death and the Impact upon Reconstruction

On Friday April 14, 1865 Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a terrorist who believed by killing the President, that the South would restart the war. Some recent scholarship has also suggested that the assassination was revenge for a similar order secretly signed by Lincoln to assassinate Jefferson Davis while the war was still going (if you’re interested see the link below on the Dahlgen Affair) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/doubleissue/mysteries/dahlgren.htm

Lincoln’s death was a tragic event compounded by the fact that his VP Andrew Johnson was hated by most of Lincoln’s Cabinet and by many Republicans in Congress. He was an odd sort. He refused to leave the Senate when Tennessee seceded demonstrating his loyalty to the Union. He was an avowed hater of the planter aristocracy though he was once a slave owner himself. So, at least it was believed that he would crush the old southern planter class.

Johnson’s Plan

Johnson’s Plan was similar to Lincoln’s draft but also had elements of the Wade-Davis Bill. After helping to push through the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, the President sought to quickly restore the rebel states to the Union. He considered Reconstruction a "restoration" and wanted to quickly readmit the former Confederate states after they had repudiated their ordinances of secession, accepted the 13th Amendment, repudiated the Confederate debt, and pledged loyalty to the Union. Johnson reserved the right to personally pardon any ex-Confederate. One important difference from Lincoln’s Plan (and one that Radical Republicans liked) was the fact that no Confederate with over $20,000 in property would be pardoned. Perhaps the first sign of trouble developed when Johnson did not immediately disavow “black codes” (see below) an ultimately pardoned about 12,000 ex-Confederates.

But Johnson's overall vision of Reconstruction clashed with that of many Radical Republicans. He vetoed a string of Republican-backed measures, including an extension of the Freedman's Bureau and the first Civil Rights bill in American History (that included the proposed 14th amendment). He ordered black families evicted from land on which they had been settled by the U.S. Army (a violation of the 5th amendment property clause because the original owners had been denied due process). He acquiesced in the Black Codes which southern state governments enacted to reduce former slaves to the status of dependent plantation laborers saying that these were matters for the states’ to decide.

ConclusionIt seemed obvious to many that Johnson would obviously stand in the way of the Radical Republican visions of Reconstruction and there seemed to be plenty of evidence that the South was unrepentant. The Black Codes were outright attempts to keep freedmen in a state of servitude. Furthermore, groups like the KKK started springing up all over the south. Perhaps worse in the minds of Radical Republicans was the fact that former CSA officials were returning to positions of power in the so-called Bourbon governments of the South (a reference to the old corrupt French aristocracy).

HomeworkBell work tomorrow on today’s notesTextbook tomorrow

TUESDAY (textbook needed) Bell work Presidential Reconstruction Analysis of sources on the Reconstruction Period 1865 – 1877

Materials Strategy/FormatText, documents assessment docs analysis

InstructionsSimilar to last week you will answer the bell work part and then proceed to the document sectionsDue today.

HomeworkNone or, work ahead.

WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY Examine Congressional Reconstruction 1867 – 1877(CUL-3) (POL2,3,5)(NAT-3,5) Explain why Reconstruction Ended(POL2,3,5)

Materials Strategy/Formatvideo and PowerPoint Lecture-discussion

Skill TypesChronological Reasoning: 1,3Comp/Context 5Evidence and Argument 7Interpretation/Synthesis 8,9

Johnson’s Plan

Johnson’s Plan was similar to Lincoln’s draft but also had elements of the Wade-Davis Bill. After helping to push through the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, the President sought to quickly restore the rebel states to the Union. He considered Reconstruction a "restoration" and wanted to quickly readmit the former Confederate states after they had repudiated their ordinances of secession, accepted the 13th Amendment, repudiated the Confederate debt, and pledged loyalty to the Union. Johnson reserved the right to personally pardon any ex-Confederate. One important difference from Lincoln’s Plan (and one that Radical Republicans liked) was the fact that no Confederate with over $20,000 in property would be pardoned. Perhaps the first sign of trouble developed when Johnson did not immediately disavow “black codes” (see below) an ultimately pardoned about 12,000 ex-Confederates.

But Johnson's overall vision of Reconstruction clashed with that of many Radical Republicans. He vetoed a string of Republican-backed measures, including an extension of the Freedman's Bureau and the first Civil Rights bill in American History (that included the proposed 14th amendment). He ordered black families evicted from land on which they had been settled by the U.S. Army (a violation of the 5th amendment property clause because the original owners had been denied due process). He acquiesced in the Black Codes which southern state governments enacted to reduce former slaves to the status of dependent plantation laborers saying that these were matters for the state’s to decide.

Congressional Reconstruction

Though Lincoln had struck down the Wade-Davis Bill, the philosophy remained unchanged and most of the original bill was re-introduced after Lincoln’s death.

The first step in the process dealt with the states that were “redeemed” or reconstructed under Lincoln. Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas had all followed Lincoln’s plan and technically were back in the union. However, as evidence shows, some of the former CSA states, while abiding by the 13th amendment clearly was unwilling to go further to protect the rights of freedmen.

Some Black Codes incorporated morality clauses based on antebellum slave laws into Back Code labor laws. For example, in Texas, a morality clause was used to make it crime for laborers to use offensive language in the presence of their employers, his agents, or his family members. Borrowing from the Ohio and Illinois codes, Arkansas enacted an ordinance banning free blacks from immigrating into the state. Florida on the other hand would not allow freedmen to leave the state. All over the South it became a crime to be a vagrant and many were arrested and “rented” to plantations. These were the precursors of the later Jim Crow Laws which were not restricted to the South and were even more restrictive.

1. Congress denied representatives from the former Confederate states their Congressional seats and passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and wrote the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, extending citizenship rights to African Americans and guaranteeing them equal protection of the laws. The 14th Amendment also reduced representation in Congress of any southern state that deprived African Americans of the vote. In 1870, Congress went even further as the states ratified the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave voting rights to black men or universal male suffrage. The most radical proposals advanced during Reconstruction--to confiscate plantations and redistribute portions to the freemen--were defeated (once again because it violated property rights under the Constitution).

2. Another key part of Radical Reconstruction was the division of the South into military districts. The Union Army was now an occupying army in the South. Southerners called this “bayonet rule.” As recent history has shown, this is often times more difficult than the fighting itself. With the Federal troops now acting as a police force, it was hoped that freedmen could now vote and even hold political office. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 gave African American men in the South the right to vote three years before ratification of the 15th Amendment. With the vote came representation. Freedmen served in state legislatures and Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce became the first African Americans to sit in the U.S. Senate, from South Carolina and Mississippi no less!

As it turned out, the creation of military districts was a miscalculation. As President Johnson had campaigned against the 14th amendment and started supporting fellow Southern Democrats in their efforts to resist “social engineering,” Radical Republicans like Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens should have realized that they placed enforcement of the laws in the hands of a recalcitrant President. In other words, they seem to have forgotten that the Constitution gives the President the power to enforce the law and as they wanted to use the army, Johnson was also the commander in chief….ooppppps…..

The Tenure of Office Act

Almost immediately Johnson made moves that seemed to block Congressional efforts. He forbade the Army from trying violations of federal law in its courts or to prohibit activities that were not in specific violation of federal or local statutes. Many Republicans regarded the president's actions as a systematic effort to thwart the will of Congress and lend aid and comfort to enemies of the Union. To some degree Johnson was not simply a racist redneck. He did see Congressional actions as violations of the Constitution.

To prevent the president from obstructing its reconstruction program, Congress passed several laws restricting presidential powers. These laws prevented him from appointing Supreme Court justices and restricted his authority over the army. The Tenure of Office Act barred him from removing officeholders, appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate, without Senate approval.

In August 1867, Johnson tested the Tenure of Office Act by removing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, prompting Republicans in Congress to seek to impeach and remove the president.

Officially, Johnson was impeached for violating the Tenure of Office Act, which had been passed over Johnson's veto, which prohibited the president from dismissing certain federal officials without Senate approval, and for denouncing Congress as unfit to legislate. But those reasons masked the issues that were more important to Congressional Republicans. Johnson had vetoed 20 Reconstruction bills and had urged southern legislatures to reject the 14th Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection of the laws. He had ordered African American families evicted from land on which they had been settled by the U.S. Army. The President's attorneys argued the Tenure of Office Act applied to officials appointed by the president, and since Secretary of War Stanton was appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson, he was not covered by the act.

The final vote was 35 to 19, one short of the two-thirds needed for conviction and removal from office. Seven Republicans voted to acquit. The Senate voted on two more articles of impeachment, each again just

one vote shy of conviction. The chamber never voted on the remaining eight impeachment articles. But Johnson had been defamed. In the future, he no longer obstructed Congress' Reconstruction policies.

Though Johnson was acquitted on all counts, he certainly got the message. He became something of a lame duck President and though he sought the 1868 Democratic nomination, there was little chance of him receiving it. Johnson continued to assert southern rights against Congress for the rest of his life. Congressional Reconstruction moved forward and created a new wave of Republican governments in the South.

Southern Republicans

One part of Radical Reconstruction that seems quite evident is the attempt to weakened Democrats control of the “Solid South” so-called because of its usual dedication to the Democratic Party. There were THREE main groups that formed this new and rather short lived Republican bloc of power.

1. “The Carpetbaggers” was the southern nickname for Northerners who moved South after the war. Many of these people were Union veterans who liked the climate both for weather and business opportunities. With the planter aristocracy greatly weakened (but not destroyed), cheap land was available. Also, because there was initially little competition, larger businesses developed faster here. The name is sometimes still used but less as a politically derisive term.

2. “The Scalawags” were the most hated group among white southerners because they were seen as traitors. They were white southerners who voted Republican and held political office. They were sometimes victims of attacks by the KKK just as freedmen were.

3. “The freedmen” were actually the largest Republican voting bloc following the 15th Amendment. In several states, they held positions in the legislatures and as we saw Revels and Bruce were elected to the U.S. Senate. However, this power was short lived as the KKK escalated attacks and Federal troops left the South by the 1870s

ConclusionPresident Johnson attempted to slow the pace of Reconstruction because he did not believe that blacks were equal whites and also because he believed that Congress had overstepped its bounds. He was impeached but not convicted. However, he never got the way of Radical Republican efforts again. Southern Republicans did briefly gain power but as we will see next week, without the protection of Federal troops, one by one they fell.

HomeworkWednesday (due by 12:01 Thursday Morning)The Civil War (some of these document questions will be on the test Friday!http://www.quia.com/quiz/4517358.html

ThursdayStudy MC section of the Unit Test Friday

FRIDAYUnit Test Civil War and Reconstruction

Materials Strategy/FormatUnit test and scantron Assessment and Review

InstructionsThe 45 question Unit test is stimulus based and covers the materials below

1860 Election and Origin of secession (Notes and web-notes text pp: 436 – 440 The Comparison of CSA vs. USA (Notes, web-notes text pp: 446 – 449) The Civil War 1861- Military Comparison, Diplomatic War, Bull Run (class and web-notes) The Emancipation Debated and the Battle of Antietam (Class and web-notes text pp: 449 – 462) The Turning Point Year 1864 – end of the War (class and web-notes text pp:466 – 475) Presidential Reconstruction (Class and web-notes text 478 – 482) Congressional Reconstruction and the end of Reconstruction (class and web-notes pp: 482 – 504)

Weekend Homework Due Monday December 10th No Typing or pencil will be accepted w/o penaltyFRQ section posted on the website

Periods 3,4 Short answer section

Periods 5,6 DBQ essay