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7 Your InitialsPg. 479-480

Condition of the South after the Civil War

ID: A civilization had collapsed in both its economic and social structure

Significance:• Infrastructure

– Cities like Richmond and Charleston in ruins– Transportation, mainly railroads have to be rebuild and progress is

slow• Economic

– Banks and businesses close ruined by runaway inflation– Confederate dollars essentially worthless

• Agriculture– Almost hopelessly crippled– Cotton fields left unplanted– Slave-labor system collapsed– Seeds were scarce and livestock driven off

• Social structure– Aristocrats humbled by the war– Faced charred and gutted mansions, lost investments and near

worthless land– Investment of near $2 Billion in slaves now gone

• Political– Spoke of “your government” and believed in secession


Responses to emancipation

ID: Freed slaves experienced a variety of responses to their emancipation

Significance:• Not everyone readily accepted the slaves newly found freedom

– Slaves seeking their freedom were threatened and some killed

– Masters fought emancipation “legally” by awaiting court rulings or laws passed by state legislatures

• Freed slaves react differently as well– Some slaves resisted liberation and stayed loyal to their masters

– Some took up arms with the Union army and pillaged masters possessions

• Many suspicious of new “freedom” but most soon took to it– Took new names, wanted to be called Mr. or Mrs.

– Thousands took to the roads to reunite families

– Left masters for towns and cities with existing black communities could provide support

– Created their own churches as means of support

• Education becomes key– Learning to read and write becomes important

7 Your InitialsPg. 484

Freedmen’s Bureau

ID: Create on March 3, 1865. Intended to be a kind of primitive welfare agency. It was to provide food, clothing, medical care, and education to both freedmen and white refugees

Significance:• Created to face brutal reality that freedmen were

unskilled, unlettered, without property or money and ill-equipped to survive as free people

• Greatest success in education– Taught an estimated 200,000 blacks how to read– Many had passion to read to close gap on whites and desire to

read the Bible

• Accomplishments meager in other areas– Supposed to settle blacks on forty-acre plots of land, but few got

it

• Resented by white South as meddlesome and threat to white dominance of the South


How Andrew Johnson was “misfit” for office

ID: A self made man, former governor Tennessee after it had been redeemed. Placed on the ticket as a show of unity, was never thought of as presidential materialSignificance:• A Southerner who did not understand the North• A Tennessean who had earned the distrust of

the South• A Democrat who had never been accepted by

the Republicans• A president who had never been elected to the

office• Hotheaded, contentious and stubborn• The wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong

time


10% reconstruction plan

ID: Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction of the south proposed before the end of the war

Significance:• The Plan

– Lincoln believed the Southern states had never legally withdrawn from the Union

– Wanted their formal restoration to the Union to be simple– 10% of the voters in the 1860 presidential election had to take an

oath of allegiance to the United States and pledge to abide by emancipation

– Then formal creation of state government– Lincoln would then recognize purified regime

• Provoked sharp reaction in Congress– Fear of restoration of planter aristocracy and possible re-

enslavement of the freedmen


Wade-Davis Bill

(1864)

ID: Congressional reconstruction plan in response to Lincoln’s 10% plan

Significance:• The plan

– 50% of states voters had to take oath of allegiance– Demanded stronger safeguards for emancipation

• Lincoln pocket vetoes the bill• Republicans outraged• Congress refuses to seat Louisiana’s delegation

after reorganizing government under the 10% plan


Differences between Congress and President on

reconstruction

ID: Controversy over Wade-Davis Bill reveals deep divide between the President and factions of Congress

Significance:

• Many in Congress insisted the states had left the Union and had forfeited any rights and could only be readmitted as “conquered provinces” under Congress’ terms

• Majority of moderate Republicans agreed with Lincoln in terms of easy readmission but on Congressional terms

• Minority, radical group, believes South should atone more painfully for its sins

– Social structure needed to be uprooted– Believed that Andrew Johnson would side with them

• Disappointed with Johnson’s plan– Disfranchised leading Confederates– Special state conventions to repeal secession, repudiate debts and

ratify 13th amendment


Black Codes

ID: First passed in Mississippi in November 1865, laws designed to regulate the affairs of the emancipated blacks

Significance:• Similar to the slave statutes before the Civil War• Varied in severity from state to state• Aimed to ensure a stable and subservient labor force• Whites wanted to make sure they retained the tight control over black

field hands• Labor contracts committed them to work for the same employer for 1

year at a pittance wage– Dire penalties for those who “jumped” their contracts

• Freedom was legally recognized with other privileges– All codes forbade a black to serve on juries, some banned right to rent or

lease land• Could not vote anywhere• Codes mocked ideal of freedom• Many had no options and had to become sharecroppers

– Generations become slave to their creditors• Makes ugly impression in the North


Congressional Reconstruction

ID: Congressional Republicans refuse to admit newly elected southern representatives and take steps to ensure gains made during the war are not lost

Significance:• Many ex-rebels are elected to serve in

Congress– 4 Generals, 5 Colonels and Representatives

• South is going to come back stronger politically– End of 3/5th compromise increases representation

• Democrats in north and south could over-turn Republican victories in Congress or re-enslave freedmen

• Reconstruction is not over


Civil Rights Bill of 1866

ID: Passed over Johnson’s veto, conferred on blacks the privilege of American citizenship

Significance:• Main points

– Conferred civil rights, including citizenship but excluding the franchise on the freedmen

– Reduced proportionately the representation of a state in Congress and the Electoral College if it denied blacks the ballot

– Disqualified from federal and state office former Confederates who as federal officeholders had once sworn to “support the Constitution of the United States”

– Guaranteed the federal debt, while repudiating all Confederate debt

• law strikes at the black codes• lays the foundation of the 14th Amendment

7 Your InitialsPg. 489, A44-A45

Fourteenth Amendment

ID: Guarantees equal protection under the law, becomes a condition of states readmittance into the Union

Significance:• Conferred civil rights, including citizenship but

excluding the franchise on the freedmen• Reduced proportionately the representation of a state

in Congress and the Electoral College if it denied blacks the ballot

• Disqualified from federal and state office former Confederates who as federal officeholders had once sworn to “support the Constitution of the United States”

• Guaranteed the federal debt, while repudiating all Confederate debt


Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens

ID: Leaders of the Radical Republicans in Congress during Reconstruction: Sumner in the Senate from MA., Stevens in Congress from PA

Significance:• Sumner - Tirelessly worked for black freedom

and equality• Stevens – defended runaway slaves in court;

hated the rebellious white Southerners• Both wanted to bring about drastic social and

economic changes to the South


Differences between Radical and Moderate Republicans

ID: Republicans has veto-proof majority in Congress and could shape policy as they saw fit. Radicals and moderates disagreed over best course to pursue in the South

Significance:• Radicals wanted to keep South out of government as

long as possible and apply federal power to bring about drastic social and economic changes

• Moderates, more attuned to principles of states’ rights and self government preferred policies that restrained states from limiting citizens’ rights, rather than policies that directly involved the federal government meddling in individuals’ affairs

• Actual policies adopted is influenced by both sides• Both agreed that freedmen should have the right to vote


Reconstruction Act of 1867

(March 2)

ID: Final plan adopted by Congress for the Southern states to be readmitted to the Union

Significance:• South divided into 5 military districts ruled by a General

and policed by Union soldiers– Some questions of legality, but Supreme Court allowed it to stand

• States required to ratify the 14th Amendment and guarantee full suffrage rights for all former male slaves

• Act did not give land or provide education at federal expense

– Moderates wanted to create electorate in South to vote them back into the Union on their terms

– Did not go far enough to secure rights of freedmen

• Pass the 15th Amendment to ensure voting rights for blacks

• All states had reorganized and readmitted by 1870


Fifteenth Amendment

ID: Guarantees the right to vote for all men regardless of race, color or previous condition of servitude

Significance:• Created out of fear the South would deny

voting rights to blacks after readmission the union

• Other methods will be used to disfranchise blacks

• Right to vote still denied to women, would have to wait 50 more years

7 Your Initials

Blanche K. Bruce

Pg. 494-495; baic.house.gov

ID: Black Republican senator elected from Mississippi

Significance:• First African American to serve a full term in the

Senate• Election is symbolic of growing political power of

blacks in the south– Organizations like the Union League taking an active

role in politics and the community

• Greatly troubles whites

7 Your Initials Pg. 494-495; baic.house.gov

Hiram Revels

ID: Black Republican Senator from Mississippi

Significance:• First African American to serve in the Senate• Was elected to serve the remainder of

Jefferson Davis’ term• Only served one year• Election is symbolic of growing political power

of blacks in the south– Organizations like the Union League taking an

active role in politics and the community

• Greatly troubles whites


Scalawags & Carpetbaggers

ID: Allies of the freedmen and disliked by the Southerners

Significance:• Scalawags

– former Unionist southerners who were helping the freedmen

– Accused of plundering the treasuries of the Southern states through their political influence with new governments

• Carpetbaggers– Sleazy northerners who could pack their belongs into a

carpetbag and moved south seeking personal power and profits

– Most were former Union soldiers and Northern businessmen looking to play a role in Modernizing the South


Influence of KKK

ID: Most “successful” of the secret organizations set on disrupting the new “radical” Southern governments, founded in TN in 1866

Significance:• Resented the success and ability of black legislators and

alleged “corruption”• Would attempt to scare blacks and carpetbaggers to stay

away from polls– Resorted to violence when scare tactics did not work

• Becomes refuge for bandits, thugs and scoundrels• Congress passes the Force Acts of 1870 & 1871 to limit

their influence• Represent the white resistance which undermined the

attempts to empower blacks politically• White South goes on for decades flouting the 14th & 15th

Amendments• Wholesale disfranchisement begins around 1890 using

tactics started by KKK


Edwin Stanton

ID: Able Secretary of War under Lincoln and Johnson; was acting as an informer for the radical republicans

Significance:• Helps Lincoln in planning and execution of the

Civil War• Desire to keep Stanton in office led to the

passage of the Tenure of Office Act in 1867.• Fired by Johnson in 1868


Tenure of Office Act(1867)

ID: Law passed by Congress requiring the President to secure the consent of the Senate before he could remove cabinet appointees

Significance:• Radical republicans wanted to limit Johnson’s

power and keep Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War

• Johnson’s firing of Stanton, violates act and leads to impeachment.


Johnson’s Impeachment

ID: Johnson is charged with “high crimes and misdemeanors” for violation of the Tenure of Office Act by the House and is found not guilty in the Senate by one vote

Significance:• Seven key republicans voted not guilty, putting

country ahead of party– Feared creation of destabilizing precedent and abuse

of checks and balances– Political consideration plays a part, with no VP,

radical republican, Ben Wade would have been new President who was disliked by many

– Johnson’s attorney indicated he would stop blocking Republican policies

• Nation accepts verdict and moves forward


Purchase of Alaska

(1867)

ID: U.S. buys Alaska from Russia for $7.2 Million

Significance:• Secretary of State William Seward signs

treaty• Seward’s enthusiasm for purchase not shared

by most of the country– AKA “Seward’s folly” “Seward’s icebox”

• Country was anti-expansionist at the time of purchase

• U.S. did not think it could offend the Tsar and refuse purchase

• Eventually pans out with numerous natural resources

Documents

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