Transcript Reconstructing Society

Reconstructing Society
Objective 3.04

Analyze the political, economic, and social
impact of Reconstruction on the nation
and identify the reasons why
Reconstruction came to an end.
Reconstruction


Period during which the United States
began to rebuild following the Civil War
(1865-1877).
The process the federal government used
to readmit the Confederate States.
Ideas on Reconstruction

Lincoln, his successor (Andrew Johnson),
and Congress all had differing ideas on
how Reconstruction should be handled.
Presidential Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln – announced his 10 percent
plan in 1863. This said that all Confederates
except for high ranking officials and those
accused of war crimes would be pardoned if
they would swear allegiance to the Union. Once
10 percent of those on 1860 voting lists took the
oath, a Confederate state could form a new
state government and gain rep. in Congress.
Radical Republicans

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Congressmen who wanted to destroy the
political power of former slaveholders.
They wanted African-Americans to be
given full citizenship and the right to vote.
No other country that had abolished
slavery had done this.
Led by C. Sumner (Mass.) and Thaddeus
Stevens (Penn.)
Wade-Davis Bill
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1864 – states that Congress, not
president, is responsible for
Reconstruction.
Also, for a state government to be formed,
a majority of the voters from 1860 must
take an oath to support the Constitution.
Lincoln’s Pocket Veto
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Lincoln used a pocket veto to kill the
Wade-Davis Bill after Congress had
adjourned.
Bill was passed less than 10 days before
session ended, and president simply
ignored it.
Showdown

Radicals are outraged over Lincoln’s
pocket veto and a presidentialcongressional showdown is set for the
Reconstruction process.
Assassination of Lincoln
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Lincoln’s death complicates the
Reconstruction process.
Lincoln’s Successor
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Andrew Johnson becomes President after
Lincoln’s assassination.
Johnson was a Democrat from
Tennessee. He was the only senator
from a Confederate state to remain
loyal to the Union. He was seen as a
traitor in the South. Radicals
believed that he was one of them.
13th Amendment

1865 – abolished slavery and allowed
Congress to pass legislation implementing
its abolition
Andrew Johnson
Johnson’s Plan
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May, 1865 – Johnson announces his own
Presidential Reconstruction plan.
Each of the seven remaining Confederate states
could be readmitted to the Union if it met
several Conditions:
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Withdraw it secession
Annul Confederate war debts
Ratify the 13th Amendment (abolished slavery)
Radical Disappointment
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Thaddeus Stevens and Radicals in
Congress were upset that Johnson’s plan
(like Lincoln’s) failed to address the needs
of former slaves in three areas:
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Land
Voting rights
Protection under the law
New Southern Congressmen
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December 1865, newly elected Southern
legislators arrived at Congress. Most had
sat in the Congress of the Confederacy
and four had even been Confederate
generals.
Johnson pardoned all of them, angering
Radicals and giving African-Americans a
feeling of betrayal.
Standoff in Congress
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Congress refuses to admit newly elected
Southern legislators.
Freedmen’s Bureau
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Congress continues and enlarges the
Freedmen’s Bureau (1866).
Assisted former slaves and poor whites in
the South by distributing clothing and
food.
Also set up hospitals, schools, industrial
institutes, and teacher-training centers.
Freedmen’s Bureau
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Former slaves line up to receive rations
Civil Rights Act of 1866
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Gave AfricanAmericans citizenship
and forbade states
from passing black
codes.
Black Codes
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Discriminatory laws
that severely
restricted AfricanAmerican’s lives.
First enacted by SC
and Miss.
Black Codes (continued)
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Restored many of the restrictions of
slavery.
Showed many members of Congress that
the South had not given up the idea of
keeping African Americans in bondage.
Johnson Vetoed the Freedmen’s
Bureau Act and the Civil Rights Act
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Johnson alienated moderate Republicans
who were trying to work with him on
Reconstruction.
Moderate and Radical Republicans joined
together to override Johnson’s vetoes of
both of these acts.
Became the first legislation ever enacted
over a presidential veto.
Swingin’ Round the Circle
•Congressional Elections of 1866
–Johnson wanted members sympathetic to
the South
–Started his “swing round the circle” tour
–Such a bad speaker he helped Republicans
get votes
•Got better than 2/3 majority- veto-proof
Fourteenth Amendment
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Provided a Constitutional basis for the Civil
Rights Act.
Made “all persons born or naturalized in
the United States” citizens of the country.
No state could provide any person of life,
liberty, or property without due process of
law.
Johnson opposes
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Johnson opposed the Fourteenth
Amendment because he thought it treated
former Confederates too harshly.
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Johnson wanted to break the power of the
planter aristocracy in the South, but he was
also committed to white rule.
All Southern states but Tennessee rejected it.
Amendment was not ratified until 1868.
1866 Congressional Elections
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Who should control Reconstruction?
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Became one of the central issues in the 1866
congressional elections.
Moderate and Radical Republicans won a
landslide victory over Democrats.
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Republicans were ensured of having the numbers
to override presidential vetoes.
Reconstruction Act of 1867
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Abolished governments formed in the
former Confederate states; divided those
states into five military districts; set up
requirements for readmission to the
Union.
Military Districts of the South
Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
Johnson Impeached
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Radicals wanted to impeach the
president – to formally charge him with
misconduct in office.
Congress charged Johnson with violating
the Tenure of Office Act.

Dealt with presidential removal of cabinet
officers.
Impeachment fails
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Radicals came up one vote short in the
Senate of gaining required two-thirds
majority for impeachment.
Johnson stays in office, but his power as a
president was hopelessly weakened.
NOT GUILTY
•Johnson violated TOA as a test
•Thaddeus Stevens a prosecutor
•Vote fell one short of removal
–7 Republicans had voted not guilty
–Would have been a dangerous precedent
–Most didn’t like the next in line (B. Wade)
–Johnson indicated he’d stop obstructing
Rep. legislation
Election of 1868
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Horatio Seymour, Gov. of NY ran as the
Democrat
Gen. Ulysses S. Grant ran as the
Republican.
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Grant won by a wide margin in the electoral
college but a slim popular vote.
Election showed the importance of the
African-American vote to the Republican Party.
Ulysses S. Grant
Fifteenth Amendment
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Radicals were afraid that Southern whites
might try to limit black suffrage.
States that no person could be kept from
voting because of “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.”
No Women Voters
•Women left out of 15th Amend.
•major part in abolition movement
–Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady
Stanton
–Tried to have the word “sex” added to
amend.
Fifteenth Amendment
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African-American vote
Enforcement Act of 1870
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Some Southern governments refused to
enforce 14th and 15th Amendments.
Some white Southerners used violence to
prevent African Americans from voting.
Protected the voting rights of African
Americans and gave the federal
government power to enforce the
Fifteenth Amendment.