Transcript Reconstruction

Definition
This will not be the physical rebuilding of war damages and not an
economic recovery plan.
It will be a legal and political process to:
1. Put the union back together as one nation
2. Adjust to the end of slavery
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan (1863)
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This is not a law but Lincoln just announces that
this is what will happen because the President has
war powers.
1. There will be easy pardons for most
confederates (95%) and most will not be tried
for war crimes. High up confederate generals will
not be so easily pardoned.
2. When 10% or more of voters have taken the
oath to the union, they could create a new
state government.
3. The new state government must abolish
slavery.
Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan (1863)
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Effects:
1. This is very lenient because over 95% of
confederates will not have to face any consequences.
Lincoln makes the plan so lenient because he wants to lure
the confederates back onto the union.
2. Lincoln’s plan provides very little for former slaves/
freedmen. It just says that they must be freed but
nothing about their rights/citizenship/or education.
3. This assumes that the president is in charge
because he announces that he has war powers.
However, congress disagrees because the constitution never
specifies who has the power. This fight will go on for the
rest of the administration and will end with Andrew
Johnson’s impeachment.
Stalemate between the president and legislature
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Congress comes up with the Wade-Davis Plan.
Required a majority of citizens in southern states to
participate in an oath of their absolute allegiance to the
union. Most citizens would be unlikely to do this.
Lincoln has already put the 10% plan into effect in
Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee. If he signs the WadeDavis plan then it would signal that the 10% plan is dead.
Lincoln doesn’t want to give up on his plan so he pocket
vetoes the Wade-Davis plan.
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A pocket veto is when the president refuses to sign a
deal with a bill until Congress is out of session and
thus it kills the bill.
Lincoln feels that he must do this to help him get reelected
in 1864 and to prevent alienating members of his own party.
Stalemate between the president and legislature
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Congress gets so upset that they create the Wade-Davis
Manifesto. This is not a law but they denounce Lincoln
for his pocket veto. This is the beginning of the long process
that will lead to the debate over who is in charge of
reconstruction.
When the war will end in April there is no plan for
reconstruction because the president and congress cancel one
another out.
Lincoln’s Assassination
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John Wilkes Booth original plan was to kidnap Lincoln and
exchange him for the release of confederate prisoners. On
April 11 Lincoln gave a speech promoting voting rights for
freedman. Booth became so upset that he now decided that
he must kill Lincoln.
When Booth found out that Lincoln would be at Fords
Theater he decided to attend and assassinate Lincoln on
April 14th. Booth waited for what he believed to be the
funniest line of the play to drown out the gunshot.
Booth was chased for 12 days and was cornered in a
Virginia barn house and was shot. He would later die of
his wounds.
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Andrew Johnson takes over for Lincoln and has no
real plan for reconstruction and the country continues to
drift.
Lincoln’s Assassination
Johnson’s Plan
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1. Will easily pardon most of the Confederates.
2. Those pardoned could set up a new state
government.
3. New state governments must first abolish slavery,
repudiate slavery, and then say that the confederate
debt is bad and they won’t do it again.
4. The new state government must ratify the 13th
amendment.
Johnson’s Plan
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He also adds if anyone owns $20,000 before the war
then they cannot be easily pardoned. He does this
because he is from Western Tennessee and felt looked down
upon by the wealthy south. These people could be
pardoned if they applied directly to the president and
explained how loyal they are to the union. He
pardoned virtually everyone that applies.
This plan is very similar to Lincoln’s. His main goal is
just to have the Union back together. However, like Lincoln
he assumes that the president is in control of reconstruction.
Congressional Opposition
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There is more opposition to Johnson’s plan then there
was to Lincoln’s plan. By December 1865 all but one of
the states follows the reconstruction orders. Texas has
not followed the orders because it takes a while for the union
forces to get there.
All states but Texas have one step left: to go to
Congress and to tell them they are ready to take their
seats. Congress tells them they cannot come back for 2
reasons:
 1. Johnson’s plan was too lenient, there is no way that
the south has been reformed this quickly
 2. Johnson doesn’t have the right to tell them how
they can become states again.
Congressional Opposition
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Congress shows examples as to how Johnson’s plan
isn’t working:
 1. Some southern states wouldn’t repudiate secession.
The just said that they would repeal it but they won’t say
they are sorry.
 2. A few won’t ratify the 13th amendment.
 3. In the new state governments mostly everyone
elected are former confederates.
 4. Black Codes: Set of laws on certain topics. These new
governments pass laws dealing with freedmen. None
of them are identical but most are very similar. Their goal
is to control the freedmen. Examples are freedmen can’t
carry firearms or they could only live in certain areas. Or
vagrancy laws- blacks without jobs would be arrested then
go to jail or the sheriff could sell the labor of the “vagrant.”
Freedman’s Bureau
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Their job is to help freedman go from being enslaved to
having freedoms. This is Congress attempt to help.
Goal was to help with education, health care,
employment, and rights. The Bureau was initially created
by Lincoln.
 This is the first time that the federal government
took on a social welfare project and wants to solve a
social issue. The church, the neighborhood, and families
had all tried to solve this before.
14th Amendment
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Created in 1866 the 14th amendment does 4 things:
 1. Defined citizenship for the 1st time. It guarantees
“equal protection of the laws” for anyone born or
socialized in the U.S.
 2. Gets rid of the 3/5 rule.
 3. Barred Confederate war leaders from serving in
office.
 4. Repudiates the Confederate debt.
One of the most important of all amendments. The civil
rights movement of the 20th century and women’s right
movements are based upon the equal protection clause of
the amendment.
15th Amendment
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Guarantees the right of citizens to vote regardless of their
skin color. This is ratified on February 3, 1870. Even
though this gives different races the right to vote it still
does not give women the right to vote.
1st Reconstruction Act (AKA Military Reconstruction Act)
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A very radical plan enacted by congress.
 1. Southern states are under martial law and the south
is divided into 5 districts. Now the U.S. military is the
government of Georgia and so on. This is the only time
in U.S. History that it ever happens.
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2. Requires buildings of new southern state
governments and when they write their constitution
they must include black voting rights and that they can
hold office. This is the first time that blacks can have
significant rights.
1st Reconstruction Act (AKA Military Reconstruction Act)
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This is an abrupt break with the past that took southern
states about a year to get it all done. They do not finish
until spring 1867-68.
 June 1868 7 of the confederate states meet all
requirements and they can now have seats in congress.
Readmission
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Tennessee does it 1866. 7 others do it in 1868. 3 do it in
1870. They are then readmitted.
Redemption
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When conservative white democrats gain control and start
ending reconstruction. When white democrats gain
control they call themselves “redeemers” and say that they
are redeeming the government and freedmen. They stop
adopting certain measures. They don’t overturn laws but
stop really enforcing them.
Significance of Reconstruction
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1. Reconstruction will fail due to redemption.
2. This is a moment in U.S. history where citizens tried
to live up to the ideals of what was expected of them.
Therefore it should be admired.
Morehouse College
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Founded in 1867, just 2 years after the end of the Civil
War. Initially was established in Augusta, Georgia but
would move to Atlanta in 1879. The colleges goal was
educate blacks in ministry work and education.
Ku Klux Klan
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Founded in 1865 by veterans of the Confederate army.
Their initial goal was to remove the advancements that
had been made during Reconstruction. Soon after their
creation they started using violent methods. The Klan
would decrease in 1868-1870 and would be destroyed for
a while by President Ulysses S. Grant. The reason for
that is his prosecution and enforcement under the Civil
Rights Act of 1871.
Impeachment of Johnson
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In the fall of 1867 the House created a bill of impeachment
towards President Johnson. The main reason for the charges
being created was the fight over who was in charge of
reconstruction. The congress believed that Johnson had
overstepped his bounds by trying to establish his role in
enforcing reconstruction laws. The House of Representatives
held a vote on December 5, 1867 and the vote was 108-57 in
favor of Johnson remaining the president.