Transcript Reconstruction and Its Aftermath

Reconstruction and Its Aftermath
Chapter 17
What To Do????
• Even before the Civil War was over it was
debated on what to do with the Southern
states.
• Lincoln and some members of Congress had
very different ideas…
Lincoln’s 10% Plan
• Wanted to encourage Southerners
who supported the Union to take
charge of the South
• Punishing the South would serve no
useful purpose
• Amnesty to all Confederates, except
officers, willing to swear a loyalty oath
• When 10% of the voters took the oath,
then the state could form a new
government and adopt a new
Constitution that banned slavery
• Right to vote to educated AA or those
who served in the Army but no equal
rights with whites
A rival Plan… The Wade-Davis Bill
(July 1864)
• Submitted by Republicans who considered
Lincoln’s plan too mild …RADICAL REPUBLICANS
• A majority of whites had to take the loyalty oath
• Only white males who had not taken up arms
could vote at state constitutional conventions
• Former Confederates denied the right to hold
public office
• New Constitution had to ban slavery
• LINCOLN REFUSED TO SIGN THIS BILL
The Freedman’s Bureau
• Gov’t agency to help former slaves make the
transition to freedom
• Distributed food, clothing and medical
services
• Established schools and colleges
• Help former slaves acquire land
• Provided transportation to fields
• Also helped whites loyal to the Union
The Assassination Plot
The Assassination of
Lincoln
A new president…
• After Lincoln’s
assassination, the VP
Andrew Johnson (from
Tennessee) becomes
president
• Johnson was the only
Southern senator that
supported the Union
• Resented slaveholders
• Believed in states rights
Johnson’s Plan…”Restoration”
• Most Southerners granted amnesty once they
swore the loyalty oath
• High ranking Confederate officers and wealthy
landowners had to apply to Johnson, personally,
for amnesty.
• AJ appointed state governors. Only pardoned
whites could vote.
• Opposed giving AA equal rights or the right to
vote.
• “White men alone must run the South”
Restoration
• Constitutional Convention had to denounce
secession and abolish slavery
• Had to ratify 13th Amendment (abolished slavery)
• By the end of 1865, all states except Texas were
ready to rejoin the Union
• Restoration complete- AJ
End of 17-1
Problems in Congress
• In the fall of 1865, most of the Southern states
had met Johnson’s requirements and elected
representatives to Congress.
• More than a dozen of these had been highranking Confederate officials. (AJ had granted
16,500 pardons)
• Congress refused to seat them
• We thought we won? What about the AA’s?
Black Codes
• Post CW south passed laws called ‘black
codes”
• Aim was to control freed AA and enable
plantation owners to exploit AA workers
• Example: Arrest and fine unemployed AA and
then make them work off the fine; prevented
AA from owning land; prevented AA from
voting
Congressional Response
• Challenged black codes and granted new
powers to the Freedmens Bureau (special
courts for those who violated the rights of AA)
• Passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866
– Granted full citizenship to AA
– Gave Federal gov’t the right to interfere in state
affairs to protect AA rights
AJ VEOTED BOTH OF THESE but the vetos were
overridden by Congress (first time ever!)
14th Amendment
• Granted full citizenship to anyone born in the
United States
• States could not take away a citizen’s “life, liberty,
or property” without due process of law and
ensured “equal protection”
• Barred prominent Confederates from holding
national or state public office unless approved by
2/3 of Congress
• OOOOPPPPS…did not include Native Americans
• Southern states had to ratify before readmittance…by 1868 only TN had
1866 Congressional elections
• The 14th Amendment became a major issue in
the 1866 Congressional elections
• AJ urged N&S state legislatures to reject it.
• AJ also campaigned vigorously against
Republican candidates
• Many Northerners dislike the nastiness of AJ
and were worried about race riots in the
South (NO and Memphis)
1866 Congressional elections
• Republicans won a decisive victory increasing
their control in both houses of Congress
• Republicans also gained control of every state
legislature in the North
• This was their signal to take Reconstruction
into their own hands
• Pres. Johnson could do nothing to stop them.
• Known as RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION.
RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION
“ we must compel obedience to the Union and demand
protection for its humblest citizens”
• RECONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1867
- called for new govt’s to be created in the 10 southern
states that had not ratified the 14th Amendment (Tenn.
was re-admitted into the Union)
- Divided the South into 5 military districts under the
authority of a military commander until new govt’s
were formed
- gave AA right to vote and barred former Confederate
leaders from holding public office
Readmission to the Union
• Many white Southerners refused to take part
in the elections.
• Many of the newly registered AA did
• Republicans gained control of Southern state
govt’s
• By 1868, seven states had met the
requirements for admission and by 1870 the
remaining three (VA, MS,TX) had done so also.
Challenge to Johnson
• Johnson strongly opposed Radical
Reconstruction and as president was in
control over the military.
• Congress passed several laws to limit his
power.
• One of these laws was the Tenure of Office Act
which prohibited the President from firing
officials without Senate approval
Johnson is Impeached
• Johnson suspended Sec. of War when Congress
was not in session.
• When the Senate met, they refused to approve
the suspension.
• Johnson fired him and appointed generals that
the RR opposed as commanders of the military
districts.
• Outraged by Johnson’s actions, the House voted
to impeach—formally charge with wrong doing-him.
Impeachment Trial
• Johnson impeachment trial lasted for three
months.
• In May 1868, the Senate cast two votes.
• In both votes, the result was 35 to 19 to
convict the President (one vote shy of the
2/3rds majority needed)
• Johnson will stay in office until the end of his
term
Election of 1868
• Most Southern states had rejoined the Union
• The Republicans chose U.S. Grant, Civil War
hero, as their candidate.
• Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour,
former governor of NY.
• Grant easily won 214 to 80.
• Seen as a vote on the Republican approach to
Reconstruction
The 15th Amendment
• Last piece of Reconstruction legislation
• Prohibited states from denying the right to
vote to any male citizen because of “race,
color, or previous condition of servitude”
• Became law 2/1870
• Republicans thought that the power of the
ballot box would enable AA to protect
themselves in the South…too optimistic
End of 17-2
The South During Reconstruction
• During Reconstruction, the Republican party
dominated Southern politics.
• Support for the Republicans came from 3
groups (AA, white Southerners who supported
Republican policies and white settlers from
the North)
• Dominated state legislatures and
Constitutional conventions
African-Americans in Government
• AA played an important role both as voters
and elected officials
• 16 AA elected to the House and 2 served in
the Senate (Hiram Revels from Mississippi and
Blanche K. Bruce also from Mississippi)
Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
• Scalawag- scoundrel or worthless rascal. Term
used by the Southerners for Southerners that
opposed secession and supported Republican
policies during Reconstruction.
• Carpetbaggers- name given to Northerners who
moved South following the Civil War and served
as Republican leaders and reformers for the
South. Called carpet baggers because they
arrived with their belongings in cheap suitcases
made of carpet.
Resistance to Reconstruction
• Most Southern whites opposed efforts to
expand AA rights
- can’t leave
- won’t rent them land
- refused credit
- no work
- used fear and intimidation
Ku Klux Klan
• Volience against AA and their white
supporters became commonplace
• Committed by secret societies organized to
prevent freed men and women from
exercising their rights and to help whites
regain power and control.
• The most terrifying of these societies was the
KKK (formed in 1866)
KKK
• Wearing white sheets and hoods, the KKK
launched “midnight rides” against AA
- burned their homes, churches and schools
- murdered too. In Jackson County, FL the KKK
murdered 150 people over a three year period
- violence increased before elections
- also attacked white supporters of
Reconstruction
Taking Action Against Violence
• Southerners opposed to terrorism appealed to
the federal gov’t to do something about it in
1870
• Congress passed several laws to try to stop the
violence.
• These laws had limited success
• Most whites refused to testify
• Order restored before the 1872 election
Reconstruction Gains
• Despite the violence important gains were made
in the South during Reconstruction
• EDUCATION IMPROVED for AA and whites
- 50% of whites, 40% of AA in school
- establishment of AA colleges
• LAND OWNERSHIP with the help of the
Freedmens Bureau
- most were sharecroppers (not much better than
slavery)
End of 17-3
Changes in the South
• During Grant’s administration many
Northerners began losing interest in
Reconstruction
• Time for the South to solve its own problems
• Southern democrats regaining political and
economic control of the South
Reconstruction Declines
• Several reasons
- many of the Radical Republicans were gone
(dead, retired, lost elections)
- racial prejudice in the North
- Southerners protested the “Bayonet rule”
Problems in the Republican Party
• Early 1870’s…reports of corruption within the
Grant Administration and in Reconstruction
govt’s in the South
• Another group, the Liberal Republicans, split
with the party over Reconstruction. They
wanted a peaceful reconciliation with
Southern whites.
• They ran Horace Greely vs. Grant in the 1872
prez. Election…Grant won
The Amnesty Act
• Passed in 1872, pardoned most former
Confederates.
• Nearly all Southern whites could vote and
hold office again
• Changed the political balance of power in the
South by restoring full rights to people who
supported the Democratic Party
• In states where the majority of the population
was white, Democrats quickly seized control.
Democrats Regain Power
• In areas where AA were the majority, groups
like the KKK used fear and intimidation to keep
AA from voting
• In Congress, the Republican Party was rocked
by scandal involving bribes and corruption
among high-ranking Republican officials
• In the 1872 Congressional election, Democrats
gained control of the House and won many
seats in the Senate.
THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION
• Grant considered a third
term
• Republicans nominated
Rutherford B. Hayes (Gov.
of Ohio, political reform,
honest, moderate views
on Reconstruction)
• Democrats nominated
Samuel Tilden (Gov. of
New York, gained national
reputation against
fighting political
corruption in NYC)
The Election of 1876
• After the election, Tilden appeared to be the
winner (250,000 more votes)
• Disputed returns from Louisiana, South
Carolina, Oregon and Florida (20 EC votes)
• Tilden was one EC vote shy of winning
• January, Congress appointed a special
commission to review the election results
• 7 republicans, 7 democrats, 1 independent
The Election of 1876
• The Independent resigned and a republican took his
place.
• After examining the results, the commission decided to
award all 20 EC to Hayes. The vote was 8-7…right down
party lines.
• Democrats in Congress threatened to fight the verdict.
(TILDEN OR BLOOD!)
• R and D leaders met secretly and hashed out a
compromise.
• 4 months after the election, Congress confirmed the
verdict of the commission. Hayes was inaugurated two
days later.
The Compromise of 1877
• Included various “favors” to the South
• More aid to the South
• Withdraw all remaining troops from Southern
states
• Democrats promised to maintain A-A rights.
• The Federal gov’t would no longer attempt to reshape Southern society or help southern A-A’s
• Reconstruction was over.