Transcript RECONSTRUCTION 1865 - 1877

EUGENIA LANGAN
MATER ACADEMY CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL
HIALEAH GARDENS, FLORIDA
WITH THANKS TO SUSAN POJER
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
THIS LESSON: DID DEVELOPMENTS IN THE U.S.
BETWEEN 1860 AND 1877, PARTICULARLY DURING
RECONSTRUCTION, AMOUNT TO A REVOLUTION?
(CAUSES, PRINCIPAL FACTS AND FIGURES, EFFECTS
OF RECONSTRUCTION)
BROAD: HOW DID THE U.S. BECOME A
SUPERPOWER?
AND – WHICH IS THE MOST POWERFUL BRANCH
OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AT WHICH
TIMES?
REVIEW AND BACKGROUND:
 THE CIVIL WAR WAS THE MOST COSTLY WAR IN
TERMS OF LIFE AND LIMB IN U.S. HISTORY
COMPARE TOTAL DEATHS/ CASUALTIES, CW, WWI & WWII
CIVIL WAR
TOTAL
TROOPS
TOTAL DEAD
NORTH
1,556,678
SOUTH
1,082,119
TOTAL
2,638,797
360,000
260,000
620,000
24%
TOTAL
WOUNDED
TOTAL
CASUALTIES
275,000
100,000
375,000
14%
635,000
360,000
995,000
38%
WWI
TOTAL TROOPS
4,733,826
TOTAL DEAD
115,000
DEATH RATE
2%
WWII
16,112,556
405,000
3%
TOTAL WOUNDED
204,000
671,000
TOTAL CASUALTIES
319,000
1,076,000
CASUALTY RATE
7%
7%
RATE
---
 CIVIL WAR WAS ALSO VERY COSTLY IN $
 TOTAL DIRECT COST = $6.65 BILLION IN 1860 DOLLARS
(≈ 25 BILLION TODAY)
 DIRECT COSTS ≈ 1.5 TIMES THE 1860 GDP
 ADDITIONAL INDIRECT COSTS (LOST CONSUMPTION,
EFFECTS OF EMANCIPATION AND COLLAPSE OF COTTON
EXPORT MARKET) BRING TOTAL TO OVER $10 BILLION (≈
39 BILLION TODAY)
 COSTS WERE MUCH HIGHER TO SOUTH THAN TO
NORTH:
 SOUTH WAS DESTROYED (TOTAL WAR)
 SOUTH LOST INVESTMENT IN SLAVES
 SOUTHERN COTTON EXPORTS STOPPED DURING WAR
AND NEVER COMPLETELY RECOVERED
CIVIL WAR COSTS, IN MILLIONS OF $$
DIRECT COSTS
GOVERNMENT
EXPENDITURES
PHYSICAL
DESTRUCTION
LOSS OF HUMAN
CAPITAL
TOTAL DIRECT
COSTS
NET INDIRECT
COSTS
SOUTH
1,032
NORTH
2,302
TOTAL
3,334
1,487
0
1,487
767
1,064
1,831
3,286
3,366
6,652
2,560
1,149
3,709
TOTAL COSTS
5,845
4,515
10,361
COMPARISON: PER CAPITA COSTS, SOUTH AND NORTH
PER CAPITA COSTS
SOUTH
NORTH
DIRECT COST
$376
$148
INDIRECT COST
$293
$ 51
TOTAL COST
$670
$118
KEY QUESTIONS FOR U.S. AS SOON AS IT BEGAN
WINNING THE WAR (LATE 1863)
1. HOW DO WE
BRING THE SOUTH
BACK INTO THE
UNION?
2. HOW DO WE
REBUILD THE
SOUTH AFTER ITS
DESTRUCTION
DURING THE WAR?
4. WHAT BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT
SHOULD CONTROL
THE PROCESS OF
RECONSTRUCTION?
3. HOW DO WE
INTEGRATE AND
PROTECT NEWLYEMANCIPATED
BLACK FREEDMEN?
THE FOUR RECONSTRUCTION THEORIES
CONGRESS – RADICAL REPUBLICANS
PRESIDENTS
VS.
SENATOR CHARLES
SUMNER, MASS
DISPUTE OVER:
• HOW HARSHLY TO
TREAT SOUTH/ RIGHTS OF
FREEDMEN
• IS PRESIDENT OR
CONGRESS IN CHARGE?
SENATOR BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN WADE, OH,
REP. THADDEUS
STEVENS, PA.
SENATOR HENRY
WINTER DAVIS, MD
1) PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION – TWO
ASPECTS:
A) STATES HAD NO RIGHT TO SECEDE, SO
SOUTHERN STATES DIDN’T – IT’S JUST THAT THEIR
LEADERS COMMITTED TREASON
 WHITE SOUTHERN POPULATION MUST ELECT
LOYAL GOVERMENTS
B) PRESIDENT IS IN CHARGE OF RECONSTRUCTION
(PARDON POWER, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF POWER)
 REMAINING THREE THEORIES ARE
CONGRESSIONAL -- ALL SHARE PREMISE THAT
CONGRESS IS IN CHARGE
2. FORFEITED RIGHTS – SOUTHERN STATES
COULDN’T AND DIDN’T SECEDE – BUT BY REBELLING
FORFEITED CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS THAT
ONLY CONGRESS COULD RESTORE
 TO THE EXTENT THAT MOST MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS EVER HAVE PRINCIPLED THEORIES,
FORFEITED RIGHTS WAS PROBABLY THE DOMINANT
ONE
3. STATE SUICIDE (SUMNER): SOUTHERN STATES
HAD “COMMITTED SUICIDE” BY SECEDING AND WERE
NOW TERRITORIES FOR WHICH CONGRESS COULD
PRESCRIBE LAWS
4. CONQUERED TERRITORIES THEORY: SOUTHERN
STATES HAD LOST ALL RIGHTS, WERE LIKE
CONQUERED FOREIGN STATES – HAD ONLY SUCH
RIGHTS AS WOULD EXIST UNDER INTERNATIONAL
LAW (STEVENS)
WARTIME RECONSTRUCTION
 LINCOLN’S “10% PLAN” – ANNOUNCED IN HIS
PROCLAMATION OF AMNESTY, DECEMBER 8, 1863
 PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION -- HE DID NOT
CONSULT CONGRESS, BASED IT ON PRESIDENTIAL
PARDON POWER
 PREMISES:
1) STATES COULD NOT SECEDE, THEREFORE SOUTH
HADN’T – BUT ITS LEADERS WERE GUILTY OF TREASON
TO THE U.S.
2) THEREFORE SOUTHERN STATED DIDN’T HAVE TO BE
READMITTED – THEY JUST NEEDED “LOYAL”
GOVERNMENTS
 PROVISIONS:
 PARDONS TO ALL BUT HIGHEST-RANKING
CONFEDERATE MILITARY AND CIVILIAN
OFFICERS
 WHEN 10% OF THE VOTING POPULATION
(BASED ON 1860 ELECTION) OF A STATE
SWORE LOYALTY OATH TO U.S. AND
ESTABLISHED NEW GOVERNMENT, THE
STATE COULD SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO
CONGRESS & ELECTORAL COLLEGE
 DID NOT PROPOSE SUFFRAGE FOR
FREED SLAVES – LINCOLN THOUGHT THAT
WOULD ALIENATE WHITE PRO-NORTHERN
ELEMENTS IN SOUTH
 “LINCOLN GOVERNMENTS”
 DURING THE FIRST HALF OF 1864 “LOYAL”
GOVERNMENTS ELECTED BY WHITE CITIZENS (BASED
ON 10% OATHS) WERE ESTABLISHED IN THE “WEST:
 LOUISIANA
 TENNESSEE
 ARKANSAS
 U.S. ARMY “SUPERVISED” VOTING TO INTIMIDATE
DEMOCRATIC VOTERS (HAD DONE THIS DURING WAR IN
BORDER STATES TOO)
 THESE GOVERNMENTS WERE WEAK AND SURVIVED
ONLY BY BACKING OF U.S. ARMY – BUT RADICAL
REPUBLICANS DIDN'T LIKE STATE GOV'TS LOYAL TO
LINCOLN
 WADE-DAVIS BILL, JULY 2, 1864
 BASED ON SUMNER’S STATE SUICIDE THEORY IN
SENATE AND STEVENS’ CONQUERED TERRITORIES
THEORY IN HOUSE (N.B. HOW INCONSISTENT THESE
WERE WITH UNION WAR THEORY THAT SOUTH HAD
NO RIGHT TO SECEDE!)
 SET CONDITIONS FOR SOUTHERN STATES TO BE
READMITTED TO UNION:
 “IRONCLAD OATH” - MAJORITY OF (WHITE)
ELECTORATE HAD TO SWEAR THEY HAD NEVER
VOLUNTARILY SUPPORTED OR AIDED THE
CONFEDERACY -- NOTE THAT THIS WAS IMPOSSIBLE
FOR ALMOST ALL ADULT MALES
 STATES MUST HOLD CONVENTIONS AND ADOPT
NEW CONSTITUTIONS THAT
 ABOLISHED SLAVERY (N.B. THAT THIS PROVISION
WAS PROBABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL UNDER DRED
SCOTT)
 REPUDIATED CONFEDERATE WAR DEBT (WOULD
FURTHER IMPOVERISH MANY SOUTHERNERS!)
 LINCOLN POCKET-VETOED THE WADE-DAVIS BILL
 HIS RE-ELECTION IN 1864 AND CONGRESSIONAL
PASSAGE OF 13TH AMENDMENT MOMENTARILY TOOK
THE WIND OUT OF RADICAL REPUBLICANS’ SAILS
 LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS
(MARCH 4, 1865) CALLED FOR RECONCILIATION:
“WITH MALICE TOWARD NONE, WITH CHARITY FOR
ALL, ...LET US STRIVE ON TO FINISH THE WORK WE
ARE IN, ...TO DO ALL WHICH MAY ACHIEVE AND
CHERISH A JUST AND LASTING PEACE AMONG
OURSELVES AND WITH ALL NATIONS.”
Q: WOULD RECONSTRUCTION BEEN RECONCILIATION
IF LINCOLN HAD LIVED?
 13TH AMENDMENT – PASSED CONGRESS JANUARY
1865
“1. NEITHER SLAVERY NOR INVOLUNTARY SERVITUDE,
EXCEPT AS PUNISHMENT FOR CRIME WHEREOF THE
PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN DULY CONVICTED, SHALL
EXIST WITHIN THE UNITED STATES OR ANY PLACE
SUBJECT TO THEIR JURISDICTION.
2. CONGRESS SHALL HAVE POWER TO ENFORCE THIS
ARTICLE BY APPROPRIATE LEGISLATION.”
 FREEDMEN’S BUREAU BILL, MARCH 1865 –
PROPOSED BY LINCOLN
 ESTABLISHED BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN
AND ABANDONED LAND, WITH DEPARTMENT OF THE
ARMY (ORIGINALLY FOR ONE YEAR, BUT IT WILL
CONTINUE UNTIL 1872)
 INTENDED TO AID NEWLY FREED SLAVES WITH
FOOD AND HOUSING, EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, AND
EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS – ALWAYS UNDERFUNDED
BY CONGRESS
 ITS MAIN ROLE WAS AS EMPLOYMENT AGENCY -ARRANGED SHARECROPPING AND OTHER LABOR
CONTRACTS TO GET FREED SLAVES BACK TO WORK
ON COTTON PLANTATIONS
 COERCED NEWLY-FREED SLAVE WOMEN TO WORK
BY MAKING HUSBANDS SIGN CONTRACTS
COMMITTING ENTIRE FAMILY TO WORK
 ALTHOUGH THE BUREAU DID PROVIDE SOME
EMERGENCY RATIONS TO NEWLY FREED SLAVES IN
1865-66, MOST FOOD AID = ALLOWING PLANTERS TO
BORROW RATIONS FROM GOV’T TO FEED FREED
SLAVES WHO WORKED FOR PLANTERS
 SET UP A FEW CLINICS – BASICALLY A BUST
(SOUTHERN BLACKS RECEIVED POORER MEDICAL
CARE AFTER SLAVERY ENDED THAN DURING IT
DURING RECONSTRUCTION AND UP TO 1960S, MOST
SOUTHERN BLACKS WERE SHARECROPPERS (MANY
ILLITERATE)
BUT SO WERE MANY WHITE SOUTHERNERS
SHARECROPPING -- TENANCY & THE CROP LIEN SYSTEM
Furnishing Merchant
Tenant Farmer
Landowner
 Loan tools and seed
up to 60% interest to
tenant farmer to plant
spring crop.
 Plants crop, harvests
in autumn.
 Rents land to tenant in
exchange for ¼
to ½ of tenant farmer’s
future crop.
 Farmer also secures
food, clothing, and
other necessities on
credit from merchant
until the harvest.
 Turns over up to ½ of
crop to land owner as
payment of rent.
 Tenant gives
remainder of crop to
merchant in
payment of debt.
 Merchant holds “lien”
{mortgage} on part of
tenant’s future crops
as repayment of debt.
TENANT NEVER GETS OUT OF DEBT AND IS BOUND TO LAND –
SERFDOM!
 FREEDMAN’S BUREAU DID BETTER WITH
EDUCATION:
 SET UP ABOUT 1000 SCHOOLS FOR FREED
SLAVES 1866 – 76 – TO TEACH WORK ETHIC. 
PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR BLACK CHILDREN (VERY
POOR SCHOOLS MOSTLY
 ALSO SUPPORTED ESTABLISHMENT OF BLACK
COLLEGES -- BUT MOSTLY A & M, NOT LIBERAL
ARTS
A FREEDMEN’S BUREAU SCHOOL
ESTABLISHMENT OF HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES
IN THE SOUTH
 WHITE SOUTHERNERS OPPOSED THE BUREAU
“PLENTY TO EAT AND NOTHING TO DO”
 AND PROGRESSIVE WHITES GLORIFIED THE
BUREAU. FROM HARPER’S:
 POST-WAR RECONSTRUCTION
 APRIL, 1865: LEE SURRENDERED, AND LINCOLN
WAS ASSASSINATED 
 WAR ENDED WITH A SOUTHERN PRESIDENT
 ANDREW JOHNSON OF TENNESSEE – LOYAL TO
THE UNION, BUT STILL A SOUTHERNER
 DEFINITELY THE WRONG TIME FOR A SOUTHERN
PRESIDENT!
PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON
 JACKSONIAN DEMOCRAT.
 ANTI-ARISTOCRAT.
 WHITE SUPREMACIST.
 AGREED WITH LINCOLN
THAT STATES HAD NEVER
LEGALLY LEFT THE
UNION.

QUOTATION:
“DAMN THE NEGROES! I AM
FIGHTING THESE
TRAITOROUS ARISTOCRATS,
THEIR MASTERS!”
 PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION UNDER JOHHSON
 OFFERED AMNESTY/ PARDON UPON SIMPLE OATH TO
ALL EXCEPT CONFEDERATE CIVIL AND MILITARY
OFFICERS AND THOSE WITH PROPERTY OVER $20,000
(THEY COULD APPLY DIRECTLY TO JOHNSON – AND HE
PARDONED 13,500 OF THEM)
 IN NEW CONSTITUTIONS, THEY MUST ACCEPT MINIMUM
CONDITIONS REPUDIATING SLAVERY, SECESSION AND
CONFEDERATE / STATE DEBTS.
 NAMED PROVISIONAL GOVERNORS (MOSTLY FROM
PLANTER CLASS) IN CONFEDERATE STATES AND CALLED
THEM TO OVERSEE ELECTIONS FOR CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTIONS
NOT PARDONED IN 1865 - JEFFERSON DAVIS WAS ARRESTED
AND INDICTED, BUT NEVER TRIED, FOR TREASON -- WENT ON
TO BECOME PRESIDENT OF LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY
ALSO NOT PARDONED IN 1865 – ROBERT E. LEE – BUT
HE APPLIED FOR PARDON
LEE’S
AMNESTY
OATH – WHICH
GOT “LOST” IN
STATE
DEPARTMENT
FILES
LEE LOST HIS
AMERICAN
CITIZENSHIP
HE WAS NEVER ARRESTED OR CHARGED WITH ANY
CRIME – AFTER THE WAR HE WAS PRESIDENT OF
WASHINGTON & LEE UNIVERSITY
 LEE AND HIS FAMILY ALSO LOST THEIR HOME: IN
1864 THE U.S. CONFISCATED THEIR PLANTATION,
ARLINGTON, TO MAKE SOLDIERS’ CEMETERY
ARLINGTON HOUSE
WAS HOME BUILT BY
LEE’S FATHER-IN-LAW
IN 1882, THE SUPREME
COURT HELD THAT
THE TAKING OF
ARLINGTON WAS
WRONG, AWARDED IT
TO LEE’S GRANDSON,
WHO SOLD IT BACK TO
U.S. FOR $150,000
IN 1975, PRESIDENT
GERALD FORD
RESTORED LEE’S U.S.
CITIZENSHIP
Q: DID ROBERT E. LEE DESERVE TO
LOSE HIS CITIZENSHIP AND
PROPERTY?
 EFFECTS OF JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN:
 WHITE PLANTERS BACK IN POWER IN SOUTH
(DESPITE JOHNSON’S JACKSONIAN CRITICISM OF
“ARISTOCRATS”
 MANY NEW STATE CONSTITUTIONS FELL SHORT
OF MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
 13TH AMENDMENT WAS RATIFIED, DECEMBER 1865,
WITH VOTES OF 7 SOUTHERN STATES (AK. AL.,GA.,
LA., N.C., S.C., TENN.)
 BUT FORMER CONFEDERATES STATES ENACTED
BLACK CODES, 1865 – 1866, REMINISCENT OF THEIR
SLAVE CODES
 BLACK CODES – PURPOSE TO ENSURE CONTINUED
STABLE PLANTATION LABOR FORCE -- ESSENTIALLY
RE-ESTABLISHED SLAVERY
 REGULATED LABOR CONTRACTS – REQUIRED
MINIMUM ONE-YEAR SERVICE OR WAGES FORFEIT
 REINFORCED WITH VAGRANCY LAW – UNEMPLOYED
BLACKS SOLD INTO “LABOR” FOR ONE YEAR
 N.B. FREEDMEN’S BUREAU IMPLEMENTED THESE
RULES!
 BANNED BLACKS FROM VOTING, SERVING ON
JURIES
 ALLOWED THEM TO OWN OR RENT PROPERTY ONLY
IN RURAL AREAS – TO KEEP THEM ON PLANTATIONS
 THE RESULT: CONGRESS REBELS – RADICALS GAIN
SUPPORT
 JANUARY 1866: CONGRESS BARRED
SOUTHERN CONGRESSIONAL
DELEGATES , CREATED JOINT
COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION
 FEBRUARY 1866: JOHNSON VETOED
VETOED THE FREEDMEN’S
BUREAU BILL.
 MARCH 1866: JOHNSON
VETOED THE (TOOTHLESS) 1866 CIVIL
RIGHTS ACT.
 APRIL 1866: CONGRESS PASSED BOTH
BILLS OVER JOHNSON’S VETOES  1ST
VETO OVERRIDE IN U. S. HISTORY!!
 JULY 1866 – SOUTHERN HOMESTEAD
ACT (CHEAP SALES FED. LANDS -- NOT MUCH SOLD!)
 JUNE, 1966: CONGRESS PASSED THE 14TH
AMENDMENT (RATIFIED JULY 1868)
1. ALL PERSONS “BORN OR NATURALIZED” IN THE U.S.
ARE CITIZENS OF U.S. AND STATE THEY LIVE IN
(OVERRULES DRED SCOTT);
STATES CANNOT ABRIDGE THE “PRIVILEGES AND
IMMUNITIES “ OF U.S. CITIZENS – THIS WAS INTENDED
TO APPLY THE BILL OF RIGHTS TO THE STATES
STATES CANNOT DEPRIVE “ANY PERSONS” OF “LI FE,
LIBERTY OR PROPERTY WITHOUT DUE PROCESS OF
LAW.”
STATES CANNOT DENY “ANY PERSON” THE “EQUAL
PROTECTION OF THE LAWS.” – INTENDED TO BAN
DISCRIMINATION
2. 3/5 CLAUSE REPEALED. IF ANY STATE DENIES ANY
MALE CITIZEN OVER THE AGE OF 21 THE RIGHT TO
VOTE (EXCEPT AS PUNISHMENT FOR “REBELLION”
AND OTHER CRIMES), THE STATE’S REPRESENTATION
IN CONGRESS WILL BE REDUCED PROPORTIONATELY
3. NO PERSON WHO HAS ENGAGED IN REBELLION
AGAINST THE U.S. CAN HOLD ANY FEDERAL OR STATE
OFFICE (UNLESS CONGRESS ALLOWS IT BY 2/3 VOTE)
4. ALL CONFEDERATE DEBTS (INCLUDING STATE
DEBTS) ARE “ILLEGAL AND VOID” BUT NOBODY CAN
QUESTION THE “VALIDITY” OF THE U.S. PUBLIC DEBT
5. CONGRESS CAN ENFORCE WITH APPROPRIATE
LEGISLATION
OF THE FORMER CONFEDERACY, ONLY TENNESSEE
RATIFIED THE 14TH AMENDMENT IN 1866
JOHNSON THE MARTYR / SAMSON
“IF MY BLOOD IS TO BE SHED
BECAUSE I VINDICATE THE
UNION AND THE
PRESERVATION OF THIS
GOVERNMENT IN ITS
ORIGINAL PURITY AND
CHARACTER, LET IT BE
SHED; LET AN ALTAR TO THE
UNION BE ERECTED, AND
THEN, IF IT IS NECESSARY,
TAKE ME AND LAY ME UPON
IT, AND THE BLOOD THAT
NOW WARMS AND ANIMATES
MY EXISTENCE SHALL BE
POURED OUT AS A FIT
LIBATION TO THE UNION.”
(FEBRUARY 1866)
RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION PLAN (CONQUERED
TERRITORY THEORY) PLAN: TO BE READMITTED TO
THE UNION, FORMER CONFEDERATE STATES MUST

 RATIFY 13TH AND 14TH AMENDMENTS
 MAKE NEW CONSTITUTIONS GRANTING
SUFFRAGE TO BLACKS AND DISENFRANCHISING
“REBELS”
 MILITARY WOULD ENFORCE
 1866 MID-TERM ELECTIONS: A REFERENDUM ON
THE 14TH AMENDMENT AND RADICAL
RECONSTRUCTION
 JOHNSON’S “SWING AROUND THE CIRCLE” –
CAMPAIGN TOUR OF EAST, MIDWEST STUMPING FOR
DEMOCRATS AND HIS RECONSTRUCTION PROGRAM -BOMBED
JOHNSON WITH
GRANT AT A BANQUET
DURING THE SWING
AROUND THE CIRCLE
RUMORS SWEPT
COUNTRY HE
APPEARED DRUNK (HE
DID AT 1865
INAUGURATION)
 ELECTION RESULTS (WITH ONLY TENNESSEE AMONG
THE FORMER CONFEDERATE STATES ALLOWED TO
VOTE!) – REPUBLICANS WON ALL NORTHERN STATES +
TENNESSEE AND A 3-1 MAJORITY IN BOTH HOUSES 
 RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION - FOUR ACTS OF
CONGRESS, ALL PASSED OVER JOHNSON’S VETO,
MARCH 1877 -- MAJOR SHOWDOWN BETWEEN
CONGRESS AND PRESIDENT
1. AN ACT FOR THE MORE EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT OF
THE REBEL STATES (AKA “MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION
ACY”) – MILITARY OCCUPATION OF THE SOUTH
 RESTARTED RECONSTRUCTION FOR THE 10 STATES
THAT REFUSED TO RATIFY 14TH AMENDMENT
 DIVIDED THEM INTO 5 MILITARY DISTRICTS
ADMINISTERED BY U.S. ARMY (DISSOLVED CIVILIAN GOV’T)
2. AN ACT SUPPLEMENTARY TO THE ACT FOR THE
MORE EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT OF THE REBEL
STATES
 AUTHORIZED ARMY TO ENROLL BLACK VOTERS
IN SOUTH (EXCEPT TENN.)
 DISENFRANCHISED MOST ADULT WHITE MEN –
IRONCLAD OATH REQUIRED TO VOTE
 ARMY TO SUPERVISE STATE CONSTITUTIONAL
CONVENTIONS AFTER ELECTIONS BY NEW
ELECTORATE
A MEASURE OF THE BALANCE OF POLITICAL
POWER UNDER MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION
STATE
WHITE CITIZENS
FREEDMEN
SC
291,000
411,000
MS
353,000
436,000
LA
357,000
350,000
GA
591,000
465,000
AL
596,000
437,000
VA
719,000
533,000
NC
631,000
331,000
IN THESE 7 STATES, FREEDMEN WERE EITHER IN THE
MAJORITY OR A CONTROLLING BLOC OF THE
ELECTORATE AFTER WHITE DISENFRANCHISEMENT
3. COMMAND OF THE ARMY ACT: REQUIRED
PRESIDENT (GRANT) TO ISSUE RECONSTRUCTION
ORDERS THROUGH THE COMMANDING GENERAL OF
THE ARMY (GRANT) – EFFECTIVELY REQUIRED ARMY
APPROVAL OF PRESIDENT’S ORDERS
 PROBABLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL – ART. II OF
CONSTITUTION MAKES PRESIDENT “COMMANDER IN
CHIEF” OF THE ARMED SERVICES
4. TENURE IN OFFICE ACT: PRESIDENT COULD NOT
REMOVE CABINET MEMBER OR ANY OTHER OFFICER
CONFIRMED BY SENATE, WITHOUT SENATE CONSENT
 CLEARLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL – CONST. SAYS
THESE OFFICERS SERVE “AT PLEASURE” OF
PRESIDENT.
 THE IMPEACHMENT OF ANDREW JOHNSON
 FIRST ATTEMPT – NOVEMBER 1867 – HOUSE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE SENT ARTICLES OF
IMPEACHMENT TO FLOOR FOR VOTE – FAILED BY 57 –
108 VOTE
 BUT JOHNSON WALKED INTO TRAP SET BY
COMMAND OF THE ARMY AND TENURE IN OFFICE ACTS
 TENURE IN OFFICE ACT – INTENDED TO PROTECT
RADICAL REPUBLICAN HOLDOVERS FROM LINCOLN’S
CABINET AND OTHER FEDERAL OFFICERS
 RECALL THAT LINCOLN APPOINTED HIS PRINCIPAL
RIVALS WITHIN REPUBLICAN PARTY TO HIS CABINET,
TO “NEUTRALIZE” OPPOSITION
 FEBRUARY 21, 1868 – JOHNSON FIRED SECRETARY OF
WAR EDWIN STANTON
 STANTON HAD REFUSED TO TRANSMIT TO ARMY
JOHNSON ORDER TO REPLACE GENERALS IN SOUTH
 STANTON
ALSO REFUSED
TO BE FIRED!
 STANTON WAS PROBABLY
THE MAIN PERSON TENURE IN
OFFICE ACT WAS INTENDED TO
PROTECT – RABIDLY ANTICONFEDERATE – EVEN LINCOLN
WANTED TO FIRE HIM IN 1864
(BUT DIDN’T DUE TO POLITICAL
CLIMATE)
 3 DAYS LATER, HOUSE PASSED RESOLUTION (126
– 47) FOR IMPEACHMENT OF JOHNSON – DIDN’T
EVEN HAVE ARTICLES OF IMPEACHMENT DRAFTED
YET!
 CONSTITUTION SAYS
FEDERAL OFFICERS CAN
BE IMPEACHED ONLY FOR
“HIGH CRIMES AND
MISDEMEANORS”
 PRINCIPAL ALLEGATION
IN ARTICLES OF
IMPEACHMENT : VIOLATION
OF TENURE IN OFFICE ACT
“THE SITUATION,” HARPERS, MARCH 7, 1868. STANTON AIMS A
CANNON MARKED “CONGRESS” AT LORENZO WELLES (JOHNSON’S
APPOINTEE AS SECRETARY OF WAR) AND JOHNSON, WHO HOLD
SCROLL MARKED “ COUP D’ETAT.” BUT WHO WAS STAGING A COUP?
 THE SENATE TRIAL – MARCH 23 – MAY 19, 1868 – A
SHOW!
 JOHNSON WAS
ACQUITTED BY 35 – 19
VOTE - ONE VOTE
SHORT OF REQUIRED
2/3
 MAY HAVE
ESTABLISHED THAT
PRESIDENTS
SHOULDN’T BE
IMPEACHED FOR
POLITICAL REASONS
– UNTIL 1998
IMPEACHMENT OF
BILL CLINTON
EFFECTS OF MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION
 BLACKS COULD VOTE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN
THE SOUTH
 AND SOON WERE OSTENSIBLY GUARANTEED THE
RIGHT TO VOTE NATIONWIDE - 15TH AMENDMENT
 PASSED BY CONGRESS 1869, RATIFIED 1870.
“THE RIGHT OF CITIZENS OF THE UNITED
STATES TO VOTE SHALL NOT BE DENIED OR
ABRIDGED BY THE UNITED STATES OR BY ANY
STATE ON ACCOUNT OF RACE, COLOR, OR
PREVIOUS CONDITION OF SERVITUDE.
THE CONGRESS SHALL HAVE POWER TO
ENFORCE THIS ARTICLE BY APPROPRIATE
LEGISLATION.”
 WOMEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS WERE FURIOUS
THAT THEY WERE NOT GRANTED THE VOTE!
BLACK AND WHITE VOTING DURING RECONSTRUCTION
 MOST BLACK VOTERS WERE WAR VETERANS – OTHERS
POLITICALLY UNPREPARED (MOSTLY ILLITERATE
SHARECROPPERS)
 IN MISSISSIPPI, TWO AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE
ELECTED TO THE U.S. SENATE DURING
RECONSTRUCTION:
 HIRAM REVELS (L) – FIRST BLACK SENATOR (SERVED
ONLY 1 YEAR, 1870 -71). BLANCHE BRUCE (R), FORMER
SLAVE, SERVED 1875-81
THERE HAVE BEEN ONLY 4 OTHER BLACK SENATORS – NONE
NOW
 IN ALABAMA, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA,
MISSISSIPPI, NORTH CAROLINA AND SOUTH
CAROLINA, 15 BLACK MEN, INCLUDING SOME
FORMER SLAVES, WERE ELECTED TO THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES DURING RECONSTRUCTION
BLACK CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION, 1871
MORE AFRICAN-AMERICANS WERE ELECTED TO PUBLIC
OFFICE DURING RECONSTRUCTION THAN EVER AFTER
AFRICAN AMERICANS IN OFFICE 1870–1876
STATE
ALABAMA
STATE
LEGISLATORS
U.S. SENATORS
U.S.
CONGRESSMEN
69
0
4
8
0
0
FLORIDA
30
0
1
GEORGIA
41
0
1
LOUISIANA
87
0
1*
MISSISSIPPI
NORTH
CAROLINA
SOUTH
CAROLINA
112
2
1
30
0
1
190
0
6
1
0
0
TEXAS
19
0
0
VIRGINIA
46
0
0
633
2
ARKANSAS
TENNESSEE
TOTAL
 WHITE SOUTHERN REACTION:
 KU KLUX KLAN – “INVISIBLE EMPIRE OF THE SOUTH”
FOUNDED 1865, PULASKI, TENN. -- VIGILANTES DURING
RECONSTRUCTION
 ALSO TARGETED (BUT NOT FOR LYNCHING)
 CARPETBAGGERS (NEWLY
ARRIVED NORTHERNERS
 BILLIONS OF DOLLARS SPENT
DURING RECONSTRUCTION TO
REBUILD SOUTHERN
INFRASTRUCTURE 
OPPORTUNITY AND
CORRUPTION (LIKE HORSE AND
CARRIAGE!)
 SCALAWAGS –
SOUTHERNERS WHO
COLLABORATED W/
RECONSTRUCTION (FORMER
POOR WHITES)
 CARPETBAGGER & SCALAWAG VOTE HELPED BLACK
REPUBLICANS WIN ELECTIONS
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1868
REPUBLICANS = GENERAL U.S. GRANT AND SCHUYLER
COLFAX (PA.)
PLATFORM:
 RADICAL
RECONSTRUCTION
 BUT NORTHERN
STATES COULD
CHOOSE WHETHER TO
LET BLACKS VOTE
 NO GREENBACK REDEMPTION OF GOVERNMENT
BONDS (THAT OLD PAPER $ V. SPECIE DISPUTE!)
 PRO-IMMIGRATION AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES – HORATIO SEYMOUR
(NY) AND FRANCIS P. BLAIR (MO)
 N.B. – DEMOCRATS DID
NOT NOMINATE A
SOUTHERNER!
PLATFORM:
 PRESIDENTIAL
RECONSTRUCTION
 NO BLACK SUFFRAGE
 OPPOSITE OF
REPUBLICANS ON
EVERYTHING
IT WAS A RACIST CAMPAIGN – SEE THEIR
SONG, NEXT SLIDE
RAISE HIGH THE WHITE MAN’S
BANNER,
LET IT FLOAT UPON THE AIR;
FLING TO THE BREEZE THE
HONOR’D NAMES
OF SEYMOUR AND OF BLAIR,
***
NO MENDICANT OR NEGRO
RULE
FOR MEN WHO TRULY PRIZE
A HERITAGE OF GLORY FROM
THE GREAT, THE TRUE, THE
WISE.
LET GRANT AND COLFAX FIGHT
BENEATH
THE FLAG OF SABLE HUE;
A NOBLER BANNER WE WILL
RAISE
AND NOBLER DEEDS WE’LL DO.
REPUBLICAN PROPAGANDA – “WAVING THE BLOODY
SHIRT”
“THIS IS A WHITE MAN’S
GOVERNMENT” – HARPER’S
1868 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
NOTICE THAT DEMOCRATS WON 47% OF POPULAR VOTE!
REPUBLICANS RETAINED CONTROL OF CONGRESS –
GAINED 5 SENATE SEATS, BUT LOST 20 HOUSE SEATS
 GRANT ADMINISTRATION
 HE GOT FOUR ENFORCEMENT ACTS PASSED, 1870 -71
TO CRACK DOWN ON KKK
 MADE IT A CRIME TO USE VIOLENCE TO PREVENT
BLACKS FROM VOTING
 SUSPENDED HABEAS CORPUS
(THIS APPLIED THROUGHOUT COUNTRY – AIMED AS
MUCH AT LABOR UNIONS AS AT KKK)
 DID DAMPEN KLAN ACTIVITY – BUT NEW GROUPS LIKE
WHITE LEAGUE AND RED SHIRTS CROPPED UP TO
INTIMIDATE BLACK VOTERS
 DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN SOUTH CALLED SELF
“REDEEMERS” – LIKE JESUS
 GRANT ALSO SIGNED CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1876 –
TECHNICALLY MAKE IT A CRIME TO:
 DISCRIMINATE IN PUBLIC CONVEYANCES AND
ACCOMMODATIONS (INCLUDING PRIVATE BUSINESSES)
 BANNED DISCRIMINATION IN JURY SELECTION
 TOOTHLESS – LACKED FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT MECHANISM
(ASSUMED ARMY WOULD ENFORCE – SOMETIMES IT DID)
 NONETHELESS, SUPREME COURT HELD IT UNCONSTITUTIONAL
IN 1888
 NO MORE CIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION UNTIL 1964!
 GRANT’S PRINCIPAL CLAIM TO FAME: KICKING OFF
“THE ERA OF GOOD STEALINGS”
 UNPRECEDENTED
GROWTH 
UNPRECEDENTED
CORRUPTION
*
CRÉDIT MOBILIER
SCANDAL:
*
FEDERAL $ TO UNION
PACIFIC TO CRÉDIT
MOBILIER (UP
OFFICERS),
DISCOUNTED ,
DISCOUNTED CM
STOCK TO
CONGRESSMEN
(INCLUDING VP) TO JUST ONE OF MANY GRAFT
SCANDALS DURING GRANT ADMIN.
COVER UP
AND DESPITE THE CORRUPTION AND HIS
ALCOHOLISM, HE GOT A SECOND TERM IN 1872
NOTE AGAIN THAT DEMOCRATS GOT > 40% OF
POPULAR VOTE
REPUBLICANS STILL CONTROLLED CONGRESS BUT
LOST 9 SENATE SEATS, GAINED SEATS IN HOUSE
NOTE ALSO HOW WELL HORACE GREELEY, RUNNING AS
“LIBERAL REPUBLICAN”/DEMOCRAT DID – THIRD PARTY
TYPES DO WELL IN TROUBLED TIMES BUT THEY ALSO
DELIVER ELECTIONS TO THE OPPOSITION
 PANIC OF 1873 (DEPRESSION – LASTED THROUGH ‘79
 PART OF WORLDWIDE DEPRESSION TRIGGERED BY
GERMANY’S GOING ONTO GOLD, OFF SILVER STANDARD 
BANK FAILURES IN EUROPE
 U.S. ADOPTED GOLD STANDARD, COINAGE ACT OF 1873
 HURT WESTERN MINING INTERESTS, REDUCED MONEY
SUPPLY  FARMERS AND OTHER DEBTORS HURT, BOND
MARKET TANKS
 MAJOR BANK FAILS  PANIC, LOANS
CALLED,FORECLOSURES, PROPERTY VALUES DROPPED,
BUSINESSES FAIL, LAYOFFS (14% UNEMPLOYMENT - SAME OLD, SAME OLD BUT WORSE BECAUSE NOW U.S.
HAD MARKET ECONOMY AND BIG BUSINESSES TO FAIL,
LIKE RAILROADS (89 DID, ABOUT 20,000 OTHER
BUSINESSES TOO)
 EFFECTS:
 NORTHERNERS NO
LONGER WILLING TO PAY
ARMY TO PROTECT RIGHTS
OF SOUTHERN BLACKS, OR
PUNISH THE SOUTH
SHIFT REFLECTED IN
“COLORED RULE IN A
RECONSTRUCTED
SOUTHERN STATE.” MARCH,
1874 CARTOON BY THE
NORMALLY PRORECONSTRUCTION THOMAS
NAST IN THE NORMALLY
PRO-RECONSTRUCTION
HARPER’S
 AND AS ALWAYS IN TWO-PARTY SYSTEM, BAD
ECONOMIC TIMES  PARTY IN POWER GETS VOTED
OUT OF OFFICE
 IT’S ALWAYS “THE ECONOMY, STUPID” AS JAMES
CARVILLE SAID!
 MIDTERM ELECTIONS OF 1872 – MAJOR ISSUE =
PAPER V. SPECIE CURRENCY:
 SHOULD GOVERNMENT REDEEM BONDS WITH
GREENBACKS? (DEMS SAY YES!)
 SHOULD IT RETIRE $432 MILLION GREENBACKS
ISSUED IN CIVIL WAR AND MAKE ONLY GOLD MONEY?
(REPS SAY YES!)
 AND OF COURSE
CORRUPTION OF
GRANT
ADMINISTRATION
IS ELECTION ISSUE
AND SO IS THE
SUSPENSION OF
HABEAS CORPUS
1874 MIDTERM ELECTIONS: DEMOCRATS WON
CONTROL OF HOUSE (NEARLY 2:1 MAJORITY). LOST
9 SENATE SEATS, STILL HAD MAJORITY BUT LOST
CONTROL (LACKED 2/3 MAJORITY NEEDED TO STOP
FILIBUSTER) -- RECONSTRUCTION DOOMED

 ALL REVENUE BILLS MUST ORIGINATE IN HOUSE!
 AND THE DEPRESSION IS STILL IN FULL SWING
DURING 1876 ELECTIONS (AND REPUBLICANS ARE
STILL PERCEIVED AS “CORRUPT” – NOT THAT
DEMOCRATS ARE ANY BETTER!)
1876 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
“REGIONAL BALANCE” – BLACK VOTE IN SOUTH
BALANCES WHITE IMMIGRANT VOTE IN NORTH (THE
WHITE” MAN IS A STEREOTYPE OF AN IRISH IMMIGRANT)
 THE CRISIS AND COMPROMISE OF 1877 – THE
END OF RECONSTRUCTION
TILDEN WON BOTH THE POPULAR VOTE (51%) AND
THE MOST UNDISPUTED ELECTORAL VOTES (184 TO
165)

 BUT 20 VOTES FROM THREE SOUTHERN STATES
(FLORIDA, LOUISIANA, SOUTH CAROLINA) WERE NOT
CAST BECAUSE DISPUTED – THOSE WERE ONLY STATES
STILL UNDER MILITARY RULE
 TILDEN WON IN THOSE STATES BUT THERE WAS
EVIDENCE OF INTIMIDATIONS OF REPUBLICAN VOTERS
AND FRAUD
* EXAMPLE = DEMOCRATIC BALLOTS WITH PICTURES
OF LINCOLN TO TRICK ILLITERATE VOTERS
 REPUBLICAN OFFICIALS IN THOSE STATES
SIMPLY IGNORED THE ELECTION RESULTS AND
CERTIFIED HAYES AS THE WINNER – SO HAYES HAD
ONE-VOTE EDGE IN ELECTORAL COLLEGE’
 LED TO MAJOR CRISIS – DEMOCRATS CRIED
FOUL, REFUSED TO ALLOW SENATE TO COUNT
VOTES (PER CONSTITUTION), GRANT CALLED OUT
ARMY TO PROTECT D.C.
 CONGRESS PASSED LAW ESTABLISHING 15-MAN
SPECIAL COMMISSION (5 FROM EACH HOUSE + 5
SUPREME COURT JUSTICES) TO DECIDE WHO WON
IN THE THREE STATES
 COMMISSION HAD 1-VOTE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY
– IT WAS BOUND TO AWARD ELECTION TO HAYES –
BUT IT HAD TO GIVE DEMOCRATS SOMETHING
 COMPROMISE OF 1877 AKA “THE CORRUPT
BARGAIN”
 HAYES WOULD BE PRESIDENT, BUT WOULD
WITHDRAW ARMY FROM SOUTH
 TRANSCONTINENTAL RR. WOULD TAKE
“SOUTHERN” ROUTE (REALLY LOWER MIDWESTERN)
 POSTMASTER GENERAL WOULD BE SOUTHERN
DEMOCRAT
ANOTHER NAST CARTOON FROM HARPER’S
 THE NATION WAS REUNITED – AT THE EXPENSE OF
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
 REDEEMER DEMOCRATS SWEPT INTO OFFICE IN
SOUTH AND REVOKED BLACK VOTING RIGHTS
 LITERACY TESTS
 POLL TAXES
 GRANDFATHER CLAUSES
 VIOLENCE AND INTIMIDATION
(MANY NORTHERN STATES DID THE SAME!)
 WITHIN A DECADE ALL SOUTHERN STATES HAD
“JIM CROW” LAWS – APARTHEID – LEGALLY
MANDATED RACIAL SEGREGATION
 NORTHERN STATES ACHIEVED THE ALMOST SAME
RESULT THROUGH RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS IN
HOUSE DEEDS BARRING SALE TO “NEGROES.”
 RESULTS OF RECONSTRUCTION:
 SLAVERY ABOLISHED, BUT ON THE WHOLE, MOST
SOUTHERN BLACKS WOUND UP WITH NO MORE CIVIL
RIGHTS THAN THEY HAD UNDER SLAVERY
 THE “SOLID SOUTH” -- SOUTH VOTED SOLIDLY
DEMOCRATIC UNTIL 1966 (SWITCHED OVER CIVIL
RIGHTS ACT OF 1964)
 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAS CLEARLY
SOVEREIGN – AND CONGRESS MORE POWERFUL
THAN EVER BEFORE
AND THE SOUTH STILL HADN’T RECOVERED FROM
THE CIVIL WAR
 SOUTH LOCKED IN CYCLE OF POVERTY THAT
LASTED UNTIL RECENTLY (AND STILL PERSISTS IN
STATES LIKE MISSISSIPPI), WHILE REST OF THE
COUNTRY SURGED AHEAD (INDUSTRIALIZATION,
SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST)
 BY 1900, SOUTHERN PER CAPITA INCOME WAS 2/3
THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND SOUTHERN ECONOMY
(STILL MOSTLY COTTON) WAS GROWING AT ½ THE
RATE OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
ANNUAL RATES OF GROWTH OF GROSS NATIONAL
PRODUCT OF THE U.S. AND THE GROSS
SOUTHERN CROP OUTPUT, 1874 TO 1904
Annual Percentage Rate of Growth
Interval
U.S GNP
Southern Crop Output
1874 to 1884
2.79
1.57
1879 to 1889
1.91
1.14
1884 to 1894
0.96
1.51
1889 to 1899
1.15
0.97
1894 to 1904
2.30
0.21
1874 to 1904
2.01
1.10
 THE NATION WAS REUNITED, BUT NORTH-SOUTH
DIVISION AND RESENTMENTS PERSISTED (AND
STILL DO TO SOME EXTENT
 AND STILL – NOTHING IN THE CONSTITUTION
SAYS THAT STATES CANNOT SECEDE -- OR EVEN
THAT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS TOP SOVEREIGN!