Transcript Plans for Reconstruction

Plans for Reconstruction
The Main Idea
Northern leaders had different ideas for dealing with the
many issues and challenges of restoring the southern
states to the Union.
Reading Focus
• What challenges faced the South after the Civil War?
• What actions did Union leaders take during wartime to
reconstruct the nation after the war’s end?
• How did Lincoln’s assassination affect the nation?
• Why did President Johnson and Congress differ over
Reconstruction?
Bell Ringer
• In What Year did the Civil War End?
• What was Reconstruction?
• Who assassinated President Abraham
Lincoln?
Bell Ringer
Although only 100 miles apart physically, Richmond, Virginia, and
Washington were separated by vast distances politically in 1865.
Richmond had been under siege for months before falling to Union
troops on April 3, 1865. The next day, President Lincoln visited the
ravaged city, taking in the burned-out buildings and ruin. As he
passed through the streets, the city’s whites kept silent. But
Richmond’s African American residents cheered for the president who
had freed them from slavery, some even falling to their knees at the
sight of him.
1. Why do you think the white residents of Richmond did not
cheer?
2. Why was Richmond in ruins when President Lincoln visited in April 1885?
The South after the War
• Property losses
– The value of farms and plantations declined steeply and
suffered from neglect and loss of workers.
– The South’s transportation network was in very poor
shape.
• Challenges for African Americans
– Had gained freedom, but had no money and little if any
education. The poor economy made job prospects bleak.
– They wanted educational and economic opportunities.
• How to treat the South
– Many legal and political questions regarding the South
needed to be answered.
The South after the War
• What challenges faced the South after the Civil
War?
• Why were job prospects so bleak in the South
after the War?
• Why were the farms in the South so unproductive
after the War?
• What type of life did freed female African
Americans want after the War?
Wartime Reconstruction
The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in March 1865 to help
southern refugees and freed slaves.
-gave out clothes and supplies
Northerners disagreed over how to treat the South, but as he
stated in his inaugural address, Lincoln hoped to treat the
South “with malice toward none and charity toward all.”
New roles for African Americans were tested. In territories
under Union control, freed slaves were hired to work on
plantations for pay, or were allowed to rent and farm the
land. 40-acre plots in South Carolina and Georgia coastal
lands were given away. In Louisiana, freedmen signed
contracts to work for a year for wages. Some planters
deducted basic items from the wages, and little money was
left over.
Reconstruction Plans
Lincoln’s Plan
• The Proclamation of
Amnesty and
Reconstruction, December
1863, gave forgiveness to
those who pledged Union
loyalty and support for
emancipation.
• When 10 percent of voters
had taken the oath, a new
state government could be
organized. The new
government was required
to ban slavery.
• This plan for readmission
was known as the Ten
Percent Plan.
Opposition
• Lincoln’s plan sparked
debate in Congress.
• Some thought only power
to re-admit belonged to
Congress; others thought
the South never officially
left the Union.
• Thaddeus Stevens felt
majority rule was being
discarded.
• Congress refused to allow
members from the states
readmitted under Lincoln’s
plan to be seated.
Congress Makes a Plan
• Wade-Davis Bill
– In 1864, Congress passed its own plan for
Reconstruction.
– A majority of white male citizens would be
required to take a loyalty oath before
elections could be held.
• Lincoln killed the bill using a pocket veto,
ignoring it since it passed in the last 10 days of
the legislative session.
Wartime Reconstruction Review
• What was the Ten Percent Plan?
• What were the major constitutional issues that
plagued the Union as it created plans for
Reconstruction?
• Why do you think that President Lincoln took a
lenient position toward the states that had
seceded?
Lincoln’s Assassination
Popular
president
• The president did not live long enough to test his
wartime popularity against Congress for control
of Reconstruction plans.
• Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater on April 14,
1865, and died the next morning.
John Wilkes • John Wilkes Booth was part of a conspiracy,
Booth
and others were supposed to kill Vice President
Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State
William Seward.
• A grief stricken nation mourned Lincoln’s death.
Concern
and grief
• White southerners were concerned. Lincoln’s
death meant a change in Reconstruction plans
and a new president. Some disliked Andrew
Johnson and felt he was a traitor.
Johnson and Congress Differ over
Reconstruction
Republican leaders thought they could work with Johnson,
but they did not understand his views. Born into poverty,
Johnson despised the wealthy planter class, but he held no
ill will toward southerners. He supported states’ rights and
limits on government power.
Johnson’s plan added to Lincoln’s list of exceptions. Wealthy
southerners would have to apply for pardons, but there was
no set percentage of loyal voters. It required a convention
to be called to repeal secession, an amended constitution
banning slavery, and a refusal to pay Confederate debts.
Johnson pushed forward with his plan, and all but one state
was restored when Congress met in December. Congress
was not happy, and the battle for control would begin.