Transcript ushg11_44_civil-rights-movement-causes

Civil Rights Movement—
Causes
NOTES
I. The failure of
Reconstruction allowed
problems that would
make the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950’s
and 1960’s necessary.
Essential or Guiding Question:
Why was the Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950’s and
1960’s necessary?
A. Following the American Civil War
(1861-1865), President Abraham
Lincoln set about putting the nation
back together in his program called
Reconstruction. After Lincoln’s death,
Reconstruction continued under his
Vice President Andrew Johnson,
although the Radical Republicans in
Congress redirected the program.
Ultimately, Reconstruction fell short
of its intended goals.
1. Lincoln’s plan was forgiving of
the Southern states that
seceded. He sought to readmit
them into Union as quickly as
possible and pardoned—to
formally forgive someone of a
crime—most Confederates,
except the top leaders.
2. The Radical Republicans in Congress
thought Lincoln’s plan was too
lenient. They wanted to destroy the
political power of the former
slaveholders and rebuild the South,
bringing the freedmen—the freed
slaves—into politics and society. After
Lincoln’s assassination, the Radical
Republicans intentions toward
Reconstruction started to take over.
a. Lincoln’s successor, Democrat Andrew
Johnson, tried to continue Lincoln’s
vision of Reconstruction. Under
Johnson, the Southern states were all
readmitted to the Union. However,
thanks to his Presidential pardons,
many former Confederate officials
regained political power both in the
state governments and in the federal
government.
b. Upset by the lack of political
change made by Reconstruction
under Johnson, the Radical
Republicans found themselves
at odds with the President. He
vetoed more acts of Congress
than any other President.
c. Reconstruction did little to help
the freedmen become a part of
American society. When
Johnson claimed Reconstruction
was complete in late 1865, the
Radical Republicans attempted
to make more changes to
Southern society, but Johnson
stood in the way.
1) One way Congress tried to
improve life in the South for the
freedmen was by enacting the
Freedman’s Bureau. It was
originally established by
Congress towards the end of the
Civil War to distribute clothing
and food to freedmen and poor
whites in the South.
It was responsible for setting up
hospitals, schools, vocational
education programs and teacher
training centers. In 1866,
Congress wanted to continue
and expand the role of the
Bureau, but Johnson vetoed it.
2) Another action
Congress took was
passing the Civil
Rights Act of
1866.
(a) Civil rights are the freedoms
that are universally expected to
be free from government
interference, such as freedom
of speech, freedom from
unwarranted government
action (such as search and
seizure), freedom from
discrimination, etc.
(b) This act was passed as a direct
response to the emergence of
black codes—laws passed
specifically to restrict the lives
of and discriminate against
blacks in the South. Black
Codes were designed to keep
the freedmen socially and
politically inferior to whites.
These laws denied AfricanAmericans rights, prohibiting
blacks from carrying weapons,
serving on juries, testifying
against whites in court,
marrying whites and traveling
without a permit.
c. Again, Johnson vetoed the
Civil Rights Act of 1866,
staging a battle between
the President and Congress.
Congress overrode
Johnson’s veto by getting a
2/3 majority and the bill
became a law.
3) In 1866, in an effort to cut President
Johnson out of Reconstruction,
Congress drafted the 14th
Amendment to the Constitution. It
granted the freedmen citizenship and
equal protection under law. Again,
this action was caused by the
Southern states refusal to grant
African-Americans their civil rights.
This amendment was so controversial
that it did not get ratified until 1868.
4) With the Reconstruction Act of 1867,
Reconstruction took an even more radical
turn. Congress changed Lincoln’s original
plan to readmit Southern states into the
union by making new requirements for
new states governments. AfricanAmerican males were to be a part in
electing the politicians set to make the
new state Constitutions. Johnson vetoed
this act too, but Congress was able to
override it.
3. The Radical Republicans
controlling Congress felt
President Johnson stood in
the way of the changes the
believe the South needed so
Congress set a trap to
impeach him and almost
removed him from office.
a. In 1867, Congress passed
the Tenure of Office Act.
This law made it illegal for
the President to remove
someone from office
without the Senate’s
approval.
b. Johnson violated the law by
firing Secretary of War William
Seward. This was the cause of
the House’s impeachment—the
accusation of a public official for
committing “high crimes and
misdemeanors”—of Johnson.
c. Ultimately, the Senate—who
tries impeachment hearings
to find out if the official is
guilty—was only one vote
short from being removed.
Johnson was disgraced for
the remainder of his
Presidency.
d. The next president was
Republican war hero
Ulysses S. Grant, who won
thanks to 500,000 AfricanAmerican votes. He did not
stand in the way of the
Radical Republicans
Reconstruction plan.
e.
The 15th Amendment was ratified in
1870. It was passed after concern
was raised that Grant’s narrow victory
would encourage white Southerners
to disenfranchise—which is to take
away political power from—AfricanAmericans. The Amendment makes it
illegal to deny anyone the right to
vote due to “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude.”
f. Congress then passed the
Enforcement Act in 1870. It
gave the federal government
the power to enforce the
15th Amendment and
punish anyone who violated
African-Americans right to
vote.
B. Reconstruction did not only
deal with readmitting formerConfederate states into the
Union. It also had to do with
rebuilding the war-torn South.
Additionally, the Radical
Republicans also wanted to
restructure Southern society.
1. Southerners were resistant to
bringing the freedmen into
mainstream society and,
perhaps even more importantly,
politics. Because of the
obstacles being imposed, such
black codes and poll taxes,
some Northern reformers went
South to try and change things.
a. Northerners who went South
were called carpetbaggers—
named after suitcases that were
popular at that time. This term
was meant as an insult, as they
were resented by whites in the
South.
b. Some Southerners believed in and
cooperated with Reconstruction. They
were called scalawags. Some
“scalawags” only participated in the
reform movement in hopes of gaining
political power in the new South.
Others were committed to change.
Whichever the case, they were also
looked on as traitors by most
Southerners.
2. One plan to try and
bring the freedmen
into white society
was the ‘40 acre and
a mule’ plan.
a. African-Americans
were promised
land for helping
the Union in the
Civil War.
b. Some believed that if
African-Americans were
given land and some tools to
farm it, they would be able
to become self-sufficient
economically, which would
lead to political and social
equality.
c. Unfortunately, the politicians did
not come through. Most land
reform measures were dismissed
or poorly implemented. An
example in the 1866 Homestead
Act that set aside 44 million acres
to be given to freedmen. Most of
the land, however, was
undesirable and unsuitable for
farming.
C. The “New South”
wasn’t really that new.
In several ways, the
Reconstructed South
wasn’t really different.
1. Political
a. Although the freedmen had
been guaranteed the right to
vote by the Constitution with
the passage of the 14th and
15th Amendments, in
practice, they were kept from
exercising their voting rights.
1) Once the power of the black
vote became apparent in
the 1870 presidential
election, white Southerners
saw the threat AfricanAmericans posed at the
polls.
2) To minimize the impact of
African-American
participation in politics,
practices, such as black
codes, literacy tests and poll
taxes, prevented AfricanAmericans from voting.
Poor and uneducated whites were
exempted by these measures by the
grandfather clause, which said that if
someone couldn’t pass the literacy
test or pay the poll tax, they’d still be
eligible to vote if his father or
grandfather was eligible to vote before
1867. No blacks had the right to vote
before this time, so the grandfather
clause only protected whites.
3) Terrorist groups like
the Ku Klux Klan
committed acts of
terrorism to also
keep blacks from
voting.
4) Local and state governments
in the South did not protect
the rights of AfricanAmericans. The federal
government found it
difficult to force the South
to respect these rights.
b. With the Johnson
administration’s pardon of
the politicians of the old
South, the new South was
run by the same people who
ran it before the Civil War.
These politicians did not
want things to change.
b. With the Johnson administration’s
pardon of the politicians of the old
South, the new South was run by
the same people who ran it before
the Civil War. These politicians did
not want things to change. and, in
fact, tried to put things back to the
way they used to be as much as
possible.
2. Economic
a. Although the slaves had been
set free, the only thing the
freedmen were qualified to
do for a living was farm. But
without land, they were at
the mercy of the rich
plantation owners they
worked for before
1) Some black leaders, like
Booker T. Washington,
pushed the need for
vocational education
programs to provide
blacks with
opportunities in the
a) Washington founded
the Tuskegee
Institute, a school that
trained AfricanAmericans for
professions.
b) Washington believed
that African-Americans
could only achieve social
equality once they
improved their standard
of living by coming out
of poverty.
2) Other leaders, such as
W.E.B. Dubois,
thought that equality
would come as
African-Americans
became educated.
b. The system of
sharecropping developed.
1) In this system, the
landowner “rented” a
plot of land to a farmer
and provided him with
tools and supplies to
farm the land.
2) The farmer was allowed
to keep only enough
food to feed his family.
All surplus had to be
given back to the
landowner as rent.
3) Sharecropping created a cycle of
poverty. In theory, a freedman could
save up enough money to become a
tenant farmer, moving up the
economic ladder. But in reality,
sharecroppers were in a system of
virtual slavery, being kept perpetually
poor and dependant on the land
owner. Sharecroppers were also
forced by the landowner to grow cash
crops, such as cotton or tobacco.
4) Other problems plagued the
freedmen in the sharecropping
system. During the Civil War,
many countries found other
sources for cotton. With the
added competition, cotton was
no longer as profitable.
3. Social
a. Economic hard times are tied
to racial tensions.
1) African-Americans were
blamed by many whites for
economic problems in the
period after the Civil War.
This added to the preexisting racism.
2) This race hatred led to a rise of
terrorist organizations, like the
KKK and other, in the decades
after the Civil War.
3) Whites were determined not to
accept the freedmen into white
society.
b. Segregation became the law of
the land.
1) Southern society became
strictly segregated by race.
Segregation is the separation
of groups. Blacks and whites
were kept apart in both public
and private facilities.
2) The segregation measures called
black codes during Reconstruction
continued after, being called Jim Crow
laws. Racial segregation was put into
effect in schools, hospitals, parks, and
transportations systems. Even public
bathrooms and drinking fountains
were segregated. Blacks were also
barred from hotels, restaurants and
theaters.
3) When challenged in the
Supreme Court in the Plessy v.
Ferguson case in 1896, the
Supreme Court ruled that
segregation was legal, as long
as the facilities were “separate
but equal.” In reality, everyone
knew that things were not
equal.
D. Due to corruption (Grant’s
presidency was severely
marred by corruption),
economic problems and
lack of political and popular
support, Reconstruction ran
out of steam by the 1880’s.
1. Grant used the spoils system and
gave mean political jobs to friends
and political allies. As a result,
many scandals erupted during his
presidency. Most historians
believe that Grant’s lack of
political experience led to him
surrounding himself with people
who took advantage of him.
a. One of these events was the
Credit Mobilier scandal. The
Credit Mobilier construction
company was helping build the
Union Pacific Railroad. It
skimmed off large profits off it.
Several political officials in Grant’s
administration we involved in
receiving bribes, including his
Vice-President.
b. Other scandal from the time
was the Whiskey Ring.
Whiskey distillers bribed
government officials to avoid
paying millions of dollars in
taxes. These are two examples
of many scandals from Grant’s
era.
c. All in all, these events
led to a distrust of the
presidency and helped
cause the era of weak
presidents that
followed.
2. The economic problems
caused by the war, most
notably Confederate
debt, caused racial
tensions and also made
everyone tired of
Reconstruction.
3. The Compromise of 1877
essentially ended
Reconstruction. The
Presidential election of
1876 to replace Grant pitted
Republican Rutherford B.
Hayes against Democrat
Samuel Tilden.
a. Tilden won the
popular vote by a
small margin, but the
Electoral College vote
was going to be close.
b. A secret deal was struck
where the Republicans
were given the Presidency if
they agreed to end
Reconstruction and
withdraw Federal troops
from the South.
4. With Northern support
evaporated,
Reconstruction ended
without realizing its
goals, leaving the
problems to be solved
later.