Transcript Ch. 17: Reconstruction and Its Aftermath 1865-1896

Ch. 17: Reconstruction and
Its Aftermath 1865-1896
•
Why It Matters: We had
survived our worst war, but
the end of the Civil War left
Americans to deal with a set
of pressing issues. The status
of some 3.5 million former
enslaved people had yet to be
decided. Nor had the terms by
which the former Confederate
states would rejoin the union
been decided. How
Americans would handle
these issues would shape the
future of our country.
• The Impact Today:
Debate over the
rightful power of the
federal government
and the states
continues to this day.
Americans continue to
wrestle with the
problem of providing
civil rights and equal
opportunity to all
citizens.
Section 1: Reconstruction
Plans
O Main Idea:
Differences over how
Reconstruction
should be carried out
divided the
government.
O Key Terms:
O Reconstruction
O Amnesty
O Radical
O Freedmen
Reconstruction Debate
• Americans faced many difficult
issues over how Reconstruction, or
rebuilding the South, should be
carried out.
• Before the war was over, Lincoln
proposed in 1863 the Ten Percent
Plan for accepting Southern states
back into the Union.
• Ten percent of the voters of a state
had to take an oath of loyalty to the
Union
• Then state could form a new
government and adopt a new
constitution banning slavery.
Reconstruction
O 1. Lincoln wanted Southerners who supported the Union to
take charge of the state governments.
O 2. Lincoln offered amnesty, or forgiveness, to all white
Southerners who were willing to swear loyalty to the Union,
except Confederate leaders.
O 3. He supported giving educated African Americans or those
who served in the Union army the right to vote.
O 4. Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee established
governments under Lincoln’s plan in 1864. A struggle
occurred when Congress refused to seat their
representatives.
Radical Reconstruction
O A more radical plan
proposed by Radical
Republicans called for a
tougher approach to
Reconstruction.
O The plan called for breaking
up Southern institutions.
O Radical Republicans
controlled Congress, they
voted to deny seats to any
state reconstructed under
Lincoln’s plan.
Reconstruction Debate
• Congress developed its own harsh plan in July 1864 by
passing the Wade-Davis Bill.
– 1. A majority of white males had to swear loyalty.
– 2. Only white males who swore they had never fought against
the Union could vote for delegates to a state convention.
– 3. Former Confederates were denied the right to hold public
office.
– 4. If a new state constitution abolishing slavery was adopted at
a convention, then the state could be readmitted to the Union.
– 5. Lincoln refused to sign the bill. He knew, though, that he
would have to compromise with the Radical Republicans.
African Americans
• Another difficult issue-how
to help freed African
Americans.
• The Freedmen’s Bureau,
was established to help
former enslaved persons.
• Distributed food and
clothing, provided medical
services, and established
schools staffed mostly by
teachers from the North.
Freedmen’s Bureau
O Helped African Americans buy land and get jobs and
receive fair wages.
O Gave aid to new African American higher institutions of
learning, such as Atlanta University, Howard University and
Fisk University.
Lincoln Assassinated!
•
The country mourned the death of a man
who saved the Union and helped African
Americans win freedom.
•
One the evening of April 14, 1865,
President Lincoln was shot while
attending a play at the Ford’s Theater in
Washington, D.C.
•
His assassin, John Wilkes Booth, entered
the box Lincoln was sitting in, shot him in
the back of head, and escaped.
•
Lincoln died a few hours later at the
home of a nearby tailor.
Lincoln Assassinated!
• Vice President Andrew
Johnson became the
president.
• As a former senator, he
was the only Southern
senator to support the
Union. He called his plan
for the South
“Restoration.”
Restoration
O 1. Most Southerners would be granted
amnesty once they swore an oath of loyalty
to the Union.
O 2. High-ranking Confederate officials and
wealthy landowners could only be pardoned
by applying personally to the president. This
was his way of attacking the wealthy leaders
who he thought tricked Southerners into
seceding.
II. Lincoln Assassinated!
Cont.
– 3. The president would appoint governors and
require them to hold elections for state
constitutional conventions.
– 4. Only whites that swore their loyalty and had
been pardoned would be allowed to vote.
– 5. Before states could reenter the Union, its
constitutional convention had to denounce
secession and abolish slavery.
– 6. States had to ratify the 13th Amendment
passed in January 1865 that abolished slavery.
Lincoln Assassinated!
O By the end of 1865, Johnson
declared Restoration was
almost complete because all
the former Confederate states
except Texas had established
new governments and were
ready to rejoin the union.