Transcript Wetta #6 Reconstruction 3000

World Class Education
www.kean.edu
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Topic 6
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The Union was preserved – the doctrine of
secession was dead
Slavery as an institution is dead
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What is the legal status of the former Confederate
states?
What were the conditions for the return of the
Confederate states to the Union?
Punishment of ex-rebels. Trials? Property confiscation?
What will be the political, economic, educational, and
social status of the freed slaves?
Should there be fundamental (revolutionary) changes
in the South or a quick restoration of the South to the
Union
Who should determine Reconstruction policy – the
President or Congress?
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Wartime Reconstruction – Lincoln (1863-1865)
Post-war Reconstruction - Andrew Johnson
(1865-1866)
Radical Reconstruction – Congress (1866 1877)
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The rebel states had never left
the union – rebellion the work
of individuals not states
The issue of the exact legal
status of the former rebel
states is a “pernicious
abstraction”
It was the responsibility of the
President (executive branch)
to determine policy
The political restoration of the
Union should be relatively
quick
Moderate approach
No harsh punishments for
treason
No property confiscation
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Pardon all ex-rebels (except leaders) who take oath of future
allegiance to US
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When 10% of the voters of the state take the oath they can form a
new state government
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Must accept certain conditions – wartime executive actions /
emancipation actions so far initiated
“Radical Republicans” oppose the plan – Wade-Davis
and Wade-Davis Manifesto
Lincoln’s plan stalls in Congress
Bill
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Pro-Union Democrat
(but Lincoln’s VP)
Continues Lincoln’s
policies
Extensive use of
presidential pardon
Quick restoration – exConfederates back in
power and in Congress
Alienates Republicans
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Thaddeus Stevens - House
Charles Sumner - Senate
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Repudiate Johnson’s actions
Southern states – “conquered provinces” or
“territorial” status
Only Congress can readmit states
Harder policy – more “revolutionary”
Ensure Republicans remain in control of
federal government and Reconstruction policy
Protection for blacks
Establish Republican- controlled Southern
state governments
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Civil Rights Act, 1866
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Freedmen’s Bureau, 1866
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Fourteenth Amendment, proposed 1866
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First Reconstruction Act, 1867 – military districts, new
state constitutions, ratify 14th Amendment
Force Act, 1870 – use of US Army to maintain order
and protest black rights
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Violated Tenure of
Office Act, 1867
Other “High Crimes
and Misdemeanors”
Trial before Senate
Found not guilty but
now powerless
Admission Ticket to Trial
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Carpetbaggers
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Scalawags
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Blacks
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Criticism – corrupt,
incompetent, debt….
A “Tragic Era”
Popular Image of the Carpetbagger
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Ratification of liberal constitutions – civil
liberties, universal manhood suffrage, abolish
imprisonment for debt
Begin rebuilding of economic infrastructure of
war-torn South
Free, compulsory public school system
Graft and corruption evident – no worse than in
the North
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Threats and
terrorism – KKK, rifle
clubs….
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Social ostracism of
Southern white
collaborationists
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Political opposition Southern Democrats
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Southern opposition wears down supporters
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Removal of voting disqualifications of remaining exrebels
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North retreats on the issues - gets tired of constant
trouble in the South
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Lack of deep support for black rights in the North
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Contested Presidential Election of 1876 and
Compromise of 1877
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“Here was government by the
most ignorant and vicious part of
the population …. vulgar,
materialistic, brutal….”
John W. Burgess, 1902
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“Hostile and biased historical
interpretation of
Reconstruction as a tragic
era of black supremacy
became part of the
justification for the South's
new system of white
supremacy.” “Not until the
mid-twentieth century would
the nation again attempt to
come to terms with the
political and social agenda of
Reconstruction.”
Eric Foner, 2003
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13th , 14th, and 15th Amendments
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Lays the basis for future civil rights
advancement
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Bitter memory for many white Southerners –
comes to dominate the historical interpretation
of the period until the 1950s
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John Hope Franklin, Reconstruction after the Civil War
– classic work
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Eric Foner, A Short History of Reconstruction
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Leon Litwack, Been in the Storm So Long: The
Aftermath of Slavery