Transcript File
Reconstruction 1865-1877 Warm Up POLITICAL CARTOONS OF THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION ERAS August 5, 1865 Columbia's sympathetic gesture towards a wounded black soldier is a reply to a previous panel in which Southern landowners ask her forgiveness. Columbia asks, "Shall I Trust These Men, and Not This Man?" March 23, 1867 In this view of Southern justice, a Northerner and a black man are accused of murder and then lynched, while in another panel a Southern gentleman accused of murder is humorously chided by the court. "One Less Vote." The Fourteenth Amendment, granting black men the right to vote, was ratified in July 1868. Every black vote became a threat to white Southerners' political power. The stone reads, "Negroe Killed, Seymour Ratification, KKK." March 23, 1867 In this commentary on President Andrew Johnson's veto of the military government bill, Nast portrays the scales of justice favoring the South and the Confederate Army. September 5, 1868 "This Is a White Man's Government." Nast's view of the Democratic platform for the divisive presidential election of 1868 places the Democratic candidate in partnership with the poor Irish of the North and loyal Confederates of the South (and its Lost Cause) to keep black men from gaining access to government. October 24, 1874 The organized violence of the Ku Klux Klan and the White League made life "worse than slavery" for Southern blacks. March 14, 1874 The cover of Harper's Weekly shows black legislators stooping to name-calling as Columbia says, "You are aping the lowest whites. If you disgrace your race in this way you had better take back seats." September 2, 1876 Recognizing the failure of Reconstruction, Nast asks, "Is This a Republican Form of Government? Is This Protecting Life, Liberty, or Property? Is This the Equal Protection of the Laws?" America: Post-Civil War What problems would the US be facing after the Civil War? What issues must be addressed through Reconstruction? Who will be in charge of Reconstruction? The Reconstruction Era President Lincoln, President Johnson, and the Radical Republicans The Need for Reconstruction Reconstruction – period when the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War (1865-1877) 1. To unify the Nation 1. 2. 2. 3. Politically – allow rebel states back into the Union Socially To help the Freedmen To secure the changes created by the Civil War President Lincoln’s Plan Lenient 13th Amendment = End Slavery (1865) 1863 – Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction 10% Plan Pardon Confederates who would swear allegiance to the Union Readmitted to Union if 10% of those who had voted in 1860 swore an oath of allegiance Question: Who was able to vote in Southern states in 1960? Why would this be a problem for Reconstruction? President Johnson’s Plan May, 1865 (Became president after Lincoln was assassinated) Lenient Break the Planters’ power However, Johnson believed that whites should rule the South Keep wealthy and powerful Southerners from taking the oath needed for voting privileges Pardoned more than 13,000 Confederates! 1866 – Vetoed laws passed by Congress Freedmen’s Bureau Act (create more help for freedmen) Civil Rights Act (Outlaw black codes, give blacks full citizenship) Radical Republican’s Plan Leaders Destroy all power of former slaveholders African Americans Given full citizenship Given the right to vote Overrode Johnson’s vetoes Created 14th Amendment Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts Representative Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania All men born or naturalized in the United States are guaranteed life, liberty, property, and protection under the law Passed Reconstruction Act of 1867 States readmitted under Lincoln and Johnson were not recognized until they followed the Republican’s plan Johnson’s Impeachment Why? Radical Republicans thought Johnson was blocking Reconstruction How? Johnson broke the law! What does “impeachment” mean? Tenure of Office Act (1868) – didn’t have Senate’s approval to remove Secretary of War Edwin Stanton but did it anyway! What happened? Congress voted not to convict Johnson Johnson did not run for a second term - Reconstruction’s Course Congressional Reconstruction Reconstruction Act of 1867 (Republicans) Divided Confederate states into five military districts In order to reenter the Union states had to… Ulysses S. Grant elected in 1868 Grant African American men suffrage (the right to vote) Ratify the Fourteenth Amendment (States cannon deny rights and privileges to any U.S. citizen, all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.) By 1970, also the 15th Amendment 9 out of 10 Southern blacks voted for Grant in 1868 Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment (1870) No man can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” Summary of Major Political Changes Amendments 13, 14 & 15 The Amendments of the Civil War Explain this Amendment to the Constitution in your own words. 13th Amendment: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. The Amendments of the Civil War Explain this Amendment to the Constitution in your own words. 14th Amendment: All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges…of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The Amendments of the Civil War Explain this Amendment to the Constitution in your own words. 15th Amendment: 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.