Transcript Reconstruction

Reconstruction
Presidential Reconstruction
Effects of the War
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2/3 of Southern shipping, 9K mi of railroads, and 1/3 of
livestock destroyed
Southern property value dropped 70%
Death toll
 North--364K dead
 South--260K dead (1/5 of white males)
4 million Southern slaves now were homeless, jobless
and hungry
Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $3 billion
Poor white Southerners couldn’t find work
Homeless children after the Civil War
Lincoln’s Plan for
Reconstruction
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Offered pardons to Confederates who swore an oath of
allegiance to the Union
Denied pardons to Confederates who had killed black
POW’s
Permitted states to hold constitutional conventions if
10% took the oath
Then states could hold elections and resume
participation in the Union.
Opposition--Radical Republicans believed the war was
fought over slavery and that the entire Southern society
should be restructured.
Abraham
Lincoln
Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
Pardon to Southerners who swore
allegiance
 Permitted states to hold a constitutional
convention.
 States required to void secession, abolish
slavery and ratify the 13th Amendment.
 Then states could hold elections and
reenter the Union.
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Andrew Johnson
Freedman’s Bureau
Created by Congress to help slaves adjust
to freedom
 Provided food, clothing, and education to
slaves
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Freedman's Bureau School in Lynchburg, circa 187677.
Congressional Reconstruction
Black Codes
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Passed by Southern states after reentry into the Union
Curfews--blacks couldn’t go out after sunset
Vagrancy Laws--freedmen could be fined, whipped, or
sold for a years labor for vagrancy
Labor contracts--blacks had to sign agreements that if
quit lost all wages earned
Freedmen could only rent land / homes in a rural area.
The codes enraged Congress.
14th Amendment
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Established civil rights for blacks and
outlaws the black codes
Radical Reconstruction
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Reconstruction Act of 1867
 Established military rule in the South (5 districts ruled
by a Northern General)
 Ordered southern states to create new constitutions
 Required states to allow all male citizens to vote
 Temporarily barred Southerners who’d supported the
CSA from voting.
 Required states to ratify the 14th Amendment
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The Battle over Reconstruction
President Johnson vs. the Radical
Republicans
 1868 Johnson tried to fire Edwin Stanton
(Sec. of War)
 This violated the recent Tenure of Office Act
which required Senate approval for firings.
 February 24, 1868--House of Representatives
voted to impeach Johnson.
 He escaped conviction by one vote.
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Edwin Stanton
15th Amendment
Gave male citizens of all races the right to
vote.
 1870--Southern black men voted for the
1st time.
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The New South
Overview
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Southerners resented the military rule of
the North. Some Northerners who came
south took advantage of poor Southerners.
Southerners found themselves heavily in
debt, and with no labor system to farm the
land. Despite the conditions, the South
rebuilt and adapted.
Farming
Sharecropping arose--farming a portion of
a planter’s land in exchange for a portion
of the crop.
 Tenant Farming--farmers who rented land.
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Economic Effects
More whites worked to harvest cotton
 Cash crops were emphasized
 Poor blacks and whites were deeply in
debt
 Merchants arose to supply the new “small”
farmers.
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Urbanization and Industry
Cities began to grow
 Cotton mill industry grew
 Alabama became the largest producer of
Iron and a major steel producer.
Birmingham will become known as the
“Pittsburgh of the South”
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Funding Reconstruction
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Sources-Congress
 Private investors
 Heavy taxes on Southerners
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Corruption
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Much of the money was lost to those who
cheated the South out of the money
Reconstruction Ends
Overview
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By March 1870 all Southern states had
reentered the Union. However, the
country was not united.
The Ku Klux Klan
1866--Founded as a social club in TN
 Evolved into a terrorist organization
 Sought to preserve the social order of
the South
 Tried to destroy the Republican party in
the South
 1870--Congress passed the Anti-Klan
laws. President Grant used the army to
enforce them and almost wiped out the
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Reasons Reconstruction Ended
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Created heavy debt in the South
Was very corrupt
As federal troops left the South, Southerners denied
blacks the vote and retook control of state governments.
Northerners never fully supported the goal of racial
equality
1873 recession took the focus off the South
The “Solid South” became a Democratic stronghold.
Effects of Reconstruction
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Successes
Union rebuilt and South repaired
 Stimulated economic growth in the South and
new wealth in the North
 14th and 15th amendments
 Freedmen’s Bureau
 South established publicly funded schools
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Failures
Blacks remained poor in the South
 Blacks were denied the right to vote
 Racism continued in the North and South
 White Southerners were left with a lasting
bitterness toward the federal government and
Republicans.
 Southern industry was slow to grow.
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