Transcript Reconstruction

Reconstruction
CHAPTER 8
Reconstruction- questions
 There were three main questions that needed to be
answered during the Reconstruction – the
period after the Civil War ended (1865) to 1877.
How will the seven southern states rejoin the Union?
 How will the southern economy be rebuilt?
 What rights will African Americans have?

Lincoln and Reconstruction
 Even before he left office, Abraham Lincoln began
attempting to answer these questions.

On April 14th, 1865, Lincoln’s plans for Reconstruction
came to a halt when the president was assassinated by a
Confederate supporter named John Wilkes Booth.
 Abraham Lincoln’s vice-president, Andrew
Johnson would take over the presidency, and
change the course of Reconstruction.
Radical Republicans
 Portion of the Republican Party who wanted the
following:



To punish and destroy the political power of southern
slaveholders;
Immediate citizenship and voting rights for African
Americans;
A powerful federal gov. to bring about the changes (quickly)
Moderate Republicans
 A member of the Republican Party who wanted the
following:



Rebuild the nation without punishing the South too much;
Gradually give African-Americans citizenship and right to
vote;
A powerful federal gov. to bring these changes (gradually)
Democrats
 Generally individuals from southern states who
wanted the following:


A weak federal gov. with an emphasis on states’ rights;
The issue of citizenship and voting rights for AfricanAmericans to be decided by individual states.
Abraham Lincoln
 President at the beginning of Reconstruction
 Moderate Republican
 Wanted to see the Union re-unified as quickly and
easily as possible.
Andrew Johnson
 President of the United States after Lincoln’s
assassination (1865-1869)
 Democrat
 Lenient Reconstruction policy (except for plantation
owners), and opposed African-American equality
Thaddeus Stevens
 Leader of the Radical Republicans in Congress
 Wanted harsh punishment for the southern states
 Wanted equality for African Americans
13th amendment
 Adopted in 1865;
 Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude
14th amendment
 Adopted in 1868;
 Makes all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
(including former slaves) citizens of the U.S.;
 Equal protection under the law.
15th amendment
 Adopted in 1870;
 Prohibits the denial of voting rights to people on the
basis of race, color, or previous servitude
Reconstruction- Part II
THREE PLANS AND THE ‘NEW’ SOUTHERN
ECONOMY
10% Plan
 Lincoln’s plan
 10% of a state’s voters had to take a loyalty oath to
the Union to set up a new state constitution
 Constitution must accept 13th amendment and
provide education for African Americans
Wade-Davis Bill
 Supported by Radical Republicans;
 Majority of a state’s prewar voters swear a loyalty
oath;
 Equality for African-Americans;

Freedmen’s Bureau provide supplies to Blacks and white
refugees in the South
Johnson’s Plan
 Supported by Andrew Johnson and other
Democrats;
 Ratify the 13th amendment;
 Promised restoration of land to anyone who swore a
loyalty oath;

Except wealthy planters– they had to write to him specifically
 African-American rights were not necessary
In response to Johnson’s Plan
 Most southern states met the requirements of
Johnson’s Plan (no surprise);
 Many states implemented black codes to restrict
African Americans

Laws limiting the rights of African Americans and
keep them as landless workers.
So Congress passed…
 Civil Rights Act of 1866= federal guarantee of
civil rights, superseding any state laws that
limited them.
 Johnson tried to veto it, but it did not work. It was
the first time in history Congress got the necessary
2/3 vote to overturn a president’s veto.
And it continued…
 Military Reconstruction Act of 1867= divided
remaining states into 5 military districts,
each governed by a Union general.
 States also had to write a new constitution that
guaranteed the right to vote for AfricanAmericans.
But what about the economy?
 Sharecropping= landowner dictates the crop,
and provides sharecropper with housing and
supplies in return for a ‘share’ of the crop’s price
at market.
 Share-tenancy= differed in that the worker could
choose the crop and had to purchase own
supplies.
 Tenant-farming= most independent form; pay
rent to landowner, but could manage crop as
they pleased.
Reconstruction- Part III
THE RISE OF THE KKK AND THE END OF
RECONSTRUCTION
Changes in the South
 Carpetbagger= a northerner who moved to
the South after the Civil War.
 Scalawag= a white southerner who joined the
Republican Party after the Civil War.
 Ku Klux Klan= a secret organization that
used terror tactics in an attempt to restore
white supremacy in Southern states after the
Civil War.
Response to the Reconstruction Act of 1877
 In 1867, Johnson attempted to remove Edwin
Stanton from his Secretary of War position while the
Senate was not in session.
 Congress had passed the Tenure of Office Act to
prevent him from doing so.
 When he did, Johnson became the first president to
be impeached, or accused of wrongdoing.
Grant’s presidency and Reconstruction
 Civil War hero whose presidency was marred
by scandal and corruption within his
administration.
 Had preached to “let no guilty man go free” but could
not see what was in front of him.
Southern whites gain power
 A group of southern whites known as Redeemers
attempted to regain power for the South in Congress
by uniting poor, moderate Republicans and
Democrats.
 Slowly, the power of the southern states grew.
The Election of 1876
 1876 election;
 Both candidates appealed to the dislike for
corruption;
 Tilden carried the South, but votes in 3 states were
disputed (SC, LA and FL)
 What solution to this problem would Congressional
representatives and Supreme Court justices come up
with?
Compromise of 1877
 The political compromise that gave Republican
Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in
exchange for the withdrawal of all federal
troops from the Southern states.
 This agreement ended Reconstruction.
Effects of Reconstruction
Positive
Negative
 Tax-supported
 Tensions still between
education system;
 Federal gov. monitors
railroads;
 Expansion of crops;
 Gave African
Americans an
understanding of rights
North and South;
 No voting rights for
women;
 African-Americans still
discriminated against;
 Distrust of gov. officials