Transcript Reconstruction

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South seceded from the Union to form the
Confederacy
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Civil War 1861-1865
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Texas
South lacks resources, supplies, soldiers
Ends when Confederate General Robert E. Lee
surrenders to Union General Ulysses S. Grant
April 9, 1865
April 14, 1865-Lincoln assassinated
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1863-President Lincoln issues Emancipation
Proclamation, which frees slaves
Texans do not hear about this, though
June 19, 1865 Union General Gordon Granger
lands at Galveston and proclaims that the
slaves in Texas are free
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“Juneteenth”
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Federal agency designed to help former slaves
and manage Confederate-seized land
General E.M. Gregory-head of Texas bureau
Find jobs for freed Texans
Issue food/clothing to sick, aged, and poor
Opens public schools (eventually closed when
the bureau ceased operation)
Defended rights of former slaves in court
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Texas is a large state with poor
transportation/communication system
Hostility of whites Texans (and Southerners in
general)
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Since African Americans are free, some go in
search of family members from whom they
were separated
Since other southern states were destroyed
during the war, southerners came to Texas
looking for land.
More Europeans came to Texas (Germans,
Irish, French, English, Austrians, Czechs, Scots,
Swedes, and Swiss)
Period lasting from 1865-1870s
 Southern states are gradually brought back
into the Union
 Rebuilding the
Union
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Disagreement among Northerners about how
the South should be handled
Lincoln feels like the former Confederate states
should be given some sympathy
After assassination, President Andrew Johnson
continues Lincoln’s plan
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Set up a provisional government in each
southern state with troops to protect them
Must prohibit slavery
Must nullify, or cancel, ordinance of secession
Citizens must take oath of allegiance to US
Voting requirements
Confederate leaders must seek pardon from
president
After this, southern states can write new
constitutions
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Andrew Jackson
Hamilton appointed
governor by President
Johnson
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Against Texas secession,
like Sam Houston
Honest and fair-minded
But most Texans liked him
because he wanted the
Reconstruction process to
go smoothly
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Governor Hamilton appointed many state and
local officers who took the oath of allegiance
Delegates wrote a new constitution (some of
these delegates were former Confederates who
got pardons)
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Declares slavery illegal
Declares secession illegal
Schools for African Americans
DOES NOT give them full rights, because
African Americans do not have the right to
vote (disappoints Governor Hamilton)
Ratified June 1866
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Some Northerners think that Lincoln and
Johnson were “going too easy” on the former
Confederate states
They wanted Congress to decide how they
should be readmitted into the Union
Why do you think Congress felt this way?
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Most elected southern officials were exConfederates
Example: newly elected Texas Governor
Throckmorton had been a Confederate general
It made Congress very nervous and upset that
the very people who called for secession were
basically back in power.
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Changes to the Constitution passed by
Congress
13th amendment-abolishes slavery
14th amendment-grants citizenship to former
enslaved people
Texas legislators and other southern states
refuse to ratify, or accept, these amendments
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Southern states started passing black codes
Black codes-Laws limiting the rights of African
Americans (not as restrictive in Texas, but still
offensive)
Examples:
Not allowed to vote
 Not allowed to testify against a white person
 Cannot serve on juries
 If African Americans don’t have a job or home, they
work for a plantation owner
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Northerners who want stricter regulations for
Southern states to get back in the Union
Want Congress to set up these regulations
Want to protect the rights of and freedoms
about African Americans (they think that in the
long run, they will stay in power this way)
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Many get elected to Congress in 1866
They can override any presidential veto
They do not get along with President Johnson
and even vote to impeach him
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Remove him from office because of misconduct
Senate fails to convict him
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Radical Republican Congress’s plan for
Southern states to reenter the Union
1. Military governs 1 of 5 districts of the South
(TX and LA are one district)
2. State constitutions must give African American
men the right to vote and to hold office
3. Require states to ratify the 14th amendment and
15th amendment (guarantees African
Americans the right to vote)
4. Must repeal the black codes
5. Voters must take Ironclad Oath which states
that southerners had not served in Confederate
army (prevents many from voting)
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This plan pleased many Unionists and African
Americans
Southerners VERY mad
In Texas, Governor Throckmorton did NOT
put these laws into effect.
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Elisha M. Pease appointed governor of Texas
after Throckmorton was removed by Unionists
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Well respected by Texans, as well as Radical
Republicans
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All across Texas, ex-Confederates were removed
from office and replaced with Radical Republican
sympathizers
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Scalawags-Southern whites who supported
Reconstruction
Carpetbaggers-Northerners who came to the
South during Reconstruction to help rebuild
the nation
Ku Klux Klan-group of white Southerners who
used terror to prevent African Americans from
exercising their rights
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Written by delegates including African
Americans
No one excluded from voting due to race or
color
Support for public education
Extended rights of African Americans
Many African Americans elected to office
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Edmund J. Davis (Radical Republican choice)
elected to governor in 1869
Ratified of the 14th and 15th amendment
Everything seems to be ok in Texas
BUT, March 30, 1870, President Ulysses S.
Grant declares that Reconstruction in Texas
had ended………….
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Many Texans did not like Republican Governor
Davis
Argued that he gave too many rights to African
Americans and Tejanos
 Tried to restrict rights of white Southerners
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Increased spending (education, etc.) meant that
state debt increased
Many Texans overlooked the successes of
Davis
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1872 anti-Davis Democrats won a majority of
seats in the state legislature
They reduced the power of the governor and
abolished the state police force
Richard Coke (ex-Confederate) ran against
Davis for governor and won
Fighting over when Coke will be sworn in
Coke sworn in January 15, 1874, and Davis
forced to leave
Reconstruction is officially over