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“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan – to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. Abraham Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Speech, March 4, 1865
The Reconstruction Era Ruins seen from the capitol, Columbia, S.C., 1865
Reconstruction • Reconstruction (1865-1877) – period during which the United States began to rebuild after the Civil War and included the process by which the federal government readmitted former Confederate states.
After the War • South lay in ruins • Nearly 4 million freed slaves needed food, clothing, & jobs • Lincoln planned for Reconstruction, the rebuilding of the South Ruins seen from the Circular Church, Charleston, S.C.
Lincoln’s Ten-Percent Plan • General amnesty, or pardon, would be granted to all Southerners who would take an oath of loyalty to the U.S. • When 10% of the number of voters who had participated in the 1860 election had taken the oath within a particular state, then that state could launch a new state government and elect representatives to Congress • Excluded from this oath were former Confederate officials, Officers, and judges • Pledge to obey all federal laws pertaining to slavery
Lincoln’s Plan Angers Radicals • Radical Republicans led by Charles Sumner & Thaddeus Stevens opposed Lincoln’s Ten Percent plan • Thought Lincoln’s plan was too lenient • Did not want to reconcile with the South – wanted to “revolutionize Southern institutions, habits, & manners”
Radical Republicans Plan • The Radical Republicans had 3 main goals: • 1. Wanted to prevent the leaders of the Confederacy from returning to power after the War • 2. Wanted the Republican Party to become a powerful institution in the South • 3. Wanted the federal government to help African Americans achieve political equality by guaranteeing their right to vote
Radicals and Moderates Compromise • Moderate Republicans thought Lincoln’s plan was too lenient BUT also that the Radical Republicans were to radical with African American voting rights • In the summer of 1864 the Republicans compromised and came up with a plan called the Wade-Davis Plan
Wade-Davis Bill • Required the majority of the adult white men in former Confederate states to take the Ironclad Oath of allegiance to the Union • The state could then hold a constitutional convention to create a new government • The people chosen to attend the convention must take the Ironclad Oath – saying that they had never fought against the Union or supported the Confederacy
Wade-Davis Bill • Also, each state’s convention would have to: • 1. abolish slavery • 2. repay all debts the state had acquired as part of the Confederacy • 3. and deprive all former Confederate government officials and military officers of the right to vote or hold office • Lincoln blocked the bill with a pocket veto • He agreed with some of the goals BUT felt that harsh treatment of the South would be counterproductive
Freedman’s Bureau • Lincoln realized the South was already in chaos with the devastation of war and the collapse of the Southern economy • Thousands of people were unemployed, homeless, and hungry • Thousands of freed slaves “freedmen” needed help • Many were following Union troop, especially on Sherman’s March to the Sea
Freedman’s Bureau • Created by Congress and established March 1865 • Helped the 4 million slaves freed after the war • Negotiated labor contracts with planters, specifying pay and hours of work • Worked to educate freedmen -Provided housing for schools, trained and paid teachers
Reconstruction Plan of President Andrew Johnson • Vice President to Lincoln – became President after Lincoln’s assassination • Democrat from TN that had remained loyal to the Union • Like Lincoln, believed in a moderate Reconstruction plan
Johnson’s Plan • Closely resembled Lincoln’s plan • Offered a pardon for all former citizens of the Confederacy who took an oath of loyalty and to return their property – like Lincoln, excluded former Confederate officials and officers • However, they could apply for individual pardons from the President • Required states to ratify 13th Amendment abolishing slavery • After these issues were met, states then could organize new governments and elect Congress members
Responses Johnson’s Plan • Confederate states met Johnson’s demands • Radical and Moderate Republicans in Congress outraged because African Americans were not allowed to vote & former Confederate Leaders were elected to Congress
The Black Codes • After the war, most southern states quickly ratified the 13th Amendment as forced by the Reconstruction plan but…. • The new Southern legislators passed Black Codes, which limited the rights of African Americans in the South • Under Johnson’s policies of Reconstruction, nearly all the southern states would enact their own black codes in 1865 and 1866
The Black Codes • These codes greatly angered congressional Republicans • These codes varied from state to state, but all intended to keep African Americans in a condition similar to slavery • Many states required blacks to sign yearly labor contracts - if they refused, they risked being arrested as beggars and fined or forced into unpaid labor
Congressional Reconstruction • With the election of former Confederates to offices and the introduction of black codes, moderate Republicans joined the radicals and together they began to take over Reconstruction • In 1865 the House of Representatives and Senate leaders created a Joint Committee on Reconstruction to develop their own program for rebuilding the Union
The 14th Amendment • Granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. • Declared that no state could deprive any person of life, liberty, or property “without due process of law” • Also declared that no state could deny any person “equal protection of the law”
Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 • Essentially eliminated Johnson’s programs for reconstruction • Divided the south into 5 military districts • Each district was placed under Union general leadership to maintain peace and “protect the rights of persons and property”
Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 • New elections were held to design new constitutions acceptable to Congress • These new state constitutions had to give the right to vote to all adult male citizens, regardless of race • Had to ratify the 14th Amendment after drafting new state constitutions
Johnson’s Troubled Presidency • The Republicans wanted Johnson out Office, so they sought to impeach him • Impeach: To formally charge with misconduct in office • Congress passed 2 new laws to avoid any Presidential vetoes or refusal to enforce the laws they passed • 1.) Command of the Army Act • 2.) Tenure of the Office Act
Johnson’s Troubled Presidency • Congress passed 2 new laws to avoid any Presidential vetoes or refusal to enforce the laws they passed • 1.) Command of the Army Act • 2.) Tenure of the Office Act • Command of the Army Act – all orders from the President to go through the headquarters of the general of the Army (Grant’s headquarters) • Tenure of Office Act - cabinet members could not be removed “during the term of the president by whom they may have been appointed”
Johnson’s Troubled Presidency • Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton to challenge the Tenure of Office Act • 3 days later the House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson • He was tried in the Senate and vote was 35 to 19 (one vote short of the 2/3 majority needed to remove him from office) • Staying in office till the Election of 1868
Reconstruction Under Grant • 18th President - served two terms from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1877. • Grant presided over the last half of Reconstruction • Supported amnesty for Confederate leaders and protection for the civil rights of African-Americans
The 15th Amendment • Recognizing the importance of African American suffrage, the Republican run Congress passed the 15th Amendment • Declared that the right to vote “shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”
Reconstruction Under Grant • Reconstruction had a dramatic impact on the South • Changed the landscape of Southern politics by bringing African Americans to the political scene • It began to change the Southern society – made them angry with the federal government’s policies
Reconstruction Under Grant • He favored a limited number of troops to be stationed in the South to protect rights of Southern blacks, and suppress the violent tactics of the Ku Klux Klan • In 1869 and 1871, Grant signed bills promoting voting rights and prosecuting Klan leaders
Politics in Post War South • Republican Party in the South relied on 3 groups during reconstruction 1. African Americans (15th Amendment) 2. Scalawags 3. Carpetbaggers
African Americans Enter Politics • 15th Amendment gave African Americans the right to vote • Went from enslaved workers to legislators and administrators on nearly all levels of government • 14 elected to the House of Representatives and 2 to the Senate • 90% of blacks supported Republicans
Scalawags • White Southerners who worked with the Republicans and supported Reconstruction • Very diverse group of people • Many were owners of small farms who didn’t want the wealthy planters to regain power • Others were businessmen who favored Republican plans for developing the South’s economy
Carpetbaggers • Large #s of Northerners traveled to the South • Southerners called these newcomers “carpetbaggers” because they arrived with belongings in suitcases made of a carpet fabric • Many viewed the carpetbaggers as intruders seeking to exploit the South’s postwar turmoil for their own gain
The Collapse of Reconstruction • Anti-Black Violence • Grant’s Troubled End • Election of 1876 • Compromise of 1877
Anti-Black Violence • Angry with Republican reconstruction, many white Southerners organized secret societies to undermine Republican rule • Goal was to prevent African Americans from voting and supporting the Republicans • Largest of these secret groups was the Ku Klux Klan
Anti-Black Violence • Ku Klux Klan • Established in 1866 by former Confederate soldiers in TN • Wore hooded robes and rode in bands at night terrorizing African Americans and carpetbaggers • President Grant passed Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 to try and stop the Klan violence • Despite the almost 3,000 arrested around this time, only 600 served any time in prison • The KKK continued on to do its works as it could
Grants Troubled Administration • Despites Grants actions on the KKK, he was not a forceful President and the Republican Party began to divide • A series of scandals damaged his administration • Also, an economic panic known as the Panic of 1873, started due to a series of bad railroad investments forcing a powerful banking firm into bankruptcy • This set off a depression that lasted until almost the end of the decade
Election of 1876 • The rising power of the Democrats made enforcing Reconstruction more difficult • Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel Tilden (Democrat) • Tilden won the popular vote, Hayes won the electoral college • South was upset and disputed the election
Election of 1876 • Compromise of 1877 – agreement to settle the disputed election • Hayes (Republican) = president • Republicans would end military occupation of the South • White Democrats took control of southern state governments
Reconstruction Ends • Reconstruction came to and end with the removal of the federal troops and the collapse of Republican rule in the South • After Reconstruction, Southerners hoped for an industrial economy to emerge in the South – “New South” • Despite its industrial growth, new industries and railroads, the South changed very little in some ways
Reconstruction Ends • For African Americans the end of Reconstruction meant a return of the “old South” • Many returned to the plantations owned by whites either working for low wages or becoming tenant farmers – paying rent for the land they farmed • Because they could not afford their own land, many tenant farmers became sharecroppers
Reconstruction Ends • Sharecropping - is a system of agriculture in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on the land • Although it allowed African Americans to control their work for the first time in their lives, they rarely had enough crops left over to sell to allow them to ever buy their own land • The Civil War ended slavery, but Reconstruction’s failure left many African Americans, and many poor whites, trapped in economic turmoil that was beyond their control
