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Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans)

Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans). Retreat on Land Reform During the Civil War, the Union captured not only Confederate troops, but their land as well Also, had gained large territories west from Mexico/Native Americans The question became what to do w/ land

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Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans)

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  1. Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans) • Retreat on Land Reform • During the Civil War, the Union captured not only Confederate troops, but their land as well • Also, had gained large territories west from Mexico/Native Americans • The question became what to do w/ land • Enter the Freedmen’s Bureau • Was to redistribute lands abandoned by Confederate planters by leasing forty-acre tracts to freedmen/loyal white refugees • After 3 yrs renter could purchase

  2. Retreat on Land Reform • 1,000,000 eligible freedmen for land program • Only 800,000 acres • Freedmen’s Bureau encouraged freedmen to negotiate labor contracts w/ ex-slaveholders • Feared if freedmen didn’t work that economy would take a hit • Not enough land for them to live on • To make matters worse, Johnson’s amnesty policies allowed ex-Confederates to take some of the land back…

  3. Retreat on Land Reform • Not just Johnson • Land reform was broken up by others as well… certain Northerners opposed land reform • What was northern economy centered around? • Many industries relied a lot on cotton • If you break up land, you break up productive plantations, you get less cotton • Less cotton = less $ for northern industries • textile manufacturers • bankers (who invested in these companies) • import-export houses (export the products made out of cotton) • northern merchants (who sell the finished products)

  4. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags • Carpetbaggers & Scalawags also were granted land that was otherwise intended to go to African Americans… • White, southern Republicans = Scalawags • Derogatory word originally describing worthless livestock • Most were poor southern yeoman farmers who joined the Republican party b/c they resented large planters’ monopoly on land, labor, & political power • Some were wealthy planters who realized that the future was not w/ slave labor but in industrialization, urbanization, & construction of wage-labor system • White, northern Republicans = Carpetbaggers • Used as derogatory term for northern Republicans who were viewed as coming to the South to gain $ & power • Referred to the cloth bags many of them used for transporting their possessions • However, many were coming to the South as Union soldiers, Freedmen’s Bureau agents, religious missionaries, or teachers • Some were business opportunists…

  5. Sharecropping • “Compromise” b/w freedmen & plantation owners • Name from fact that both the owner of the land & tiller of the land were to share in the harvest/profit • Tiller received seeds, materials, & right to work on land • Landlord received share in harvest • Freedmen found it better than working under labor contracts (black codes) in groups just like they did when they were slaves • Allowed to work @ own pace & individually • Landlords excepted it b/c for many it was the only way they could get labor • **Notice: African Americans still not able to readily own land

  6. Sharecropping • Vicious cycle: • Still didn’t own land & were dependent on white landlords • African Americans often found themselves in debt (remember they had to buy seed, materials, equipment…) • Landlords extended credit, but this only increased the debt • Coupled w/ lower value of cotton • Landlords would extend credit if they produced more, but this only flooded the market (increased supply, decreased demand or constant demand = lower price = less profit = more debt for African Americans)

  7. Reconstruction Retreats from Protection of African American Rights • KKK • Who did the Klan target & why? • Did not just target African Americans • Targeted African Americans, Republicans (white or black), teachers (especially if they were educating African Americans), anyone involved in the judicial process who was attempting to arrest/try a KKK member or anyone who had committed a crime against an African American, whites who provided any sort of aid to African Americans… • Intimidation; terror; racism; control…

  8. KKK • Formed in 1866, Tennessee by ex-confederates • Founder = Nathan Bedford Forrest (ex-confederate general) • Initially public outcry was great • Congress implemented 2 methods to counteract the KKK • 1st = 15th Amendment • Prohibits fed & state gov’t from denying anyone right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” • Only took 1 yr for the required 3/4ths states to ratify & for it to become law • 2nd = Congress established joint congressional committee to investigate violence & draft legislation against KKK • Through this they drafted several pieces of legislation in attempt to protect public (in particular Republicans) from KKK

  9. KKK • Ex) The Enforcement and Ku Klux Klan Acts • Established broad principles for legal/military intervention to protect rights/lives of African Americans & allies in South • President Grant used these acts to send troops into the South & declare martial law in South Carolina • Prosecuted KKK members under the Enforcement Act • As these issues continued, public support declined… grew frustrated (think about public opinion of our current situation in Iraq & Afghanistan) • Consequently Grant retreated on his previous gung-ho policies on tracking down & prosecuting KKK members • 1875 Mississippi governor begged Grant to send troops in order to ensure a free election • Grant refused… had grown “tired” of the situation

  10. KKK • FYI • KKK has had a presence in Michigan for decades • Former Grand Dragon Robert E. Miles lived in Cohort Township, near Howell, Michigan (SW over by Brighton) • The late (now deceased) U.S. Senator Robert Byrd is a former member of the KKK • He had renounced the group & claims that his ties w/ the Klan were loose... • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105.html

  11. Panic of 1873 • Triggered by Jay Cooke & Company • Many businessmen withdrew support for Reconstruction (large investment house) • Led to runs on the banks • NY stock exchange closed • 1874 construction on railroads came to an end • By 1876 ½ of railroads defaulted on their bonds • Companies tried to stay in business by engaging in price wars  prices plummeted • Longest period of uninterrupted economic downturn • 65 days • People hit very hard… many were now employed in industry • NY counted 100,000 unemployed

  12. Panic of 1873 • Labor unions suffered • Wages dropped, hours went up • Democrats took advantage of the downturn • People began to turn away from arguments for racial equality • Marked end of Reconstruction for African Americans • Had to accept working for whites

  13. Panic of 1873 • Compare to Great Depression • Run on banks • High unemployment • Stricter immigration policies • African Americans hired last/fired first • Compare to Today • 2000s Recession • High unemployment • One response: stricter immigration laws • In Michigan we revoked the Affirmative Action law (remember from conversations last unit)… this had obligated Universities & businesses to have certain percentage of minorities

  14. Reconstruction Retreats • Panic of 1873 • w/ the recession came further decline in support for Reconstruction • Many businessmen spoke out against the plan • Felt recession was partly due to the state the South was still in • If the South could regain its economic prominence, perhaps the country as a whole would pull out of the recession • Called for removal of all union forces from southern states

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