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Reconstructing a Nation

Reconstructing a Nation. Johnson Clashes With Congress. Johnson vetoes Civil Rights/Freedmen’s Bureau Acts – Angers Congress Moderate and Radical Republicans in Congress join together to override Presidential vetoes.

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Reconstructing a Nation

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  1. Reconstructing a Nation

  2. Johnson Clashes With Congress • Johnson vetoes Civil Rights/Freedmen’s Bureau Acts – Angers Congress • Moderate and Radical Republicans in Congress join together to override Presidential vetoes

  3. All people born in the U.S. are citizens and cannot be deprived of “life, liberty, or property without due process of law” • Did not grant African Americans right to vote, but punished those states who chose to withhold the vote from any male citizens • At Johnson’s suggestion, Southern states reject the amendment • Not approved until 1868

  4. Reconstruction Act of 1867 • Republicans gained strong advantage with 1866 elections • Act did not recognize state governments formed under Lincoln and Johnson plans (only Tennessee) • Split former Confederate states into 5 military districts, each led by a Union general • Required states to set up governments which ensured African Americans the right to vote • Johnson vetoed, Congress overrode

  5. Johnson Impeached • Impeach – to formally charge a government official with misconduct in office • Congress moved to impeach Johnson when he acted against the “Tenure of Office Act” • Senate vote to remove him from office fell one vote short • Grant (Republican) wins 1868 election

  6. No one can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” • Enforcement Act of 1870 gives federal government more power to punish those who tried to prevent African Americans from voting

  7. Southern Living • All Southern states had reentered by 1870 • Poverty reaches new highs • Extensive physical damage to property and resources • Male population devastated by war • Public works programs build roads, bridges, railroads, orphanages, institutions, and schools

  8. Carpetbaggers and Scalawags • Scalawags – white Southerners who joined the Republican party • Some sought political positions, others believed in the platform and wished to improve their standing • Carpetbaggers – Northerners who moved to the South after the war • Some came seeking profit, others felt a moral obligation to help

  9. Challenges Facing Former Slaves • Without jobs, money, or land, many moved to Southern cities • Many searched for loved ones, usually without success • 80% of former slaves were illiterate • Some Southern whites responded with violence to new freedoms

  10. Where to Turn? • 1866 Southern Homestead Act set aside 44 million acres of land for freed blacks and loyal whites • Land was generally swampy and unsuitable for farming • Sharecropping – Landowners gave a few acres to a worker in exchange for a portion of their harvest • Tenant Farming – Workers pay with cash instead of crops

  11. Cotton Dethroned • During the war, other countries increased cotton production • Rather than diversify, Southerners attempted to grow more, driving prices down further • Led to growth of textile mills and tobacco industry in the South

  12. Ku Klux Klan • Originally founded as a social club for Confederate veterans, became a violent terrorist organization • Targeted African Americans and whites who supported them • Fought to eliminate Republican influence in the South • Used intimidation to halt growth and reform

  13. Republicans Weakened • Economic scandals involving Grant administration lead to Republican disunity • Liberal Republican Party forms and ran Horace Greeley against Grant • More scandal in Grant’s 2nd term • Economic Panic in 1873 adds to collapse of Reconstruction • Rutherford B. Hayes wins election of 1876

  14. Home Rule in the South • Home Rule – the ability to run state governments without federal intervention • Democrats gained control of every Southern state • Passed laws restricting rights of African Americans, wiped out social programs, cut taxes, and took down public schools

  15. Legacy of Reconstruction • Granted legal rights to African Americans, but failed to protect them • Failed to establish freed blacks economically • Republicans didn’t recognize how much racism would weaken movements for change • 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments provided constitutional foundation for future civil rights movements

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