The Reconstruction Era
Rival Plans for Reconstruction
Reconstruction
Reconstruction – Program put in place by the federal government to repair damage to the South and restore the southern states to the Union.
Simply speaking, it’s putting the pieces of the puzzle back together.
Three Different Plans
As soon as ten percent of a state’s voters took a loyalty oath to the Union, the state could set up a new government.
Lincoln was even willing to consider the following:
1. Grant pardons for former Confederates.
2. Compensate them for lost property.
3. Not requiring a guarantee of social or political equality for African Americans.
If the state’s constitution abolished slavery and provided education for African Americans, the state would regain representation in Congress. Lincoln’s plan angered members
of his own party who wanted to punish the South as well as having full rights for African Americans.
Led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, these
“Radical Republicans” in Congress insisted that the Confederates
had committed high crimes.
The Radical Republicans passed the
Wade - Davis Bill that required:
1. A majority of a state’s prewar voters swear loyalty to the Union
2. Guarantees of African American equality
Freedmen’s Bureau
The Freedmen’s Bureau’s goal was to provide food, clothing, healthcare, and education for both black and white refugees in the South.
The Bureau also helped to:
1. Reunite families that had been separated by slavery and war.
2. Negotiate fair labor contracts between former slaves and white landowners.
3. Helped represent African Americans in courts.
Historical Significance:
V.P. Andrew Johnson became President after Lincoln’s death. He intended to follow the broad outline of Lincoln’s Plan.
Johnson’s Plan included:
1. States were to withdraw secession.
2. Swear allegiance to the Union.
3. Ratify the 13th Amendment & draft a constitution that abolished slavery.
Historical Significance: He did not want A.A. to have the right to vote. He supported states’ rights over federal regulations, therefore, allowing states to be able to limit the freedoms of former slaves.
Black Codes
As southern states were restored to the
Union under President Johnson’s plan,
they began to enact black codes.
The Black Codes established virtual slavery with provisions such as:
§ Curfews: Generally, black people could not gather after sunset.
§ Vagrancy Laws: Freedmen convicted of vagrancy – that is, not working – could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor.
§ Labor Contracts: Freedmen had to sign agreements in January for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned.
§ Land Restrictions: Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations.
Johnson Battles Congress
The Radical Republicans that controlled
Congress did not approve of Johnson’s
lack of support for African Americans’
rights.
Congress responds by:
§ Expansion of Freedmen’s Bureau to include punishing state officials who fail to extend civil rights to African Americans.
§ Civil Rights Act of 1866 – Ending of Black Codes by creating a federal guarantee of civil rights to African Americans.
Andrew Johnson would use his veto power to block these laws. Johnson was now openly defying Congress. Congress believed Johnson was working against Reconstruction and overrode his veto.
Congress did something unprecedented. With the required 2/3rds majority, it passed major legislation over a President’s veto. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 became law.
Congress begins its Reconstruction Plan, but first they need to take care of something…
President Johnson is impeached and the 14th Amendment passed. (Citizenship)
Impeachment Process
Impeachment – Accusation against a public official of wrongdoing in office. Brining charges against the Presidents. Involves two steps.
1st Step: U.S. House of Representatives hold hearings to decide
if there are crimes committed. They then vote on the charges
and if there is a majority, then, charges are brought against
the President.
2nd Step: U.S. Senate becomes a courtroom. The President is tried for the charges brought against him. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the judge. Once trial is completed, Senators must vote to remove President with a 2/3rds vote.
Johnson’s Impeachment
§ Brought up on 11 charges of high crimes and misdemeanors.
§ Tenure in Office Act: Law Congress passed stating that the President can’t fire any of his
cabinet members without consulting Congress.
§ Fired Edwin Stanton
§ Missed being removed from office by 1 vote.
§ The Presidency would suffer as a result of this failed impeachment.
§ President would be more a figure-head.
§ Saved the separation of powers of 3 branches of government.
Congress overturned Johnson’s vetoes and enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Freedmen’s Bureau. Congress passed the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equality under the law for all citizens.
Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which divided the 10 southern states into 5 military districts governed by former Union generals. The South would be reconstructed under the Radical Republicans plan.
Election of 1868
African Americans help republican candidate and former Union general, Ulysses S. Grant elected President.
Republican leaders now had another reason for securing a constitutional amendment that would guarantee black suffrage throughout the nation. In 1869, Congress passed the 15th Amendment forbidding any state from denying suffrage on the grounds of race.
Civil War Amendments
§ 13th Amendment: Abolished slavery (1865)
§ 14th Amendment: Provided citizenship & equal protection under the law. (1868)
§ 15th Amendment: Provided the right to vote for all men, which included white and black men. (1870)
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The Reconstruction Era
Rival Plans for Reconstruction
Putting the Puzzle Together
Republicans dominated their newly established state governments.
90% of all African Americans voted when they had the opportunity.
Carpetbaggers – Northerners who came South after the
Civil War. Voted Republican; viewed negatively by southerners;
held high offices.
Scalawags – White southerners who joined blacks and
carpetbaggers in the Republican Party. Viewed as traitors by
most southerners.
Who was Hiram Revels?
Hiram Revels was the first A.A. elected to the Senate.
In 1870 he replaced the seat vacated by Jefferson Davis.
Life in the South
§ A term of compensation that was awarded to freed slaves after the Civil War by General Sherman.
§ President Johnson ordered that the original landowners be allowed to reclaim their land and evict the former slaves.
Congress passed the 1866 Southern Homestead Act. This set aside 44 million acres in the South for freed blacks, but the land was swampy and unsuitable for farming.
Historical Significance: The phrase has come to represent the failure of
Reconstruction to assist African Americans.
Farming in the South created a cycle of debt, which began with sharecropping.
Sharecropping – A system in which landowners give farm workers land, seed,
and tools in return for a part of crops they raise.
At harvest time, each worker gave a share, usually half, to the landowner. In theory, “croppers” who saved a little and bought their own tools could drive a better bargain with landowners. They might even be able to become a tenant farmer.
Tenant Farming – A system in which farm workers supply their own tools and rent farmland for cash.
During the war, the demand for Southern cotton had begun to
as other countries increased their production. As a result,
prices plummeted after the war.
Southern planters tried to make up for the lower prices by growing more cotton – an oversupply that only drove down prices even further.
The Reconstruction Era
The End of Reconstruction
The Collapse of Reconstruction
Some bitter Southern whites relied on violence to keep
African Americans from participating in politics. The
Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was founded as a social club for
Confederate veterans.
Soon the Klan turned into a violent
organization. The KKK practiced domestic terrorism. Its major goal was to restore white supremacy and prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights.
NC Senator John Stephens
Stephens, a white republican, stated that 3,000 A.A. voters had supported him and he would not abandon them. Stephens was
assassinated by the KKK in 1870.
Republican Scandals
Grant’s strength, however, were those of a military leader, not those of a politician or government leader. Scandals and corruption damaged Grant’s administration, which diverted attention away from the conditions in the south.
Among the most notorious scandals were:
i. Credit Mobilier Scandal: Railroad officials impoverished the railroad, then bribed members of Congress to block any investigation.
ii. “Whiskey Ring”: Internal Revenue collectors accepted bribes from whiskey distillers who wanted to avoid paying taxes on their product.
As the evidence mounted, there was increasing disgust with the blatant corruption in Grant’s administration. Grant did not seek reelection in 1876.
Democrats “Redeem” the South
Election of 1876 -- Samuel Tilden (D) v. Rutherford B. Hayes (R)
Tilden won the popular vote, but needed one more electoral vote to win the presidency. A deal was made called the Compromise of 1877.
Historical Significance: Democrats now had Home Rule – the ability to run state governments without federal intervention.
These so called redeemers set out to rescue the
South from what they viewed as a decade of
mismanagement by northerners, republicans,
and African Americans.
The withdrawal of federal troops enabled white
southerners to eliminate any political advances
A.A. had made during Reconstruction.
Various methods were used to curb the rights
of African Americans, and by 1900, their civil rights had been sharply limited.