Economic Changes and the Death of Lincoln: Post-Civil War Challenges

1. Chapter 11.5-12.1

2. Economic Changes • National Banking System is created, 1st national system since Jackson had killed 1st BUS in 1830’s • Reason for importance: • Established a standardized money system • Could by gov’t bonds and issue paper money. (regulated the amount of money in circulation, today we call it “monetary policy”) • Will last for 50 years until replaced by current system, Federal Reserve System in 1913

3. Death of Lincoln • April 14, 1865 a few days after Lee surrenders, Lincoln is was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while attending a play at Ford’s Theater • Part of larger conspiracy that falls apart, manhunt is launched for Booth who is captured, tried, hanged • Lincoln becomes an instant martyr---hero who brought the country back together

4. After the War….the costs • Civil War was costly in many ways…. • 600,000 lives lost, $15 billion spent on war effort, South is demolished and must be rebuilt • Benefits of War…. • Showed resilience of the US • Slavery is gone • US has dealt with its “issues” and is now ready to be a major player on the world stage.

5. Problems of Peace • Following the war, many questions lingered, such as… • What about the freed blacks? • How will be South be re-united with the North? • Who will make these decisions? • The South had been largely destroyed. It'd have to be rebuilt or reconstructed. How to do this was uncertain and many Southerners still stood staunchly against the North.

6. Reconstruction = rebuilding the south • 3 plans of reconstruction • Abraham Lincoln’s Plan • Radical Republican Plan • Andrew Johnson’s Plan

7. Lincoln’s Plan (Presidential Reconstruction) • Designed to bring back southern states in easiest way possible • Radical Republicans in Congress thought it was too easy • Nickname is the “10% Plan”

8. Lincoln’s Plan: the Parts • Former CSA states can come back to USA after: • 1. Respect Emancipation • 2. 10% of registered voters in 1860 take a loyalty oath to the USA

9. Congressional Response • Congress shows their unhappiness with the plan by trying to pass the WADE DAVIS BILL • WADE DAVIS BILL: • It required 50% of voters to take the allegiance oath and safeguards to protect the freed blacks. • Lincoln pocket-vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill and killed it

10. Andrew Johnson’s Plan • Andrew Johnson takes over office after Lincoln is killed in 1865 • Johnson’s Reconstruction plan: • 10% of voters have to take loyalty oath • Leading Confederates could not vote, ever • Confederate war debts must be paid • States must pass 13th Amendment (ended slavery)

11. The States Come back • Within months of AJ issuing his plan (May 1865) all of the former CSA states (except Texas) had met the requirements and voted to return to the Union • However, not all states technically met all the requirements • When the new Congress met in Dec 1865, newly elected Southern congressmen (many of them former CSA officials and generals) Johnson pardoned them all • This makes the Republicans VERY MAD!

12. Freedmen’s Bureau • The freed slaves were largely unskilled, uneducated, and untrained. Congress created the Freedmen's Bureau sought to remedy those shortfalls. • The bureau was essentially an early form of welfare. It was to provide food, clothing, health care, and education. • Gen. O. O. Howard headed the bureau (and later founded Howard University in D.C.). • The Freedmen's Bureau's success was minimal at best. Its largest accomplishment came in the form of literacy—teaching many blacks to read. • Unsurprisingly, Southerners disliked the bureau. Pres. Andrew Johnson unsuccessfully tried to kill it, but it expired in 1872 anyway.

13. Black Codes • White Southerners now had a problem: without slavery, how could they ensure a stable labor force? • The Southern solution was to pass "Black Codes" which were rules designed to tie the freed blacks to their white employers. • They were contracts that said the blacks were bound to work for whites for a certain time period. "Jumping" the contract (leaving before the time was up) was punishable with fines. • The codes were discriminatory in that blacks were banned from serving on juries, renting land, and could be punished for "idleness." • Many Northerners wondered, "Isn't this essentially the same as slavery?" The life of an African-America after the Civil War was hardly any different than before the war.

14. 14th Amendment • Congress then planned to pass the Civil Rights Bill by making the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment was passed by Congress and sent to the states for their approval. Its proposals… • Civil Rights and citizenship for the freedmen (but not the right to vote). • To cut state Congressional representation if blacks were denied voting. • Disqualified Confederate leaders from federal offices. • Guaranteeing the federal debt and repudiating the state debt. • Said that Southern states who passed it, would be accepted by Congress back in US

15. 1866 Congressional Elections • Issue of who should control Congress was big issue of 1866 Congressional elections • AJ went campaigning for those members of Congress who agreed wit his plan • AJ was not very popular and Radical Republicans won in a landslide!

16. Reconstruction Act of 1867 • The Reconstruction Act was passed in March, 1867. • 1. Divides South into 5 military districts • 2.Pass 14th Amendment • 3.Allow African Americans to vote .

17. Impeachment of Johnson • The Radical Republicans in Congress were tired of Pres. Johnson and his veto stamp. They plotted to remove him. • The plan was to put the president in a lose-lose situation. Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act which said the president needed the Senate's okay to fire anyone who'd been previously appointed by him and approved by the Senate. • The argument was that the Senate approved appointees into office, thus the Senate must approve them out. • Congress' ulterior motive was to protect Edwin M. Stanton's job. He was a Radical Republican spy and in hot water with the president. • If Johnson allowed Stanton to stay, Congress would be happy. • If Johnson fired Stanton despite the new rule, they would put him up for impeachment for not following the letter-of-the-law.

18. Impeachment of Johnson • Sure enough, early in 1868, Pres. Johnson fired Stanton and Congress impeached him—a formal accusation of wrong doing. • At his Senate impeachment trial, Johnson stayed silent. His lawyers argued that Johnson was operating under the Constitution, not the Tenure of Office Act. • To kick out a president, a 2/3 vote was needed. The Senate vote came short by 1 meaning Johnson stayed in office. • Seven Republicans voted with their conscience and voted to not remove Johnson. • The fear of creating instability and setting a dangerous example were factors in the not-guilty verdict

19. Election of 1868 • US Grant (former General) wins election • Shortly after that 15th amendment passed (voting for all, except women)