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Congress Takes Charge. Chapter 17, Section 2. Reports sent to Congress that Confederate flags were being sold in the southern cities. Patrons sang Confederate songs. This was considered evidence of an intense hostility toward the federal union and love for the Confederacy.
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Congress Takes Charge Chapter 17, Section 2
Reports sent to Congress that Confederate flags were being sold in the southern cities. • Patrons sang Confederate songs. • This was considered evidence of an intense hostility toward the federal union and love for the Confederacy.
A New Kind of Bondage in the South • Black codes: laws that severely limited the rights of freedmen. • Forbade rights to vote, own guns, or serve in juries. • In some states freedmen were permitted to work only as servants or farm laborers.
A New Kind of Bondage in the South • They were forced to sign a contract agreeing to work for a year. If they didn’t have a contract they could be arrested and sentenced to work on a plantation. • Black codes allowed blacks to legally marry and own property. • Black codes were clearly developed to keep freedmen from gaining economic or political power.
The North Reacts • Joint Committee on Reconstruction sent President Johnson a report condemning southern practices. • Johnson ignored the report. • Members of congress vowed to take Reconstruction out of the president’s hands.
Radicals • Radical Republicans: ( Radicals) those who led the opposition to President Johnson • Thaddeus Stevenson of Pennsylvania led the Radicals in the House. • Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was the chief Radical Republican in the Senate. • 2 Main Goals: • 1. Break the power of the rich plantation owners in the south. • 2. Ensure that freedmen received the right to vote.
Moderates • Radical republicans did not control Congress; they needed help from moderate Republicans. • Moderate Republicans made up the largest group in Congress. • Moderates did not agree with all of the radicals ideas. • They did agree on creating a strict policy toward the South.
The President and Congress Clash • April 1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. • Civil Rights Act: gave citizenship to African Americans; passed in hopes of combating the black codes • President Johnson vetoed the bill. • Republicans in Congress overrode the veto.
Citizenship for African Americans • Some worried that the Supreme Court would declare the Civil Rights issue unconstitutional. • Dred Scott decision in 1857 ruled African Americans were not citizens.
Citizenship for African Americans • Fourteenth Amendment: granted citizenship to all persons born in the United States. This included nearly all African Americans. • Granted all citizens equal protection under the law. • Declared no state shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This made it illegal to discriminate against any individual for any reason such as color. • Any state that denied African Americans the right to vote would have their representation in Congress reduced.
Election of 1866 • President Johnson opposed the Fourteenth Amendment and urged former Confederate states to reject it. • In time all former Confederate states did so except for Tennessee. • During the election 1866 Johnson urged northern voters to reject the radical republicans plan and endorse his plan for Reconstruction.
Election of 1866 • Audiences heckled President Johnson and at times he yelled back. • July 1866 white mobs rioted in New Orleans killing 34 African Americans. This convinced many northern that Johnson’s plan was not working. • Republicans won majorities in both the houses of Congress and every northern governorship, as well as majorities in every northern state legislature.
The Radical Program • Radical Reconstruction: the period following the election of 1866 when Republicans controlled Congress and could override Johnson’s vetoes. • Reconstruction Act: threw out the southern state governments that had refused to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. (All the former confederate states except Tennessee). • Divided the South into 5 military districts. • Required the former Confederate states to write new constitutions. • Required new state governments to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment. • Stated that African Americans must be allowed to vote.
Elections in the South • Many white southern stayed away from the poles to show their disgust with Radical Reconstruction policies. • Freedmen proudly lined up to vote. And Republicans gained control of the new southern state governments. • Congress continued to pass reconstruction Acts overriding President Johnson’s vetoes. • Fearful that Johnson would not enforce the legislation, Congress decided to remove the President from office.
Showdown • February 24, 1868 the House of Representatives votes to impeach President Johnson. • Impeach: to bring formal charges of wrongdoing against an elected official. • The house can impeach the President for high crimes and misdemeanors. The case is tried in the Senate • President can be removed from office if found guilty by 2/3 of the Senate. • Despite pressure from fellow republicans the Senate was one vote shy needed to impeach Johnson.
Grant Becomes President • 1868 Republican nominated general Ulysses S. Grant as their candidate. (Union hero from the Civil War) • Most southern states had now rejoined the union. • About 700,000 blacks went to the pole to vote. • Grant easily won the Presidency.
The Fifteenth Amendment • Fifteenth Amendment: forbade any state from denying African Americans the right to vote. • Republican realized that if African Americans could vote in the north it would help elect republicans • African American soldiers had made great sacrifices during the Civil War. • 1870 Fifteenth amendment was ratified.
