Reconstruction (1865-1876)

1. Reconstruction (1865-1876)

2. Key Questions 1. How do webring the Southback into the Union? 4. What branchof governmentshould controlthe process ofReconstruction? 2. How do we rebuild the South after itsdestruction during the war? 3. How do weintegrate andprotect newly-emancipatedblack freedmen?

3. Wartime Reconstruction

4. President Lincoln’s Plan • 10% Plan • Lincoln did not believe that the states ever “technically” seceded (left the Union) • Individuals can rebel, not states • KEY POINTS • Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers. • When 10% of the voting population in the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a government, it would be recognized.

5. President Lincoln’s Plan • 1864  “Lincoln Governments” formed in LA, TN, AR • “loyal assemblies” • They were weak and dependent on the Northern army for their survival.

6. Radical Republicans • Minority – but outspoken – group of Republicans in Congress • CharlesSumner (that dude who got beat!) • ThaddeusStevens • Thought Lincoln’s plan did not go far enough • Wanted to destroy any political power of former slaveholders (specifically plantation owners)

7. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) • Required 50% of the number of 1860 voters to take an “iron clad” oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion ). • “Iron-Clad” Oath. • Required a state constitutional convention before the election of state officials. • Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen’s liberties. SenatorBenjaminWade(R-OH) CongressmanHenry Davis(R-MD) PocketVeto PresidentLincoln Wade-DavisBill

8. 13th Amendment • Ratified in December, 1865. • Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. • Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

9. Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) • Aim was to assist former slaves AND poor whites living the south with food & clothing • Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help southern freedmen. • Called “carpetbaggers” by white southern Democrats.

10. Scalawags! • The Democrats had many harsh labels for various groups during this time • Scalawag referred to any White Southerner who supported the Republicans and Reconstruction

11. Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes Plenty to eat and nothing to do.

12. Freedmen’s Bureau School

13. Presidential Reconstruction

14. President Andrew Johnson • Jacksonian Democrat. • Anti-Aristocrat • Didn’t like the old Southern plantation owners • Agreed with Lincolnthat states had neverlegally left the Union.

15. President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) • Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except Confederate civil and military officers and those with property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to Johnson) • In new constitutions, they must accept minimumconditions repudiating slavery, secession and state debts. • Named provisional governors in Confederate states and called them to oversee elections for constitutional conventions. 1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates. 2. Pardoned planter aristocrats brought them back to political power to control state organizations. EFFECTS? 3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite were back in power in the South!

16. “40 Acres & a Mule” • Phrase often associated with an early attempt to compensate (help) freed slaves establish themselves after the war • Some freed slaves were given land & equipment during • Johnson immediately revokes this program

17. Congress Breaks with the President • Congress bars SouthernCongressional delegates. • Joint Committee on Reconstruction created. • February, 1866  Presidentvetoed the Freedmen’sBureau bill. • March, 1866  Johnsonvetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act. • Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes  1st in U. S. history!!

18. Growing Northern Alarm! • Many Southern state constitutions fell short of minimum requirements. • Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons. • Revival of southern defiance. BLACK CODES

19. Black Codes • Purpose: • Guarantee stable labor supply now that blacks were emancipated. • Restore pre-emancipationsystem of race relations. • Banned black people from having weapons, serving on juries, marrying whites, and many other “freedoms” • Had to carry papers to travel • Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers[tenant farmers].

20. Radical (Congressional) Reconstruction

21. 14th Amendment • Ratified in July, 1868. • All persons (MALE) “born or naturalized” in the United States are entitled to citizenship regardless of race • Insure against neo-Confederate political power. • Southern states would be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens!

22. Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle” The 1866 Midterm Election • A referendum on Radical Reconstruction. • Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda tour around the country to push his plan. • Republicanswon a 3-1majority in both houses and gained control of every northern state.

23. The Balance of Power in Congress

24. Radical Plan for Readmission • Civil authorities in the territories were subject to military supervision. • Required new state constitutions, including black suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments. • In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making.

25. Reconstruction Acts of 1867 • Military Reconstruction Act • Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment. • Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.

26. Reconstruction Acts of 1867 • Command of the Army Act • The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military. • Tenure of Office Act • The President could not remove any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval. • Designed to protect radicalmembers of Lincoln’s government. • A question of the constitutionality of this law. Edwin Stanton

27. President Johnson’s Impeachment • Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868. • Johnson replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction. • The House impeached him on February 24 before even drawing up the charges by a vote of 126 – 47!

28. The Senate Trial • 11 week trial. • Johnson acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3s vote).

29. Black "Adjustment" in the South

30. The Abandonment of Reconstruction

31. Northern Support Wanes • “Grantism” & corruption. • Panic of 1873 [6-yeardepression]. • Concern over westwardexpansion and Indian wars. • Key monetary issues: • should the government retire $432m worth of “greenbacks” issued during the Civil War. • should war bonds be paid back in specie orgreenbacks.

32. 1876 Presidential Tickets

33. 1876 Presidential Election

34. The Political Crisis of 1877 • “Corrupt Bargain” Part 2? • Here we go again!

35. Hayes Prevails

36. A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877 • Southerners could agree to having Hayes is president for a price… • Withdrawal of federal troops • Federal money for railroad • Hayes must appoint a conservative to the Cabinet

37. Alas, the Woes of Childhood… Sammy Tilden—Boo-Hoo! Ruthy Hayes’s got my Presidency, and he won’t give it to me!

38. The end of Reconstruction…

39. Black Life Under Reconstruction

40. In your notebook… • Divide your paper into 2 columns • Label one side as “Expanded Freedoms” • Label one side as “Limited Freedoms” • Use this to sort your notes and write down key examples of both

41. Era of New Opportunities • Participation in politics • Education for the masses • Expansion of church groups and networks • New economic opportunities • Sharecropping • Tenant farming

42. Sharecropping • Many freed blacks and poor whites wanted to own their own small farms and be self-sufficient • Rich landowners (former plantation owners) were able to control and restore economic patterns to mirror the “old way”

43. Sharecropping • Under sharecropping landowners divided up their large land and “gave” each worker –usually freed slave or poor white—a few acres to farm, along with tools and seeds • Called a “sharecropper” • At harvest, the sharecropper had to share up to 50% of their profits to pay back

44. Sharecropping

45. Tenancy & the Crop Lien System

46. Blacks in Southern Politics • Core voters were black veterans. • Many felt Blacks were politically unprepared. • Blacks could register and vote in states since 1867. • The 15th Amendment guaranteedfederal voting.

47. 15th Amendment • Ratified in 1870. • The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. • The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. • Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!

48. Black & White Political Participation • If you were a freed slave, finally with some freedoms and the right to vote, what would you do? • Vote of course! • Voter turnout among African Americans was as high as 90% in some states • In 2008 Election it was 65%

49. Black Politicians • More than 1,500 Black officeholders during Reconstruction • Think about that… • Hiram Revels • FIRST African-American to be elected to Congress • Senator from Mississippi • John Adams Hyman • North Carolina

50. Black Senate & House Delegates