Reconstruction

1. Reconstruction 1865-1877

2. Presidential Reconstruction • Lincoln’s 10% Plan • When the Civil War finally ended, the problems of winning the war gave way to the even harder problems of restoring the Union • Lincoln suggested a basis for Reconstruction in a Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction issued on December 8, 1863 • His Ten Percent Plan proposed a generous settlement • Offered a full pardon (except for high ranking Confederate leaders) to Southerners who pledged loyalty to the Union and to the Constitution • Southern states in which 10% of the 1860 electorate took such an oath and accepted emancipation would be restored to the Union

3. Presidential Reconstruction • Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan • Lincoln concluded his Second Inaugural Address by promising “malice toward none, with charity for all” • He pledged “to bind up the nation’s wounds” and strive for “a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations” • We will never know if Lincoln could have fulfilled his inspiring pledge • Just over a month later, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln while he was watching a play at Ford’s Theater

4. Presidential Reconstruction • Johnson’s Plan • Lincoln’s tragic death placed the burden of reconstructing the S on Andrew Johnson • Johnson issued his own Reconstruction Plan in May, 1865 • Offered amnesty to most Confederates who took an oath of loyalty to the Union • High officials and wealthy planters had to apply for a presidential pardon • Whites in each S state could then elect delegates to a state convention which had to • Repeal all secession laws • Repudiate war debts • Ratify the Thirteenth Amendment

5. Presidential Reconstruction • Southern intransigence • All of the S states soon complied with Johnson’s plan • Moderate Reps hoped the restored gov’ts would act responsibly and treat their former slaves fairly - which did not happen • Resentful and intransigent (unyielding) white Southerners called for a renewal of laws to control the freed black population • Black Codes • Passed by newly elected state legislatures and designed to limit the rights of the newly freedmen • Limited socioeconomic opportunities open to black people • The codes barred blacks from owning land, marrying whites, and carrying weapons • They were forced to return to farm labor under conditions reminiscent of slavery

7. Presidential Reconstruction • Southern intransigence • The Black Codes underscored the difficulty of assimilating 4 million former slaves into S society • Racial tensions soon erupted into violent riots in Memphis and N.O. • Mob violence in these cities claimed the lives of 80 African Americans and 5 whites • Rioters looted and burned hundreds of black homes, churches, and schools • The new Johnson state governments provided further evidence that the S remained unrepentant • When Congress reconvened in December 1865, a large number of former Confederate politicians and military officers were waiting to take seats in the House and Senate

8. Radical Reconstruction • Congress versus President Johnson • Congress refused to admit sen. and reps elected by the S • In response, Congress formed a Joint Committee on Reconstruction • The Committee recommended a CRA to clarify the rights of freed slaves • Johnson vetoed the bill – an unwarranted extension of federal power that would “foment discord among the races” • Johnson’s veto energized the Reps • Overrode the veto • First time Congress had prevailed over a veto of a major piece of legislation • Also marked the beginning of a 2-year struggle between Congress and President Johnson that ended with an impeachment trial

9. Radical Reconstruction • The Fourteenth Amendment • The Rep majority in Congress feared that Johnson would not enforce the Civil Rights Act • They also worried that the courts would declare the law unconstitutional • These concerns prompted Congress to pass the 14th A in June 1866 • It overturned the Dred Scott decision • Also gave the federal gov’t responsibility for guaranteeing equal rights under the law to all Americans

10. Radical Reconstruction • The Fourteenth Amendment • Intensified the struggle for power between President Johnson and Congress • Saying that blacks were unfit to receive “the coveted prize” of citizenship, Johnson urged state legislatures in the S to reject the A • He also vigorously campaigned for Congressional candidates who supported his policies • Johnson’s strategy backfired • Outraged voters repudiated the President’s policies by giving the Reps a solid 2/3 majority in both houses of Congress

11. Radical Reconstruction • The Radical Republicans • Led by Rep. Thaddeus Stevens of PN and Charles Sumner of MA, the Radicals now controlled Congress • Wanted to punish the S • The Reconstruction Act of 1867 eliminated the state governments created by Johnson’s plan • Divided the S into 5 military districts, each under the command of a Union general • In order to be readmitted into the Union, a state had to approve the 14th A and guarantee black suffrage • The growing rift between the Radical Reps and the President deepened when Johnson vetoed the Reconstruction Act – which was immediately overturned by Congress

12. Radical Reconstruction • The impeachment crisis • Johnson remained defiant • He undermined the Radical program by appointing generals who obstructed the implementation of the Reconstruction Act • Tenure of Office Act • Congress escalated the crisis by requiring Senate consent for the removal of any official whose appointment had required Senate confirmation • Convinced that the law was unconstitutional, Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, a leading Radical Rep ally

13. Radical Reconstruction • The impeachment crisis • On February 24, 1868 the Rep-dominated House of Reps impeached Johnson for “high crimes and misdemeanors in office,” that included violating the TOA • After a tense trial, the Senate failed to convict Johnson by one vote • Although Johnson escaped conviction, the trial crippled his presidency • Led to the election of the Union war hero Ulysses S. Grant • Reps completed their overwhelming victory by retaining 2/3 majorities in both houses of Congress

14. The Fifteenth Amendment • Ratified on February 3, 1870, it forbade either the federal gov’t or the states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude” • Enabled AAs to exercise political influence • Freedmen provided about 80 % of Rep votes in the S • Over 600 blacks served as state legislators in the new state governments • In addition, voters elected 14 blacks to the House of Reps and 2 to the Senate • Black voters supported the Rep Party loyally casting votes that helped elect Grant in 1868 and 1872

15. Fifteenth Amendment • While AAs celebrated the passage of the 15th A, leading women’s rights activists felt outraged and abandoned • They angrily demanded to know why the suffrage was granted to ex-slaves but not to women • Julia Ward Howe and other leaders of the women’s suffrage movement finally accepted that this was “the Negro’s hour” • However, both Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton actively opposed passage of the 15th A • It is important to note that the South would soon find ways to get around the A • For example, property qualifications, poll taxes, and literacy tests all denied blacks the vote without legally making skin color a determining factor

16. From Slave to Sharecropper • The Civil War brought freedom to the slaves, but few freedmen got the “4o acres and a mule” promised by zealous reformers • Many former slaves stayed on their old plantations because they could not afford to leave • Sharecropping • Under this system, black (and sometimes white) families exchanged their labor for the use of land, tools, and seed • The sharecropper typically gave the landowner half of the crop as payment for using his property

17. From Slave to Sharecropper • In addition to being in debt to the landlord, sharecroppers had to borrow supplies from local storekeepers to feed and clothe their families • These merchants then took a lien or mortgage on the crops • Sharecropping did not lead to economic independence • Unscrupulous merchants often charged sharecroppers exorbitant prices and unfair interest rates • As a result, the freedmen became trapped in a seemingly endless cycle of debt and poverty

19. The Collapse of Reconstruction • The Ku Klux Klan • Two centuries of slavery created deeply entrenched racial prejudices that could not be easily changed • Southerners bitterly resented gov’ts imposed by Radical Reps that repealed Black Codes and guaranteed voting and other civil rights to African Americans • The years immediately following the CW witnessed the proliferation of white supremacist organizations • KKK began in TN in 1866 and then quickly spread across the S • Anonymous Klansmen dressed in white robes and pointed cowls used whippings, house-burnings, kidnappings, and lynchings to keep blacks “in their place” • The Klan’s reign of terror worked • Without the support of black voters, Rep gov’ts fell across the S • By 1876, Dems replaced Rep in 8 of the 11 former Confederate states • Only SC, LA, and FL remained under Rep control

20. The Collapse of Reconstruction • The erosion of Northern interest • Radical Reps had long been the driving force behind the program to restructure S society • Sympathy for the freedmen began to wane • New focus of issues that included Western expansion, Indian wars, tariffs, and railroad construction • President Grant showed little enthusiasm for Reconstruction • Soon distracted by scandals and charges of corruption • In addition, a business panic followed by a crippling economic depression further undermined public support for Reconstruction

21. The Collapse of Reconstruction • The Compromise of 1877 • Disillusioned voters looked to the 1876 pres election for a return to honest gov’t • Reps nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, an OH governor untarnished by the scandals of the Grant administration • Dems nominated Samuel Tilden, a NY governor who earned a reputation as a reformer by battling Boss Tweed • Tilden won a convincing victory in the popular vote and 184 of the 185 votes needed for the election • However, both parties claimed 19 disputed electoral votes in FL, LA, SC, and 1 in OR

22. The Collapse of Reconstruction • The Compromise of 1877 • Congress created an electoral commission to determine which candidate would receive the disputed electoral votes • Dem and Rep leaders reached an agreement known as the Compromise of 1877 • Dems agreed to support Hayes and in return, Hayes and the Reps agreed to withdraw all federal troops from the S, appoint at least 1 Southerner to a cabinet post, and support internal improvements in the S • The Compromise of 1877 ended Reconstruction • The Rep govt’s in LA and SC quickly collapsed as S Dems proclaimed a return to “home rule” and white supremacy