Reconstructing the South: Challenges and Changes

1. Notes: Reconstruction defined R E C O N S T R U C T I O N 1865 TO 1877 • 1. The Aftermath • 2. Problems: • The South • Freedmen • Leadership • 3. President Andrew Johnson • 4. Power Struggle: Johnson vs. Congress • President’s plan: gentle---1865 to 1867 • Radical Republicans---opposed Johnson • Congress’s plan: harsh---1867 to 1876 • South followed Johnson’s plan until??????

2. Notes: Presidential and Congressional Recons • What went wrong? • Black Codes---1865 to 1866 • Johnson vetoed Civil Rights Act for Freedmen • Congress impeached Pres. Johnson---1868 • Election of 1868: President Grant enforces Congress’s “harsh” plan • Reconstruction Act of 1867 • 4. Revolutionary changes • Civil War Amendments: • 13th, 14th and 15th • Effects of Emancipation on Freedmen • Freedmen’s Bureau • New South • Abolished slavery • gained citizenship • right to vote

3. R E C O N S T R U C T I O N • Human toll of the Civil War: The North lost 364,000 soldiers. The South lost 260,000 soldiers. • Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government carried out a program to repair the damage to the South and restore the southern states to the Union. This program was known asReconstruction. • Freedmen(freed slaves) were starting out their new lives in a poor region with slow economic activity. • Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $3 billion. • Poor white Southerners could not find work because of new job competition fromFreedmen. • The war had destroyed two thirds of the South’s shipping industry and about 9,000 miles of railroad.

4. South after war 1

5. Lincoln speech LINCOLN'S 2ND INAUGURAL SPEECH Lincoln’s speech “With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds….to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

6. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION • Johnson’s plan to readmit the South was considered too gentle. • Amnesty:Presidential pardon • Rebels sign an oath of allegiance • 10% of the population • Even high ranking Confederate officials • Write new state Constitutions • approve the 13th Amendment • reject secession and state’s rights • submit to U.S. Government authority • No mention of • Education for freedmen • Citizenship and voting rights Presidential Reconstruction

7. pardon

8. John Picture background info PRESIDENT ANDREW JOHNSON • Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. • Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the South’s Reconstruction. • Supported Lincoln’s Plan • Engaged in a power struggle with Congress over who would lead the country through Reconstruction. • Would be impeached but not removed from office.

9. Plans compared CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION Reconstruction Act of 1867--76(Harsh) • Amnesty : Presidential pardon • oath of allegiance---50% • high ranking Confederate officials • loose voting rights if you don’t sign oath • Write new state Constitutions • Ratify: 13, 14 & 15 Amendments • reject secession and state’s rights • submit to U.S. Government authority • Help for Freedmen • Freedmen’s Bureau for education • 40 acres and a mule • Divide the South into 5 military districts

10. Radical Republicans RADICAL REPUBLICANS Charles Summner Thaddeus Stevens • Wanted to the see the South punished. • Advocated political, social and economic equality for the Freedmen. • Would go after President Johnson through the impeachment process after he vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866.

11. Quotes of Radicals RADICAL REPUBLICANS Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, 1866 “Strip a proud nobility of their bloated estates, send them forth to labor and you will thus humble the proud traitors.” Thaddeus Steven, in Congress, 1867 “I am for Negro suffrage in every rebel state. If it be just, it should not be denied: if it be necessary, it should be adopted: if it be a punishment of traitors, they deserve it.”

12. BLACK CODES • Similar to Slave Codes. • Restricted the freedom of movement. • Limited their rights as free people.

13. BLACK CODES • As southern states were restored to the Union under President Johnson’s plan, they began to enact black codes, laws that restricted freedmen’s rights. • The black codes established virtual slavery with provisions such as these: • 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.

14. Black codes1 BLACK CODES

15. Gov of Miss Mississippi Governor, 1866: “The Negro is free” “Whether we like it or not; we must realize that fact now and forever. To be free, however, does not make him a citizen or entitle him to social or political equality with the white man.”

16. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 1: Be it ordained by the police jury of parish of St. Landry, That no negro shall be allowed to pass within the limits of said parish without a special permit in writing from his employer. Whoever shall violate this provision shall pay a fine of $2.50, or in default thereof shall be forced to work four days on the public road or suffer corporeal punishment. Black codes 2

17. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 2: Be it ordained: That every Negro who shall be found absent from the residence of his employer after 10 o’clock at night, without a written permit from him employer, shall pay a fine of $5.00, or in default thereof, shall be compelled to work 5 days on the public road or suffer corporeal punishment. Black codes 2

18. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 3: Be it further ordained, That no Negro shall be be permitted to rent or keep a house within said parish. Any Negro violating this provision shall be immediately ejected and compelled to find an employer; and any who shall rent, or give the use of the any house to any Negro, in violation of this section, shall pay a fine of $5.00 for each offence. Black codes 3

19. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 4: Be it further ordained, No Negroes shall be allowed to congregate in public meetings between the hours of sunset to sunrise and by special permission of the police chief may a public meeting of Negroes occur. However, church services are not included in this law. Pay a fine of $5.00, work 5 days on the road crew or receive corporeal punishment Black codes 3

20. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 5: Be it ordained, No Negro who is not in the military service shall be allowed to carry firearms, or any kind of weapons, within said parish, without the special written permission of his employers. Subject to $5.00 fine, road work or corporeal punishment.

21. BLACK CODES St. Landry’s Parish, Louisiana, 1865 Section 6: Be it ordained, That it shall be the duty of every citizen to act as a police officer for the detection of offences and the apprehension of offenders, who shall be immediately handed over to the proper police officer or captain.

22. Johnson’s Veto • President Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 • Gave $$$$ to Freedmen’s Bureau for schools and granted citizenship to the Freedmen • Congress believed Johnson was working against Reconstruction and overrode his veto. • Pres. Johnson impeached • Led to the 14th Amendment An inflexible President, 1866: Republican cartoon shows Johnson knocking Blacks of the Freedmen’s Bureau by his veto.

23. Impeachment process IMPEACHMENT PROCESS Impeachment:Bringing charges against the President. Two steps involved…… 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 2/3’s vote.

24. JOHNSON'S IMPEACHMENT • Brought up on 11 charges of high crimes and misdemeanors. • Tenure in Office Act: Law Congress passed. President can’t fire any of his cabinet members without consulting Congress. • fired Edwin Stanton • Missed being removed from office by 1 vote • Presidency would suffer as a result of this failed impeachment. • President would be more of a figure-head. • Saved the separation of powers of 3 branches govt.

25. 13th: Slavery Abolished 13th AMENDMENT Slavery Abolished “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 14th

26. Civil Rights: What Blacks want CIVIL RIGHTS

27. 14th: Rights of Citizens 14th AMENDMENT Rights of Citizens “All persons born in the U.S. are citizens of this country and the state they reside in. No state shall make or enforce any law which deprives any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction to the equal protection of the laws.” The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 14th

28. 15th: Voting Rights 15th AMENDMENT Voting Rights “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. 14th

29. Voting rights CIVIL WAR AMENDMENTS • 13th AmendmentAbolished slavery(1865) • 14th AmendmentProvided citizenship & equal protection under the law. (1868) • 15th AmendmentProvided the right to vote for all men which included white and black men. (1870) Giving the Black man the right to vote was truly revolutionary……..A victory for democracy!

30. The 14th and 15th Amendments • In 1867 and 1869 Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments, granting African American males citizenship, equality under the law and the right to vote. • In 1867 and 1868, voters in southern states chose delegates to draft new state constitutions. One quarter of the delegates elected were black. • The new state constitutions guaranteed civil rights, allowed poor people to hold political office, and set up a system of public schools and orphanages. • In 1870, southern black men voted in legislative elections for the first time. More than 600 African Americans were elected to state legislatures, Louisiana gained a black governor, and Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American elected to the Senate.

31. Black Congressmen • First Black Senators and representatives in the 42st and 42nd Congress. • Senator Hiram Revels, on the left was elected in 1870 to replace the seat vacated by Jefferson Davis.

32. The Taste of Freedom • Freedom of movement: Enslaved people often walked away from plantations upon hearing that the Union army was near. • Exodusters: moved to Kansas and Texas • Freedom to own land:Proposals to give white-owned land to freed people got little support from the government. Unofficial land redistribution did take place, however. • Freedom to worship:African Americans formed their own churches and started mutual aid societies, debating clubs, drama societies, and trade associations. • Freedom to learn:Between 1865 and 1870, black educators founded 30 African American colleges.

34. FREEDMEN ON EMANCIPATION emancipation “I felt like a bird out of a cage. Amen. Amen. Amen. I could hardly ask to feel any better than I did that day…….The week passed off in a blaze of glory “Men are taking their wives and children, families which had been for a long time broken up are united and oh! Such happiness. I am glad I am here.”

35. FREEDMEN ON EMANCIPATION emancipation “The end of the war, it come just like that---like you snap your fingers….Soldiers, all of a sudden, was everywhere---coming in bunches, crossing and walking and riding. Everyone was a-singing. We was all walking on golden clouds. Hallelujah! Everybody went wild. We all felt like heroes, and nobody had made us that way but ourselves. We was free. Just like that, we was free.”

36. FREEDMEN ON EMANCIPATION emancipation “Right off colored folks started on the move, recalled a freedman. “They seemed to want to get closer to freedom, so they’d know what it was---like it was a place or a city.”

37. NO MORE AUCTION BLOCK No more auction block for me…No more, No more…No more auction block for me…Many thousand gone.. No more auction block for me…No more, no more…No more auction block, whiplash for me…Many thousand gone…. An oh, the one thing…That we did wrong…No more, no more…Staying in the wilderness…A day too long…No more, no more… And oh, the one thing..That we did right..Oh yes, oh yes… Was the day….That we began to fight…Oh yes, oh yes….. My Lord…. And it’s no more auction block for me….No more, no more, no more…Auction block for me….Many, many thousand gone…...

38. FREEDMEN'S BUREAU 1865, Congress created the Freedman’s Bureau to help former slaves get a new start in life. This was the first major relief agency in United States history. Bureau’s Accomplishments • Built thousands of schools to educate Blacks. • Former slaves rushed to get an education for themselves and their children. • Education was difficult and dangerous to gain. • Southerners hated the idea that Freedmen would go to school.

39. Letter by a Teacher teaching freedmen on the importance of education, 1869: “It is surprising to me to see the amount of suffering which many of the people endure for the sake of sending their children to school. Men get very low wages here---from $2.50 to $8.00 month usually, while a first rate hand may get $10.00, and a peck or two of meal per week for rations-----and a great many men cannot get work at all. The women take in sewing and washing, go out by day to sour, etc. There is one woman who supports three children and keeps them at school; she says, “ I don’t care how hard I has to work, if I can only send Sallie and the boys to school looking respectable.” Importance of Educ to freedmen

40. Freedmen’s Bureau 2

41. Freedmen’s Bureau 3

42. Freedmen’s Bureau 4

43. Freedmen’s Bureau 5

44. Letter for teachers 1 Letter to the Editor of the National Era Creswell, Texas, November 29, 1867 W.V. Tunstall, School Board, Houston, Texas To the Editor: We need immediately 500 teachers for colored schools in Texas. The colored people in this state cannot supply the demand. There are but a few white Republicans who can engage in the profession of teaching and Rebels (Southern whites) will not teach them. Therefore, our only prospect is to get teachers among the educated colored people of the North or Christian white people who are willing to endure privations among the heartless whites of the “sunny South.” The late elections have opened the South, I trust, for the introduction of civilization. Send us teachers…….

45. Forsyth, Georgia, July 22, 1867 Dear Sir, I write to inform you of a most cowardly outrage that took place last Saturday night. Our teacher whom we have employed here was shot down by a crowd of Rebel Ruffians for no other cause than teaching school. General, this is the second teacher that has been assaulted. The rebels make their brags to kill every Yankee teacher that they find. We do not know what we may do if the military does not assist us. The Freedmen are much excited at such an outrage. George H. Clower, William Wilkes, Freedmen

46. Once Johnson is impeached, Congress passes Reconstruction Act of 1867. • The South would be reconstructed under the Radical Republicans plan. • Republicans would elect Grant as their President and he would carry out the Radical Reconstruction. “The Strong Government”, 1869-1877. Grant enforcing the Reconstruction Act of 1867 and “forcing” the South to change.

47. Military Reconstruction Each number indicates the Military Districts

48. Abolitionists vs Women’s rights • Women rights supporters refused to support the 14th Amendment giving African American Men citizenship unless women were added to it. • Abolitionists would not support women’s rights

49. New South • New South • Becomes industrialized • Cities rebuilt • Railroads • Schools, over a thousand • Hospitals, 45 in 14 states • Diversify economy.

50. Funding Reconstruction • Rebuilding the South’s infrastructure, the public property and services that a society uses, was one giant business opportunity. • Roads, bridges, canals, railroads, and telegraph lines had to be rebuilt. • Funds were also needed to expand services to southern citizens. Following the North’s example, all southern states created public school systems by 1872. • Congress, private investors, and heavy taxes paid for Reconstruction. Spending by Reconstruction legislatures added another $130 million to southern debt.