Reconstruction

1. Reconstruction

2. Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction • Political leaders had to decide how the Confederate states would be assimilated back into the U.S. • What should be done with C.S.A. leaders? • What to do with former slaves? • How much punishment should be in place for the C.S.A.? • Answering these questions became the center of debate for the next decade

3. Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction • Many Southerners didn’t even realize how hard the war had been on the South • When they returned home they found that most of the railroads and farms had been destroyed • Nearly 1/3rd of adult Southern males had died or become debilitated • Plantations now had to hire labor but didn’t have the cash to do so causing most former slaves to wonder the countryside looking for work • White men feared them because they didn’t want to lose their jobs

4. Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction • With Lincoln’s assassination, the issues only got worse • Lincoln had started Reconstruction in 1863 • His Ten Percent Plan sought to help the Union become whole again • Southerners would swear an oath to the Union (excluding high-ranking Confederacy military and civilian leaders) • When 10% of the voting population of a state had sworn the oath, the state could re-apply for admission

5. Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction • TN, LA, and AR all followed Lincoln’s plan • Their applications were not approved by Congress • Congress was controlled by the Radical Republicans • Led by Thaddeus Stevens • They wanted to punish the South for its betrayal • Said Reconstruction was a constitutional issue and that the South needed to be reorganized so blacks could achieve equality

6. Lincoln’s Plans for Reconstruction • Radical Republicans sought to counter the black codes • Black codes were laws passed in Southern states to limit black freedoms • Limited movement • Prohibited interracial marriage • Black people had to have special certificates to hold certain jobs • Called for immediate voting rights for blacks • Wade Davis Bill would have required such a large number of voters to take an oath that the only way a state could rejoin is with a substantial number of black voters • Lincoln pocket vetoed this item

7. Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction • Andrew Johnson was sworn in after Lincoln’s death • He was a Southerner who had become a Republican but still sympathized with Democrats • But, being a small farm owner, he did not like wealthy people • He called for amnesty and pardon to anyone who took an oath (except wealthy plantation owners and C.S.A. leaders) • The Northerners questions the Southerners “oaths” after they elected former C.S.A. leaders to be their political representatives • They also did not add any additional rights for black people

8. Reconstruction of the Radical Republicans • The Radical Republicans goals were to increase political, economic, and social position for freedmen (former slaves) • Sought to help freedmen get employment, education, and general assistance • The Freedmen’s Bureau was the created to help with these issues and established the “forty acres and a mule” program (Sherman supported this) • Many freedmen worked as tenant farmers on their old plantations • Why would they go back and work for the same people?

9. Reconstruction of the Radical Republicans • Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens sought to get voting rights for blacks and take land for wealthy Southerners to give to black people • The bills passed in Congress but Johnson vetoed both saying that it was unconstitutional and that Southerners needed to be allowed to have some say • Congress grew infuriated with Johnson • Johnson gave a speech in which he stated that he believed that the Radical Republicans were plotting to kill him

10. Reconstruction of the Radical Republicans • Congress overrode the vetoes • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 declared that all freedmen had citizenship rights federal troops would be used to enforce that • This paved the way for the Thirteenth Amendment which declared all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude illegal (except in the case of prision) • Shortly after, Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment as well • Race riots (even in NY) caused Radical Republicans to push even harder for this amendment • This states that no STATE shall deny anyone to life, liberty, or property without due process • It also gave the rules that C.S.A. leaders could not be elected to political offices

11. A Period of Radical Reconstruction • During the election of 1866, even more Radical Republicans were elected to Congress • They immediately passed the Reconstruction Act in 1867 placing the South under military rule and dividing the South into 5 regions • It also forced the Southern states to add black suffrage and equal rights • The also passed the Army Act reducing control of the president over the military • Finally, they passed the Tenure of Office Act stating that the president could not remove a Cabinet member without Senate approval

12. The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson • In 1867 Johnson tried to remove Edwin Staunton, Sec. of War, without Senate approval • Radical Republicans began impeachment proceedings • He was impeached on Feb. 24, 1868 • The Senate missed removing him from office by ONE vote • Johnson spent the rest of his presidency without incident • In 1868 Ulysses S. Grant (Republican and war hero) was elected

13. Radical Reconstruction Reinforced • Now, with Grant in office, Radicals could easily get their programs passed • The Fiftheenth Amendment was the first passed under Grant which states that no one can be denied the right to vote based on race, color, or previous slavery • Thousands of black people voted for the first time while white people stayed home in disgust • By 1870 we hade 630 black representatives in state government, 16 in Congress (including 1 in the Senate) and even an black governor (LA)

14. Radical Reconstruction Reinforced • Carpetbaggers were often blamed by Southerners for all the issues (these were Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction) • Scalawags were white Southern Republicans—they were also hated by traditional Southerners • A group to combat those who sought to change the South was the Ku Klux Klan • They intimidated Republicans from voting (especially blacks), burned crosses, and even became violent to the point of murder • Few were arrested for their crimes

15. The End of Reconstruction • Grant won re-election in 1872 • During his second term Reconstruction began to fade • Many of the Radical Republicans had died off • A recession in 1873 preoccupied the country • Northern troops were gradually removed from the South allowing Southerners to have more political control again • Grant’s administration was wrecked with scandals (the most corrupt administration in American history)

16. The End of Reconstruction • Grant’s scandals included: • Credit Mobilier a construction company that worked with V.P. Schuyler Colfax to skim profits from the Union Pacific Railroad • Tweed Ring William Marcy Tweed, a political boss in NYC, took millions in city money by “paying” for fake construction projects • Whiskey Ring federal employees bribed distillers to pay their taxes “under the table” so that they could keep the money instead of putting it in the federal account

17. The End of Reconstruction • The official end to Reconstruction is the Compromise of 1877 • Samuel Tilden (Dem) and Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep) ran against each other in the 1876 election • It appeared that Tilden won, but due to confusion in FL, LA, and SC a winner could not be declared • The Republicans were going to hand the election to Hayes, but Democrats became very vocal • They agreed to the compromise stating that Hayes would be president, but all troops were to be removed from the South, and stop enforcement of Reconstruction era legislation • This is why, even after the laws, black people were allowed to be treated poorly again

18. The End of Reconstruction • The whites who gave the Southerners their power back were called the redeemers • Democrats controlled the South for the next 100 years. • Southerners would hate Republicans for the next 100 years