Main Idea

1. Main Idea • Congress opposed Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction and instead implemented its own plan to rebuild the South • Reconstruction was an important step in African Americans’ struggle for civil rights

2. Terms to know… • Andrew Johnson • Reconstruction • Radical Republicans • Thaddeus Stevens • Wade-Davis Bill • Freedmen’s Bureau • Black Codes • 14th Amendment • Impeach • 15th Amendment

3. I. Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • Reconstruction was the period in American history just after the Civil War (1865-1877) in which the South was being “rebuilt” from a war torn region back to prosperity • Unfortunately, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, and Congress all had different plans to go about Reconstruction.

4. Lincoln’s Plan Johnson’s Plan Congress’ Plan How are they alike? How are they different?

5. Lincoln’s Plan • Before he died, he made it clear that he wanted a lenient Reconstruction policy • He felt that it was individuals, not the states, that had rebelled against the US; since the President had the power to pardon individuals, he wanted to pardon all and make this process as quick and easy as possible. • It was known as the Ten Percent Plan…

6. The Ten Percent Plan • The govt would pardon nearly all Confederates (except for high-ranking Confederate officials, and those accused of crimes against prisoners of war) if they swore an oath of allegiance to the United States • Once 10% of a state’s population took this oath, the state could form a new state govt and gain representation in Congress • Under his terms, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Virginia moved toward readmission into the Union • Lincoln’s plan angered a minority of Republicans in Congress—they favored a stricter Reconstruction policy. They were known as the Radical Republicans (led by Charles Sumner (“Bloody Sumner!”)/ Mass, and Thaddeus Stevens/ PN) • They wanted all African Americans to be given full citizenship and suffrage

7. Radical Reaction • Radical Republicans responded to Lincolns Ten Percent Plan by passing the Wade-Davis Bill • This bill proposed that Congress, not the president, be responsible for handling the process of Reconstruction • It held that the majority (51%) of a state’s population must take the oath for readmission to the Union (not just 10% under Lincolns plan) • Lincoln used a pocket veto to kill the Wade-Davis Bill • According to the Constitution, the President has 10 days to either sign a bill into law, or to veto a bill. If he does nothing, the bill will automatically become a law. However, if a bill is passed less than 10 days before the end of a congressional session, the President can ignore it, and it will be vetoed by the closing of the session. This is a “Pocket Veto”

8. Johnson’s Plan • Lincoln’s assassination left Johnson the responsibility to deal w/ Reconstruction • His plan (called Presidential Reconstruction) differed little from Lincolns plan. • Declared that the rest of the Confederate states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North & South Carolina, and Texas, could be readmitted if they would… • Withdraw its secession • Swear allegiance to the Union • Annul Confederate war debts • Ratify the 13th Amendment (which abolished slavery)

9. Johnson’s Plan • Radical Republicans in Congress were not happy w/ this plan b/c they felt it was too lenient • Johnson’s plan did not make high ranking Confederates and plantation owners from taking the oath for readmission • Radicals especially upset that the plan did not address three key issues for former slaves • Land • Voting Rights • Protection under the law • Johnson didn’t believe that former slaves should gain suffrage • All but Texas quickly agreed to this plan, and drew up new state constitutions for admittance back into Congress • Johnson pardoned each Southern legislature who arrived in D.C. in Dec. 1865—Radical Republicans were infuriated, and African American’s felt slighted

10. Johnson’s Plan • When the 39th Congress began in 1865 (112th Congress in 2009), Radical Rep led by T. Stevens claimed that the South was not done w/ Reconstruction—that it didn’t seem much different than before the Civil War. • Congress refused to admit the newly elected Southern legislators • Moderate Republicans pushed for new laws to help former slaves assimilate into Southern culture • In February 1866, Congress voted to strengthen the Freedmen’s Bureau (which was created during the last month of the war)—the bureau assisted former slaves and poor whites with clothing and food. It set up 40 hospitals, 4,000 schools, 61 industrial institutes, and 34 teacher-training centers.

11. Civil Rights Act of 1866 • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 gave African Americans citizenship, and forbade states from passing black codes, which were discriminatory laws that restricted their lives • Black codes prohibited blacks from carrying weapons, serving on juries, testifying against whites, traveling w/o permits, the right to own land. • When these two Acts (Freedmen’s Bureau and Civil Rights) reached President Johnson’s desk, he vetoed them both, claiming that Congress had overstepped its bounds allotted by the Constitution. • By doing this, he angered many people in Congress (Remember, Andrew Johnson is 1 of 2 Presidents who have had the process of impeachment began on them---can you name the other?)

12. Congressional Reconstruction • Johnson’s actions united the Republican base, which began working together to shift the responsibility of Reconstruction from the executive branch to the legislative branch. • The moderate and Radical Republicans joined together to override Johnson’s veto (2/3 of Congress)—they were successful • The Civil Rights Act of 1866 became the first major legislation enacted over a presidential veto—it was the basis for the 14th Amendment • Fourteenth Amendment (Ratified on July 9, 1868): “All persons born or naturalized in the United States” citizens of the country. • Nobody could deny African Americans life, liberty, or property w/o due process of law • This repealed the Supreme Courts decision in Dred Scott (1857), which said that slaves were property of their owners, not actual citizens of the US.

13. Bitterness b/t Johnson and Congress • Pres. Johnson went on speaking tours across the US urging people to elect those who favored his Reconstruction plan • The 1866 saw the Republicans win in record numbers over Democrats, which ensured that they could easily override any Presidential veto—they had total control over legislation, thus total control over Reconstruction • Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867: • Didn’t recognize southern state govts except TN • Divided 10 southern states into 5 military districts • Voters in each district (including black men) would elect delegates to draft new state constitutions • To reenter the Union, the constitution had to ratify the 14th Amendment • Johnson vetoed this Act, but it was promptly overridden

14. Johnson Impeached • Radical leaders in Congress felt that President Johnson was not carrying out his constitutional obligation to enforce the Reconstruction Act on 1867—they wanted him impeached • The House of Representatives had to first formerly impeach (to formerly charge him w/ misconduct in office) Johnson • The Senate would then carry out the trial • The Tenure of Office Act (1867) said that a president could not remove cabinet officials that they had appointed to that position. • Johnson fired his Sec. of War (appt. by Lincoln), which prompted the Radicals to bring up impeachment proceeding against him. • During the last day of the trial in the Senate, the 2/3 vote needed to impeach Johnson was not met by one vote—the total was 35 to 19.

15. Ulysses S. Grant elected President • A Civil War hero, Grant was elected to become president in 1868 • The Radicals in Congress quickly passed the 15th Amendment • Fifteenth Amendment: States that no one can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”. • Some Southern states refused to enforce the 14th and 15th Amendments, but Congress passed the Enforcement Act in 1870, which gave federal officials the power to punish those who prevented African Americans the right to vote.

16. Main Ideas • Various groups contributed to the rebuilding of Southern society after the war. • Many African-American institutions, including colleges and churches, were established during Reconstruction.

17. Terms you’ll need to know… • Scalawag • Carpetbagger • Hiram Revels • Sharecropping • Tenant Farming

18. Conditions in the Postwar South • Former CSA states Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and North Carolina joined Tennessee in reentering the Union in 1868 w/ newly elected Republican-dominated state legislatures • Because much of the Civil War was fought within the Southern states, many had to begin the process of physically rebuilding from the ground up (Sherman alone destroyed over $100 million in GA and SC!) • There was an immense economic crisis in the south—banks lost bonds, farms were ruined (ex: in Alabama, per capita income dropped from $18,000 to $3,000) • Population among men dropped due to war; 1/5 of adult men died during the war.

19. Conditions in the Postwar South • The Republican govts began public work projects to revitalize the South; roads, bridges, and railroads were built, orphanages and hospitals were established, and the first public school systems in the South were created. • These public work projects were very expensive, and placed even more economic woes on the region

20. Politics in the Postwar South Scalawags Carpetbaggers Negative terms for any white Southerner (former Democrat) who joined the Republican Party after the Civil War Any Northerner who chose to move to the South after the Civil War Aptly named b/c of the small piece of luggage made of carpet they brought with them

22. Conditions in the Postwar South • African Americans made up the largest group of Southern Republicans—they gained the right to vote as a result of the Fifteenth Amendment • In the South, nearly 90% of African-American voters voted (for the Republican Party) • Many Scalawags hated this new-found freedom amongst former slaves, and switched allegiance back to the Democratic Party. • Many white Southerners refused to accept the blacks’ new status, and refused the idea of civil rights among them.

23. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • Slaves had been forbidden to partake in any freedoms prior to the Civil War, so they were all to eager to begin their lives as true citizens • Many freedmen realized that they had no land, tools, money, skills, etc., and faced the dilemma of how to earn a living • Movement from the plantations to the larger cities was a common thing amongst many freedmen • Freedmen also took advantage of their ability to travel to search for family members who had been removed to far off plantations • Freedmen could now marry legally and raise children w/o fear of somebody trying to sell them

24. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • Because slaves were punished if they learned to read/ write, nearly 80% were illiterate in 1870 • The Freedmen's Bureau and African-American churches began opening schools and colleges • Even though white responded violently at the idea of this, many Freedmen received a formal education • African Americans began established their own churches..it was the one thing they could run with complete control. Black preachers became a cornerstone of their culture

25. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • Hiram Revels was the first African-American senator

26. Changes in the Southern Economy • In Jan. of 1865, Gen. Sherman promised the freed slaves that joined his army “40 acres per family and the use of army mules.” • “Forty acres and a mule” was the hope for many Freemen to begin their new lives; 40,000 settled in land across GA and SC • Thaddeus Stevens claimed that Southern plantations should be confiscated, and the land redistributed to the former slaves who worked it • Republicans felt it was wrong to seize property, as a result, land distribution was not a huge part of Reconstruction

27. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • Sharecropping was a system for old plantation owners to continue to harvest their fields w/o the use of free labor • Former slaves and poor whites were given a plot of land from a plantation, and were allowed to farm it…at harvest time, they would give a share of their crops (50%) to the owner Sharecropping

28. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • Closely related to sharecropping, tenant farmers would rent a plot of land from a plantation owner, and pay them rent, but keep all of their harvest. • Today, we use the words “landlord” and “tenant” quite often Tenant Farming

29. Former Slaves Face Many Challenges • During Reconstruction, cotton became less and less important. • The South began diversifying their economy with textile mills, tobacco, etc. • The devastating economic impact of the Civil War rippled through Southern life into the 20th century

30. Terms you’ll need to know… • Ku Klux Klan (KKK) • Panic of 1873 • Redemption • Rutherford B. Hayes • Samuel J. Tilden • Compromise of 1877 • Home Rule

31. Opposition to Reconstruction • While most white southerners bitterly accepted African American’s new position in society, some relied on violence to keep blacks from participating in government

32. Opposition to Reconstruction (1 & 2) • The first Klan was founded in TN, 1865 by veterans of the Confederate Army. Its purpose was to restore white supremacy in the aftermath of the Civil War. • The Klan resisted Reconstruction by intimidating "carpetbaggers", "scalawags" and freedmen. The KKK quickly adopted violent methods. The increase in murders finally resulted in a backlash among Southern elites who viewed the Klan's excesses as an excuse for federal troops to continue occupation. • The organization declined from 1868 to 1870 and was destroyed by President Ulysses S. Grant's prosecution and enforcement under the Civil Rights Act of 1871.

33. Scandals and Money Crisis Hurt Republicans (4 & 5) • Scandals, fraud, bribery, etc. plagued the Grant administration, which made it difficult for Southern Republicans to maintain their hold on Reconstruction govts • Grant was a military man, not a politician, so when he became President, he made the mistake of appointing his friends (dishonest), not experts to high govt positions • The Republican Party split over Grant: The Liberal Republican Party was formed in 1872; its goal was to find a candidate to beat Grant in the next election. • They nominated Horace Greeley (editor of New York Tribune), but Grant soundly defeated him in the 1872 election. • Corruption continued throughout Grant’s tenure

34. Economic Turmoil (6) The Panic of 1873 The Currency Dispute Believing that the economy would continue on its same boom after the war, investors borrowed more than they could afford to invest in growing businesses The railroad industry began going broke; banks began closing—a 5-yr period of depression ensued During the war, greenbacks were issued (paper $ that was not backed by equal value in gold) Debate whether or not to withdraw them, or to issue more of them, drew voters attention away from Reconstruction

35. Judicial and Popular Support Fades • Along with political scandals, economic problems, and political rights being restored to former Confederate Democrats, the Supreme Court also began to undo some of the social and political changes that the Radicals had made.

36. Judicial and Popular Support Fades (7) • The Supreme Court made decisions that undermined the 14th and15th Amendments: • Slaughterhouse cases (1873)---Most civil rights were ruled to be state, not federal authority, therefore not protected by 14th Amendment • U.S. v. Cruikshank (1876)---The 14th Amendment was ruled not to grant the federal govt power to punish whites who oppressed blacks • U.S. v. Reese (1876)---The 15th Amendment was determined not to grant voting rights to anyone, but rather restrict types of voter discrimination

37. Democrats “Redeem” the South • Democrats recaptured state govts in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia • This was know as “redemption”; as a result, in 1876, congressional Reconstruction came to an end.

38. Election of 1876 (Compromise of 1877) (9) • The Republicans decided not to run Grant again due to all of his scandals; instead they chose Rutherford B. Hayes (governor of Ohio) • Smelling victory, the Democrats ran their ablest leader, Governor Samuel J. Tilden of New York • Tilden won the popular vote, but fell one vote short in the electoral college…therefore a deal had to be made. • Southern Democrats would accept Hayes IF… • Federal troops were removed from LA & SC; • Federal $ to build a railroad from Texas to west coast; • Federal $ to improves rivers, harbors, bridges; • Hayes had to appoint a conservative Southerner to cabinet • Republicans accepted all of these terms, and the Compromise of 1877 helped Hayes to become President in 1877. • Home rule was finally achieved in the South, which is the ability for Southern states to run state govts w/o federal intervention