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Reconstruction. Chapter 22. Essential Questions?. How are civil liberties challenged during times of conflict? How have changes during Reconstruction made a lasting impact on America? Which changes of the Civil War and Reconstruction era were short lived and which have had a lasting impact?
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Reconstruction Chapter 22
Essential Questions? • How are civil liberties challenged during times of conflict? • How have changes during Reconstruction made a lasting impact on America? • Which changes of the Civil War and Reconstruction era were short lived and which have had a lasting impact? • To what extent have the issues surrounding the Civil War yet to be resolved?
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 186516th president of US (1809 - 1865) • With malice toward none, with charity for all, ...let us strive on to finish the work we are in, ...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.
Questions to Ponder? • How would the South, physically devastated by war and socially revolutionized by emancipation, be rebuilt? • How would liberated blacks fare as free men and women? • How would the Southern states be reintegrated into the Union? • Who would direct Reconstruction – the Southern states themselves, the president, or Congress?
A Peace Worth Having? • Confederate leaders captured • Jeff Davis: 2 years in prison, never tried • Most leaders were pardoned by President Johnson • Southern cities, transportation, and agriculture destroyed. • Slave labor system gone, along with $2 billion worth of slaves. • Southern belief in the “lost cause” of the Civil War
Freedmen • Emancipation not instant, slow process. • Many freedmen remained loyal to former owners, began to sharecrop and tenant farm. • Others sought revenge for years of bondage • New liberties • Change of name • Travelled • Search for relatives • Officially get married • Move west (Exodusters) • Change religious affiliation • Sought education
Freedmen’s Bureau • Former slaves were often unskilled, uneducated, property-less, and broke. • Congress created the FB as an early form of welfare. • Taught literacy • Feed and clothed • Basic healthcare • 1865 to 1872 • Often plagued by corrupt officials who swindled freedmen out of money and property • Hated by southern whites
Andrew Johnson • Born in NC, orphaned • Never went to school, apprenticed with a tailor • Champion for poor whites and the Constitution • Southerner that did not secede; Lincoln picks him to balance the ticket on 1864. • Not trusted by North or South, Democrats or Republicans
Johnson Administration Timeline • 1865 • Johnson becomes 17th president • Freedmen’s Bureau established • Black Codes appear • 13th Amendment ratified • 1866 • Override of Civil Rights Bill veto • 14th Amendment created • 1867 • Reconstruction Act • Tenure of Office Act • US buys Alaska • 1868 • Johnson impeached
Presidential Reconstruction • Lincoln’s Plan: stats readmitted when 10% pledge allegiance to US and emancipation. • Johnson follows 10% Plan and disenfranchised Confederate leaders. • Leaders asked Johnson for pardons.
Black Codes • Under Presidential Recon, many states sought to force freedmen back into a subservient status. • Laws passed that kept AA from voting, juries • Forced many to work or be punished • Sharecropping: with no capital to buy and run their own farms, many AA went into debt working for former slave owners. • AA would work a portion of a farm and “share” the profit with the landlord.
Congressional Reconstruction • Also known as Radical Reconstruction • 50% of state population • New state constitutions • Wade-Davis Bill: vetoed by Lincoln • Much harsher on South • Congress and the president had very different views • During the war, Republicans controlled Congress • Radical Republican leaders feared the re-admittance of the Democrat-South.
Radical Republicans Charles Sumner Thaddeus Stevens
Johnson v Congress • Johnson vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau and the Civil Rights Bill of 1866. • Congress overrides both! • 1866 Republicans get 2/3rd majority in Congress • 14th Amendment • Created to fight black codes • Equal protection to all citizens • Disqualified Confederate officials from voting.
Military Reconstruction • RR wanted to punish South for War and Black Codes • Reconstruction Act: 1867, allowed military to govern South by martial law. • States now only readmitted when they elected Republican leaders, ratified 14th, allowed AA the vote. • South resents measures!
Military Reconstruction • Ex parte Milligan: 1866, Supreme Court rules that military can’t try civilians during peace. • Makes Military Reconstruction somewhat unconstitutional. • When military is removed (1877) the South goes back to its old ways. • Solid South: From 1877 to 1970 South always votes Democrat – result of Reconstruction.
“The Negro’s Hour”, Not Women • Women played a huge role in abolition. • With the 14th and 15th Amendments, women hoped to be included in citizenship, but weren’t. • Women tried using the 14th Amendment as the basis for court cases, but failed.
Politics During Military Reconstruction • Southern AA seized opportunity • Organized churches and schools • Elected to office: State legislatures, US House, and US Senate. • Often helped by northerners that came south (Carpetbaggers) and Southern Republicans (Scalawags). • Inexperience often lead to corruption, which was common everywhere throughout the Gilded Age.
Ku Klux Klan • Group that attempted to disenfranchise and intimidate AA from voting and other rights. • Terrorist group often beat and murdered to make example in AA communities. • Many AA did avoid exercising rights out of fear. • Military in South often overlooked (corruption)!
Congress Goes After a President • Tenure of Office Act: 1867, provided that the pres. Couldn’t fire cabinet members without Congressional approval. • Not really constitutional! • Meant to protect Lincoln’s cabinet members that Johnson hated. • Johnson fires Sec. of War to test act. • House votes to impeach Johnson. • 1st time ever for presidential impeachment (2nd in 1998, Clinton)
President on Trial • Tensions ran high as Senate held impeachment trial. • Johnson remained in office by 1 vote! • Could have set a dangerous precedent and upset the checks and balances for future times. • Showed the maturity of our government (sort-of)
The Purchase of Alaska • 1867: Russia wants to sell Alaska. • Secretary of State William Seward buys for $7.2 million. • Public outraged over waste of $ (Seward’s Folly) • Later proved to be highly rich in resources (fur, gold, timber, oil, natural gas)
Heritage of Reconstruction • Some considered it worse than the war. • For southern whites it seemed the north was forcing AA equality and the Republican Party upon them. • AA rights in the south would not last once the military was withdrawn. • Also, Republican support in the south vanishes after Reconstruction. • Reconstruction will officially end in 1877 (next chapter), but AA rights and the Republican party will not return to the South for another 90 years!