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Reconstruction (1863-1877)

Reconstruction (1863-1877). Ms. Susan M. Pojer Horace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY With additional slides and information by Bob Daugherty. Key Questions. ?. 4. What branch of government should control the process of Reconstruction?.

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Reconstruction (1863-1877)

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  1. Reconstruction (1863-1877) Ms. Susan M. PojerHorace Greeley HS Chappaqua, NY With additional slides and information by Bob Daugherty

  2. Key Questions ? 4. What branchof governmentshould controlthe process ofReconstruction? 1. How would the Southern States be re-admitted in the South? 2. How do we rebuild the South after itsdestruction during the war? 3. How do weintegrate andprotect newly-emancipatedblack freedmen?

  3. Jeff Davis Under Arrest What should be done with Jefferson Davis?

  4. He was sent to Ft. Monroe prison He served only two years in prison due to the efforts of his wife Varina His citizenship was not returned until the 1970s when he and lee were pardoned by President (and Southerner) Jimmy Carter

  5. Robert E. Lee’s Arlington home had been expropriated by the government during the war Soldiers from the Civil war were buried there so that he would never return Today it is… ARLINGTON CEMETERY

  6. Wartime (LINCOLN) Reconstruction ROUND 1

  7. President Lincoln’s 10% Plan Predicated on Lincoln’s belief that the Southern states HAD NEVER REALLY LEFT THE UNION • Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 8, 1863) • Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in the South. • He didn’t consult Congress regarding Reconstruction. • Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers. • When 10% of the voting population in the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a government, it would be recognized.

  8. President Lincoln’s Plan • 1864  “Lincoln Governments” formed in LA, TN, AR • “loyal assemblies” • They were weak and dependent on the Northern army for their survival.

  9. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) • Required 50% of the number of 1860 voters to take an “iron clad” oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion ). • Required a state constitutional convention before the election of state officials. • Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen’s liberties. SenatorBenjaminWade(R-OH) CongressmanHenryW. Davis(R-MD)

  10. Wade-Davis Bill (1864) • “Iron-Clad” Oath. • “State Suicide” Theory of MA Senator Charles Sumner] • “Conquered Provinces” Positionof [PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens] • Revealed deep differences between President and Congress PocketVeto by Lincoln PresidentLincoln’s 10% Plan Wade-DavisBill

  11. Presidential (JOHNSON) Reconstruction ROUND 2

  12. President Andrew Johnson • Jacksonian Democrat. • Only Southern Democrat to remain with the Union • Selected by Lincoln to “balance” the “Union ticket. • Hated Southern Planter aristocracy. • White Supremacist. • Agreed with Lincoln that states could not leave Union and tried to do what he thought Lincoln would do • Did not know how to compromise or bend when necessary “Damn the negroes! I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!”

  13. President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) • Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except Confederate civil and military officers and those with property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to Johnson) • In new constitutions, they must accept minimumconditions secession and state debts. • Had to ratify 13th Amendment (ending slavery) • Named provisional governors in Confederate states and called them to oversee elections for constitutional conventions. 1. Disenfranchised leading and rich Confederates. 2. Disenfranchised had to beg for pardons EFFECTS? 3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite were back in power in the South!

  14. 13th Amendment • Ratified in December, 1865. • Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction. • Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. • Not ratified by Mississippi until the 1990s!

  15. Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) • Primitive welfare agency that would provide food, clothing, medical care and education to freedmen and white refugees • Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to teach help southern freedmen. • Headed by O.O. Howard (who later founded Howard University • Greatest success in education!

  16. Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes “Plenty to eat and nothing to do.’

  17. Another View of the Freedmen’s Bureau

  18. Freedmen’s Bureau School

  19. Growing Northern Alarm! • Many Southern state constitutions fell short of minimum requirements. • Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons. • New Governments elected many former Confederate cabinet members and officers • Revival of southern defiance and belief in noble “Lost Cause”. BLACK CODES

  20. Black Codes • Purpose: • Guarantee stable labor supply now that blacks were emancipated. • Restore pre-emancipationsystem of race relations. • Had to commit to employer for one year (if violated contract could be forced to work) • “Idle” blacks could be forced to work on a chain gang • Could not own or rent land or own a gun • Could not serve on juries or testify against white people • Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers[tenant farmers].

  21. Slavery is Dead? Who really had won the war?

  22. Congress Breaks with the President • Congress bars SouthernCongressional delegates many of whom are former Confederates • Joint Committee on Reconstruction created. • February, 1866  Presidentvetoed the Freedmen’sBureau bill. • March, 1866  Johnsonvetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act. • Congress overrides both Johnson vetoes and passes first Civil Rights Bills in in U. S. history!! Former CSA Vice-President Alexander Stephens

  23. Johnson the Martyr / Samson “If my blood is to be shed because I vindicate the Union and the preservation of this government in its original purity and character, let it be shed; let an altar to the Union be erected, and then, if it is necessary, take me and lay me upon it, and the blood that now warms and animates my existence shall be poured out as a fit libation to the Union. ‘ (Andrew Johnson February 1866)

  24. Radical (Congressional) Reconstruction ROUND 3

  25. 14th Amendment • Ratified in July, 1868. passed because Congress was afraid that Southerners would someday repeal the Civil Rights Acts • Conferred citizenship and Civil Rights (but note vote) on Freedman (and anyone born in the US regardless of circumstances) • Southern states could be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens! • Enshrined the national debt while repudiating that of the Confederacy. • Former Confederate officers could not serve in state or federal office • Later would serve as the basis for guaranteeing the Bill of Rights by the States and for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s

  26. The Balance of Power in Congress

  27. The 1866 Midterm Election Johnson’s “Swing ‘Round the Circle” • A referendum on Radical Reconstruction. • Johnson made an ill-conceived speaking tour around the country to push his plan and to campaign against the Radical Republicans • He was frequently heckled and took to drinking • Republicanswon a 3-1 majority in both houses and gained control of every northern state. This gives them a veto proof majority!

  28. Radical Plan for Readmission of States • Civil authorities in the territories were subject to military supervision. • Required new state constitutions, including black suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments. • In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making. • Purpose was to get blacks to get the state back in the Union and free the federal government from responsibility for protecting black rights

  29. Reconstruction Acts of 1867 • Military Reconstruction Act • Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment. • Divides the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts commanded by a Union general and occupied by Union soldiers

  30. Radicals were fearful that White Southerners would take away the franchise (vote) from blacks when they regained power Therefore the right had to be guaranteed by an amendment States: 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. Women (who had played a big role in the abolition movement) were very upset because they had NOT been included in either the 14th or 15th Amendment The Fifteenth Amendment (1869)

  31. “I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman!” Susan B. Anthony It would be 50 years more before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote

  32. Reconstruction Acts of 1867 • Command of the Army Act • The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military. • Tenure of Office Act • The President could not remove any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval. • Designed to protect radicalmembers of Lincoln’s government. • Was this law Constitutional?. Edwin Stanton

  33. Originally a Pro Union NORTHERN organization Educated black men in duties and campaigned for Republican candidates Built black churches and schools Represented black employee and government grievances Recruited black militias to protect against White retaliation The Union League

  34. Between 1868-1876 14 black Congressmen and 2 black senators were elected to the US Congress Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce were the first two Black Senators Though no black until Douglas Wilder of Virginia was elected as a state governor many served as lieutenant governors and state representatives as well as mayors and sheriffs in local government Elected Black Officials Hiram Revels

  35. For much of American history the Dunning School has portrayed Reconstruction governments as inefficient and corrupt However, there were many accomplishments: For the first time public education was made available to poor whites (as well as blacks) Necessary infrastructure (bridges and roads) improvements were made Property rights for woman were guaranteed Though taxes did go way up, tax incidence was made more fair Necessary prison and mental asylum reform took place Hospitals were built There are, however, many (often justified) allegations of corrupt government However, it does not seem to be any worse than the corruption occurring in the North at the time Accomplishments of Reconstruction Governments

  36. Grew angry at former slaves being elected to office while in many cases they could not even vote Northern whites who came down to South to take advantage of Southerners to “make a buck were” called “carpetbaggers” White Southerners who became Republicans were known as scalawags The most famous was former CSA General James Longstreet who was eventually blamed for losing the Civil War! White Southern Anger Grows

  37. Formed by six CSA veterans in Tennessee as a “social club” Most were Scottish (hence the term “clan”) They chose the Greek word kyklos (κυκλος) for circle Initially they used theatrical techniques to intimidate blacks but soon turned more violent CSA General Nathan Bedford Forrest was asked to be their first leader Blacks, scalawags, and teachers were whipped, beaten, mutilated or killed The Ku Klux Klan

  38. Klan members were hard to punish because of their anonymity and the fact that local all white juries were afraid (or unwilling) to convict them Eventually Congress and Pres. Grant passed the Force Acts and Ku Klux laws Forrest ordered the Klan to disband In 1915 William Simmons re-created the Klan Membership was slow to grow UNTIL…. DEATH (AND REBIRTH) OF THE KLAN

  39. DW GRIFFITH’S BIRTH OF A NATION (1915) First blockbuster full length movie directed by film pioneer DW Griffith (Cost $100,000 but made millions) Caused riots in many cities for its portrayal of blacks as lazy, lusty and murderous (In many cases blacks in the movie were actually white men in black face!) The film was the first ever shown in the White House President Wilson (a devout Southerner) supposedly said: “ it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true!”

  40. The Philosophy of the Film The film propounds the Dunning School of Reconstruction which persisted until the 1950s and Kenneth Stampp’s scholarship According to the film (and school): • Reconstruction was a disaster, blacks could never be integrated into white society as equals • the violent actions of the Ku Klux Klan were justified to reestablish honest government • the Ku Klux Klan restored order to the post-war South, which was depicted as endangered by abolitionists, freedmen, and carpetbagging Republican politicians from the North

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