Chapter 17

1. Chapter 17 Reconstruction 1863-1877 Web

2. Wartime Reconstruction Plans • Initially, Lincoln encouraged black emigration • Later adopted Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction • Required oath of allegiance and abolition of slavery • Implemented in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee in early 1864 • Reconstruction began in earnest elsewhere in 1865 • Many Republicans opposed Lincoln’s plans as too lenient • Didn’t seem to provide for black equality • Radical Republicans came up with their own plan • Wanted to give freed slaves real economic and political power • Wade-Davis Reconstruction Bill, 1864 • Strict requirements for Confederate loyalty oaths • Vetoed by Lincoln

3. Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction Plans • Radical Republicans initially thought he would go along with their plans • Instead Johnson pursued his own policy • Blanket amnesty for all but the highest-ranking Confederates • Proclamation for drafting of new state constitutions • Planned to exclude both blacks and upper-class whites from reconstruction • Congressional Republicans not fond of Johnson’s plans • Wanted blacks to be involved in the political process

4. Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan in Practice • Few of the new state constitutions enfranchised blacks • Some states even balked at ratifying Thirteenth amendment • Issued pardons to virtually all Southerners • Former Confederates deeply involved in new state governments • Some Southern states passed “Black Codes” in the fall of 1865 • Instituted system of quasi-slavery • Designed to codify white-black relations, which were in disarray

5. Practical Solutions to Problems Facing Freed Slaves • Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865 • Oversaw relations between former slaves and owners • Viewed with hostility by some Southern whites • Land redistribution • Plans for distributing land to freed people not successful • Education • Freedmen’s Bureau and missionary societies active • Trained teachers and founded black colleges in South

6. Congressional Reconstruction • By end of 1865, Republicans determined to take control • Refused to recognize new state governments or their leaders • Determined to institute stronger federal controls to protect black rights • Conflict ensued between Congress and the president • Extended life of Freedmen’s Bureau • Defined freedmen as citizens with equal legal rights • Fourteenth Amendment, 1865 • Far-reaching consequences • Debate over Reconstruction carried over into elections of 1866

7. Congressional Reconstruction (cont.) • Johnson constructed National Union Party to oppose congressional plans • Republicans swept the elections • Set the stage for stringent reconstruction terms • Reconstruction Acts of 1867 • Instituted military rule of South until procedures for Reconstruction had been completed • Set conditions for full re-entry into the Union • Embodied a true revolution • Generated opposition among Southern Democrats • Johnson worked to thwart congressional plans • Hoped to delay process until election of 1868

8. Impeachment of Andrew Johnson • President’s determination to block reconstruction stepped up after 1867 • Violated Tenure of Office Act in February 1968 • Ostensible reason for impeachment • Impeachment trial long and complicated • President acquitted • But damage had been done to Johnson’s relationship with Congress

9. Completion of Formal Reconstruction • New state constitutions in winter and spring of 1867-68 were very progressive • Seven states had been readmitted by the spring of 1868 • Three remaining states readmitted by 1870 • Spawned Ku Klux Klan among opponents • Fourteenth Amendment incorporated into Constitution in summer of 1868 • Fifteenth Amendment • Protected voting rights • Election of 1868 • Referendum on Republican reconstruction policy • Republicans ran Ulysses S. Grant • Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour • Campaign involved intimidation of black voters • Grant won, due to significant support from black voters

10. The Grant Administration • Subordinates involved in scandals, but extent probably exaggerated • Success in instituting civil service reform • Pendleton Act, 1883 • Abolish much-maligned spoils system • Grant supported reform • Resisted by many legislators who relied on patronage for support • Mixed record in foreign policy • Scandal over treaty with Santa Domingo • Treaty of Washington settled outstanding “Alabama claims” • Normalization of relations with Canada

11. The Johnson Administration and the “Southern Question” • Carpetbaggers and Scalawags • Ku Klux Klan and other terror organizations • Aim was to destroy the Republican party • Resort to Federal intervention to stabilize situation in the South • Made interference with voting rights a federal offense • Made deprivation of civil or political rights a felony • Suspension of habeas corpus and use of troops to stop resistance to federal law • Succeeded in breaking back of Klan before Election of 1872

12. The Johnson Administration and the “Southern Question” (cont.) • Election of 1872 • Republicans stuck with Grant • Dissident “Liberal” Republicans went with Horace Greeley • Democrats also nominated Greeley’ • Grant won overwhelming victory • Panic of 1873 • Speculation in railroad industry collapsed, initiating five-year depression

13. Retreat from Reconstruction • Democratic gains in elections of 18774 • Loss of public support for the Republican policies in the south • Northerners tiring of turmoil of Reconstruction • Only four states still under federal control • South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana • Democrats took control of Mississippi in 1875 • States took control to replace Republican control with Democrats • Grant went along • Congress and the Supreme Court pulling back from federal control • Appropriations withheld for measures of control • Court decisions restricted federal action

14. Election of 1876 • Reform would be key issue • Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden • Entered campaign as favorites for first time in twenty years • Bulldozed black voters to keep them from the polls • Required intervention of federal troops to stop violence • Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes • Initial results were disputed • Tilden carried almost all Southern states plus four Northern states, including New York • Outcome unsure in three states still under Republican control • Seemed that Tilden had probably won at least two of them

15. Election of 1876 (cont.) • Official results gave all disputed states, and the presidency, to Hayes • Divided control of Congress made agreement impossible • Special commission created with nominal Republican majority • Compromise of 1877 • Hayes declared winner • End of “bayonet” rule in the South • Other concessions to South • End of Reconstruction after inauguration of Hayes Web