CHAPTER 17 RECONSTRUCTION (1865-1877)

1. CHAPTER 17RECONSTRUCTION(1865-1877) Section 1 “Rebuilding the South”

2. ObjectivesStudents will be able to: • 1) Analyze the effect that the end of the Civil War had on African Americans in the South. • 2) Contrast the views of Abraham Lincoln, Congress, and Andrew Johnson on Reconstruction.

3. Hardships of the South after the Civil War • Destroyed southern cities & railroads • Destroyed roads, bridges, buildings • Ruined trade and commerce • Worthless currency • Large war debt & failed banks • Starvation, crop failures, & high food prices • Freedmen

4. Freedmen • FREEDMEN: Men & women who had been slaves • Had many problems: • No jobs • No money, clothing, shelter • No food • No education • No healthcare • No rights

5. Reconstruction • 1) Period when the South was rebuilt (1865 to 1877) • 2) Federal government’s plan to rebuild the South • Confederate debt increased by more than $100 million • Financial aid to build railroads, public schools

6. Lincoln’s 10% Plan • Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly & painlessly as possible • Wanted to offer AMNESTY (official pardon for supporting the rebellion)

7. Ten Percent Plan • 1) Southern state forms government after 10% of voters swore oath of loyalty • 2) Then had to abolish slavery • 3) They could then form new state government • 4) States would be readmitted to Union • 5) Could elect members to Congress

8. Louisiana • Louisiana was the first state readmitted to the Union under the Ten Percent Plan

9. Congress • Many members of Congress felt that Congress had the power to admit new states, not the President • Many members of Congress also disagreed with the Ten Percent Plan (felt that it was not harsh enough) • Congress plan proposed by Senator Ben Wade & Rep. Henry Davis

10. Wade-Davis Bill • 1) Southern states had to ban slavery • 2) Majority of adult males had to swear oath of loyalty • 3) Denied the right to vote or hold office to anyone who had supported the Confederacy (volunteered to fight for Confederacy or held office in Gov’t.)

11. Wade-Davis Bill (cont.) • Made it harder for southern states to rejoin the Union • Lincoln refused to sign the bill

12. Thirteenth Amendment • Proposed by Congress Jan. 31, 1865 • Ratified Dec. 18, 1865 • Made slavery illegal in all of USA • Responses of Wm. Lloyd Garrison & Frederick Douglass

13. Results of 13th Amendment • Legalized marriages • Slaves searched for relatives • Freedom of movement • Adult former slaves took new names • Freedmen demand economic & political rights

14. Charlotte Forten • African American woman from a wealthy Philadelphia family • Charlotte taught freedmen in the Sea Islands • Wrote essays about her experience for the “Atlantic Monthly” • Recruiter for Freedmen’s Bureau

15. Freedmen’s Bureau • Established by Congress 1865 • To provide relief for poor people in South (black & white) • Led by Oliver O. Howard

16. Freedmen’s Bureau • Food • Clothing • Jobs • Medical Care • Education - schools, teachers, books • More than 3000 schools by 1869 • More than 150,000 students • Establish colleges - Howard & Fisk • Helped African American war veterans

17. Lincoln Assassinated • Shot April 14, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth (died the next morning) • This was just 5 days after Lee’s surrender • Shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington while watching “Our American Cousin” • Booth was a southerner who opposed Lincoln’s policies

18. Lincoln’s Assassination • “O Captain! My Captain!” written by Walt Whitman • Elegy - poetic form that mourns the death of an individual

19. Andrew Johnson • Vice President Andrew Johnson was sworn in as President upon the death of Abe Lincoln • Republicans liked Johnson in the beginning because he seemed to favor a tougher approach to Reconstruction than Lincoln had

20. Johnson’s Plan • For bringing states back into the Union, his plan was similar to Lincoln’s • Gave amnesty to all southerners who: • Took an oath of loyalty • Supported abolition of slavery • Wealthy southerners & former Confederate officials would need a presidential pardon to qualify for amnesty • Johnson eventually pardoned 7,000 people

21. Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan • System for setting up new southern state governments: • 1) appointed a temporary governor for each state • 2) southerners (taken loyalty oath) elected delegates to convention to revise state’s constitution • 3) voters elect new state officials & representatives to the US Congress

22. Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan (cont.) • 4) each state government had to declare that secession was illegal • 5) each state had to refuse to pay Confederate debts

23. Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan (cont.) • States could only rejoin if they met all of the requirements listed above • Governments set up under Ten Percent Plan would remain in place: • Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia • By the end of 1865, all southern states except Texas had new governments

24. Congress Response to Johnson’s Reconstruction • Newly elected representatives came to Washington, DC from reconstructed southern states • Congress refused to allow them to take their seats in House & Senate • Republicans complained that many were former military officers & political leaders of Confederacy • Example: Alexander H. Stephens (VP - CSA)

25. Congress Response to Johnson’s Reconstruction • Congress refused to readmit the reconstructed southern states • Nation divided over who should control Reconstruction & what plan should be implemented • Two primary concerns: • Former Confederate Officials • African American Vote