Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans)

1. Reconstruction Retreats (going back on intended Reconstruction plans) • Retreat on Land Reform • During the Civil War, the Union captured not only Confederate troops, but their land as well • Also, had gained large territories west from Mexico/Native Americans • The question became what to do w/ land • Enter the Freedmen’s Bureau • Was to redistribute lands abandoned by Confederate planters by leasing forty-acre tracts to freedmen/loyal white refugees • After 3 yrs renter could purchase

2. Retreat on Land Reform • 1,000,000 eligible freedmen for land program • Only 800,000 acres • Freedmen’s Bureau encouraged freedmen to negotiate labor contracts w/ ex-slaveholders • Feared if freedmen didn’t work that economy would take a hit • Not enough land for them to live on • To make matters worse, Johnson’s amnesty policies allowed ex-Confederates to take some of the land back…

3. Retreat on Land Reform • Not just Johnson • Land reform was broken up by others as well… certain Northerners opposed land reform • What was northern economy centered around? • Many industries relied a lot on cotton • If you break up land, you break up productive plantations, you get less cotton • Less cotton = less $ for northern industries • textile manufacturers • bankers (who invested in these companies) • import-export houses (export the products made out of cotton) • northern merchants (who sell the finished products)

4. Carpetbaggers & Scalawags • Carpetbaggers & Scalawags also were granted land that was otherwise intended to go to African Americans… • White, southern Republicans = Scalawags • Derogatory word originally describing worthless livestock • Most were poor southern yeoman farmers who joined the Republican party b/c they resented large planters’ monopoly on land, labor, & political power • Some were wealthy planters who realized that the future was not w/ slave labor but in industrialization, urbanization, & construction of wage-labor system • White, northern Republicans = Carpetbaggers • Used as derogatory term for northern Republicans who were viewed as coming to the South to gain $ & power • Referred to the cloth bags many of them used for transporting their possessions • However, many were coming to the South as Union soldiers, Freedmen’s Bureau agents, religious missionaries, or teachers • Some were business opportunists…

5. Sharecropping • “Compromise” b/w freedmen & plantation owners • Name from fact that both the owner of the land & tiller of the land were to share in the harvest/profit • Tiller received seeds, materials, & right to work on land • Landlord received share in harvest • Freedmen found it better than working under labor contracts (black codes) in groups just like they did when they were slaves • Allowed to work @ own pace & individually • Landlords excepted it b/c for many it was the only way they could get labor • **Notice: African Americans still not able to readily own land

6. Sharecropping • Vicious cycle: • Still didn’t own land & were dependent on white landlords • African Americans often found themselves in debt (remember they had to buy seed, materials, equipment…) • Landlords extended credit, but this only increased the debt • Coupled w/ lower value of cotton • Landlords would extend credit if they produced more, but this only flooded the market (increased supply, decreased demand or constant demand = lower price = less profit = more debt for African Americans)

7. Reconstruction Retreats from Protection of African American Rights • KKK • Who did the Klan target & why? • Did not just target African Americans • Targeted African Americans, Republicans (white or black), teachers (especially if they were educating African Americans), anyone involved in the judicial process who was attempting to arrest/try a KKK member or anyone who had committed a crime against an African American, whites who provided any sort of aid to African Americans… • Intimidation; terror; racism; control…

8. KKK • Formed in 1866, Tennessee by ex-confederates • Founder = Nathan Bedford Forrest (ex-confederate general) • Initially public outcry was great • Congress implemented 2 methods to counteract the KKK • 1st = 15th Amendment • Prohibits fed & state gov’t from denying anyone right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude” • Only took 1 yr for the required 3/4ths states to ratify & for it to become law • 2nd = Congress established joint congressional committee to investigate violence & draft legislation against KKK • Through this they drafted several pieces of legislation in attempt to protect public (in particular Republicans) from KKK

9. KKK • Ex) The Enforcement and Ku Klux Klan Acts • Established broad principles for legal/military intervention to protect rights/lives of African Americans & allies in South • President Grant used these acts to send troops into the South & declare martial law in South Carolina • Prosecuted KKK members under the Enforcement Act • As these issues continued, public support declined… grew frustrated (think about public opinion of our current situation in Iraq & Afghanistan) • Consequently Grant retreated on his previous gung-ho policies on tracking down & prosecuting KKK members • 1875 Mississippi governor begged Grant to send troops in order to ensure a free election • Grant refused… had grown “tired” of the situation

10. KKK • FYI • KKK has had a presence in Michigan for decades • Former Grand Dragon Robert E. Miles lived in Cohort Township, near Howell, Michigan (SW over by Brighton) • The late (now deceased) U.S. Senator Robert Byrd is a former member of the KKK • He had renounced the group & claims that his ties w/ the Klan were loose... • http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105.html

11. Panic of 1873 • Triggered by Jay Cooke & Company • Many businessmen withdrew support for Reconstruction (large investment house) • Led to runs on the banks • NY stock exchange closed • 1874 construction on railroads came to an end • By 1876 ½ of railroads defaulted on their bonds • Companies tried to stay in business by engaging in price wars  prices plummeted • Longest period of uninterrupted economic downturn • 65 days • People hit very hard… many were now employed in industry • NY counted 100,000 unemployed

12. Panic of 1873 • Labor unions suffered • Wages dropped, hours went up • Democrats took advantage of the downturn • People began to turn away from arguments for racial equality • Marked end of Reconstruction for African Americans • Had to accept working for whites

13. Panic of 1873 • Compare to Great Depression • Run on banks • High unemployment • Stricter immigration policies • African Americans hired last/fired first • Compare to Today • 2000s Recession • High unemployment • One response: stricter immigration laws • In Michigan we revoked the Affirmative Action law (remember from conversations last unit)… this had obligated Universities & businesses to have certain percentage of minorities

14. Reconstruction Retreats • Panic of 1873 • w/ the recession came further decline in support for Reconstruction • Many businessmen spoke out against the plan • Felt recession was partly due to the state the South was still in • If the South could regain its economic prominence, perhaps the country as a whole would pull out of the recession • Called for removal of all union forces from southern states