Chapter 12 – Reconstruction

Section NotesPlans for ReconstructionCongressional ReconstructionRepublicans in ChargeReconstruction Collapses

Video

ImagesHuman Costs of the Civil WarFreedmen’s VillagePolitical Cartoon: ReconstructionIn the Shadow of Slavery

Quick FactsHopes Raised and DeniedVisual Summary:

Reconstruction

MapsMilitary Districts, 1867The Election of 1876

Reconstruction

History Close-upAfrican Americans

and Reconstruction

Plans for Reconstruction

The Main Idea

Northern leaders had different ideas for dealing with the many issues and challenges of restoring the southern

states to the Union.

Reading Focus

• What challenges faced the South after the Civil War?

• What actions did Union leaders take during wartime to reconstruct the nation after the war’s end?

• How did Lincoln’s assassination affect the nation?

• Why did President Johnson and Congress differ over Reconstruction?

The South after the War

• Property losses– The value of farms and plantations declined steeply and

suffered from neglect and loss of workers.

– The South’s transportation network was in very poor shape.

• Challenges for African Americans– Had gained freedom, but had no money and little if any

education. The poor economy made job prospects bleak.

– They wanted educational and economic opportunities.

• How to treat the South– Many legal and political questions regarding the South

needed to be answered.

Wartime Reconstruction

The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in March 1865 to help southern refugees and freed slaves.

Northerners disagreed over how to treat the South, but as he stated in his inaugural address, Lincoln hoped to treat the South “with malice toward none and charity toward all.”

New roles for African Americans were tested. In territories under Union control, freed slaves were hired to work on plantations for pay, or were allowed to rent and farm the land. 40-acre plots in South Carolina and Georgia coastal lands were given away. In Louisiana, freedmen signed contracts to work for a year for wages. Some planters deducted basic items from the wages, and little money was left over.

Reconstruction Plans

Lincoln’s Plan• The Proclamation of

Amnesty and Reconstruction, December 1863, gave forgiveness to those who pledged Union loyalty and support for emancipation.

• When 10 percent of voters had taken the oath, a new state government could be organized. The new government was required to ban slavery.

• This plan for readmission was known as the Ten Percent Plan.

Opposition• Lincoln’s plan sparked

debate in Congress.

• Some thought only power to re-admit belonged to Congress; others thought the South never officially left the Union.

• Thaddeus Stevens felt majority rule was being discarded.

• Congress refused to allow members from the states readmitted under Lincoln’s plan to be seated.

Congress Makes a Plan

• Wade-Davis Bill

– In 1864, Congress passed its own plan for Reconstruction.

– A majority of white male citizens would be required to take a loyalty oath before elections could be held.

• Lincoln killed the bill using a pocket veto, ignoring it since it passed in the last 10 days of the legislative session.

Lincoln’s Assassination

• Lincoln was shot at Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865, and died the next morning.

• John Wilkes Booth was part of a conspiracy, and others were supposed to kill Vice President Andrew Johnson and Secretary of State William Seward.

Popular president

• The president did not live long enough to test his wartime popularity against Congress for control of Reconstruction plans.

John Wilkes Booth

• A grief stricken nation mourned Lincoln’s death.

• White southerners were concerned. Lincoln’s death meant a change in Reconstruction plans and a new president. Some disliked Andrew Johnson and felt he was a traitor.

Concern and grief

Johnson and Congress Differ over Reconstruction

Republican leaders thought they could work with Johnson, but they did not understand his views. Born into poverty, Johnson despised the wealthy planter class, but he held no ill will toward southerners. He supported states’ rights and limits on government power.

Johnson’s plan added to Lincoln’s list of exceptions. Wealthy southerners would have to apply for pardons, but there was no set percentage of loyal voters. It required a convention to be called to repeal secession, an amended constitution banning slavery, and a refusal to pay Confederate debts.

Johnson pushed forward with his plan, and all but one state was restored when Congress met in December. Congress was not happy, and the battle for control would begin.

Congressional Reconstruction

The Main Idea

Congress took control of Reconstruction, as a new, radical branch of the Republican Party began emerging.

Reading Focus

• How did the South respond to Reconstruction under President Johnson?

• Why did Congress take control of Reconstruction, and what changes did it make?

• How did Radical Reconstruction differ from earlier Reconstruction plans, and what were its effects?

Reconstruction under President Johnson

• Johnson’s attitude– Deep-rooted prejudice continued. African Americans had rights, but those

rights did not include a role in government. Johnson declared, “White men alone must manage the South.”

– Johnson pardoned nearly everyone who applied, and prewar leaders were restored to power. Congress refused to seat these former Confederates.

• The Black Codes– Designed to keep freedmen in slavelike conditions, Black Codes gave planters

a cheap labor supply. The laws varied by state, but they allowed freedmen certain rights, such as the right to marry and to own property. The series of laws kept freedmen dependent on the plantation for their existence.

• Keeping a way of life – Local sheriffs and Civil War veterans supported and enforced these laws. White

citizens formed private groups, supposedly to keep order in the South. The Ku Klux Klan formed in 1866 and soon began terrorizing African Americans and whites who were loyal to the Union. Violence against blacks was rarely prosecuted.

Congress Takes Control of Reconstruction

Radical Republicans wanted to reshape southern society and favored a more thorough program of Reconstruction. They wanted freed slaves to have economic opportunities and political equality. But moderate Republicans still controlled Congress.

Northern concerns

Northerners felt if southern states were allowed to abuse freedmen, the North’s victory would be diminished. A New Jersey paper warned, “The reptile spirit of secession is still alive.”

Congress fights back

Moderates did not want a social revolution, but wanted to help and protect freedmen. They passed two bills, including a Civil Rights Act. Johnson’s vetoes pushed the moderates to help the Radical Republicans to take control of Reconstruction.

Johnson versus

Congress

Radical Reconstruction

Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, writing the Civil Rights Act into the constitution and granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

Republicans took control in the election of 1866 after riots in the South discredited Johnson’s views. Radicals now had the votes needed to pass the Reconstruction Acts.

These laws put the southern states under U.S. military control and required them to draft new constitutions. Congress also passed the Tenure of Office Act in March 1867 to keep Johnson from using his power as commander in chief to interfere with Reconstruction.

Radical Reconstruction

Johnson’s impeachment• Edward Stanton, Lincoln’s

secretary of war, had stayed on in Johnson’s cabinet.

• Stanton supported congressional Republicans and prevented Johnson from undermining Congress’s program. In response, Johnson fired him.

• The House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act.

• The Senate failed to convict by one vote, and Johnson remained in office.

• Although no longer in control of Reconstruction, Johnson continued to issue pardons, and by the end of 1868 the rights of almost all Confederate leaders had been restored.

The Fifteenth Amendment• During the impeachment trial,

Republicans nominated General Grant as their presidential candidate.

• The 1868 election was close, but the African American vote in the South gave Grant an electoral college victory.

• Republicans pushed through the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended suffrage to all African American males nationwide.

• This brought millions of potential new voters to the Republican Party and aimed to protect freedmen from pardoned former Confederates. However, it did not ban denial of suffrage for reasons other than race.

Republicans in Charge

The Main Idea

Republican Reconstruction had significant impact on life in the South.

Reading Focus

• What changes did Republican government bring to the South?

• What was life after slavery like for African Americans?

• How did Reconstruction affect patterns of land ownership and land use in the South?

Republican Government Brings Change to the South

Scalawags• Scalawag was the name

given to southerners who supported the shift in power to Congress and the army.

• Many were farmers who had never owned slaves.

• Some joined the Republicans to prevent the planter class from returning to power; others were southerners ruined by the war; still others wanted to end the dependence on plantation agriculture.

Carpetbaggers• The scalawags allied with

carpetbaggers, northerners who came south to take part in the region’s political and economic rebirth.

• Scorned as low-class persons who could carry their belongings in a carpetbag, many were educated and came from a variety of backgrounds.

• Many bought abandoned land cheaply or formed partnerships with planters.

Republican Government Brings Change to the South

• African Americans in government– Forming the largest group of Republican voters in the South,

nearly 700 African Americans served in southern state legislatures during Reconstruction. They included Hiram Revels, who took the Senate seat held by Jefferson Davis before the war.

• New state governments – Brought many changes, including the region’s first public school

systems. The infrastructure was repaired, facilities built, and railroads added. Facilities were open to all southerners, but were usually segregated by race. The Black Codes were repealed in every state. The changes angered those formerly in control, and some freedmen felt more needed to be done to help them obtain land.

Life after Slavery for African Americans

Freedom meant a variety of things, including reuniting with family and the search for employment. Some moved west or north, but most stayed in the South.

Most eagerly sought education and began to establish their own institutions, including churches and schools. The churches became centers of community life.

A wide variety of other organizations were created, including debate clubs, drama societies, trade associations, fire companies, and mutual aid societies. Freedmen were taking the lead to improve themselves and gain control of their lives.

Reconstruction and Land Ownership

Under the new sharecropping system the employer provided the land, tools, seed—basically everything but the labor. If able, some switched to tenant farming, renting the land they farmed from the landowner. Independence was difficult.

Southern Homestead

Act

Giving away planters’ land to former slaves was considered too extreme. Instead, Congress passed a law setting aside 45 million acres of government-owned land to provide free farms.

New labor system

Southern cities grew rapidly. Atlanta and other cities became business centers, with textile mills and other manufacturing ventures being built. Workers still earned lower wages in the South, and many were locked in a cycle of debt.

Industrial growth

Reconstruction Collapses

The Main Idea

A variety of events and forces led to the end of Reconstruction, which left a mixed legacy for the nation.

Reading Focus

• What problems caused support for Reconstruction to decline?

• What events brought Reconstruction to an end?

• What was Reconstruction’s legacy for the South and for the rest of the nation?

Problems with Reconstruction

Terrorist Groups• Reconstruction brought

violent opposition throughout the South.

• The KKK and similar organizations wanted to restore the old political order.

• Their methods included threats, house burnings, and killings against not only blacks but whites as well.

• State governments were unable to control violence.

Enforcement Acts• Three Enforcement Acts

were passed, setting heavy penalties for anyone attempting to prevent a qualified person from voting.

• They banned the use of disguises and gave the army and federal courts power to capture and punish KKK members.

• While the KKK was soon brought under control, other groups continued to operate.

Problems with Reconstruction

Support declines• White southerners felt the

Acts threatened individual freedoms.

• Northerners were dismayed that the army was still needed to keep the peace in the South.

• State governments were seen as ineffective.

• There was widespread poverty and lack of land reform for African Americans.

Lost faith• Costly building programs

raised taxes and put state governments in debt.

• Liberal Republicans helped the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives.

• Economic factors came into play, with the depression that began in 1873 taking more attention.

The End of Reconstruction

Violence increased, and southern Democrats grew stronger and bolder. Grant refused assistance since the northern public was “tired out” by South’s continuing problems. By 1876 Redeemers had won back almost all of the states.

Supreme Court

decisions

Three Supreme Court decisions seriously weakened the goals and operations of Reconstruction. The Slaughterhouse Cases, United States v. Cruikshank, and United States v. Reese served to limit the impact of the 14th and 15th Amendments.

Redeeming the South

The presidential election was disputed with charges of massive voting fraud. With the Compromise of 1877 Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops in the South, and in return, Rutherford B. Hayes became president.

The election of 1876

Reconstruction’s Legacy

The 14th and 15th Amendments began permanent changes across the United States. Former slaves were now citizens with voting rights.

The New South was becoming industrial, but in many ways it remained the same. White southerners deeply resented that the federal government controlled their states.

For a century after Reconstruction ended, the South was know as the Solid South, always voting Democratic. It was not until the 1970s that the Republican Party was able to gain ground in the South.

Click on the window to start video