chapter 17 reconstruction-updated

Chapter 17Reconstruction

1863-1877

Part 1: The Politics of Reconstruction

Objectives

1.Discuss the 3 Reconstruction Plans.

2.What key changes did emancipation make in the political and economic status of African Americans?

3.Explain the expansion of citizenship rights in the post-Civil War years.

4.Explain to what extent did women share in the gains made by African Americans

How was the south impacted by the Civil War?

The Politics of Reconstruction

Confederates surrendered at Appomattox

War Casualties

•Deaths Wounded

360,000 Union 275,000

260,000 Confederate 190,000

The Defeated SouthThe price for secession

war and defeat

casualties

psychological wounds

agriculture land laid in waste (cotton destroyed)

cities destroyed

economy weakened (12% of the nations wealth)

emancipation

Abraham Lincoln’s Plan

bring the south back into the Union quickly

opposed harsh punishments

respect private property

10% Plan

10% of 1860 voters need to take

• the amnesty pledge

could then est. state gov’ts that agreed to abolish slavery


• Opposition

Radical Republicans

Wade Davis Bill

Required 50% to take amnesty pledge

Guaranteed equality to former slaves

Pocket Vetoed


• Distribution of Land

former slaves work confiscated lands

abandoned plantations leased

• to Northerners

paid on a schedule

40 Acre and a Mule

• General William T. Sherman

• set aside land be given to freedmen to work

• loan mules from the U.S. gov’t


• Freedmen’s Bureau

est. by Congress March 1865

provided food and clothing

managed abandoned lands

provided education, legal, and employment services

Andrew Johnson and Presidential

Reconstruction• Johnson the Man

Democrat

former slave owner

tailor

educated by his wife

state legislator & governor

only U.S. Senator to remain loyal

• to the Union

supporter of yeomen farmers

disliked the plantation elite


ReconstructionQuick reentry into the Union

restore property to Confederates who took loyalty oath

some excluded (planter elite)

granted pardons to 90% of those that applied

opposed political rights for freedmen


ReconstructionPlan was put into place without Congressional Support

Fall 1965-10 of the 11 states claimed to have met requirements

December 1865-Johnson declared the “restoration” of the Union complete

Plan opposed by Radical Republicans

The Radical Republican Vision

Equal political rights and economic opportunity


Thaddeus Stevens

Radical Republican

Pennsylvania Representative

wanted to confiscate lands from the wealthiest 10% of southerners and redistribute it to freedmen


Black Codes

designed to restrict the freedom of the black labor force and keep freedmen close to slave labor


December 1865 Congress refused to seat Southern Lawmakers

the old regime was back in charge

denied rights of freedmen

1866 Congress passed 2 laws to aid freedmen

Civil Rights Bill-granted citizenship to freedmen

Enlarge the Freedmen’s Bureau


Johnson vetoed both bills

Congress overrided the vetoes

1866 Congress adopted the 14th Amendment

Waving the Bloody Shirt

used in campaigning and to gain support for bills

reminded Northerners of the great sacrifices during the Civil War

Congressional Reconstruction and the Impeachment Crisis

Republicans took control of Reconstruction in 1867

Reconstruction Act-divided south in to 5 military districts

To rejoin the union

new constitutions

universal male suffrage

ratify the 14th Amendment

Military Districts


Tenure of Office Act-any officer appoint with Senate approval could not be removed until the Senate had approved a successor

Johnson tried to fire Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War

He appointed U.S. Grant who removed himself from the office


House Republicans voted to impeach Johnson by a vote of 126-47

Behind the scenes Johnson agreed to abide by the Reconstruction Acts

Senate voted 35 for conviction and 19 for acquittal, 1 vote short to kick him out of office

est. that impeachment should be based on criminal actions, not political disagreements

Election of 1868Summer of 1868, 7 Confederate states had earned readmission to the Union

Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant

Platform: question of universal suffrage left to the states

Democrats nominated Horatio Seymore

Platform: states’ rights

Election of 1868

Ku Klux Klan-founded as a TN social Club

Terrorized freedmen and white Republicans influencing the election

Grant won the election with over 500,000 African Americas voting for him

overwhelming support for the Republican Party

Election of 1868

15th Amendment

February 1869

granted all men the right to vote

unreconstructed states TX, MS, VA had to now ratify both the 14th and 15th Amendments

Woman Suffrage and Reconstruction

Leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony

objected to the word male in the 15th Amendment

along with Lucy Stone started the American Equal Rights Association

Stone and Frederick Douglas insisted that this was the hour for freedmen

Woman Suffrage and Reconstruction

Two Competing Organizations

American Woman Suffrage Association

Lucy Stone

focused on gaining voting rights at the state level

worked for the 15th Amendment

National Women’s Suffrage Association

more radical wing

advocated active democratic participation

Part II: The Meaning of Freedom

Meaning of Freedom

Freedmen wanted to define the meaning of freedom for themselves

relied on family and religion

Meaning of Freedom

1st impulse--MOVE

many returned

some settled in cities or predominately black areas

Meaning of Freedom

Tried to reunite families

males took more authority and wanted to provide for their families

women continued to work outside of home because they needed to

Meaning of Freedom

Religion

no white interference

first social institution they fully controlled

pooled resources to build churches

Meaning of Freedom

Sharecroppers

most wanted to own their own land (no $$)

10s of thousands were evicted off confiscated lands

croppers could live near families, work together, and set their own hours

by 1880, 75,000 former slaves were sharecropping

Meaning of Freedom

Politics

5 states had black electorate majorities

Union League became the political voice

leaders often teachers and ministers

Part III: Southern Politics and Society

Southern Politicsand Society

Most Northerners were satisfied with the Reconstruction Plan

viable Republican Party

required active protection of black voters

Southern Republicans were unstable

By 1877 Southern Democrats were back in control


Carpetbaggers-Northern middle class emigrants to the South

Scalawags-Native Southern white Republicans


New State Constitutions

significant black presence

political and humanitarian reforms

Insisted on equal rights

still segregated society

Government did little to help blacks get land, but did help them bargain

Encouraged strong economy

heavy subsidies for railroad development


Southerners did not believe that the Republics were a legitimate political group

The Klan tried to destroy reconstruction gov’ts

Congress passed laws to try and stop them


Democrats began to gain support in the North

Conservative Democrats (Redeemers won control of Southern States

Supreme Court

weakened enforcement of 14th and 15th Amendments

declared the Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional


Modernization of the South happened

became more dependent on cotton

Crop Lien System

loans made to be paid off by profits from cotton sales

many fell deep into debt

South became an impoverished region

Part IV: Reconstructing the

North

Reconstructing the North

Railroad construction continued the industrial boom

Railroad Tycoons drove smaller companies out of business

Credit Mobilier Scandal

set up fake companies to get more money

worked the politicians


Radical Republicans loosing influence and dying

appalled by party corruption

suspicious of universal suffrage

many had supported abolition, but wanted Federal Reconstruction to end

Grant easily won re-election in 1872


1873-financial panic triggered the longest depression to this date in US History

prices fell, unemployment rose

government did little to help

Scandal continued in the Grant Administration


Election of 1877

Democrats-Samuel Tilden

Republican-Rutherford B. Hayes

Both promised to clean up corruption


Compromise of 1877

Tilden had more votes, but not a majority of electoral votes

Hayes struck a deal

he becomes president

ends Reconstruction

removes troops

gives money for internal improvements in the South

chapter 17 reconstruction-updated

Documents