Chapter 9: Reconstruction

Themes:• Louisiana and the World Timeline (pp.

216-217)• Rebuilding the Nation; Political Factions;

Lincoln’s Plans (pp. 218-221)• A Union State Government; Andrew

Johnson; Coming Home (pp. 222-224)• Radical Reconstruction; Corruption;

Louisiana State Lottery (pp. 224-227)

Themes:• The Constitution of 1868; Rebuilding the

Land (pp. 228-231) • The Fight for Freedom Continues;

Louisiana Explodes in Violence (pp. 232-239)

• The End of Reconstruction (pp. 239-240) • Review (pp. 241)

I. Rebuilding the Nation • -The Civil War ended and eleven former

Confederate states had to be readmitted before they could be considered part of the US.

• -This became known as Reconstruction: The rebuilding of the nation after the Civil War.

GLEs:65, 66, 72, 73, 76

A. Presidential or Congressional Reconstruction?

• South had very little power during Reconstruction• North gained control of the South• Northerners wanted to punish the South for starting the

war • Reconstruction became a bitter political battle between the

president and Congress• Lincoln wanted to treat the Southerners and also believed

secession was unconstitutional • Lincoln’s fellow Republicans called Radicals did not want

to allow the Southern states back into the Union so easily• Confederates states would have to make radical changes

before they could become part of the United States• Radicals believed Congress should decide when and how

to readmit the seceded states• They wanted to reward former slaves and punish those

Southerners who had supported the Confederacy

II. Forming Political Factions• Democrats were most of the white population who had

supported the confederacy.• They wanted the state to be controlled by native whites

they way it had been before the war.• They accepted the end of slavery, but did not believe

former slaves should be given political rights. • They were opposed to the corruption that flourished

during Reconstruction.• Republicans consisted of Union soldiers and natives who

had opposed secession.• They party also included former slaves, or freedmen.• The freedmen expected to gain new rights during

Reconstruction as a reward for supporting the Union.• They wanted the right to vote, be educated, own land,

and have equal access to public facilities.

A. Scalawags • Louisiana’s Republican Party also had

some white members• Unionist who had opposed secession

and Northern whites who came to the South during Reconstruction

• Native white Louisiana Republicans were nicknamed scalawags

• Other Southerners viewed them as traitors

B. Carpetbaggers• White Northerners who became involved

in Louisiana’s Reconstruction• Many were former Union soldiers who

remained in the south after the war• Some wanted to make money rebuilding

the state• Others wanted to enter politics

**Carpetbaggers (Read more about it on page 220)

• A cartoon about carpetbagging. Under Grant's administration Radical Reconstruction policies continued and were expanded, although from the South's point of view, Reconstruction was far from ideal (contrast this image with E 263, above). Northerners who came south after the war for a variety of reasons were labeled "carpetbaggers," and pilloried for collusion with "ignorant" freedmen and turncoat native southern "Scalawags." Here, the solid South stumbles on sharp stones while Grant rides on a carpetbag full of guns. Despite this popular image of the evils of carpetbag rule, the Reconstruction governments actually instituted numerous reforms long needed in the South. Among their accomplishments were the abolishment of property requirements to hold office, the more equitable reapportionment of state legislatures, the establishment of public education, and the building and improvement of transportation systems.

C. Choosing Sides• Democrats vs. Republicans• Blacks vs. Whites• Former Confederates vs. Scalawags• Carpetbaggers vs. Native Louisianians • Black Republicans vs. White

Republicans • All groups were at odds with each other

in some way.

• ..\..\Reconstruction.asf

III. Lincoln’s Reconstruction• He was anxious to restore the Southern

states to their former positions.• George F. Shepley became Louisiana’s

Union military governor. • He took orders from the “Beast” Butler.

A. An Offer to Pardon• Lincoln offered to restore Southern

political rights and property (except slaves) if they took an oath of allegiance to the Union.

• Most did not • White residents hated the Union

B. The Ten Percent Plan • Stated a state could reclaim its proper

place in the Union when 10% of it’s 1860 voters took the oath of allegiance to the US.

• It also required that a state abolish slavery and organize a state government loyal to the Union.

• Nathaniel P. Banks began the plan in LA.

IV. A Wartime Union State Government

GLEs: 65, 66, 72, 73, 76, 77

A. The Constitution of 1864• General Banks and Governor Hahn held a convention to

write a new state constitution for the Unionist government

• Hahn strongly supported freedmen’s rights and wanted to make sure the new constitution provided those rights.

• Constitution of 1864 officially abolished slavery in La. • Established free public schools for black students• Gave the legislature the power to grant voting right to

freedmen

“And Not This Man?”

**Michael Hahn(Read more about him on page 222)

• A lawyer and Democratic politician who bitterly opposed secession

• He eventually joined the Republican Party, becoming a friend to Lincoln and a leader of the new Union state government in New Orleans

• He was appointed governor because of his political views and support of the Union

• He supported freedmen’s rights and the abolition of slavery

• Through the new state constitution of 1864, he helped insure free public education for black children

V. Andrew Johnson’s Reconstruction

President Andrew

Johnson

A. President Andrew Johnson• He did not believe Southerners should be

punished• He believed most were fighting to defend their

homes• He pardoned most Confederates, restored their

right to vote and to run for office. • Rather than the 10% Plan, he stated a

southern state had to repeal its secession ordinance, repudiate the Confederate debt, and ratify the 13th Amendment (abolished slavery).

VI. Coming Home• Louisiana soldiers blamed the Republicans for

the destruction they found after the war

Confederate Prisoners of

War

A. Back in Control• Governor Wells realized Confederate

veterans would make up a majority of the voters in future elections.

• It would be impossible for him to win an election without their help.

• He appointed a few Democrats to state offices

• Action angered the Republicans • Wells won the next election and the Rebels

regained many political positions.

B. The Black Codes• State laws that forced freedmen to sign

contracts to work on plantations• If they left before the contract was up, did

not have jobs, or “insulted” whites, they could be arrested or punished.

• New way of enslaving freedmen

C. Well Plays Both Sides• He wavered on important issues• He played factions against one another • Supported the election of Democrats to the

legislature, but became angry when the rejected his plans

• Realized Democrats could gain control of the state so he moved support to the Radical Republicans

D. Republicans in Trouble• White men were the only people who could

vote and they mostly didn’t support them. • More Republicans began supporting political

right for freedmen as a way to counter the white Democratic vote.

E. New Orleans Riot (Mechanics Institute Riot)• Some freedmen and white Republicans in New Orleans held a

meeting at the Mechanic Institute • Purpose was to write a new state constitution that would grant

political rights to freedmen • White Democrats were outraged and a large angry crowd

gathered • Freedmen were badly outnumbered • Black veterans sought refuge in the Mechanics Institute• Mob burst in and sprayed the building with bullets• Nearly 200 people were dead or wounded, almost all freedmen• Shocked Northerners and they believed Johnson’s lenient

Reconstruction policy was to blame for the rebirth of Southern violence

• The race riot in New Orleans in July 1866. Under the Reconstruction policies of the Johnson administration, the Louisiana state government had fallen into the hands of ex-Confederates. Hoping that the move would balance the state's political scales, delegates from the 1864 Louisiana constitutional convention had decided to reconvene in order to give African Americans suffrage. Upon hearing that a mob was forming outside the convention hall, the local commander of the Union occupation forces ordered troops to the hall to protect the delegates, but before they could arrive, the mob had attacked. By the time order was restored, 40 delegates (37 African Americans and three whites) had been killed. Republicans charged that these deaths were directly attributable to Johnson's Reconstruction policies.

Mechanics Institute Riot

VII. Radial Reconstruction Begins

• 1867, Johnson had lost support and Radicals took control of Reconstruction

• Military Reconstruction Act: protected the Northern victory and ensured the South did not rise again

• It divided the South into five military districts

• Ensured Republican control of the Southern states GLEs: 64, 65, 66, 69, 72,

73, 75, 76, 77

• A map of the South under Military Reconstruction. Two years after the end of the war, in large part because Andrew Johnson had been discredited by actions by states formed under his reconstruction plan, Reconstruction began again, this time under the control of Congress. The Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the former Confederate states into five military districts. The occupation forces were to guarantee that Federal Reconstruction policies were followed. This legislation also turned out the sitting state governments which had very closely resembled the southern state governments of 1861. New elections were scheduled and new state constitutions were to be drawn up, incorporating the 13th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and giving freedmen the vote, before the states could be readmitted to the Union.

A. General Phillip Sheridan• became the military governor over

Louisiana and Texas• He removed Governor Wells and Orleans

Parish sheriff because he believed they had organized the New Orleans Riot.

• Replaced by strong Republicans

General Philip

Sheridan

B. Governor Benjamin F. Flanders• Sheridan appointed as new governor • A brave Unionist who defiantly few an

American flag outside his home during the secession crisis

• He was a true Radical who played a key role in starting Louisiana’s Republican Party

• Supported freedmen’s voting rights • Opposed black codes

C. Governor Joshua Baker• Replaced Flanders as governor • Opposed secession and the Confederacy• He was a moderate Democrat like General

Hancock • His term was brief

VIII. Corruption in Reconstruction

A. Henry Clay Warmoth• He took bribes, made sure all state printing

contracts went to his own newspaper, and used his position to profit from selling state bonds.

• Forced people to sign updated letters of resignation before they could accept state jobs

• A government investigation estimated he banked as much as $1 million dollars during his term in office even though his annual salary was just $8,000.

IX. Louisiana State Lottery Company

(Read more about it on page 227)

X. The Constitution of 1868• Voters ratified a new state constitution • It strengthened the Republican Party and

advanced rights of African Americans

GLEs: 65, 66, 72, 73, 76

A. Rights for African Americans• Added a provision for a Bill of Rights that

guaranteed specific civil rights• Ended segregation by prohibiting

discrimination in public places • All children were guaranteed free public

education in integrated schools • Black men were granted the right to vote

and entered politics

Black Members of Louisiana’s

1868 Legislature

B. Citizenship • 14th Amendment: provided citizenship to

African Americans• 15th Amendment: Prohibited states from

denying the vote due to race• Allowed LA to fulfill Reconstruction

requirement and reenter the Union in 1868

• ..\..\14th amend.asf

XI. Rebuilding the Land

A. Farming• Repairing the states farms was a great

challenge.• War had devastated the land• It was flooded and neglected• Briars and thickets covered many fields• Landowners had little money to hire help

and slave labor was gone

B. Crop Liens• Involved farmers signing contracts with

lenders promising to give them a percentage of their crops once they were harvested

• If the harvest was poor, there was little money left to pay off the lien.

• Mounting debt was a terrible problem

C. Sharecropping• Landowners promised part of the crop to workers• They signed contracts with workers to farm small plots

of land in exchange for a house, seeds, tools, and draft animals.

• They did not receive any money until they sold their crops, many basics had to be purchased on credit.

• As a result, they were usually deeply in debt and unable to leave the land they worked.

• The two systems helped reestablished LA’s agriculture after the Civil War, but trapped people in a cycle of debt.

• Landowners always owed money to banks or other lenders.

• Sharecroppers always owed money to landowners.

• ..\..\Memories_of_Sharecropping.asf

The Lien system and sharecropping helped reestablish

Louisiana’s agriculture after the

Civil War, but trapped people in a

cycle of debt.

D. Freedman’s Bureau• A federal agency that provided care for

freedmen and white refugees.• Fed the poor• Established schools and hospitals• Helped negotiate labor contracts• Settled disputes between planters and

freedmen

XII. The Fight for Freedom Continues

GLEs: 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 72, 73, 75, 76, 77

A. The Nightriders• Ku Klux Klan opposed the Catholic Church and

freedmen’s growing power• They operated mostly in North LA where few

Catholics lived• Knights of the White Camellia was a secret

society that used violence and terror in an effort to return control of LA to the native white population.

• Both groups were often called nightriders because they terrorized at night.

B. Fighting Back• Republicans formed the Union League• Created the Metropolitan Police in New

Orleans • 1868 election, over 1,000 Republicans were

murdered in LA• Most were freedmen • 10% of the black population in Caddo Parish

were murdered during Reconstruction • 25% in Bossier Parish

C. State Returning Board• Governor Warmoth opposed the nightriders

and others because they threatened Republican rule.

• Legislature created the State Returning Board to prevent election fraud.

• It monitored precinct activity and threw out votes if corruption was suspected.

• Soon it became a corrupt look to keep Republicans in power by throwing out votes in strong Democratic precincts.

D. Warmoth’s Impeachment • Due to corruption, confusion, and conflict

in the gubernatorial election, Radical Republicans impeached Warmoth.

• They were angered when he refused to support the election results declaring Republican William Pitt Kellogg the winner.

E. P.B.S. Pinchback • First African American governor in

American History.• Became governor for a 35-day term after

Warmoth was removed from office.

Pinckney Benton Stewart

Pinchback

**P.B.S. Pinchback (Read more about it on page 234)

XIII. Louisiana Explodes in Violence

A. The Battle of the Cabildo• A large group of armed men attacked the

Republicans’ Metropolitan Police which were housed there.

• The Army stopped the fighting

B. The Colfax Riot• Violence between blacks and whites escalated

and came to a head at Colfax.• Hundreds of freedmen seized control of the

town and turned the courthouse into a fort.• Hundreds of armed whites confronted them on

Easter Sunday.• About 100 freedmen were killed or executed.• 3 white died• President Grant settled the disputed election by

ordering the Army to recognize Kellogg was the winner.

The Colfax Riot

**Marshall H. Twitchell (Read more about it on page 236)

C. William Pitt Kellogg

William Pitt Kellogg

D. The White League• A powerful statewide organization structured

like a military to support the Democratic Party.• Each parish had a company and officers.• Members were mostly former Confederate

soldiers.• The goal was to drive out Republicans and

keep freedmen in check.• Organization had 14,000 organized members

and successfully forced Republican parish officials out of office.

White Leaguers

Intimidating Freedmen

E. The Coushatta Massacre• Red River Parish created by the Republicans• Whites dominated the region• Used their positions to improve freedmen’s

education and economic opportunities and to improve their own lives

• Members of the White League rode into the parish seat of Coushatta and capture six Republican officials.

• 5 of the 6 were killed

F. The Battle of Liberty Place• White League members gathered on Canal Street where

speakers demanded the removal of the Republican governor.

• Republicans’ Metropolitan Police assemble about 500 men and fired cannons on the White League’s barricades.

• After a day of battle, the police surrendered to the White League.

• Democrats installed John McEnery as governor. • Grant dispatched war ships to New Orleans • US Army forced the White League to withdraw• McEnery stepped aside as governor • Strength of White League was growing and the US Army

was the only thing keeping Republicans in power.• This encourage White League to become even more

active across the state.

**The Liberty Place Monument (Read more about it on page 238)

**The John Slidell Memorial (Read more about it on page 239)

XIV. The End of Reconstruction

GLEs: 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 73, 76

A. The Nation’s Centennial • 1876: marked both a presidential and a gubernatorial

election.• Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes for

President and Democrats nominated Samuel Tilden.• Louisiana nominated Republican Stephen B. Packard

and Democrat Francis T. Nicholls.• Fraud and corruption in both election left no clear

winners. • Electoral votes of Florida, South Carolina, and

Louisiana were disputed in the Presidential election.

**Francis Redding Tillou Nicholls (Read more about it on page 240)

B. The Compromise of 1877• Was an informal agreement that Congress

came up with to solve the crisis of no president.

• Democrats agreed to let Hayes win the three contested states and become president.

• The Republicans promised to withdraw the US Army from the Southern states.

C. The Army Leaves Louisiana • Rutherford B. Hayes President and ordered

the army to leave LA.• Republicans realized they had lost the fight. • Packard resigned as governor• Republican government collapsed • Francis T. Nicholls became governor • Southern Democrats and former

Confederates lost the Civil War, but won the struggle to end Reconstruction.

Chapter Review