CHAPTER TEN: RECONSTRUCTION

AFTER THE WAR

Economy•South in ruins• Inflation•Poverty everywhere

Politics•North dominates “Secess’” states•Should federal gov’t stimulate economy?•40 Acres and a Mule? (Sherman)

THREE PERIODS OF RECONSTRUCTION

• Presidential Reconstruction (1866-1867)• Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873)• Redemption (1873-1877)

• Issues that come up: -How do secessionist states come back to US?-What do we do with the Confederates?-What is the Constitutional and legal status of freed slaves?

SO MANY PLANS

Lincoln: 10% Plan• Lincoln wanted quick and painless • The plan - state would be

reaccepted to the Union after 10% of the people who voted in the 1860 election took an oath to the US

• The only exclusion were CSA officers and leaders.

Congress: Wade-Davis Plan• Lincoln plan was too weak• Afraid the slave and plantation

owners would quickly regain all their previous power.

• Plan: 50% of the people of a secessionist state would take an oath to the US before statehood.

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION

• Freedmen’s Bureau: Established in 1866 to help fight for the rights of freedmen in hostile areas in the South

-Impossible? Only 1000 agents in the South• Goals:-Establish schools -Financial aid-Settle racial disputes-Secure equal treatment in the court system*Made decent gains in healthcare and education, but it gets overshadowed

with Reconstruction and lasting racial animosity

• Black Codes-Set of laws put in place by Southern states to limit the political power of freedmen-Overthrown in 1866 by the Civil Rights Act, greatly influenced by the Freedmen’s Bureau• 13th Amendment-Ratified 6 December 1865-Abolished slavery forever• Andrew Johnson’s vetoes -Very lenient on pardoning CSA leaders if they apologized -Vetoed the CRA of 1866 and the 14th Amendment (both moderate proposals) -Johnson claims that they were a violation of states’ rights; the federal gov’t is trying to

bully the South -Democrats loved him for this

RADICAL RECONSTRUCTION• Reconstruction Act of 1867-The act effectively seized control of Reconstruction from Johnson (He’s mad)-More Radical Republicans were coming into Congress; outnumbering

moderates and Democrats• The act divides the South into 5 military districts:-1st District: VA-2nd District: NC and SC-3rd District: GA, AL, and FL-4th District: AK and MS-5th District: TX and LA• Annexation of Alaska-Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated a treaty between Russia and

the U.S. to purchase Alaska (“Seward’s Icebox”) for $15 million

• Johnson gets Impeached -Charge him with violating the Tenure of Office Act - Almost thrown out but lawyers tell Congress he will be good • Christmas Day Amnesty Act: Johnson grants unconditional amnesty to all

Confederates on 25 December 1868, less than a month before he turned over the office to Ulysses S. Grant

• 14th Amendment: Guarantees citizenship for all freedmen• 15th Amendment: Guarantees suffrage (right to vote) regardless of race,

color, or previous servitude (slavery)Feminists enraged because they were not included

REPUBLICAN RULE

• By 1870, all former states rejoin Union (Congress plan)

• Many northerners move South during reconstruction, some getting political positions (Carpetbaggers) South thinks they are intruders

• Scalawags: white southerners who worked with Republicans

• Schools: by 1870, more than 200,000 former slaves were now students, 40% of population attend by 1876

THE KKK EMERGES• Forms over reaction to 2 things: A rising number of unhappy veterans in the

South and altered social situations where whites had to “reclaim” white supremacy

• Para-military force that served the interests of Democrats, planters, and all those who wished for white supremacy to return to an “Old South”

• Grant uses federal power to silence the Klan throughout the rest of Reconstruction (Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871)

• They never really go away; just go underground until the 1920s

COLLAPSE OF RECONSTRUCTION• U.S. Grant elected in 1868• Grant had issues with a Congress that was split during Reconstruction• Southern economy bad, but it gets much worse -Cotton prices fall in half• Small landowners, merchants, etc. go bankrupt -Sharecropping becomes common -Sharing the risk of owning land; black and white farmers participate• Crop-Lien System – farmers have to commit a portion of their year’s crops as

collateral for purchasing needed goods• President Grant takes the blame; Republicans lose many seats in Congress

• Election of 1876: Democratic candidate: Samuel Tilden, Republican candidate: Rutherford B. Hayes

• Problem! Some states send in two sets of election results• Congress doesn’t know what to do-who wins?!• Compromise “Bargain” of 1877: Congress established a special commission to settle

the election -Agreement: Rep in WH in exchange for ending Reconstruction• Hayes had to end Reconstruction immediately, guarantee federal aid to the South

and remove federal troops• Dems would not cause trouble if the Reps followed through with the terms• Hayes takes office and ends Reconstruction within the first month of his presidency

LEGACY• Essentially a 12 year struggle that failed in almost all aspects

• Failed to make a solid plan to reinvigorate the Southern economy after the war

• Failed to clearly define what citizenship meant for freedmen

• Laid the foundation for future freedom struggles

• Failed economically, socially, and politically in all regards

• One of the darker moments in United States history