Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address
• Union Victory was certain• Themes of address– Preservation of the union “indivisible nation”– Sorrow over the war-diplomacy had failed– War was necessary to end slavery– Urged peaceful reunion and reconstruction “with
malice toward none; with charity for all”
Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan
1. Pardon southerners who swore allegiance to the Union2. Hold constitutional conventions to form new state
governments3. Withdraw their secession4. Ratify the 13th Amendment5. Hold elections and be part of the Union
Radical Republicans v. Johnson
• Thaddeus Stevens• Punish states for secession• Destroy political power of former slave holders• Full citizenship and suffrage for African
Americans• Land distribution
Freedmen’s Bureau 1865
• 1st federal relief agency in U.S. history• Provided clothes, medical attention, food, education
and land• Helped transition to freedom• Johnson vetoed, Congress override veto
Civil Rights Act 1866
• Gave African Americans citizenship• Forbade Black Codes– No carrying weapons– No serving on juries or testifying in court– No marrying whites– No traveling without permits– Etc.
• Johnson vetoes, congress overrides
14th Amendment
• No person, regardless of race, can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
• Declared all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. to be citizens
• Provided a Constitutional Basis for the Civil Rights Act
Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Abolished governments formed under Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans
• 5 military zones• Set new requirements for readmission• State constitutions had to grant suffrage
Johnson’s Impeachment
• High crimes and misdemeanors• Radicals passed laws to keep Johnson weak• Johnson ignored those laws: Tenure of Office Act• 3 month trial Not guilty by 1 vote
Impeachment Process
CongressHouse impeach SenateVotes to impeach Senate becomes jurors
Chief Justice Presides over trial
Recommend to impeach or not
Judiciary 2/3 to convictCommitteeReviews evidence guilty-out of office
not guilty-stays in
15th Amendment
• 15-suffrage– cannot deny the right to vote based on race, color,
or previous condition of servitude
Political Problems of the South
• South destroyed, must rebuild• States have no money, can’t borrow• Black Codes
Response to Political Problems
• Public Works programs-orphanages, hospitals, schools, etc.
• Increased state taxes• African Americans elected to office
African American Political Power during Reconstruction
• 90% voted• 8/10 voted Republican• Hiram Revels-1st African American U.S. Senator• Several House Members
Economic Problems of the South
• Low property values• Population devastated by death and malnutrition• Labor shortage• Increase in taxes• Landlessness of poor whites and former slaves• Low cotton prices• Debt• Bank failures
Response to Economic problems
• Raised taxes• Tenant farming• Sharecropping• Redistribution of land owned by former
Confederates• Diversification of economy
Social Problems of the South
• Racism• African American families separated• African American education
Responses to Social Problems
• Emigration of white population north• Emigration of black population to cities• Freedmen’s Bureau reunited many families• African Americans organized schools, churches, political
institutions• Morehouse College Atlanta 1867: ministry and education
Scalawags
• White southerners who joined the Republican party– Redistribute wealth– Redistribute political power– Bring industry to the South
Carpetbaggers
• Northerners who moved South after the War– Freedmen’s Bureau– Buy cheap land– Business men/entrepreneurs took advantage of
the devastated economy of the South
40 Acres and a Mule
• Promised by Sherman to slaves who left the plantation and followed the Union Army during the war
• Johnson gave it back to original landowners
Freedman’s Bureau
• Organized to help former slaves transition to freedom• Everyday problems: food, clothing, jobs, medicine,
medical care• Some land acquisition that was unclaimed by its pre-
war owners• didn’t go far enough to give economic independence
Ku Klux Klan
• Secret society• Used murder, arson, violence as means of
controlling freed Africans Americans• Founded by Confederate Army veterans• Fought against Congressional Reconstruction
plans• Federal troops occupied the south to curtail
KKK violence
Enforcement Acts 1870, 1871
• Provided federal supervision of elections• Provided federal troops in active KKK areas
Amnesty Act 1872
• Returned the right to vote and hold office to 160,000 former Confederates
• Republicans lose political power
Panic of 1873
• Businesses had expanded during the Civil War• Post-war production exceeded demand• Banks closed• Stock market crashed• 5 year depression
Redemption
• Democrats regain power– Amnesty Act– Scandal in Grant Administration– Supreme Court Decisions weaken the power of
the 14th and 15th Amendments– Depression
1876 Election
• (R)Rutherford B. Hays v. (D) Sam Tilden• Hays wins electoral vote, Tilden wins popular
vote• Contested election-House decides
Compromise of 1877
House will accept Hayes as President IF• Federal Troops removed from the south• Democrats get $$ for southern public
works programs• Hayes puts southern conservatives in his
cabinet