RECONSTRUCTIONHow do we reunite and rebuild the

nation after war?1865-1877

I. The War Ends

A. April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee surrenders to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.

B. Consequences of War:1. Over 600k dead2. War cost billions of dollars of

damage, especially in the South

3. Bitterness of the South towards the North

4. The Federal government power is strengthened and clearly more powerful than the states.

5. Freed millions of African Americans out of slavery

II. Reconstruction

A. The war left the South in ruin and they did not have the manpower to rebuild.

1. 258k Confederates dead2. Thousands more

amputated or sick leaving them unable to work

3. Emancipation meant slave labor was no longer an option

B. The period of rebuilding the South after the war is known as Reconstruction

III. Plans for Reconstruction

A. Lincoln’s 10% Plan1. When 10% of the states

voters from the 1860 election in each state took an oath of loyalty to the US, then that state would be able to form a new government and state constitution (must ban slavery)

2. Lincoln would pardon or offer amnesty to an Confederate who was willing to swear loyalty to the Union. (did not include leadership from the Confederacy)

3. By 1864, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee had been readmitted to the Union under Lincoln’s plan. However, Congress refused to seat any representatives from any state that was reconstructed under Lincoln’s plan.

B. Radical Republican Plan1. Led by Thaddeus

Stevens, the Republicans came up with a new plan that was “more harsh.”

2. Goals:a. Punish leaders of

the Confederacyb. Republicans

control political power in the South (15 new House seats with abolition of slavery)

c. African American political equality

3. Freedman Bureaua. Established within the

War Department in March 1865 to help former enslaved persons

b. Played an important role in helping African Americans obtain food, clothing, and medical services

c. Greatest success was establishing schools and providing aid for universities for African Americans (Atlanta U., Howard U., and Fisk U.)

4. Lincoln is assassinated!!

a. President Lincoln was shot in the back of the head while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre by actor John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865. He would die the next day in the Peterson House.

b. First Presidential Assassination

c. John Wilkes Booth was killed after a 12 day manhunt in Virginia

d. The accomplices of Booth were imprisoned or hung.

5. Johnson’s “Restoration Plan”

a. Andrew Johnson (Democrat) becomes President after Lincoln’s death.

b. All Southerners who swore an oath of loyalty were given amnesty

c. High ranking confederates had to apply for pardon directly to the President

d. Only whites who swore loyalty to the Union would be allowed to vote

e. “White men alone must manage the South.”

f. The 7 remaining states quickly accepted Johnson’s terms

III. Southern InequalityA. Black Codes

1. Laws in the South that limited the freedoms and equality of African Americans (varied from state to state)

B. Ku Klux Klan (KKK)1. “Ghosts of the

Confederate Army”2. Started in Pulaski, TN in

18663. Hooded, white-robed Klan

members goal was to terrorize African Americans from voting and exercising their rights, and to combat any “Northern Reformers”

C. The Republicans in Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (Citizenship for A.A. and restricted Black Codes in States) and voted to enlarge the Freedman’s Bureau, but Johnson vetoed both. Both of Johnson’s vetoes were overridden by Congress.

IV. Civil Amendments

A. 13th Amendment-Abolished Slavery in the US.

B. 14th Amendment-granted citizenship to all those born in the US and granted all equal protection under the law (nullify the Dred Scott Decision)

C. 15th Amendment(1870)-Right to vote for African American Males

V. Johnson is impeached

A. Radical republicans are looking for Johnson to mess up.

B. Johnson fires Sec. of War Edwin Stanton

C. Republicans decide to impeach believing he violated the Tenure of Office Act

D. Johnson was found not guilty by one vote!

VI. Military Reconstruction

A. Reconstruction Act of 18671 Any state that was

admitted back in the union under the Lincoln and Johnson plan was not recognized.

2 South was divided into 5 military districts

3 Southern states had to recognize African Americans right to vote and accept the 14th Amendment to be readmitted

VII. Election of 1868

A. Ulysses Grant wins the election by 306,000 votes out of 6 million total.

B. 500,000 African Americans vote with 9 out of 10 voting Republican.

C. African Americans could help the Republicans so they pushed through the 15 the 15th Amendment

VIII. Post War SouthA. War had devastated

the South economically

B. Farmers return to destroyed farms

C. Property values plummeted

D. Public works were destroyed

E. Region’s population and workforce was devastated

F. There were many parties involved that wanted to benefit from the rebuilding of the South1 Carpetbaggers-Northerners

that moved to the South to make money

2 Scalawags-Southerners that supported the Republican Party

3 African Americans-16 African Americans were elected to the US Congress during Reconstruction (out of 125 new members)

a. Hiram Revels-1st African American Senator

G. Sharecropping1. Former slaves were not

given new land so many continued to work on the field

2. Landowners would loan land to these head of households and they were required to pay for tools and land used by paying in crops.

3. “Economic slavery”4. Included former slaves

and poor white families

IX. Republican Power Fades

A. Klan violence led to Congress passing Enforcement Acts in 1870 and 1871 allowing the President to use troops against the Klan.

B. Congress passed the Amnesty Act in 1872 allowing 150,000 former Confederates the right to vote and hold federal and state offices.

C. Congress allowed the Freedman’s Bureau funding to expire.

D. Southern Democrats would begin to regain seats in Congress.

X. Election of 1876

A. Democrat Samuel Tilden vs. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes

B. Tilden won the popular vote but was one vote shy of an Electoral victory

C. Vote went to the House for a decision

D. Southern Democrats allowed Hayes to become president if troops were removed from the South.

E. The removal of the troops marks the end of Reconstruction.

F. No real progress in the battle against discrimination other than the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments which were not enforced in the South after 1877.