part 1: reconstruction part 2: “new” south and “old” west dr. kevin b. witherspoon lander...
TRANSCRIPT
Part 1: ReconstructionPart 2: “New” South and
“Old” West
Dr. Kevin B. WitherspoonLander University
The Destruction of the War
Presidential Reconstruction
Abraham Lincoln Wartime acts Emancipation Proclamation*
War still in doubtFugitive slavesSlaves boost Confed. CauseNorthern moralePublic opinionFrance and BritainMorality
Presidential Reconstruction
Lincoln - 10% Plan* 10% loyalty oath Abolish slavery Northern opposition
Wade-Davis Bill*50% Ironclad oath
13th Amendment
Presidential Reconstruction
Andrew Johnson* General pardon Col. M.F. Pleasants* Voting = state issue Secession illegal Repudiate Confed.
debt Abolish slavery
Black Codes*Why?
Control Disregard federal govt. Fear black retaliation Labor supply Racism
Examples: Freedmen no testify vs. whites Vagrancy laws Taxes Whipped Blacks called “servant”, whites called “master”
Johnson’s declining popularityMemphis riot*Disputes with Congress
Freedmen’s Bureau Civil Rights bill
1866 14th AmendmentCitizenship for all persons - regardless of race - born or
naturalized in US
“Swing Around the Circle”*, 1866
Congressional ReconstructionRadical Republicans
Who were they?Thaddeus Stevens, PACharles Sumner, MA
What were their goals?Protection of freedmen and supportersFull citizenship of freedmenWin conservative supportSome extreme views
Strip Southerners of citizenshipConfiscate land
Congressional Reconstruction
The Stevens Plan* Federal officials
supervise elections Blacks vote Whites stripped of
citizenship
Congressional Reconstruction1867 Congressional Reconstruction Act
5 military districts Military make arrests, trials Military directs constitutions Not extremely radical
Johnson ImpeachmentImpeachment of Johnson
Radical crusade
Failure: Bring down presidential office Lack of clear crime Successor = Ben Wade Lawyers Johnson quiet
Reconstruction Laws & Acts
1870 15th Amendment Forbade states to deny any citizen the right to vote
on grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude
Decline of the Radicals
Small in numberJohnson quietRadicals dividedTrouble staying in officeDeathU.S. Grant
Scandals: political appointments, favors to businessmen and railroads
New Leadership in the South
Grant presidency Northern military Freedmen’s Bureau Carpetbaggers, scalawags,
black politicians 1870, Union restored
Black politicians 22 Congressmen Too few for great impact
New Leadership in the South
Carpet-baggers* Northerners in the South
InvestmentTeachersMinisters
Scalawags* Southern Republicans
Join party in powerOpportunisticAgreed with Republicans on one or more issuesUnionists before war
Republican ReconstructionPositive aspects:
Public education Efficiency of government Public buildings, roads, manufacturing Social services (orphanages, hospitals, welfare) Capital/investment Political democracy
What do freedmen want?LandA homeA jobMoneyEducationFamilyLegal marriageA new name
The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s Bureau*
Gen. O.O. Howard* Food Hospitals Reuniting families Dealing with the law
The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s
Bureau* Labor
Sharecropping*Other workPoor whites
LandAmnesty ActSouthern
Homestead Act*American
Missionary Association*
The Adjustment to FreedomWhy education?
Opportunity Self improvement Equality Freedom Forbidden fruit Livelihood Read the Bible
The Adjustment to FreedomEducation
Freedmen’s Bureau schools
AMA
Education for who?InstructionOpposition
The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s Bureau, accomplishments
20 million rations reunited families provided land, housing, materials resettled 30,000 refugees built 40 hospitals and schools provided teachers, books, supplies protected freedom and rights
The Adjustment to FreedomThe Black Church
Social center Training Leadership Education Black pride Entertainment, theater
The white responseSocial order overturnedFear
Losing land, homes, jobs Black violence Their women Purity of white race
Black codesViolence and intimidation
Ku Klux Klan*Pulaski, TN 1866Racial violence
Disgust with Rep. Reconstruction
RacismHardened by Civ. WarFear of changeNo fear of punishmentEconomic hardshipVengeance for WarMob mentalitySend a messageAnonymity
Ku Klux Klan
What was a crime to the Klan?
Blacks acquiring property or power
Teaching blacksWitnessing a Klan crimeVotingBlacks in politics
Klan influence 1865-1872KKK Act, 1871
Republican ReconstructionDecline 1870s
Other concerns Corruption, depression
“Compromise of 1877” Dem. – Samuel J. Tilden, NY Rep. – Rutherford B. Hayes, OH Hayes wins, 185-184 Republicans withdraw N support
Legacy of Reconstruction “America’s unfinished revolution”
The New SouthManufacturingThe countryside
King Cotton? The planter aristocracy The labor force
Civil War nostalgia Veterans “Waving the Bloody Shirt” Pensions Memorial Day
The American WestAnte-bellum movement
1848, 100,000 W of Miss. 1860, 400,000
Gold Rush 1848 1849: 89,000 to CA
• 41,000 by sea; 43,000 by land Risky:
• scrabbling• theft• price gouging• competition• luck
Settling the WestMining towns
Prospectors Boom towns Vigilante action Territorial government Big business
Pike’s Peak, 1858Boom townsOregon, WA
RailroadsCommunication boom:
John Butterfield, coaches William H. Russell, “Pony
Express”
1861, Central PacificTrans-continental RR
Charles Crocker May 10, 1869 - Promontory
Point
The Great Plains
Movement west Eastern lands tired Cities booming Crime, politics No opportunities Immigrants Southern blacks
Homestead Act 1862
The Great PlainsCattle industry vaqueros Increase in $$ Cheap land Feed free Railroads Cattle drives 1866-1886: 6 mil. Cattle Stampedes Indians Cow-towns
The Great PlainsThe “Code of the West”:Personally redress wrongsStand groundAvenge insultGun = weapon of choiceNo shoot women or unarmed menMan’s word = bondHandshake = contractHorse stealing unforgivableStrangers treated kindly
Violence 1866-1900: 20,000 dead
The Great PlainsThe cattle bonanza, 1870s-80s
Buffalo almost goneIndians almost gonePopulation boom
Foreigners James S. Brisbin
Barbed wireWinter 1885-86Sheep
The Great PlainsLife on the plains
Problems:IsolationLack of resourcesGrasshoppersWeatherForbidding landscapeDebt
The Grange (National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry)
Indian Policy after the WarAnte-bellum policyInfluence of the western settlersBuffalo
Indian Policy after the WarFort Laramie Treaty 1851
$50,000/year for safe passage
Indian wars, 1854-1890 High Forehead
Fort Lyon massacre 1864 John Chivington*
1876 Little Bighorn, wars1887 Dawes Act
Indian Policy after the WarContinued resistance:
Apaches
The Ghost DanceWovokaWounded Knee