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RECONSTRUCTION

1863-1877

How to rebuild the society and economy of the South?

How will 4 million freed slaves fit into society?

How should the Union treat the former Confederate states? As if they never left, or as conquered territories?

Who gets to decide the answers to these questions?

Questions for America at the end of the Civil War:

Return Southern States to the Union

Rebuild the South’s Economy

Promote the Rights of Former Slaves

Federal Government Tries To..

1.Presidential Reconstruction (1863-1866)

Restored all eleven Confederate states to the Union

2.Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction (1866-1875)

Harsher treatment of Southern Whites and Protections for Blacks

3. The End of Reconstruction (1875 – 1877)

Return to Southern control3 Phases of Reconstruction

{for Reconstruction

Presidential Plans

Believes that the South never had the constitutional right to leave the Union, and therefore

never had

Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan

Grant full pardons to any Southerners who a) take an oath of allegiance and b) accept the emancipation of slaves

New State governments could be established when 10% of voters took the loyalty oath

In Order For Southern States to Rejoin the Union…

Freedman Bureau (1865)an early welfare agency supported by Congressional Republicans, which provided food, shelter, medical aid, and most importantly education to blacks and homeless whites in the south.

The Bureau started some 3,000 schools and taught 200,000 African Americans to read before 1870.

Accomplishments

Many Republicans in Congress did not want the Southern Governments to be controlled by former secessionists. They felt Lincoln was being too lenient on the South.

Opposition

Johnson was a Democrat and the only Confederate senator who had remained loyal to the Union during the war. From poor, white southern roots, he held a hatred for southern aristocrats

Andrew Johnson’s Plan

Disenfranchisement for 1) all former Confederate leaders and officeholders2) 2) Confederates with more than $20,000 in

taxable property.

The President retained the right to personally pardon any of these “disloyal” persons

In Addition to Lincoln’s Plan For Southern States …

Many former Confederate leaders were pardoned and back in office within months. For example, Alexander Stephens, the

former Confederate Vice President, became the U.S. senator from Georgia.

All eleven Confederate states qualified for re-entry to the Union within 8 months.

Black Codes: laws adopted by Southern legislatures to restrict the rights and movements of newly freed African Americans

Outcomes

Congressional Republicans, who had originally welcomed Johnson’s hatred of southern aristocrats, became disillusioned

Opposition

{For Reconstruction

Congressional / Radical Plan

Members of the Republican party, like Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, who sought civil rights for blacks

During the mid-term elections of 1866 support for radicals increased out of fear of Democratic gains.

Radical Republicans?W

ho W

ere

the

Civil Rights Act of 1866 African Americans are U.S.

citizens

Republicans feared Democrats so….

Fourteenth Amendment (r 1868) All persons born or naturalized in

the U.S. are citizens States must uphold “equal

protection of laws” and “due process of law” for all citizens

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ents

Divided south into 5 military districts, under the control of the Union army

Required each state to 1) ratify the 14th Amendment and 2) provide guarantees for granting universal male suffrage.

Congressional Treatment of Southern States…

{vs

Congress

Johnson

Congress and Johnson are at odds. Johnson has vetoed several bills passed by Congress

Congress passed laws to limit Johnson’s

presidential power in 1867, particularly his ability to remove civil officers without their

consent.

Johnson tries to replace Secretary of War Henry Stanton

Moderates and radicals in Congress united to

impeach Johnson.

1 vote short of conviction.

Johnson remained President but his political career was in ruins and he backed down from

challenging the Congress

Johnson’s Impeachment

Fifteenth Amendment (r1869) Prohibits any state from denying

or abridging a citizen’s right to vote “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

Civil Rights Act of 1875 Guaranteed equal accommodations

in public places and prohibited courts from excluding African Americans from juries.

poorly enforced

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ents

Scalawags: poor whites who sought to gain from Republican rule

Carpet Baggers: northerners who came south in search of wealth and power

African Americans 1870, Hiram Revels wins Jefferson Davis’

former Senate seat from Mississippi In 1873 Freed African Americans

controlled the lower house of the South Carolina legislature.

Southern Republicans

Southerners resent northern interference and aim to maintain white supremacy

Over time northerners took less interest in Southern Reconstruction and conservative Democrats regained control

Southern Reaction

By Law…Black Codes Disenfranchisement: prevent from votingSegregation: separation based on race

Through Violence…Ku Klux Klan: used violence to prevent blacks from exercising their rights

Through Economics...

SharecroppingTenant Farming

Dis

crim

inat

ion

{During Reconstruction

The North

Industrial Revolution

Pro-business politics

Greed and corruption.

During Grant’s administration the idealism of Lincoln’s generation and the radical republicans’ crusade for civil rights were pushed aside.

{Of Reconstruction

The End

Southern Conservatives

Southern conservatives, known as redeemers, took control of one state after another, promoting states’ rights, reduced taxes, reduced spending on social programs and white supremacy.

Amnesty Act of 1872Removed the last restrictions on ex-Confederates and allowed southern conservatives to vote for Democrats to retake control of state governments.

Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican) vs. Samuel Tilden (Democrat)

The election came down to the disputed votes of three states (the three southern states still controlled by federal troops). El

ecti

on o

f 18

76

Hayes became president if…1) he immediately end federal

support for Republicans in the south

2) support the building of a southern transcontinental railroad

Reconstruction ended when Hayes formally withdrew the last federal troops from the southC

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e of

18

77