RECONSTRUCTIONREBUILDING THE SOUTH AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

RECONSTRUCTION

RECONSTRUCTION

RECONSTRUCTION

RECONSTRUCTION

RECONSTRUCTION

• The period immediately following the Civil War is known as Reconstruction. During these years from 1865-1877, the Federal government focused on finding a way to bring the defeated Southern states back into the Union.

• Several different plans emerged and much debate raged on about who would control Reconstruction (the President or Congress)

Lincoln's Plan- “Know this!”

• Called Proclamation of Amnesty• Based on the idea that the Southern states had

never left the Union.– Pardons to Southerners who swore oath of loyalty to

US.– Recognition of new state governments when 10% of

those who voted in the 1860 election took an oath.– States must abolish slavery (13th amendment)– Did not go into effect because Lincoln was

assassinated.

Lincoln’s Assassination&Ford’s Theater

Petersen House-boarding house help!

• Across the street, a man was holding a lantern and calling "Bring him in here! Bring him in here!" The man was Henry Safford, a boarder at William Petersen's boarding house known today at the Petersen House.

• The men carried Lincoln into the boarding house and into the first-floor bedroom where they laid him diagonally across the bed because his tall frame would not fit normally on the smaller bed.

Lincoln’s final hours…

Glass enclosed…

Lincoln’s Tomb…

Location Springfield, ILBuilt 1868-74

Lincoln’s Assassination&Ford’s Theater

President Abraham Lincoln Was Shot At Fords Theater By John Wilkes Booth

Andrew Johnson

Johnson's Plan-“Know this!”

• Vice President Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln assassinated.

• Southern Democrat from Tenn. –White supremacist• He intended to follow Lincoln's general plan:• Write a new state constitution • Ratify the 13th amendment.• Elect a new state government• Repeal the Act of Secession(withdraw)• all former Confederate leaders lost their right to vote.

Congress's Plan~ “Know this!”Radical Reconstruction 1867

• Passed over President Johnson's vetoes

• Disband state government and set up military districts in the South

• Each state write a new constitution, guaranteeing black male suffrage (15th amendment)

• Ratification of the 14th amendment• All citizens insured Equal protection under the law

• Anyone who was a former Confederate could not vote or hold office

• Under Johnson's plan former Confederates gained control right back and freedmen were denied the right to vote, bear arms were restricted to farm work (sharecropping)

Johnson’s • He failed to consider Radical Republicans views in

Congress.

• Recognized 4 states' government’s and was prepared to admit others

• He led efforts to block republicans' plans

Congress also creates… “Know this!”{both over Pres. Johnson's veto}

1.Freedman's Bureau –Educate and give financial support to recently freed blacks.

2.Civil Rights Act –equal opportunities for all citizens.

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• Congress attempted to impeach by charging him with high crimes and misdemeanors over violating the Tenure of Office Act.

• House of Reps voted yes on impeachment charges

• Senate came within ONE vote of removing Johnson from office.

Ulysses S. Grant's Administration 1872-1876

•Ulysses S. Grant's Administration 1872-1876

• Grant was an honest man, who ironically surrounded himself with crooked people

• However he had no experience political• Friends used him to their own advantage– Treasury Department Scandal - involving railroads on a

government collecting contract– Whiskey Ring - involved internal revenue collectors who

had helped defraud the federal government of millions dollars of revenue taxes on Whiskey.

ADDITIONAL NOTES…

• PLEASE add the following to your notes.

Credit Mobilier Scandal• The revelation of the congressmen who

received cash bribes or stocks in Crédit Mobilier took place during the Ulysses S. Grant administration in 1872.

• The Crédit Mobilier of America scandal of 1872 involved the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company. The scandal's origins actually go back to the Abraham Lincoln presidency

End of Reconstruction

• Election of 1876 - between Rutherford B.Hayes (R) and Sam Tilden (D) is filled with controversy.

• Hayes is declared the winner by a compromise! WHY??• The Republicans give in and end Reconstruction known as the Compromise of

1877.

• The Northern Military is removed from the Southern states.

What Happened to the former slaves?

• Most poor white & black southerners go into farming “Know this!”• Tenant farmers – Farmers who rent land from a landlord• Sharecroppers – Farmers who paid rent by giving up a share of their crop.

Reversing Reconstruction

• Despite the North winning the Civil War, after the Union soldiers left and Reconstruction ended in 1877, the south reverted back to their old ways of living.

A. Taking away voting rights ( 15th amendment)• 1. Poll taxes –pay to vote• 2. Literacy test – prove you can read• 3. Grandfather Clause – if your grandfather had

been eligible to vote on January 1, 1867 you were excused from poll taxes and literacy test.

ALL 3 PREVENTED FREEDMEN FROM VOTING-“Know this!”

• B. Jim Crow Laws -Called for segregation or separation of the races in public places (restaurants, hotels, trains, buses, & restrooms)

• C. South voted predominantly for the Democrats- known as the Solid South

• D. Black Codes – laws/rules to restrict the rights of blacks.

Propaganda posters…

Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 Separate but Equal

• Homer Plessy, jailed for sitting in a white section of a train car

• He was 1/8 black and 7/8 white, but under Louisiana law he was considered black and therefore had to sit in a colored car.

• He sued saying it violated the 5th & 14th amendments• Lost all 3 times• Supreme Court rule “Separate but Equal " as

constitutional, legalizing segregation

Odds & Ends to Reconstruction

• Scalawags – White Southerners who sided with the Northerners.• means "scoundrel"• wanted South to rebuild as quickly as possible• opposed slavery and secession

• Carpetbaggers – Northerners who wanted to exploit South’s post-war turmoil for their own benefit.

• Had mixed motives for supporting Radical Reconstruction• Moral duty to help slaves• business people who wanted to start new industries.

Secret Societies

• Most white Southerners had been taught since birth that black people were inferior. They found it difficult to accept the idea of African Americans voting and taking part in government. Blamed them for:

• High taxes• Presence of Northern troops• Some turned to terrorism and violence

Terrorism and Violence

• Ku Klux Klan- founded as a social club for confederate veterans, turned into violent terrorist organization.

• warned blacks not to vote.• "persuaded" white Freedman's Bureau

workers to quit their jobs

Terrorism and Violence

WARNING…The Next slide is very graphic!

PLEASE CLOSE YOUR EYES if you need to.

If you think this type of behavior is done and over, think again…