Reconstruction 1865 1877 Excerpts from Lincolns Second Inaugural

Reconstruction 1865 -1877

Excerpts from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address “With malice toward none; with charity toward all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. ”

Key Concept 5. 5 –Reconstruction and the Civil War ended slavery, altered relationships between the states and the federal government and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women and other minorities

South • The southern economy, farms, railroads and cities were destroyed. • 40% of farms • 60% of factories and railroads • South’s economic system based on slavery was destroyed

North • Northern industries grew replaced farming as the basis of the economy • Supremacy of the Federal Gov: grew larger and more powerful

• In January 1865, Lincoln urged Congress to pass the 13 th Amendment • Slavery was abolished in the United States

• Slaves were set free but had NOTHING Many only had the clothes on their backs.

• Less than 10% of African-Americans could read or write. Most had no skills but manual labor. • Freedmen’s Bureau was created to help former slaves get food, shelter and an education

• Johnson was a Democrat selected by Lincoln to be his Vice-president. • Johnson believed Reconstruction was the job of the President, not Congress

• Johnson insisted the South ratify the 13 th Amendment and accept the supreme power of the federal government • But……Johnson did little to punish Southerners who were not following his plan

• Southern states refused the 13 th Amendment and created Black Codes: laws that limited freedoms of freedmen • The Ku Klux Klan was created to intimidate and harass freedmen

Southern states re-elected Confederate leaders in the new state governments.

• Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866…. . Congress had enough of Johnson!

This is one of the last great battles with slavery…. this monstrous power has found a refuge in the Executive Mansion…Andrew Johnson is the impersonation of tyrannical slave power………. . The veto power conferred by the Constitution as a remedy for ill-considered legislation, was turned by him into a weapon of offence against Congress. …………. . Laws enacted by Congress for the benefit of the colored race, including that great statute for the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and that other great statute for the establishment of Civil Rights, were first attacked by his veto………while he boldly attempted to prevent the adoption of a constitutional amendment Senator Charles Sumner , statement on the trail of Andrew Johnson

• Radical Republicans charged President Johnson with “improper conduct” and impeached him.

• The Senate voted and Johnson was only one vote away from being removed • Congress would override Johnson’s vetoes, who would have very little impact on Reconstruction after the hearing

• Radical Republicans wanted to punish the south. • They wanted to ensure equal rights for African -Americans

• Reconstruction Act of 1867 divided the South into 5 military districts • Southerners must create new state governments with African-Americans included and ratify new amendments before they could rejoin the Union

• Radical Republicans passed the 14 th and 15 th Amendments giving African Americans citizenship and the right to vote. • Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi becomes the 1 st African American Senator

• “Carpetbaggers” were Northerners who came to the South looking to get elected or make money

• “Scalawags” were white southerners who helped the Republicans and Freedmen

Reconstruction Amendments • 13 th Amendment abolished slavery • 14 th Amendment granted African-Americans citizenship, equal protection under the law • 15 th Amendment granted universal male suffrage • 13 th AMENDMENT: FREE • 14 TH AMENDMENT CITIZENS • 15 TH AMENDMENT VOTE

• Many African-Americans and poor whites turned to sharecropping in the South as a way to make a living

• Workers rented land, tools, seed and housing from former plantation owners • Workers never made enough money to pay rent

• Freedmen and poor white farmers got caught in a cycle of debt and poverty • Many Southerners, both black and white would remain poor and landless for the next 100 years

• Republican Ulysses S Grant is elected president in 1868 • Grant fought for African-Americans new freedoms by trying to destroy the KKK and ensure equality with the Enforcement Acts.

• Grant wins the Election of 1872…. but an economic panic, scandal and corruption weaken his presidency…. By 1877 the North was tired of Reconstruction… too much money and time being spent

• Republican Rutherford B Hayes wins the disputed election of 1876 • As part of the Compromise of 1877 Hayes withdrew the troops and ended the military control of the South.

• Southern Democrats regained control of the South when troops leave

• Segregation, violence, Supreme Court decisions and local political tactics stripped away African Americans rights. • African-Americans will be treated as 2 nd class citizens in the South for the next 100 years