Southern Reconstruction Southern Devastation Results were catastrophic for

Southern Reconstruction

Southern Devastation • Results were catastrophic for southern economy. – Towns had been gutted of all resources, plantations burned, fields neglected, bridges and railroads had been destroyed. • 258, 000 men (20% of the southern male population) had been killed in the war. – Most of those who did return were badly disfigured. • Most wealthy southern whites had spent nearly all of their money supporting the Confederacy. – All Confederate bonds and currency were worthless and their property destroyed.

Romanticized Confederacy • Cult like mourning became common among southern people. – Extending traditional mourning periods of dressing black and grieving the dead for up to 2 years. • Confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis were lifted to positions of revere, nearly like religious figures. • Monuments and shrines were erected throughout southern towns in honor of those who had died for the “Lost Cause”.

Emergence of Radical Republicans • Many Republicans feared that new southern leaders would re-unite the forces of the Democrat party once back in the Union. – New resistance from the party could undo many of the legislative measures taken by them during the war. – They feared too lenient of a policy would allow southern states to resemble the more powerful north. • Radical Republicans: led by Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner – Significant group that wanted to punish the south for the anguish caused during the war.

Andrew Johnson • A former Democrat from Tennessee – Only became a Republican when he joined the Lincoln ticket in 1864. – Not very well liked, prone to anger, and rumored to have been a drinker. – Wasn’t trusted by the Radica Republicans. • Lincoln had been the only politician willing, but also popular enough, to save the south from punishment.

Johnson’s Plan • Johnson pushed through his plan for Reconstruction during the summer of 1865 – Many Radical Republicans were in their home states on recess. • Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction of the South – Grant amnesty to all Confederate soldiers – High Ranking officers and landholders worth more than $20, 000 had to personally apply to the President for their citizenship. – Required a majority of citizens to vote for readmission. – Until they did so he could appoint provisional governors

Johnson’s Plan Cont. • The final step for each Confederate state to return to the Union: – They hade to revoke their ordinances of secession – Abolish slavery and accept the 13 th Amendment – Repudiate all war debts (refuse them) • Unfortunately, many of the new states that accepted Johnson’s terms elected former Confederate officials to new government positions – This angered the Radicals when they returned in the fall • During the midterm elections of 1866 the Radicals received a 2/3 majority in Congress which allowed them to override any act made by Johnson.

Congressional Radical Reconstruction • With Lincoln gone and Johnson weak the Radical republicans placed their own reconstruction plan • 1. disenfranchised Confederate soldiers so that they were not allowed to vote or hold office in newly appointed southern governments. • 2. the Reconstruction Act placed all southern states under military rule. • 3. Southern states had to accept the 14 th Amendment granting all slaves citizenship.

Radicals Cont. • Radicals also passed Civil Rights Acts that guaranteed black citizenship and allowed Congress to intervene in state issues. – When Johnson vetoed the acts they simply overrode him. • Black Codes – Laws created in many southern states to try and revoke rights of many newly freed slaves. – Example: make people provide family history to obtain marriage license. • To combat these types of laws the Radicals passed the 15 th Amendment. – Granted full suffrage and rights to all citizens regardless of their previous conditions or servitude.

Congressional Acts • To prohibit Johnson from interfering with their plans, the Radicals passed two very questionable Acts. • Tenure of Office Act: prohibited the President from removing any executive officials without consent of the Senate. – They did this to protect member of Lincoln’s old cabinet that Johnson struggled with. (Edwin Stanton) • Command of the Army Act: prohibited the President from assigning orders to the military except through commanding generals. – The generals couldn’t be relieved or reassigned without consent of the Senate.

Johnson Impeached • Even though Radicals had free reign to pass legislation they deemed fit, they still needed Johnson to enforce their laws. – They began seeking a way to remove him from office. • When Johnson dismissed Edwin Stanton, Sec. of War, without Senatorial consent he violated the Tenure of Office Act. • Johnson became the first President in U. S. history to be impeached. – He was found guilty by a vote of 35 to 19, just one vote short of removal from office.

Life in the South • The Freedmen’s Bureau – Developed shortly after the war, the agency’s primary objective was to aide former slaves and refugees of the war. – They provided food to millions of poor slaves – Established schools, missionaries, and churches throughout southern territories. – Only had authority to help for roughly one year • Most freedmen had nowhere to go once the war was over – Many former slaves were found roaming the countryside looking for a place to settle. – Often they stayed close to the occupying armies of each state hoping for handouts.

Reconstruction Governments • Carpet Bag Governments – Since confederate soldiers couldn’t vote, many northern businessmen moved south and convinced former slaves to vote for them in elections. – Many southern states responded with literacy tests attempting to prohibit black people from voting. – 15 th Amendment: granted the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race. You DON’T have to take a test to vote. • Scalawags – Term of disdain for southern voters who supported these new governments. – Most were former Whigs who turned to Republicans after the war.

The Sharecropping System • Plantation owners needed to make money from their land without the use of slaves. – Most of them had lost any wealth they had to begin with when the Confederacy lost, and their plantations were virtually destroyed. • Share Cropping System: poor farmers in the south worked the land for wealthy landlords using their own equipment and sharing the profits. – Many sharecroppers were uneducated and usually taken advantage of by landlords. – They could be removed from land at any time.

Southern States Redeemed • Southern white men found new ways to impart change in many states where Reconstruction acts had impacted the most. • The Ku Klux Klan: – The clan was initially formed by former Confederates who wanted to fight back against Reconstruction laws. – The used fear as their main tool • Lynching, beating, murders, and threats – They didn’t JUST target slaves, but also Carpet Baggers, Freedmen’s Bureau Officials, Scalawags – Their intent was to restore southern planter aristocracy and Democratic Party to power in the South.

Jim Crowe • When Reconstruction Acts were lifted and federal troops withdrew from the southern states many of the Civil Rights Acts lost their influence. • Segregation: the separation of people based strictly on race. – Jim Crowe laws were put in place throughout the south to separate black and white people – These laws remained in place until the 1960’s. • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): case in Louisiana regarding segregation. Courts first ruled that separate was legal as long as they were equal.