Unit 6 RECONSTRUCTION Review What happened 4 years

Unit 6 RECONSTRUCTION

Review……. What happened? - 4 years of devastating war - April 1865, Lee surrenders to Grant at Appomattox, VA - Sherman has burned much of the South - Richmond burned - South’s economy ruined – runaway inflation - 13 th amendment – end of slavery - A few weeks later Lincoln is assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

The Challenge…. . 1. ) How will we admit the South back into the Union, promote forgiveness and reconciliation? 2. ) How will we rebuild physically and turn things around economically? 3. ) How will we mesh 4 million newly freed slaves into society?

Reconstruction – 1865 -1877 - Reconstruction refers to the period when the U. S. began to rebuild after the Civil War - The term also refers to the process the federal gov used to readmit Confederate states - Complicated by the fact that Lincoln, Johnson, and Congress all had differing ideas on how Reconstruction should be handled Image of Charleston, SC in 1865

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction Moderate and Lenient - Lincoln favored lenient Reconstruction policy - Individuals not states had rebelled and the Constitution gave the Pres the power to pardon individuals - Make the South’s return as quick and easy as possible

Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan - Gov would pardon all Confederates who would swear allegiance to the Union (except high ranking Confederate officials and those accused of crimes against POWs) - States must recognize the 13 th amendment and end of slavery - When 10% of those on the 1860 voting lists took this oath of allegiance, a Confederate state could form a new state gov and be admitted in Congress

Radical Republicans Angered by Lincoln’s Leniency - Radicals favor harsher Reconstruction - Want to destroy the political power of former slaveholders - Want full citizenship and right to vote for African Americans (suffrage is a radical idea at the time) - Led by Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens - Wade Davis Bill – July 1864 – makes Congress (NOT Pres) responsible for Recon. Also says majority (not 10%) must take oath of loyalty to Constitution. Lincoln pocket vetoes Wade Davis Bill

Andrew Johnson Lincoln’s Successor - Born in a log cabin in Raleigh, NC - Senator from Tennessee - Former slave owner - After secession, Johnson was the only senator from a Confederate state to remain loyal to the Union - By 1863 Johnson favors abolition - Hated wealthy Southern planters – he held them responsible for dragging poor whites into war After Lincoln’s assassination – all of the problems of Reconstruction fall to Johnson

- Each Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Similar to Lincoln’s - Lenient state withdraw secession - Swear allegiance to the Union - Annul Confederate war debts - Ratify the 13 th amendment – abolishing slavery - Johnson opposed black suffrage - He pardoned more than 13, 000 former Confederates - Radicals angry – what about needs of former slaves? Land, voting rights, and protection under the law? ?

Congressional Reconstruction The Freedman’s Bureau - 1866 Congress enlarges The Freedman’s Bureau ◦ Assisted former slaves and poor whites by distributing clothing and food ◦ Set up hospitals, schools, teacher training institutes (Johnson vetoed the Freedman’s Bureau – angers Radicals and pushes many moderate Republicans to join them)

Congressional Reconstruction – Civil Rights Act of 1866 - Gave blacks citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws like black codes ◦ Prohibited blacks from carrying weapons ◦ Can’t serve on juries ◦ Can’t testify against whites ◦ Can’t travel without permits ◦ Some states prohibit blacks from owning land Johnson vetoes the Civil Rights Act – again angers Radicals and alienates moderate Republicans

14 th and 15 th Amendments Moderate Republicans aligned with Radicals to override the Pres Johnson’s veto of the Civil Rights Act and Freedman’s Bureau Act - 14 th Amendment = Citizenship – “all persons born or naturalized in the US are citizens and are entitled to equal protection of the law - 15 th Amendment = right to vote – no person can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude. ” Why is the right to vote critical for Freed blacks? How is the 15 th amendment a Republican insurance policy?

Johnson’s Impeachment Radicals felt that Jonson was not carrying out his duty to enforce Reconstruction and looked for any reason to impeach him – formally charge him with misconduct in office - Congress passes Tenure of Office Act – Pres cannot remove Cabinet officers without consent of Senate - Johnson fires Secretary of War Edwin Stanton - Johnson impeached in House and tried in Senate for removal. Isn’t removed by only one vote. - Cripples his ability to govern

Johnson’s Impeachment – continued Low point for checks and balances – Congress using impeachment as a way to assert its power rather than to remove a president who really broke the law Trivia – Johnson only 1 of 3 Presidents ever impeached. None have been removed. Who were the other two Presidents impeached? ? Election of 1868 – Ulysses S. Grant – Civil War hero elected President

The Post-War South

South is physically and economically ravaged - Most of war fought in South – much of South lay in ruins - Estimated that Sherman’s march alone cost $100 million worth of property damage - Charred buildings, twisted RR tracks, demolished bridges, abandoned farms, etc. - Runaway inflation, Confederate bonds worthless - Property value plummeted - ALL Southerners poorer than they had been at start of war More than 1/5 of adult white men of the South died in the war. Many more come home physically maimed

Scalawags and Carpetbaggers - Scalawags – white Southerners who joined the Republican party. Saw them as using African American vote for self-interest. - Carpetbaggers – Northern born white Republicans who moved South after the war. Southerners believe they are just coming to exploit the South’s devastation for their own economic profit. Majority of white Southerners hate both scalawags and carpetbaggers

Carl Schurz – liberal Republican who moved to MO after the war 1. ) Is Schurz shown in a positive or negative light? How do you know? 2. ) Why does the cartoonist show the Southern people in a group waiting down the dusty road for Schurz?

Challenges of Former Slaves Reality of freedom…. . ◦ No land ◦ No tools, no money, and few skills ◦ No formal education ◦ Where to live? How to make a living? How to feed self and family? ◦ Goals and Actions ◦ 1. Reunite families ◦ 2. Education – many black schools and colleges founded in Recon ◦ 3. Many freed blacks form their own new churches and volunteer groups Focus on building up black community more than total integration. By establishing separate black institutions they were able to focus on their own leadership and escape white influence that had dominated them for so long.

40 acres and a Mule - During the Civil War Sherman promised freed slaves who followed his army, “ 40 acres and a mule” - Many African Americans and some Republicans assert that freedmen deserve some of planters land – land redistribution - Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens calls for gov to confiscate planter land redistribute - Most balk at this idea and land redistribution never happens – violates sacred American right/ideal of private property

Sharecropping and Tenant Farming - Without their own land capital, many former slaves had to sign contracts with planters. In exchange for wages, housing, and food, freedmen worked in the fields - Sharecropping: Landowners divided land gave each worker a section along with seed and tools. At harvest each worker gave a share of the crop (often half) to the owner - Tenant Farming: freed slaves could rent their land from the owner. They paid cash to use the land kept all their harvest. Both systems often a cycle of poverty

The Collapse of Reconstruction

KKK – Ku Klux Klan - KKK originally founded as a social club for Confederate veterans in TN in 1866 - Spread throughout the South and many chapters turn violent - Overarching goals: ◦ Restore white supremacy ◦ Destroy the Republican party ◦ Oust Reconstruction governments ◦ Prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights (voting) ◦ Sought to inflict fear and harm on blacks or whites who helped them

Reconstruction Comes to an End - 1872 – Congress Allows the Freedman’s Bureau to expire – thinking it had fulfilled its purpose - Grant’s presidency plagued by political corruption – weakens the Republican party and scandals divert attention away from Reconstruction - Economic Panic of 1873 – many small banks close and the stock market collapses. Many RR and businesses go bankrupt. Triggers a 5 year economic depression - Series of Supreme Court decisions weakens some of the gains made by Reconstruction - Impassioned Radicals Sumner and Stevens dead - Many northerners grow weary and indifferent to conditions in the South – turn attention to economy and/or gov corruption

Panic of 1873 Cartoon - What aspects of the cartoon convey the feeling of panic?

Southern Democrats “Redeem” the South - Redemption – the term Southern Democrats used for their return to power in state governments ◦ 1869 and into the early 1870 s Democrats recaptured state gov in AL, AK, GA, MS, NC, TX, VA ◦ Redemption – take state gov back from Northern Reconstructionist

Election of 1876 - Republican Rutherford B. Hayes V. Democrat Samuel J. Tilden - Tilden wins popular vote but one short of number needed in electoral college - Party leaders make a deal – Compromise of 1877: Southerners would accept Republican Hayes in return…. ◦ Withdrawal of federal troops from SC and LA (two states Repub Recon still governed) ◦ Federal money to build a RR from TX to the West coast and to build Southern roads, bridges, etc. ◦ Hayes had a to appoint a conservative Southerner to his cabinet

Republican Hayes wins election but loses popular vote and technically doesn’t get electoral vote

Legacy of Reconstruction

Home Rule in the South HOME RULE – After the Compromise of 18777, Democrats get their long-desired goal of home rule – the ability to run state governments without Federal/Reconstructionist intervention African Americans still had a long way to go in terms of Civil Rights. Much legislation was passed but Congress did not adequately protect their rights and the Supreme Court undermined many of them. During Recon, African Americans had founded many colleges and the literacy rate had increased.

Was Reconstruction a Success or Failure?

Reconstruction Successes - African Americans were free - Only a few years after slavery African Americans participated at all levels of gov - State gov funded public school systems for all students - African Americans established institutions that had been denied them during slavery – black colleges and schools, churches, families - 14 th and 15 th amendments would help blacks gain increased rights and would be the platform for the Civil Rights movement of the 20 th century

Reconstruction Failures - Federal and state gov failed to secure the rights guaranteed to former slaves by constitutional amendments ◦ No land reform/redistribution ◦ Racial bias was a national problem - KKK ◦ The Supreme Court undermined the power of the 14 th and 15 th amendments ◦ Jim Crow – segregation (Plessy V. Ferguson, separate but equal becomes the norm) ◦ Strategies to block voting – Literacy Tests, Poll Taxes, Grandfather Clause ◦ Many freedmen stuck in cycle of poverty with no land no economic resources to get started