1863 to 1877. 2 to gain an understanding of Reconstruction; the various policies towards the defeated states of the Confederacy after the Civil War PurposeSpecifically....

1863 to 1877

2

to gain an to gain an understanding of understanding of

Reconstruction; the Reconstruction; the various policies towards various policies towards the defeated states of the defeated states of the Confederacy after the Confederacy after

the Civil Warthe Civil War

Purpose

SpecificallySpecifically. . . .. . . .

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1.Federal Reconstruction policies and reactions to them:

– Presidential Reconstruction

– Congressional Reconstruction

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2.The situation of freedmen in the South

3.The efforts of Reconstruction state governments in the South

4.White resistance to Reconstruction in the South

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5.Economic and social developments in the South

6.The end of Reconstruction

7.judicial conservatism and a changed political situation in the North.

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- Union Generals confiscate lands and distribute to former slaves in order to

1863-1865

punish rebelshinder South’s economygive restitution to slaves

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–General Sherman issues Special Field Order #15Gives Confederate land to freedmen

40,000 freedmen settle in Sea Islands of SC & GA

they believed FED. GOVT. gave it to them

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–Should Confederate states be re-formed or returned to former status?

–Who should be in charge—the President or Congress?

Debate in Washington

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Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plans

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~ During the War, Lincoln plans reintegration of the South (a quick re-Union

~ 1863-formulates the “Ten Percent Plan”~ former states would be

readmitted if 10% of white voters took an Oath of Loyalty to the Union

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Radical Republicans oppose Lincoln’s plan as too easy

demand much more stringent measures in the

Wade-Davis Bill

Congressional Congressional Reaction & Reaction &

PlanPlan

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Provisional governors in the South until the end of the War

re-establish civil governments after ½ of male white citizens take Oath of Loyalty

Conf. officers colonel or above, and civil officers above minister are excluded from amnesty

Wade Davis Bill

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Lincoln refuses to sign:–It was placed on his desk just before Congress adjourned

–Did not want to be “inflexibly committed to any single plan of restoration”

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Effectively Lincoln and Congress block each other’s plans until Lincoln’s death.

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Andrew Johnson‘s Reconstruction

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Johnson (Tennessee): small farmer‘s advocate with a hatred for big plantation owners.

outlines relatively restrictive policy, excluding rich Southerners from political involvement

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1. Amnesty to most southerners

2. Restoration of former property if they take the Oath of Allegiance

Johnson’s Plan

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3. Exclusion from amnesty:–high ranking Confederate officials

–military officers– large plantation owners

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Johnson undermines his own policy by liberally pardoning Southerners, even high office-holding politicians of the Confederacy

Alexander Stephens (former Vice-President of the CSA) is re-elected to Congress in 1865

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ResultsSouthern states quickly take up Johnson‘s

plan by summer of 1865, seven

states set up new governments and elected U.S. Rep.’s & Sen.’s

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pass highly restrictive “black codes“ to keep freedmen under control and bound as agricultural labor

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Republicans in CongressRadicals & Conservatives

are outraged. refuse to seat the new

delegates quickly pass laws to

repudiate black codes

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effectively block

Johnson‘s policy.

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Pushed into alliance by Johnson‘s policies and outright support of Democratic party goals

start formulating a reconstruction policy of their own

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Congressional Reconstruction

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The 14th Amendment1866: first cornerstone of

Congressional Reconstruction

repudiates Dred Scott & gives citizenship and due process of law to all persons born in the US.

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fairly conservative document (esp. Section 1), shows the influence of Conservative Republicans.

still a central part of US constitutional thought.

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1. US citizenship for all persons born in the US;

--equal protection and due process of law for all citizens in all states.

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2. 3/5ths clause abolished.

States may exclude blacks from voting but will have representation in Congress decreased if they do.

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3. Confederate officeholders are excluded from being elected into political office.

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4. Confederate debt is

repudiated.

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Reactions to the 14th Amendment

Andrew Johnson

v.

Thaddeus Stevens

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President Johnson and Democrats denounce the document and lobby vigorously against it.

No ex-confederate state except Tennessee ratifies it. (Ratification did not take place until 1868.)

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Republicans of both factions came to realize that only Republican control of the South would achieve meaningful change.

A strong sentiment emerged in the North that supported harsh sanctions against the former Confederacy.

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The Reconstruction Act of 1867

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was the high point of

Congressional Reconstruction.

It dissolved Southern state governments and temporarily

reimposed military rule.

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It enfranchised the freedmen and required new state constitutions drafted by conventions elected by both blacks and whites.

It required state legislatures to ratify the 14th amendment and get a final ok from Congress to fully reenter the Union.

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Military districts in the South

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Impeaching Andrew Johnson

The implementation of the 1867 Act brought relations between Congress and president to a boiling point.

Congress passed several laws to bring Johnson under control.

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1867: Congress passes Tenure of Office Act to keep Johnson from firing Secretary of War Edwin Stanton who supported Republican goals.

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Johnson fires Stanton anyway.

Republican leaders start impeachment proceedings

against Johnson for violating the Act – this was more a political than a criminal

offense.

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Johnson’s conviction is narrowly defeated.

(35-19: 1 vote short of 2/3 needed to convict)

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Impeachment remained a tool to

punish criminal wrongdoings rather than political ones.

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The 15th AmendmentLast major piece of Congressional

Reconstruction legislation.

Prohibits the exclusion of male adults(21) from the vote on the basis of race or former condition of servitude.

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Designed to make sure that freedmen franchise would remain.

Passed by Congress in 1869, its ratification became a precondition for reentering the Union; it was ratified in 1870.

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The Freedmen’s

Situation

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A Freedmen‘s school

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The newly freed slaves universally cheered their freedom.

For many, finding displaced family members became the first priority.

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Black institutions, most importantly churches, were established.

The freedman were hungry for education.

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The Freedman‘s Bureau set up over 4,000 elementary schools.

By 1877, over 600,000 African Americans were enrolled.

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Economic Ambitions

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Most freedmen wanted to get enough land to start subsistence farming.

Reconstruction laws did not include land reform, which was opposed by Conservative Republicans and Democrats alike.

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Southern whites tried to keep blacks from owning land.

Freedmen lacked money.

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As a result, very few freedmen were able to realize this very Jeffersonian dream.

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Political Involvement

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Blacks participated in Reconstruction

legislatures – universally as Republicans.

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members of the South Carolina legislature

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Some (16) black Representatives

and Senators were sent to Washington.

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Extra Credit!

Who was the first black governor in the U.S.?

From what state was he elected, and in what

year?

3 pts.

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In state legislatures freedmen politicians normally pursued a policy of reconciliation with white Southerners – to no avail.

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At the same time, they tried to achieve key demands such as a land reform and full social equality.

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Reconstruction in StatePolitics

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As the Republicans had hoped, the freedman vote gave them a temporary advantage in the South.

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However, instead of vigorously defending the interests of their main constituency – freedmen – Republicans tried very hard to attract white Southern voters.

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These efforts were ultimately doomed as the vast majority of whites remained Democrats and rejected Republican policies outright.

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Most Reconstruction governments lasted only a few years; as the 1870s progressed, white Democrat governments regained power in the South.

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Carpetbaggersand

Scalawags

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a sheet music cover

showing a carpetbagg

er

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As hard times hit the South, most white Southerners blamed Republican reconstruction governments and their alleged corruption.

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White Northerners who immigrated to

the South were called

“carpetbaggers”.

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White Southern Republicans --

called

“scalawags”

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Accused of (coming to the South) only to use black votes to gain political power and money.

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Perception was actually ungrounded:

most C’s & S’s were middle class professionals who saw opportunities in the South.

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Many C’s actually moved to the South before enfranchisement.

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ViolentResistance

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Many white Southerners resisted

reconstruction efforts with

violence.

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Vigilante groups intimidated, attacked, and killed freedmen

[lynchings] and white supporters, and destroyed black

institutions.

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The best-known such group was the Ku Klux Klan, but others such as

the White League and the Order of the White

Camelia also were active.

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1871: The KKK was outlawed but little else was done to

protect the freedmen.

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A Thomas Nast cartoon criticizing the oppression of

freedmen by white supremacist

terrorist groups

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Sharecropping

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As the post-war years continued, a new labor system emerged in the cotton economy.

Both blacks and whites became sharecroppers.

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Sharecroppers rented land and paid the owner with a share – usually 50% - of the crop.

They also paid the owner for seed and supplies at a price determined by the owner.

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Despite some advantages, the system led many sharecroppers into a state of perpetual debt because of the need to often take loans based on future harvests.

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The Supreme

Court

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Reconstruction was less than successful in practice, and the Supreme Court removed its legal basis with a series of rulings.

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The Slaughterhouse

Cases(1869)

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effectively made the citizenship rights of the 14th amendment worthless by distinguishing between a protected, but limited national citizenship and an unprotected state citizenship.

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United Statesv.

Reese(1876)

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allowed the disenfranchisement of blacks on grounds other than race, thus dismantling the 15th Amendment

Soon Southern legislatures set up voting requirements that freedmen could not meet.

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Plessy v.

Ferguson(1896)

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Allowed for facilities that were “separate but equal”

The final point of a string of decisions that allowed racial segregation in practically all areas of public life

Along with the changing political situation they allowed white Southerners to construct a segregation system

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“Jim Crow” laws

disenfranchised blacks and kept them unequal

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Loss of Republican

Support

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As the 1870s progressed, Radical Republicans lost influence and the

Republican party turned away from

reconstruction.

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Ulysses S. Grant (1869 – 1877)

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Administration was riddled with corruption scandals that proved to be a difficult political liability.

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“Liberal Republicans” break away from the party in protest to the corruption scandals and take several Radical Republicans with them who now demand public service reform, not reconstruction.

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Democrats make important inroads in Congress, further weakening reconstruction advocates

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1873: severe depression breaks out, making economic problems the main political issue in the North.

Interest in reforming the South, or even treating the former Confederacy harshly, wanes

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The Electionof

1876

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Rutherford B. Hayes(R., OH)

Samuel J. Tilden(D., NY)

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Tilden: 184 E.V.Hayes: 185 E.V.

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Initial results indicate narrow victory for Tilden(D), but Republicans contest results in three Southern states (+ OR)

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8(LA)

1 (OR)

4(FL)

7(SC)

Total contested = 20

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The Compromise

of 1877

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Implicit compromise:–Democrats accept Hayes as President

–Republicans cease any resistance to white Democrat “home rule” in the South

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Reconstruction was over.

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Conclusions

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Reconstruction was an ambitious effort to effect

profound social and political change in the

South, giving the freedmen political and civic rights and end Democratic domination

of the South.

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However, support for Reconstruction was based on

a shaky coalition between Conservative and Radical Republicans on the federal

level and problematic efforts to attract white voters in the

southern states.

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As Reconstruction governments proved

ineffective, the Supreme Court intervened and the issues of federal politics were transformed, and

support for reconstruction subsided.

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In the South, “home rule” quickly turned

into a racially segregated, highly unequal, society.