23.3 Presidential Reconstruction

23.3 PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION

JOHNSON’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN

• Plan to reunite with the South May 1865• Former Confederate states could rejoin the union

once1. wrote new state constitution2. Elected new governments3. Repealed secession4. Canceled war debts5. Ratified the 13th amendment

• This was accomplished by fall of 1865

THIRTEENTH AMENDMENT

• Change to the Constitution (1865) abolishing slavery in the United States

FREEDMEN’S BUREAU

• Agency established by Congress at the end of the Civil War to help protect newly freed black Americans• Opportunities: • Food and medical care• Arranged for wages and working conditions• Distributed land• Provided education ****

• Problems• No Money• White resistance• Land for Af. Am. meant stealing from whites

BLACK CODES

• Laws passed in Confederate states to limit the rights and freedoms of Af. Americans• 3 purposes

1. Limit rights2. Help planters find workers3. Keep freedmen at the bottom of society

23.3 CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1866

• Law passed by Congress that attacked black codes and declared Freedmen full citizens with civil rights • Civil rights: the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to

all people as citizens, especially equal treatment under the law

• Radical Republicans- pushed for this law and disagreed with Pres. Johnson who view reconstruction as over• Johnson vetoed the law, but congress was able to

override

FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT

• A change to the Constitution, ratified in 1868, granting citizenship to anyone born in the United States and guaranteeing all citizens equal protection under the law

(Pres. Johnson- was opposed to this amendment)

MILITARY RECONSTRUCTION ACT

• 1867 plan for reconstruction that got rid of the governments created under Johnson’s plan1. Divided south into 5 military districts2. New state governments would be formed with

people who were loyal to the US3. Southerners who supported the Confederacy

could not vote in elections

SHARECROPPING

Former slaves wanted: Land to farm but had no money

Former slave owners needed: workers for their land

How did it work?Planters divided land into section, rented the plots to tenants who paid for land giving landowner part of the crop

Why was it bad?Af. Am had to borrow $ for food, seed, tools and supplies- landowners set prices, so few Af. Am. Earned enough to pay off debts -> poverty and debt

23.4 SOUTHERN RECONSTRUCTION

NEW SOUTHERN VOTERS

• Under military reconstruction votes were limited to: • Freedmen- Af. Am. Made up the largest group of new

voters, most joined Republican party• white southerners who opposed the war- poor farmers

who never voted before (view democratic party as wealthy), most joined Republican party

• “Carpetbaggers”- northerners who moved south after the war- seen by southerners as fortune hunters

• Southern Democrats- were prevented from voting by reconstruction laws viewed white men who voted republican as traitors to the south

ELECTION OF 1868

• 1st presidential election for new voter in the south• Republican candidate U.S. Grant (got ½ million Af.

Am votes)• Supported reconstruction • Promised to protect rights of Af. Am.

• Democratic candidate H. Seymour (most white votes)• End reconstruction • Return south too traditional leaders (democrats)

• Lesson for republicans if they want to control the white house and Congress they need the support of Af. Am voters

FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT

• Change to the constitution, ratified in 1870, declaring that states cannot deny the right to vote because of race or color or because the person once was a slave• When this passed, most abolitionist felt their work

was done

NEW STATE CONSTITUTIONS

• Under military reconstruction • Southern states hold constitutional

conventions • ¼ of delegates were Af. Am

• Wrote new state constitution that were progressive and advanced• All men had right to vote• Ended imprisonment for debt• Established public schools (most just for whites)

NEW STATE GOVERNMENTS

• Elections to fill new state offices mostly with republicans• 1/5 Af. Am

• These governments ratified 14th and 15th amendments• By 1870 southern states finished final steps of

reconstruction and rejoined union• Turned to rebuilding (created new taxes to pay)• Roads, bridges, railroads• Schools and hospitals

AFRICAN AMERICANS IN OFFICE

• 1/5 of southern office holders were Af. Am• In every state leg• High office (governor) of 3 states• US Congress- 20 House of reps, 2- Senate

23.5 THE END OF RECONSTRUCTION

VIOLENCE AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS

• Southern whites resented Reconstruction governments• Tax increases fuelled this hate• Bothered most by former slaves voting and holding office

• Democrats tried many methods to keep blacks from voting• Legal: legislatures refused to seat Af. Am elected to office• Violence: Secrete societies to terrorize and intimidate Af.

Am• Ku Klux Klan: hate group that dressed in white robes armed

with guns and swords, threatening black voters and office holders• Used beating, and murder to drive Af. Am out of political life

THE ENFORCEMENT ACTS

• 1870 and 1871 Congress passes 3 laws to stop violence against Af. Am• Made it illegal to prevent another person

from voting by bribery, force or scare tactics• Grant sent troops to the south to enforce

the laws• Hundreds arrested, but few were convicted at

trial• Witnesses and juries feared the KKK

AMNESTY ACT OF 1872

• Northerners loose interest in Reconstruction• Amnesty- forgiveness• This law allowed former Confederates to

vote again• Democrats regain control of all but 3 southern

states

ELECTION OF 1876

• Samuel Tilden (democrat)-• Wins the popular vote• 184 electoral votes (needs 185)

• Rutherford B Hayes (republican) • 165 electoral vote** 20 electoral votes are disputed (4 states)

• Congress (republican controlled) created a commission to settle the disputed votes • All 20 votes awarded to Hayes• Hayes wins election with 185 electoral votes

COMPROMISE OF 1877

• After weeks of fighting about election results Democrats and Republican reach a compromise1. Hayes becomes President2. Agrees to withdraw remaining federal troops

from southern states3. Reconstruction is officially over

• Democrat's take over southern states• Return to “white man’s rule”

23.6 RECONSTRUCTION REVERSED

EDUCATION

• Freedmen hopes for a better life were tied to education provided by new public schools in the south• Southern democrats cut spending for public

schools when they took control of state governments (not necessary/luxury)• By the 1880s only ½ of Af. Am children attended

school

VOTING RIGHTS

• Southern democrats reverse political gains • Prevent Af. Am from voting• Require poll tax (made voting a luxury that Af. Am could

not afford)• Literacy tests (show they could read before voting,

designed so that Af. Am would fail regardless of education)

• Did not violate 15th amendment• “grandfather clauses” excused whites from these taxes

and polls• Excused anyone who’s father or grandfather could vote

1/1/67

“COLOR LINE”

• During reconstruction many southern states had outlawed segregation• When the Democrats returned to power they

reversed these changes and drew a “color line” dividing black and whites in public• Jim Crow Laws- laws enforcing segregation of

blacks and whites in the South after the Civil War• Complete separation resulted (rail cars, boats, jury boxes,

witness stands, drinking fountains etc.)

PLESSY V FERGUSON

• Af. Am argued Jim Crow violated the 14th amendment• Plessy was arrested for refusing to obey Jim Crow

laws and took his case to Supreme Court• 1886 court ruling- found Jim Crow does not violate

14th amendment as long as facilities for both races are “roughly” equal• Opened door for new Jim Crow laws• Separate schools, parks, theaters • Always inferior to those set aside for whites.

23.7 RESPONDING TO SEGREGATION

RESPONSE TO SEGREGATION

• Af. Am respond to segregation with open protest- • Dangerous (white mob attacks, lynching,

murder) • Lynching: public murder

MIGRATION

• Thousands of Af. Am leave the south• Return to Africa• Other parts of the US (north and west)• Looking for opportunities and more equal

treatment• In the north they competed with immigrants for job

and faced racism and segregation• West worked a s cowboys and Indian fighters• Many left the south for Kansas in 1879, they faced

white patrols and hardships, but pushed on for freedom

SELF HELP

•Most Af. Am remained in the south•Worked hard to improve lives• Churches• Opened their own businesses• Built schools and colleges