Reconstruction and Its Effects Chapter 12. Reconstruction.

Reconstruction and Its Effects

Chapter 12

Reconstruction

President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan

* Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 8, 1863)

* Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in the South

* Did NOT consult Congress regarding Reconstruction

* Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers

* When election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a government, it would be recognized

President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan

1864 “Lincoln Governments” formed in LA, TN, AR

* “loyal assemblies”

* They were weak and dependent on the Northern army for survival

Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864) Required 50% of the

number of 1860 voters to take an “iron clad” oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion )

Required a state constitutional convention before the election of state officials

Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen’s liberties

SenatorBenjamin

Wade(R-OH)

Congressman

HenryW. Davis(R-MD)

Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864) “Iron-Clad” Oath

“State Suicide” Theory [MA Senator Charles Sumner]

“Conquered Provinces” Position[PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens]

PresidentPresidentLincolnLincoln

PresidentPresidentLincolnLincoln

Wade-DavisWade-DavisBillBill

Wade-DavisWade-DavisBillBill

13th Amendment13th Amendment Ratified in December, 1865

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) Bureau of Refugees,

Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help southern freedmen

Called “ ” by white southern Democrats

Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes

Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes

False Idea: “Plenty to eat and

nothing to do”

Freedmen’s Bureau School

Freedmen’s Bureau School

Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South

Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South

President Andrew Johnson

President Andrew Johnson

Damn the negroes! I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!

President Johnson’s Plan (10%+)

President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except

Confederate civil and military officers and those with property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to Johnson)

In new constitutions, they must accept minimumconditions repudiating slavery, secession and state debts

Named provisional governors in Confederate states and called them to oversee elections for constitutional conventions

EFFECTS?

1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates

2. Pardoned planter aristocrats brought them back to political power to control state organizations3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite were back in power in the South!

Growing Northern Alarm!

Growing Northern Alarm! Many Southern state

constitutions fell short of minimum requirements

Johnson granted special pardons

Revival of southern defiance

Black CodesBlack CodesPurpose:

*

*

Forced many blacks to become [tenant farmers]

Congress Breaks with the President

Congress Breaks with the President Congress bars Southern

Congressional delegates

Joint Committee on Reconstruction created

February, 1866 President the Freedmen’sBureau Bill (expansion)

March, 1866 Johnson the 1866 Civil Rights Act

Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes 1st in U. S. history!

14th Amendment14th AmendmentRatified in July, 1868

*

*

*

Southern states would be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens!

The Balance of Power in Congress

The Balance of Power in Congress

State White Citizens Freedmen

SC 291,000 411,000

MS 353,000 436,000

LA 357,000 350,000

GA 591,000 465,000

AL 596,000 437,000

VA 719,000 533,000

NC 631,000 331,000

The 1866 ElectionThe 1866 Election

Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle”

A referendum on Radical Reconstruction

Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda tour around the country to push his plan

Radical Plan for Readmission

Radical Plan for Readmission Civil authorities in the territories were

subject to military supervision

Required new state constitutions, including black suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments

In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Reconstruction Acts of 1867 Military Reconstruction Act

* Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment

* Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Reconstruction Acts of 1867

Command of the Army Act

* The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military.

Tenure of Office Act

* The President could not remove any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval.

Designed to protect radicalmembers of Lincoln’s government

A question of the constitutionality of this law Edwin Stanton

Andrew Johnson Impeachment

Andrew Johnson

ImpeachmentThe Constitution, Article II, Section 4:

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The Constitution, Article I, Section 3: The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.  When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation.  When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside:  And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present. Judgment in Cases of Impeachments shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust, or Profit under the United States, but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment, and Punishment, according to Law.

Presidential Power

Article II, Section 2:

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The Man in the Center of the Controversy

Edwin Stanton

Tenure of Office Act

• All federal officials whose appointment required Senate confirmation could not be removed without the consent of the Senate.

• When the Senate was not in session, the Act allowed the President to suspend an official, but if the Senate upon its reconvening refused to concur in the removal, the official must be reinstated in his position

Impeachment Trial Leaders

C.J. Salmon Chase

Left to right, Seated: Benjamin F. Butler, Thaddeus Stevens, Thomas Williams, John A. Bingham. Standing: James F. Wilson, George S. Boutwell, John A. Logan.

-Matthew Brady photograph

Thaddeus Stevens

Charles Sumner

Impeachment Leaders

Benjamin Wade

"Twenty-four 'Guilties' have been pronounced and ten more certain are to come.  Willey is almost sure and that will make thirty-five.  Thirty-six votes are needed, and with this one vote the grand consummation is attained, Johnson is out and Wade in his place.  It is a singular fact that not one of the actors in that high scene was sure in his own mind how his one senator was going to vote, except, perhaps, himself. 'Mr. Senator Ross, how say you?' the voice of the Chief Justice rings out over the solemn silence. 'Is the respondent, Andrew Johnson, guilty or not guilty of a high misdemeanor as charged in this article?'  The Chief Justice bends forward, intense anxiety furrowing his brow.  The seated associates of the senator on his feet fix upon him their united gaze.  The representatives of the people of the United States watch every movement of his features.  The whole audience listens for the coming answer as it would have listened for the crack of doom.  And the answer comes, full, distinct, definite, unhesitating and unmistakable.  The words 'Not Guilty' sweep over the assembly, and, as one man, the hearers fling themselves back into their seats; the strain snaps; the contest ends; impeachment is blown into the air."

Senate Impeachment Vote

Yea 35 (Convict)

Nays 19 (Acquit)

Reaction to Final Vote

Legacy of Johnson Impeachment

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*Tenure of Office Act declared unconstitutional in 1926 by SCOTUS