Reconstruction of the South Reconstruction of the South 1865 - 1876 1865 - 1876.

Reconstruction of the SouthReconstruction of the South 1865 - 18761865 - 1876

Wartime Reconstruction Wartime Reconstruction Lincoln - 1862Lincoln - 1862

Goals - Shorten the War & Guarantee Emancipation

- Get states back to Union quickly

- Easy qualifications for states to return

Emancipation Proclamation

Declares slave in Confederacy ONLY - freeStrikes at South’s ability to produce food - workforce

Lincoln’s 10 Percent PlanLincoln’s 10 Percent Plan - 10% of 1860 voters in “occupied” states pledge loyalty

- States must abolish slavery

- Authorization to set up new, loyal government

- Southerners (except Confederate Leaders) pardoned

Congress Opposes LincolnCongress Opposes Lincoln• Radical Republicans - Charles Sumner (MA) &

Thaddeus Stevens (PA) plus old abolitionists favor:

- Full Civil Rights for Freedmen - Punishment of Confederate Leaders - Congressional authority over re-admission of Confederate states to the Union

• Don’t recognize President’s Constitutional authorityWon’t recognize elected congressmen from re-admitted states

• Struggle for Political control of Reconstruction Process

Wade – Davis BillWade – Davis Bill• Congress authorizes President to appoint governors.

• Requires “Iron Clad Oath” 50% of all adult males pledge loyalty.

Never willingly served Confederacy

• Guarantee the equality of Freedmen

• Only those who took the oath could vote for delegates to a Constitutional Convention.

• Then could re-apply for statehood in Union

President Johnson’s PlanPresident Johnson’s Plan• Distrusted Southern Plantation class; OK with slavery

• Agreed with Radical Republicans - Rebel leaders punished

• Appointed governors of rebel states to supervise election of “loyal” state representatives.

• Required ratification of 13th Amendment (freeing slaves)

But states forbid Freedmen from voting & pass Black Codesso Congress seeks more control over Reconstruction

Black CodesBlack Codes• Designed to suppress rights of Southern freed slaves

Vagrancy Laws – Work or be arrested

“Apprenticeship” Laws – No choice of employers

No Land Ownership – No travel without permits

Looks like slavery to Radical Republicans

Political Ideological Battle Political Ideological Battle • Republicans united, controlled Congress during & after the

war.

• Passed laws benefiting the northern economy, while the Confederacy existed, and while Democrats (No. vs. So.) divided. Railroad Subsidies; Tariffs; Banking & Currency Reform

• Needed control so Democrats could not “undo” laws that helped Northern economy once the country was united.

• Punish Rebel leaders; keep them from office; help blacks vote; …would all help control economy and the nation.

Radical ReconstructionRadical Reconstruction• Freedmen’s Bureau

-Organized in late 1865 – reauthorized in Feb. 1866- Gov’t. agency giving legal, educational & employment help - Civil Rights Act of 1866 - passed to repeal Black Codes

• Fourteenth Amendment – Ratified 1868- Guaranteed equal rights & protection under the law- Made “…all persons born or naturalized in the United States…” citizens, including ex-slaves.

Reconstruction Acts – 1867Reconstruction Acts – 1867Politics Politics

• Divided Confederate states into 5 military regions

• Required voting rights for freed slaves

• No ex-Confederates could participate in government

Belief was that if blacks could vote they could protect themselves and their interests.

Johnson Battles CongressJohnson Battles Congress• President Johnson believes “Radical Reconstruction“ too

harsh and resists – vetoes acts, impounds funds.

• Congress stops him by passing laws limiting his powerTenure of Office Act – No firings w/o Congress’ OK

• Johnson objects – violates Separation of Powers & fires a Radical Republican in his cabinet.

• Congress “impeaches” Johnson for violating the act.

Reconstruction - EconomicReconstruction - Economic• “40 Acres and a Mule” – some blacks got land to farm

taken from plantation owners who rebelled.

• Contract labor system emerges in two forms:Sharecroppers – Former slaves worked land and paid “share” of their “crops” to owners.

Could evolve into…

Tenant Farmers – paid landowners rent and kept all produce. A better way to improve lives.

Reconstruction - EconomicReconstruction - EconomicCorruption in business & gov’t hampered South’s growth.

Rampant throughout the war as business “skimped” on materials used to build weapons & supplies.

Carpetbaggers – Northerners who came to South

to invest in reconstruction – corrupt opportunists.

Scalawags – Southern whites who believed Republicans would help the Southern economy .

(Former Whigs, Nationalists)

Reconstruction – So. PoliticsReconstruction – So. Politics• Provides first opportunities for African American

Representatives in Congress.

• 13% of reps - Hiram Revels (MS); Benjamin Turner (AL); Robert deLarge (SC); Jefferson Long (GA); Josiah Walls (FL)

• By 1866 most state govt’s – under Republican rule – had repealed the Black Codes, but were not well enforced.

Final Efforts of ReconstructionFinal Efforts of Reconstruction Fifteenth Amendment – 1870

Prohibited the “…abridgement or denial of the right to vote by Federal…or state governments on the basis of race, color or prior condition as a slave…”

Constitutional Guarantees Constitutional Guarantees for Freedmenfor Freedmen

13th Amendment - Guarantees Freedom – Step 1Only freemen could vote.

14th Amendment – Guarantees Citizenship – Step 2Only citizens could vote.

15th Amendment - Prohibits the denial of right - Step 3

Resistance to ReconstructionResistance to Reconstruction

• Ku Klux Klan – Nathan Bedford ForrestOrganized as early as 1866 to keep blacks down,stop reconstruction & restore pre-war society.

“Force Acts” by Congress held Klan in check until 1876US Military actively pursued Klansmen who threatened blacks with violence, preserved the few gains blacks made during Reconstruction until 1877 when it ended.

Reconstruction FailsReconstruction Fails• Ulysses S Grant wins 2 presidential terms – 1868 – ’77

• Big scandals in administration erodes confidence in the Republican party’s ability to govern fairly.

“Credit Mobilier” – Cabinet officials took money from railroads who got grants from government.

“Whiskey Ring” – Grant’s secretary worked with booze makers to steal whiskey taxes from gov’t & keep cash.

• Panic of 1873 – Too many people borrowed money to invest in Southern reconstruction. Big banks failed. People lost millions

Reconstruction FailsReconstruction Fails• Democrats elected to state & US government office

and win back or “Redeem” the south – undermine blacks’ gains.

• Deal between Republicans & Democrats over Election of 1876 – all troops leave South – Republican Rutherford B. Hayes wins presidency in disputed election.

• Southern States established “Home Rule” - governing by white southern Democrats w/o Federal influence.

The “New South”The “New South”• “Redeemers” - Northern investors, former planters, financiers

and some formerly poor white farmers - worked to develop industry in South.

• Textile manufacturing; Railroad development; tobacco processing ; iron and steel mills;

• Supreme Court decisions weaken 14th & 15th Amendments US v Cruikshank - US could not punish oppression of blacks

US v Reese - 15th Amendment – no “right to vote” – only lists grounds on which suffrage could not be denied.

• Freedmen’s rights dwindled as South reintegrated into Union.

““Jim Crow” LawsJim Crow” LawsEfforts by “redeemers” of New South to secure their control.

“Disenfranchised” certain voters they would exclude

Literacy tests – Read and interpret the state constitution for blacks. Much easier tests for poor whites.

Poll Taxes – pay a tax or you couldn’t vote

Grandfather Laws – One could vote if their ancestors did so before Reconstruction began.

Segregation - of schools and public facilities

Legacy of ReconstructionLegacy of ReconstructionSuccesses Failures

1) Slavery abolished 1) Congress did not protect the rights freedmen

gained.

2) 14th & 15th Amendments set groundwork for 20th 2) Supreme Court decisions

Century gains. reduced the effectiveness of civil rights gained.

3) For 12 years after the Civil War

freedmen held office and voted. 3) Government could not counteract the racism

that 4) Literacy improved existed.