Reconstructi on
Dec 28, 2015
Reconstruction
ReconstructionRefers to the post-
Civil War policies of the
U.S. government toward the
former Confederate states of the
South.
Two Phases of Reconstruction
1. Presidential Reconstruction:
Lincoln and Johnson tried to reunite the North and South in a lenient manner.
2. Congressional Reconstruction:
Congress takes power and
overrides vetoes to make sure that the former Confederates are punished and rights are given to former slaves.
13th Amendment• Amendment to the
Constitution that abolished slavery.(1865)
• Pushed through the Congress with the help of the many republicans who favored this bill
Slavery was abolished in all states and territories in the United States
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
in Washington, D.C. only five days after
Confederate general Robert E. Lee surrendered
his troops at Appomattox Court House, Virginia.
Assassination of Lincoln
• John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre
• Booth was killed as he fled. His conspirators were tried and hanged for the assassination.
President Andrew JohnsonBeing Lincoln’s Vice President,
Andrew Johnson becomes
President of the United States after
Lincoln dies
Reconstruction • Time period following the Civil War
which lasted from 1865-1877.
• Radical Republicans –representatives in congress that wanted to destroy the political power of former slaveholders. They wanted to give African Americans the citizenship and right to vote.
Thaddeus Stevens• Leader of the Radical Republicans
Johnson’s Reconstruction View
• Changed from Lincoln’s policy of letting the succeeded states vote to see if they would voluntarily rejoin the Union after the war. If 10% would agree, they could join again.
• 4 of the 11 states had done this under Lincoln.
• The remaining 7 states could join under Johnson’s conditions.
Johnson’s Reconstruction View
• Johnson’s Conditions:
–Each state had to declare that its secession was illegal
–Each state had to swear allegiance to the Union
–Each state had to ratify the thirteenth Amendment
Radical Republicans React • Johnson’s policies did not punish the
former Southern Confederates enough to satisfy the Radical Republicans.
• Radical Republicans passed legislation to strengthen the “Freedman’s Bureau”, which gave former slaves and poor whites (of the former confederacy) food, clothing, hospitals, and schools.
Black CodesRestrictive laws
that Southern states adopted after the Civil
War to regulate the freedom and
movement of former slaves.
Civil Rights Act of 1866Passed by Congress on 9th April 1866
over the veto of President Andrew Johnson. The act declared that all
persons born in the United States were now citizens, without regard to race,
color, or previous condition. This set the groundwork, and eventual ratification, of
the 14th Amendment.
14th Amendment• “all persons born or
naturalized in the U.S. are citizens of the country.”
• This amendment did not specify that African Americans could vote
• Not all Southern States ratified this.
Reconstruction Act of 1867• Divided all succeeded states (but
Tennessee) into 5 Military Districts• Each military district was headed by a
Union General• Each state had to ratify the
Fourteenth Amendment• Each state had to draw up new
constitutions with the addition of allowing African Americans the right to vote.
ImpeachedTo charge, or impeach, and
convict the president, the vice president,
or any other civil officers of misconduct in
office.
Johnson Impeached• Congress adopted the Tenure of Office
Act of 1867, which denied the president authority to fire key members of his administration without Senate approval.
• Johnson tested that act when he attempted to replace Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton, a Radical Republican holdover from Lincoln's administration.
ImpeachmentThe House of
Representatives to adopt 11
impeachment charges against
him, most of which focused on the
firing of Stanton
Johnson cleared of charges
Senate fell one vote shy of
the two-thirds majority
needed for conviction
U.S. Grant Elected President, 1868
• Democrats did not nominate Johnson
for the next presidency. They
put in Horatio Seymour as their
candidate.
• Radical Republicans put in
war hero U.S. Grant.
Fifteenth Amendment• No one can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous
condition of servitude”
• Ratified by the states in 1870.
Amendment Review• 13th Amendment
–Freedom
• 14th Amendment–Citizenship
• 15th Amendment–Vote
Reconstruction Society
Blacks in Reconstruction
Hiram Revels• From 1865 to 1877
African Americans were involved in politics at all levels.
• Revels, was the first African American Senator. (Mississippi)
Carpetbagger Men from the North who traveled to the South after the Civil
War to take advantage of the
new political, social, and economic
conditions in the former states of the
defeated Confederacy.
ScalawagTerm that
Southerners applied to fellow
Southerners who joined the
Republican Party or associated with carpetbaggers
during Reconstruction. Rhett Butler from the movie Gone with the
Wind was considered a Scalawag by Some.
Sharecropping• Landowners divide
their land and gave each worker a few acres along with seed and tools.
• When crops are harvested each workers gave a share of his crop to the landowner.
• This is what the majority of poor whites and blacks did
Tenant Farming• Rent land for
cash • Had their own
tools and equipment
• Eventually moved up the ladder and became owners of land
The Collapse of ReconstructionKu Klux Klan- began
in December 1865, when a group of
former Confederate soldiers in
Tennessee joined together in an effort to keep newly freed and enfranchised African Americans
from voting.
Ku Klux Klan
• Vigilante group that whipped, tortured, and
murdered former slaves in
an attempt to restore white supremacy.
Scandals In U.S. Grant’s Second Term
• Several Fraud and Bribery Scandals and a economic Panic in 1873 negatively effected Grant’s second term in office.
• This also weakened the Republican Party’s hold on Congress
Democrats “Redeem” the South
Democrats gain control of the South as a result of the
changes in Government.
Election of 1876• Rutherford B. Hayes runs
as Republican candidate for President and wins in 1876 by a slim margin.
• Hayes made a compromise with Democrats in the Senate that he would remove Federal Troops from the south and build new railroads for sections of the South. Ultimately ending Reconstruction.
Home RuleThe ability to run state governments without federal intervention.
Morehouse College
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tumNO_lXovs
Brother Where Art Thou
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLvcrsbliOo
Black Codes of Thomas County
• http://freedmensbureau.com/georgia/gaoutragespt2.htm