IntroductionConfederate war veterans
returned to devastated land
African Americans quickly learned that freedom didn’t mean equality
Readmitting Southern states to the Union difficult because of white Southern bitterness & Radical Republicans in Congress
Frederick DouglassThe arm of the Federal
government is long, but it is far too short to protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant States. They must have the power to protect themselves, or they will go unprotected, in spite of all the laws the Federal government can put upon the national statute-book. - Frederick Douglass, 1866
Where did it begin?Reconstruction Began as War MeasureFirst came the Emancipation ProclamationLincoln’s 10% Plan - Proclamation of Amnesty
and Reconstruction Goal was an easy peace to shorten war and to
absorb the South beck into the Union as quickly and painlessly as possible
Emancipation ProclamationLincoln issued it on
January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of bloody civil war.
The proclamation declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."
Emancipation Proclamation Con’t Although the Emancipation
Proclamation did not end slavery in the nation, it captured the hearts and imagination of millions of Americans and fundamentally transformed the character of the war. (they couldn’t enforce it in the southern states they did not control)
After January 1, 1863, every advance of federal troops expanded the domain of freedom.
The Proclamation announced the acceptance of black men into the Union Army and Navy
By the end of the war, almost 200,000 black soldiers and sailors had fought for the Union
Lincoln’s Second InaugeralWith malice toward
none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.
Lincoln’s 10% PlanLincoln offered a full pardon to any
Southerner, with the exception of certain leaders, who would take an oath to support “the Constitution of the United States and the Union of the States thereunder.”
Those who took the oath in each state could vote to form a new state government.
Lincoln promised to recognize the new government if two conditions were met: the new government accepted the elimination of slavery as required by the Emancipation Proclamation of January 1863; and the number of those voting for the new government was at least 10 percent of those who had voted in the 1860 presidential election.
Who’s in Charge of Reconstruction?Lincoln was convinced that Reconstruction, or
restoration, as he preferred to call it, was for the president to carry out.
Congressional leaders thought otherwise. They tabled the Wade-Davis bill in July 1864.
It was designed to punish the South and to make it subservient to the Republican Party in the North.
The bill limited voting on new state constitutions to those who had never joined the rebel cause, required a loyalty oath by the majority of a state's citizens, and permanently deprived former rebel leaders of the right to vote. Lincoln killed the bill by using his pocket veto, and as long as he lived this plan made little headway.
Wade-Davis Bill, July 1864The bill was designed to punish the
South and to make it subservient to the Republican Party in the North.
The bill limited voting on new state constitutions to those who had never joined the rebel cause
It required a loyalty oath by the majority of a state's citizens
It permanently deprived former rebel leaders of the right to vote.
Lincoln killed the bill by using his pocket veto, and as long as he lived this plan made little headway.
Benjamin F Wade
After Slavery New Ways of LifeThe Plight of Landowners some slaves agreed to
stay and work the land for housing, food and cash after crops harvested
Many lost land because Confederate money worthless therefore couldn’t pay taxes or debts
The Plight of Workers poor whites / African Americans tenant farmers / sharecroppers
The Freedman’s BureauThe Freedmen's Bureau was
established in the War Department on March 3, 1865.
The Bureau supervised all relief and educational activities relating to refugees and freedmen (ie. including issuing rations, clothing and medicine)
The Bureau assumed custody of confiscated lands or property in the former Confederate States, border states, District of Columbia, and Indian Territory.
They also built schools
Sec. 2: Reconstructing the SouthPresidential
ReconstructionLincoln’s Plan amnesty
/ pardon to all Southerners who pledged an oath of loyalty to the United States
African Americans could return to Africa or colonize Caribbean
The Radical Republicans’ Plan harsher than
Lincoln’s plan military rule
Sec. 2: Reconstructing the SouthJohnson’s Program
President after Lincoln assassinated tried to implement Lincoln’s generous plan but Radical Republicans refused to co-operate
White Men & Black Codes states allowed to create their own laws that denied African Americans many basic rights such as voting or gov’t education
Sec. 2: Reconstructing the SouthPresidential ReconstructionThe North Responds April
1866 Congress passed the Civil Rights Bill giving citizenship to African Americans and all the rights entailed
The Fourteenth Amendment defined citizenship to include African Americans who were guaranteed equal protection under the law
Sec. 2: Reconstructing the SouthRadical ReconstructionReconstruction Plans appreciative African
Americans would vote for Radical Republicans
Reconstruction Legislation March 1867 Reconstruction Act passed putting the South under five district military rule until the states gave African Americans the right to vote
Reconstructing the SouthScalawags (Union
sympathizers) and carpetbaggers (Northerners) despised
carpetbaggers was the term southerners gave to northerners who moved to the South during the Reconstruction era, between 1865 and 1877.
They formed a coalition with freedmen (freed slaves), and scalawags (southern whites who supported Reconstruction) in the Republican Party.
Together they politically controlled former Confederate states for varying periods, 1867–1877.
Reconstructing the SouthCarpetbag GovernmentThe Radicals in Power
reduce Presidential powerChallenging the Tenure Law
Pres. Johnson twice fired Edwin Stanton a supporter of Radicals
Johnson Impeached May 16, 1868 Senate voted 35 to 19 to convict Pres, one vote shy
The 1868 Election General Grant won as a Radical Republican to become new President
Restoring Southern PowerOpponents of Reconstruction
set up secret societies (e.g. KKK) wore out Radicals
The Compromise of 1877Electoral Commission
disputed Pres vote in 1876 given to Republican candidate Hayes
Reaching an Agreement Democrats outraged so Republicans promised South power, funds and removal of federal troops
Restoring Southern PowerAfter ReconstructionSegregation separation
of races made legal by Supreme Court ruling Civil Rights Act of 1875 unconstitutional Jim Crow laws follow
The “New South” industrialization with Northern financing brought railroads, factories
Few Gains for African Americans temporary gains soon gone with economic slavery