Transcript RECONSTRUCTION - Ms. Stattenfield's History Page

1865-1877
Key Essential Questions
1. Should the South
be punished or
forgiven?
2. How do we
rebuild the
South after its
destruction
during the war?
4. What branch
of government
should control
the process of
Reconstruction?
3. How do we
integrate and
protect newlyemancipated
black freedmen?

The Const. does not state which branch of gov.
handles readmission in the case of seceesion.
President Lincoln’s Plan
Key Aspects
 10% Plan – How to “get back in”
(Although really, you never left)
*
*
*
Pardon to all who were willing to pledge
Union loyalty with the exception of
highest ranking military and civilian
Confederate officials .
10% of the voting population in the
1860 election must take an oath of
loyalty and established new government
States must accept the 13th
Amendment (Which did what?)
13th 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 School
•Lincoln helped to pass the 13th Amendment (ending slavery) and establish the
Freedmen’s Bureau, which provided education, healthcare, and job assistance
to newly freed African Americans.
Congress (Rep) wanted harsher punishment:
(AND Congress was not going to let the Exec. Branch run Reconstruction)
 THE WADE-DAVIS BILL (1864)

An oath of allegiance by a majority of each states white men (not merely
10 %).

New governments to be formed only by those who never took arms
against the North.

Permanent disfranchisement of Confed. leaders.
 Passed Congress; Pocket Vetoed by Lincoln (didn’t sign bill).
Lincoln hoped to negotiate a compromise . . .
Burns clip: Assassination
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
Self-made man from Tenn.
Jacksonian Democrat
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Championed poor whites
1857 – U.S. Senator
Remained loyal to the Union when
Tennessee left!
1862 – appointed Military Gov of
Tennessee.
1864 – chosen as Lincoln’s running
mate as a gesture of good will.
Despised the corrupt aristocracy of
the North & southern plantation
elite.
Supporter of poor whites; not
enslaved blacks
1) Amnesty to all Southerners who took an oath of allegiance to the
Constitution except for:
a) high ranking Confederates
b) wealthy & elite planters (those worth more than $20,000
must apply to president personally for a pardon . . . He
granted approx. 13,000 pardons)
2) Appointed Prov. Gov. for southern states requiring that these
states:
a) revoke ordinances of secession
b) “repudiate” debts—as in, don’t expect to be paid for war
loss
c) ratify the 13th Amendment
Black Codes
 Laws passed by Southern States denying
ex-slaves civil rights
 Purpose:
*
Restore pre-emancipation
system of race relations
Details:
*
Blacks could not congregate, carry
weapons, marry whites, youth must
be “apprenticed” and former
owners had first dibs . . .
Same old same old in the South;
-New elections  Confederate gov
back in place ! (AJ pardoned
most of the elite)
-Black codes essentially restored
slavery in all but name
*Before Congress returned from recess (mid
1865), AJ declared Reconstruction
complete!
(Republican) Congress vs. the President
 Upon return in Dec. 1865, Congress refused to
seat New Southern Congressional delegates.
 Johnson:
 vetoed the Freedmen’s Bureau Bill (“gave
blacks too many benefits”)
 vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act (Citizenship
rights for blacks) (Too much “centralization”—
leave this to the states)
“This is a country for white men, and by God, as long
as I am President, it shall be government for white
men”
 Congress
 passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes  1st
in U. S. history!!
 Wins a 3-1 majority in mid-term (1866)
elections!
NOW CONGRESS WAS IN CHARGE
th
14
Amendment
 Ratified in July, 1868.
*
Provide a constitutional guarantee of the
rights and security of freed people.
*
Insure against neo-Confederate political
power.
*
Enshrine the national debt while repudiating
that of the Confederacy.
 Southern states would be punished for
denying the rights to black citizens!
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Divide the
south into 5
military
districts to be
under the
command of
a Union
general.
Ratify 14th
Amendment
Re-elect state
gov’ts,
including
African
American
vote(15th
Amendment)
15th Amendment
 Ratified in 1870.
 The right of citizens of the United States to
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any state on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
 The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
(Poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy tests will
quickly undermine this amendment)
Blacks in Southern Politics
 Blacks could register and vote in S. states as of 1867
under the Republican plan (temporarily).
 700 African Americans elected to state offices, 16
Congressmen.
Radical Reconstruction
Congress looked to secure its control:
 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 radical
members of Lincoln’s
government, especially Sec.
of State Edwin Stanton
Edwin Stanton

Feb. 1868 – Johnson formally dismissed Stanton
The House voted (126—47) to impeach Johnson (Senate trial) on February
24 before even drawing up the official charges.
Charged with: “Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes & Misdemeanors”
Impact of Impeachment
 11 week trial.
 Johnson acquitted
35 to 19 (one short of
required 2/3s vote).
 Johnson got the
message that—despite
his acquittal—
Congress was in
charge.


Ulysses S. Grant elected President in 1868.
1868-1871 all southern states rejoined Union based on
Radical Republican plan.
Republican changes:
 Fifteenth Amendment passed
 started to eliminate Black Codes
 built roads and railroads to revive the economy and link the
north with the south.
 Introduced property taxes to create a sense of “equality in
taxes” and to pay for Republican reform programs
 Began to fund public education believing it was foundation
for democratic order.
•The KKK began under Johnson’s rulemany freedmen lived in fear and
remained submissive to white—afraid to pursue their “freedoms”.

4 million African-Americans (former slaves) were free

They had no money & no education
- Sharecroppers, or tenant farmers, turned over about ½ of crops in
exchange for land, housing, seed, & fertilizer—often led to debt that
was nearly impossible to overcome.
- Did allow freemen to work without gang labor, supervision, fines,
punishment or regulation of private lives.
- Some success stories where freemen were able to own land
Grant Administration (1868)
 Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented
corruption.
*
“Whiskey Ring”
*
Tammany Ring
*
Credit Mobilier
*
Panic of 1873
The Abandonment of Reconstruction
 Northern gov’t preoccupied with
corrupt Grant administration
 Panic of 1873 [6-year
depression].
 Republican state gov’ts in south
couldn’t seem to keep the peace.
 By 1876, all state gov’ts except for
SC, LA, and FL were again
controlled by Southern Democrats
(thanks to the KKK and waning
Northern interest).
1876 Presidential Tickets
Rutherford B. Hayes (R)
-
Governor of Ohio
boring, colorless, untainted
a safe choice
favored “home-rule”
Samuel Tilden (D)
-
NY lawyer
Wealthy
Favored “home-rule”
Focused on the corruption of
the Rep. party and Grant
Administration.
1876 Presidential Election
• Election was extremely close; Tilden was one electoral vote away from winning- won
popular vote
• 19 electoral votes in dispute.
• Fl, SC, and LA sent in two set of electoral votes!
• Election was at a stalemate
•ELECTION WAS EXTREMELY
CLOSE; TILDEN WAS ONE
ELECTORAL VOTE AWAY FROM
WINNING- WON POPULAR
VOTE
•20 ELECTORAL VOTES IN
DISPUTE.
•FL, SC, AND LA SENT IN TWO
SET OF ELECTORAL VOTES!
•ELECTION WAS AT A
STALEMATE
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News of contested election results
began to circulate around the
country in the early hours of
November 8.
The electoral votes of South
Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana
would decide the election.
Congress appointed an electoral
commission (!?) to settle the
question (8 Republicans, 7
Democrats).
They awarded the votes to Hayes
(R) . . . And federal troops were
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removed from the South. Hmm
...
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SC, FL, and LA
suddenly dropped their
“dispute”
On March 2, 1877,
Rutherford B. Hayes (R)
was declared President
of the United States,
bringing an end to the
four month debate.
Within days, remaining
federal troops were
removed from the south,
leaving freedmen with
no protection . . .
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