Transcript people.ucls.uchicago.edu

Rebuilding a Nation
From the Death of a
leader and the Civil War
By: Ella de Castro, Jacob Posner, Lauryn
Schweickart, and Rhys Lewis
Basic Timeline of Reconstruction
1865-1867
After Lincoln was
assassinated, during
the first two years of
Congressional
Reconstruction
congress passed the
13th and 14th
amendments and
the first, second and
third Reconstruction
acts.
1868-1870
In these Three
years The 14th
Amendment is
ratified, Grant is
elected President
and The 15th
amendment is
Ratified
1871
1872
1873-1875
Forty-second
congress, five
black members
in attendance of
the House of
Representatives
Freedman’s
Bureau
abolished
and Grant is
Re-elected
(Grant was
inaugurated
in 1873)
Forty-third
congress,
six black
members in
the House.
1877-1879
The last federal
troops leave
South Carolina
effectively
ending the
federal
presence in the
South
Lincoln’s Assassination
Before Ford Theater
● Abraham Lincoln was going to watch Our American
Cousin, a comedy on Good Friday April 14, 1865 with
General Ulysses S. Grant
● General grant decided not to go because Julia Grant
hated Mary Todd Lincoln
● Grant instead went to New Jersey see his son
● Instead of Grant, Abraham Lincoln took Major Henry R.
Rathbone instead
What Happened at The Ford Theater
● A 10:15 Pm John Wilkes Booth crept his way into Abraham Lincoln’s
Booth And fired one shot three inches behind Lincolns ear and into his
skull
● Booth jumped of the booth onto the stage and yelled at the audience
saying “Sic Semper Tyrannis” ( Thus always to Tyrants) Virginia’s state
quote.
● The jump off the booth Broke Booth’s leg slowing him down
● Immediately a
● John Wilkes Booth Escaped by horse and found Samuel Mudd who
helped him with his leg.
● Lincoln Died at 7:12 AM on April 15, 1865
Booth’s route
The Seward Situation
The same night as the shooting Secretary of State William H. Seward was
stabbed Booths henchmen Lewis Powell was another blow to the
republicans
● Seward was currently injured with a broken jaw and had a metal splint in
his mouth
● Lewis Powell said he was delivering medicine for Seward
● Lewis Powell made his way up to Sewards Bedroom
● On his way up Powell stabbed Sewards nurse and Son
● Seward was stabbed three times in the throat and twice in the face
● It is believed that he was saved by his metal splint
● Seward quickly returned to his post with Andrew Johnson, Seward’s face
permanently distorted
The Public’s Reaction to Lincoln’s
Death
● When Abraham Lincoln died many northerners
mourned his loss and believed he was a martyr
● The Free black men and the newly freed men
also mourned his loss because they believed
that without him the process of reconstruction
would be derailed.
Questions
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Are they any questions on:
Where Lincoln was killed
Who killed Lincoln and who helped Booth kill him
What the public’s reaction to Lincoln’s death was
Getting the 13th amendment passed
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After Lincoln had been reelected the matter of abolishing slavery took a turn.
Lincoln firmly believed that slavery was morally wrong and that it should be abolished in
America.Congress was still debating weather to pass the amendment.
Once the controversy began to arise lincoln defended his ideas by arguing that the war
was undermining the south's morale and once slavery is abolished the civil war will end.
This changed America's perception of the war gearing it now to a place of god vs slavery.
This argument allowed the amendment to be passed by the congress and easily passed
by the senate but the house did not pass the act.
After this lincoln took an active role in ensuring that slavery is abolished. Lincoln insisted
that the matter be added to the presidential platform for future elections.
Lincoln's efforts were successful when he the house passed the bill just barely making the
⅔ vote with 119 to 56 votes on january 31, 1865.
The Thirteenth Amendment
● The amendment that abolished slavery
● No slavery or involuntary servitude shall exist accept
as punishment for a crime.
● Passed on January 31, 1865
● Ratified on December 6, 1865
● The Thirteenth amendment also leads into the 14th,
because it freed blacks and the 14th made them
citizens.
The Civil Rights Act
● Passed by congress on March 13, 1866
● The act stated that everyone born in the United
States had equal rights as a citizen, except
Native Americans and women.
● This Act was vetoed by president Andrew
Johnson because he was under pressure from
important individuals. Such as, Francis P. Blair
Sr.
● Ohio Governor Jacob Cox urged Andrew
Johnson to sign the bill.
The Birth of The 14th Amendment
● After the rejection of the Civil Rights act, congress
could have overthrown the veto with two thirds of
congress.
● Instead congress used that two thirds of congress to
pass the 14th amendment
● The reasons for passing the 14th amendment was
to establish ground rules for Reconstruction.
● A future congress might have overthrown the civil
rights act.
The 14th amendment: Section One
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens
of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws
● Any person born in America besides native americans
are considered citizens.
● All citizens will be given equal protection such as laws,
property, contract rights, etc.
14th Amendment section: Two
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the
whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the
choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and
Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such
State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in
rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
● Freed slaves were now counted as a full person and will be counted
towards the state's population and that states number of
representatives.
● But any male citizen over age twenty one denied the right the vote
(black men) their state will have less representatives. The
representatives will be proportioned based on the amount of eligible
voters.
14th Amendment section: three
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and VicePresident, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who,
having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States,
or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to
support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of
two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
● Any person who vowed to support the confederacy,
and fought against the union for the confederacy will
not be able to be in any of the underlined government
positions.
● This can be changed if they get a two-thirds vote from
each house.
14th Amendment section: 4
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for
payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be
questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation
incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or
emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
● Any debt owed to the confederacy during the war will
not be paid, and all claims or obligations to be repaid
are illegal.
● Debts owed to America will be acknowledged and paid
back
14th amendment section 5:
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
● The congress can directly enforce these laws
The 15th Amendment
● Even though blacks now had civil rights and were considered citizen, the
fourteenth amendment didn’t include the right for blacks to vote.
● The fifteenth amendment was passed in February 26th, 1869 and was
ratified in 1870
● The fifteenth amendment gave black men the right to vote giving them a
say in the government.
● This amendment was still sexist and did not give women of any race the
same rights.
Questions
● Are there any questions on:
● The 13th, 14th or 15th amendments
● Or the birth of the 13th,14th or 15th amendments
Abraham Lincoln’s plan for
Reconstruction
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In Lincoln’s last public address he pleaded to the congressional republicans to not destroy
Louisiana’s government and leave it as it is.
For the postwar era Lincoln was determined to bring both political and economic
advancement to the blacks.
Contrary to section four of the 14th amendment Lincoln was interested in compensating
the Confederate slaveholders for the loss of slaves
Lincoln’s dream for Reconstruction was prosperity for all, especially in the war ravaged
South.
Lincoln thought that the southerner whites and blacks would learn to work together and
achieve prosperity and the American dream for everybody in the Union.
Freed Slaves After The Thirteenth
Amendment
● For the first time slaves transformed from being thought of as property to
more being thought of as people, but they were not yet citizens.
● Many slaves did not have equal opportunities for jobs because of their lack
of education.
● Although blacks had new found freedom Douglass quotes "slavery is not
abolished until the black man has the ballot"
Education during Reconstruction
● As soon as African Americans were freed from slavery
many of them wanted to have an education so they
could have productive lives.
● The Freedman’s Bureau advocated for schools to be
set up in the South.
● By 1869 Northern charity organizations had set up
almost 3,000 schools serving about 150,000 black
students. This school system was the basis for the
modern public school system in the South today.
The Reconstruction Acts
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The First Reconstruction act, passed March 2, 1867 split the South into five military
districts that were controlled by “military governors”, commanders who could deploy the
Union army to protect black citizens and their property.
The second Reconstruction act, passed March 23, 1867 supplemented the first
Reconstruction act by saying that the military governor of each territory regulated the
elections held in their territories and the voters.
The third Reconstruction act, passed July 19, 1867 gave the commanders of the military
controlled territories in the South supreme power to remove any elected official from
office if they felt that the official were impeding the progress of reconstruction.
The fourth Reconstruction act, passed February 27, 1868 forced seven former
Confederate States to finally create new governments, write new constitutions and ratify
the 14th amendment.
These acts being passed prompted Southern outrage in the form of the Ku Klux Klan,
black codes, and later on the Ku Klux Klan
Memphis race riot
● On May 1-2, 1866 rioting broke out on the
streets of Memphis
● forty-six blacks and two whites were found
dead with thousands of African American
churches and homes burned to the ground
● This all started when a regiment of black Union
soldiers were stationed outside the city and
were competing for jobs with the Irish
population
● a fight broke out and eventually evolved into a
giant riot all over the city with African
Americans being beaten up and shot in cold
New Orleans Race Riot
● The riot happened on July 30, 1866
● The riot happened because the radical republicans of Louisiana
reconvened the constitutional convention of 1864 (which
abolished slavery in Louisiana) in New Orleans
● The 25 white delegates were angry that blacks had not yet been
given the right to vote and that black codes were being enacted
in Mississippi
● More than 200 black supporters showed up to support the white
delegates
● Ex-confederate soldiers and New Orleans police fearful that
Louisiana would fall out of white control attacked the gathering
● 100 people were injured, 34 blacks and three white radicals
The Enforcement acts
● A main part of Reconstruction were the
Enforcement acts.
● There were three Enforcement acts
● These enforcement acts were used to give make it
easier for blacks to vote and give the federal
government more power to help blacks vote
First Enforcement Act
● This act was passed on May 31, 1870
● This act was put into place to protect the rights
of black voters
● Although most people who saw a violation of
this act were unwilling to testify
● Because of this further legislation was soon
necessary
Second Enforcement Act
● This act was passed on April 20, 1871
● This act was known as the Ku Klux Klan act
● This act was put into effect to help combat
against the Ku Klux Klan’s attempts to disrupt
black voting
Third Enforcement Act:
● Gives the president power to use federal forces to
enforce the law.
● Strengthen sanctions against those who impeded
black suffrage
● intended to give the federal government extra power
to protect black voters
The Freedman’s Bureau
● The Freedman’s Bureau provided assistance to the
nearly four million freed slaves and whites in poverty.
The war destroyed many towns, regions, and
plantations were much of the south’s economy was
based. The war left many freed slaves and whites left
homeless facing starvation and lacking resources.
● The Bureau was established in 1865 it tied into
reconstruction by helping the newly freed slaves reach
full citizenship
Black Codes
● The Black Codes were a set of laws that Southern state
governments put into place to limit the civil and political
freedoms of African Americans.
● The black codes were put into place because of how
lenient president Andrew Johnson made the
Reconstruction plan towards the South
● This favor towards the South eventually led to Johnson
being impeached
Andrew Johnson
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President from 1865-1869
President during the beginning of Reconstruction
Lincoln chose Andrew Johnson as his
running-mate because he was
a hero to the North because when Tennessee
seceded he stayed with the Union.
When the North got Tennesse back from the
Confederacy, Lincoln elected Johnson as the military governor.
The Radicals started to hate Johnson because he
let the pre-war leaders stay in power and let the southern states
have the same laws about beating black people
While Johnson was president he guided
Reconstruction and rebuilt the southern states(I.E. Atlanta)
The Radicals created laws restricting Johnson
Johnson broke one of these rules and went under trial for impeachment
Johnson was impeached on february 24, 1868
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant Information
● President from 1869-1877
● President during the middle and the end of
Reconstruction
● Quarreled with Andrew Johnson while he was
president and aligned himself with the Radical
Republicans.
● Military hero from the civil war
● While President, Grant gave Government jobs to
people in the army
Questions
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Are there any questions on:
The presidents during Reconstruction
The Freedman’s Bureau
The enforcement acts
The Reconstruction acts
Black codes
Or the race riots
Radical Republicanism
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Radical republicanism was a sect of the republican party that wanted to abolish
slavery and establish equality with both races through radical measures.
During Reconstruction the radical republicans wanted to use repressive measures
against the South.
Main supporters of Reconstruction
They believed the right to vote should be extended to all men regardless of race or
previous servitude.
in 1868-1869 the Republicans split into two groups, the radicals and the
conservatives.
The conservatives believed in recognizing local and state laws, or all non-civil war
laws.
The radicals believed that those laws were unimportant and wrong.
The radicals wanted to give blacks the right to vote and more education possibilities.
The radicals had an abstract idea of equality but had never actually seen equality in
action.