Reconstruction Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • After Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 – Lincoln began preparing for Reconstruction • Lincoln believe.
Download ReportTranscript Reconstruction Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • After Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 – Lincoln began preparing for Reconstruction • Lincoln believe.
Reconstruction Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction • After Union victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg in 1863 – Lincoln began preparing for Reconstruction • Lincoln believe the south never legally seceded – plan based on forgiveness • Lincoln issues the Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction in 1863 – hoped to rally the north and force south to surrender Lincoln’s 10 Percent Plan • A southern state could be readmitted to the Union once 10 % of its voters swore an oath of allegiance to the Union • Voters then would draft revised constitutions and establish new gov. • All southerners except for high-ranking Confederate officials would be pardoned • Lincoln promised to protect their private property minus slaves • Most moderate Republicans supported Lincoln’s plan in hopes to end the war • In essence, his plan was lenient in an attempt to entice the south to surrender Lincoln’s Vision for Reconstruction • Favored self-reconstruction without much help from Washington • Appealed to both poor southerners as well as wealthy aristocrats by offering pardons and protection of property (not slaves) • He wanted Reconstruction to be a short process in which secessionist states could draft new constitutions so the USA could return to they way it was before the war Radical Republicans • Many republicans believed that Lincoln’s plan was not harsh enough – south needed to be punished • These radicals hoped to control reconstruction, transform southern society, disband planter aristocracy, redistribute land, develop industry, and guarantee civil liberties to former slaves Wade-Davis Bill • Radical Republicans passed the Wade-Davis Bill in 1864 to counter Lincoln’s 10% plan • Southern state could rejoin the Union only if 50 % of its registered voters swore allegiance to the United States • Lincoln did not like this bill – he feared that making the requirement 50 % would not end the war quickly • Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill and refused to sign Freedmen’s Bureau • Lincoln and Congress disagreed on the best way to redistribute land • Lincoln had several of his generals resettle former slaves • Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau – Distribute food and supplies, establish schools, redistribute additional confiscated lands to former slaves and poor whites • Anyone who pledged loyalty to USA could lease 40 acres • Most southerners viewed the Freedmen’s Bureau as a threat to their way of life during the postwar depression • Agents for the bureau often accepted bribes from plantation owners and turned a blind eye to the former slaves • Bureau was successful in setting up schools for nearly 250,000 free blacks Lincoln’s Assassination • In the spring of 1865, Lincoln and Congress were about to have a showdown on their plans for reconstruction.. • On April 14th, John Wilkes Booth, shot Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre • Lincoln died the next morning • Vice President Andrew Johnson becomes President Presidential Reconstruction • Like Lincoln, Johnson wanted to restore the Union as quickly as possible • While Congress was in recess, Johnson went to work with Presidential Reconstruction • Returned confiscated property to white southerners, issued 100s of pardons to former Confederate officers, undermined the Freedmen’s Bureau and ordered confiscated land be returned to white owners • Appointed governors to supervise the drafting of new Constitutions • Agreed to readmit states if they ratified the 13th Amendment (abolished slavery) Joint Committee on Reconstruction • Radical and moderate Republicans in Congress were furious that Johnson began his plans without their consent • Johnson did not offer any security for former slaves • To challenge Presidential Reconstruction, Congress established the Joint Committee on Reconstruction – came up with stricter requirements for readmitting states Civil Rights Act of 1866 • Civil Rights Act of 1866 – guaranteed citizenship to all Americans regardless of race (except native Americans), and secured former slaves the right to own property, sue, testify in court, and sign legal contracts • President Johnson vetoed the bill, but was overridden by Congress with a 2/3rds vote 14th Amendment • After passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Congress drafted the 14th Amendment to make sure the civil rights act would work • 14th Amendment – guaranteed citizenship to all males born in the United States, regardless of race Protections for Former Slaves • Civil Rights Act and the 14th amendment were milestones to give former slaves equal rights • Civil Rights Act reversed the court ruling in the 1857 case Dred Scott vs. Sanford (said blacks were not citizens) Radical Reconstruction • After the 1866 elections, the Radical Republicans gained almost complete control of Congress – majority in both houses • Congress now had enough power to override any Presidential vetoes by Andrew Johnson (1867) • This begins the period of Radical Reconstruction (also Congressional Reconstruction) 1st and 2nd Reconstruction Acts • 1st Reconstruction Act 9 (1867) – also known as Military Reconstruction – The bill divided the former Confederacy into 5 military districts, each governed by a Union general – Congress declared martial law in these areas and sent troops to keep the peace – Congress also declared that southern states ratify the 15th amendment (gave blacks right to vote) • To safeguard voting rights, Congress then passed the 2nd Reconstruction Act – put Union troops in charge of voting registration Black Voters • After the 15th amendments ratification in 1870, over 700,000 blacks registered to vote • Most of them declared themselves as republicans (at this time the Democrats were associated with slavery) Compromise of 1877 • Reconstruction comes to an end with the Compromise of 1877 • Republican Rutherford B. Hayes defeated Democrat Samuel Tilden • Election results were shady in 4 states • They agreed to let Republican Hayes become President IF Union troops left the south – ends Reconstruction, but we are many years from a normal USA Life in the South • Believing that former slaves held too much power, the Democrats regained power and passed laws to restrict civil rights • Republican party in the south was dominated by 3 groups – Freedmen – Carpetbaggers – people from north who moved south to make money – Scalawags – people from south who supported reconstruction Tools to Restrict Civil Rights • Ways in which Democrats restricted civil rights included: – Black Codes – close to slave codes – KKK – terrorist organization formed to stop blacks from voting – Poll Tax – tax to keep blacks and poor whites from voting – Literacy Tests – tests blacks had to take before voting – Jim Crow Laws – laws to enforce segregation – Plessey v. Ferguson – “separate but equal” After Civil War • South went through a transition period – plantation system to the small farmer • Plantations with slave labor was replaced with sharecropping – A farmer worked a parcel of land in return for a share of the crop, a cabin, seed, tools, and a mule Crop-Lien System • Forced southerners to buy crops from the north • Bought items on credit based on there crop – could never get out of debt African American Leaders • Booker T. Washington – in order to achieve political and social equality, must first achieve economic success; seek practical training in trades; discouraged blacks to protest against discrimination because it only increases white hostility • Founded Tuskegee Institute • Ida Wells – African Americans should protest unfair treatment; focused her attention on stopping lynching (hanging) of African Americans • WEB Dubois – education was meaningless with equality, founder of the NAACP