Transcript 16. The Agony of Reconstruction 1863 - 1877

16. The Agony of
Reconstruction
1863 - 1877
The South
The devastation that
the South had feared
had become reality
Aristocracy still needed
a cheap labor force
All the issues remained
Reconstruction Came in 3 Waves
Presidential Plans (1863-1866)
Congressional Plans (1866-1872)
Final Phases (1872-1877)
Presidential Plan: Lincoln
Southern states could not
constitutionally leave the Union,
therefore, they never did.
Confederates represented only a
disloyal minority
Proclamation of Amnesty and
Reconstruction (1863)
Thirteenth Amendment
(December, 1865)
Provisions of 10% Plan
Purpose was to insure that Unionists were
in charge rather than secessionists.
Full presidential pardons for southerners
who
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Took an oath of allegiance
Accepted emancipation
State government reestablished as soon
as 10% of the voters took the oath
Congress Reacts
Felt Lincoln’s plans were too lenient
Passed the Wade-Davis Bill
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50% of voters take oath
Only non-Confederates could vote
Vetoed by the president
Freedmen’s Bureau (March, 1865)
Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands
Early welfare agency for freed slaves and homeless
whites
Give away confiscated land
Success with education
Presidential Plan: Johnson
Tennessee Democrat
Champion for poor whites
White supremacist
Remained loyal to the
Union
Republicans wanted
support of Northern Dems.
Wrong man for the job
Johnson’s Plan
Maintained Lincoln’s ideas
Added disfranchisement of all former
leaders , officeholders and Confederates
with more than $20,000 in taxable
property.
Liberally used his power of presidential
pardons
Black Codes Emerged
In southern states to restrict freedmen’s
rights. Established virtual slavery.
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Curfews: Could not gather after sunset.
Vagrancy laws: If could not working, could be
fined, shipped, or sold for a year’s labor
Labor contracts: Sign agreements in January
for a year of work. If you quit in the middle
lost all of your wages
Land restrictions: Could rent land or homes
only in rural areas.
Congressional Plan
Republicans are split into two groups
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Moderates (Economic gains for white middle
class)
Radicals (Civil rights for blacks)
Moderates become radicals (fear of
Democratic dominance
The Radical Program
Civil Rights Act of 1866

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All African Americans are U.S. citizens
Repudiating Dred Scott decision
Protection against Black Codes
The Republican South
Mixture of people who had little in common
except a desire to prosper in the postwar
South.
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Freedmen
Carpetbaggers
Scalawags
Fourteenth Amendment
June 1866
“All persons born or naturalized in the U.S.
…are citizens …. And of the state wherein
they reside. No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the
privileges … of citizens of the U.S. ….nor
shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty or property without due process of
the law.
Radical Republicans in Control
Reconstruction Act of 1867
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Military rule
Write new constitutions
Give the vote to all qualified male voters
CSA supporters could not vote temporarily
Must guarantee equal rights
Must ratify the 14th Amendment
Johnson Impeached
Tenure of Office Act (1867) President
could not remove a federal official without
the approval of Congress
Situation was set up to remove him from
office
Ulysses S. Grant (1868-1876)
Had no political experience
Extremely popular in the North
Won with only 300,000 votes
500,000 black votes
Realized the importance
Of the black vote
• Noted for corruption in his
• administration
The Fifteenth Amendment
February, 1869
Granting African American males the right to
vote.
1867 and 1868, voters in southern states chose
delegates to draft new constitutions. ¼ of
delegates were black.
1870, southern black men voted for the first
time.
600 African Americans elected to state
legislatures, Hiram Revels (Mississippi) first
African-American to serve in Senate. Louisiana
has black governor.
Failures of Congressional Plan
Southern perception of Republican rule as
wasteful and corrupt.
Virtual slavery returns
Many southerners remain caught in a
cycle of poverty (sharecropping)
Racism continues in both the South and
the North.
Spreading Terror
Birth of the Ku Klux Klan: Eliminate the
Republican Party in the south by
intimidating voters.
Enforcement Act of 1870: Banned the use
of terror, force, or bribery to prevent
people from voting
Credit Mobilier Scandal
Officials of the Union Pacific Railroad
created fake corporation (Credit Mobilier)
to steal $$$$ from government subsidies
related to the transcontinental railroad
Panic of 1873
Many northerners lost jobs
Caused by
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Overspeculation
Overbuilding
North loses interest
in Reconstruction
Bank Run
Final Phase of Reconstruction
Removed the last of the restrictions on exConfederates
Except for top leaders
Clears the way for southern Democrats to
retake control of state government
Redeemers Take Control of
South
States’ rights
Reduced taxes
Reduced spending on social programs
White supremacy
Segregation
Politics are now in the hands of
“redeemers”
Supported by business and white
supremacists
Use race to deflect attention away from
real problems
Election of 1876
Republicans: Rutherford B. Hayes
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Distance himself from Grant
Democrats: Samuel J. Tilden
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Know for fighting corruption
Election Results
Tilden has clear majority of popular votes
One short of electoral votes
Three states are contested (South
Carolina, Florida and Louisiana – still had
federal troops)
Electoral commission voting along party
lines gave all the electoral votes to Hayes
Compromise of 1877
Democrats gave Hayes the victory.
Hayes agreed to support appropriations
for rebuilding the levees along the
Mississippi River and to remove the
remaining federal troops from South
Reconstruction Ends
1877 troops are removed
Supreme Court strikes down many
Reconstruction laws during 1880s and 90s
Most southern blacks and whites remained
poor farmers