Ap reconstruction

AP Reconstruction1865-1877

“Though slavery was abolished, the wrongs of my people were not

ended.” F. Douglass 1882

The end of the Civil War left the US with a new set of problems no less

challenging than the war itself

Reconstruction Plans of Lincoln and Johnson

• Lincoln’s Plan-10% Plan—Lenient• Rewrite states constitution and take a oath of

loyalty and eliminate slavery• “With malice toward none…”

Wade-Davis Bill

• Republicans rejected Lincoln’s Plan• Much more stringent—50% Plan• Pocket veto

Freedman’s Bureau

• A kind of early welfare agency, providing food, shelter, and medical aid for those made destitute by the war

• Greatest success--education

Lincoln Assassinated

• April 14, 1864 just 5 days after Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, John Wilkes Booth crept into the President's box at Ford’s theater and shot Lincoln.

A New President, A New Plan

• Andrew Johnson-a southerner, a Democrat, who had remained loyal to the Union. Voice of the common “White” man-very racist!!

• Plan for Reconstruction almost as mild as Lincoln’s• By late 1865, Republicans in Congress were

outraged by who was being elected to Congress—Set up a Joint Committee to draw up a new plan for the South and the stage was set for a showdown between Congress and Johnson

New Kind of Bondage in the South

• 13th Amendment had been passed• Black Codes-laws that severely limited the

rights of freedmen

3 rounds of Reconstruction

• 1865-1866—directed by Lincoln and Johnson, through executive powers, restored the 11 ex Confederate states back to the Union

• 1866-1870 Second round, in which Congress imposed upon the South its own version of Reconstruction—harsher on Southern whites and more protective of freed blacks

Radical RepublicansThaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner

• 3 main goals:• Break the power of the rich planters• Ensure that freedmen receive the right to vote• Stay in power

Enacting the Radical Program

• Civil Rights Act of 1866—pronounced all African Americans citizens

• 14th Amendment— defined citizenship, provide equal protection under the law—1st time states were required by the constitution to uphold the rights of citizens

Reconstruction Act of 1867

• Over Johnson’s vetoes, Congress passed 3 Reconstruction acts—took steps in placing the South under military rule

• Ratify the 14th Amendment• “Bayonet Rule”

Impeachment of Johnson

• Tenure of Office Act was passed in Congress- to protect Radical Republicans in Johnson Cabinet

• Johnson challenged it • The House impeached the President but the

Senate found him not guilty

Grant Becomes President“Let Us Have Peace”

Civil Right Acts 1875

• Law guaranteed equal accommodations in public places, excluding African American from juries—law poorly enforced—Republicans becoming frustrated with trying to reform an unwilling South—abandonment is 2 years away

Composition of the Reconstruction Governments

• Republican legislators included native born white southerners, freeman, and recently arrived northerners

New Forces in Southern Politics• Before the War,

planters controlled southern politics, during Reconstruction new groups emerged:

• Scalawags• Carpetbaggers• Freedmen-Hiram

Revels, Blanche K. Bruce

Evaluation the Republican Record

• How did the Republicans do during their brief time in control of southern state politics

• Abuse their power?• Govern responsibly in the public interest?

Accomplishments

• Universal male suffrage,• Property rights for women• Debt relief• Promoted the building of roads, bridges,

railroads, and other internal improvement• Hospitals, schools

Failures

• Instances of Graft and wasteful spending did occur

• Some Republican politicians took advantage of their power to take kickbacks and bribes

African Americans Adjust

• Secure economic freedom• Political rights• Social security

• Freedom meant—reuniting families, education, moving to cities—

• Black ministers became leading figures at this time

Sharecropping

• The South’s agricultural economy was in turmoil

• Sharecropping evolved into a new form of servitude

The North During Reconstruction

• Industrial Revolution and Pro-business policies • Focused on Railroads, steel, labor problems

and money

Rise of the Spoilsmen

• Radical Republicans’ crusade for civil rights were pushed aside as leadership of the reformers were taken over by political manipulators such as Senator Roscoe Conklin and James Blaine—masters of the game of patronage—giving jobs and favors (spoils) to their supporters

The Election of 1872

• Grant runs again “waving the bloody shirt” tactics and is reelected

• Many scandals start to surface- Credit Mobilier, Whiskey Ring, Indian Ring

End of Reconstruction

• During Grant’s second term, Reconstruction entered its third and final round. Why?

• Radical Republicans on the wane• Southern conservatives—known as redeemers-

took control of state governments one after another—

• Agreed on states’ rights, reduced taxes, reduced spending on social programs and white supremacy

A Reign of Terror• Ku Klux Klan—worked

to keep Blacks and white Republicans out of office

• Grant crushes the Klan with a series of laws during his first term, but then did nothing

End of an Era

• Americans were getting tired of Reconstruction—$$$

• Radical Republicans were losing power • Corruption in Grants administration hurt

Republicans• Violence continued • One by one, Republican governments in the

South fell

Election of 1876 The Compromise 1877

Separate But Not Equal

• With the North out of southern affairs, white conservatives tightened their grip on southern government. Some whites continued to use violence to keep blacks from voting or holding office. Other states were more creative:

• Poll Taxes• Literacy tests• Grandfather clauses

Jim Crow South

• Southern states passed laws that separated blacks and whites

• Plessy v. Ferguson- “separate but equal”