A Crash Course

Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln

“With malice toward

none, with charity

for all, with firmness

in the right as God

gives us to see the

right, let us strive on

to finish the work we

are in, to bind up the

nation’s wounds, to

care for him who

shall have borne the

battle and for his

widow and orphan,

to do all which may

achieve and cherish

a just and lasting

peace”

(Second Inaugural

Address, 1865)

Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865 while attending a play at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DCJohn Wilkes Booth – last effort to save the

ConfederacySic Semper Tyrannis! (Thus Always with

Tyrants OR Down with Tyrants)Andrew Johnson (Lincoln’s VP) stepped into

the Presidency and was tasked with starting the Reconstruction process.

Lincoln’s Assassination

America After the WarAfter the war, the

South was literally in ruinsEconomy was

devastatedSherman’s March

had left a path of destruction

With many people dead from the fighting, putting the country back together was going to be a challenge.

President Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan•Former

Confederate states can rejoin the Union with the following Conditions: •New state

Constitution•New state

government•Repeal act of

secession•Cancel war

debts•Ratify the 13th

Amendment

The Freedmen’s Bureau• Established by Congress to assist former

slaves. • Provided food, medical care and schools for

blacks and whites in the South.

“Forty Acres and a Mule”• Plan proposed by Congressman Thaddeus

Stevens• Give each former slave 40 acres of former

plantation land as repayment for unpaid labor

• Rejected by Congress as Unconstitutional

The Black Codes•Laws passed by

new Southern governments

•3 purposes: •Spell out the

rights of freedmen

•Help planters find workers to replace slaves

•Keep freed slaves at the bottom of the social orderPresidential

Reconstruction

Presidential Reconstruction

Civil Rights Act of 1866•Reaction

to the Black Codes

•Declared freedmen to be full citizens with the same rights as white citizens

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment• Known as the “Reconstruction

Amendments” • 13th – made slavery or forced servitude

illegal• 14th – declared former slaves to be full

citizens with all Constitutional rights• 15th – ensured voting rights for all

citizens regardless of race.

Military Reconstruction Act 1867• 5 military districts, governed by

general /federal troops. • State governments under Johnson illegal• New governments formed by

Southerners loyal to the Union. • Supporters of Confederacy denied right

to vote.

Sharecropping•Farming

system – planters divided land into small plots which they rented to tenant farmers.

Congressional Reconstruction

Congressional Reconstruction

The Problems with Johnson Vetoes:

Civil Rights Act of 1866 14th Amendment Military Reconstruction Act

Congress passed two acts to reduce Johnson’s power to interfere with Congressional Reconstruction Command of the Army Act

limited Johnson’s power over the Army

Tenure of Office Act Prevented Johnson from firing

certain federal officials without the Senate’s consent

Impeachment House tried to have Johnson

removed from office Needed two – thirds vote in the

Senate – failed to convict.

New Voters• Confederates

banned from voting • African Americans

made up largest voting pool.

1868 Election• Ulysses S. Grant

vs. Horatio Seymour

• Grant was elected with half a million Black votes.

New State Constitutions• Constitutional

Conventions across the south

• New Southern Constitutions were the most progressive and modern in the country.

New State Governments• Elections held to fill state

offices• Majority elected were

Republicans – about a fifth were African American

• Governments set to work rebuilding damaged infrastructure

African Americans in Office“The colored men who took

their seats in both the Senate and House did not

appear ignorant or helpless. They were as a rule

studious, earnest, ambitious men, whose public conduct

… would be honorable to any race”

J.G Blaine - Pennsylvania

Southern Reconstruction

Whites in the South resented Reconstruction governments

White TerrorismKu Klux Klan

End of Reconstruction

The Enforcement Acts (1870 and 1871)Designed to combat terrorism against blacksMade it illegal to prevent people from voting

using bribery, force, or scare tacticsThe Amnesty Act of 1872

Allowed most former Confederates to vote again

Sign of changing attitudes in Congress towards the South

End of Reconstruction: Legislation

The “New South”1880 – 1900: Southern Industry grew rapidly

EducationVoting Rights

Poll taxesLiteracy tests

Jim Crow LawsSegregation of blacks and whites

Plessy vs. FergusonSeparate but Equal

Reconstruction Reversed

African Americans responded to segregation/ discrimination in many ways: ProtestingMigration of Blacks

Left the south Back to Africa – Liberia (nation founded by freed slaves in

W. Africa) Most chose to stay in America – “we are not Africans now,

but colored Americans”North – competed for jobs with recent immigrants (Irish)West – worked as cowboys and Indian fighters

Exodus of 1879 – organized migration of thousands of black familiesBenjamin “Pap” Singleton and Henry Adams

Responding to Segregation