Key QuestionsKey Questions

1. How do we1. How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the

Union?Union?

1. How do we1. How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the

Union?Union?

2. How do we 2. How do we rebuild the rebuild the

South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction

during the war?during the war?

2. How do we 2. How do we rebuild the rebuild the

South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction

during the war?during the war?

3. How do we3. How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated

black freedmen?black freedmen?

3. How do we3. How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated

black freedmen?black freedmen?

4. What branch4. What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of

Reconstruction?Reconstruction?

4. What branch4. What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of

Reconstruction?Reconstruction?

Human toll of the Civil War: The North lost 364,000 Human toll of the Civil War: The North lost 364,000 soldiers. The South lost 260,000 soldiers.soldiers. The South lost 260,000 soldiers.

The war had destroyed two thirds of the South’s The war had destroyed two thirds of the South’s shipping industry and about 9,000 miles of railroad.shipping industry and about 9,000 miles of railroad.

Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $4 billion. Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $4 billion. Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government Between 1865 and 1877, the federal government

carried out a program to repair the damage to the carried out a program to repair the damage to the South and restore the southern states to the Union. South and restore the southern states to the Union.

This program was known asThis program was known as ReconstructionReconstruction.. FreedmenFreedmen (freed slaves) were starting out their (freed slaves) were starting out their

new lives in a poor region with slow economic new lives in a poor region with slow economic activity.activity.

Poor white Southerners could not find work because Poor white Southerners could not find work because of new job competition fromof new job competition from FreedmenFreedmen..

1. The Aftermath

2. Problems:• The South- How is it to be rebuilt/reorganized?• Freedmen- How are they to be integrated?• Leadership- Who will lead? Former Rebels?

3. President Andrew Johnson-up to the job?

4. Power Struggle: Johnson vs. Congress• President’s plan: gentle---1865 to 1867

• Radical Republicans---opposed Johnson• Congress’s plan: harsh---1867 to 1876

North developed during the war:• Business developed

– Supplying the army

• National Banking Act- uniform system of banking and sound financialsystem.

• Transcontinental railroad legislation passed.

• Homestead Act- free land (160 acres) to settlers of west.

• Morrill Land Grant- national lands to states for sale, proceeds to create colleges.

South devastated by war:• Sherman brought total war to the South

• Charleston, SC “a place of vacant houses, widowed women, rotting wharves, deserted warehouses, weed wild gardens, grass grown streets, acres of pitiful and voiceless barrenness.”

• Confederate money worthless• Railroad damaged or destroyed• Emancipation wiped out $4B investment in

slaves.• Cotton collapse• People embittered in defeat.

South after war 1South after war 1

are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds….to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among

ourselves, and with all nations.”

Lincoln’s speech

“With malice toward none; with

charity for all; with firmness in the

right, as God gives us [ability] to see the right, let us

strive on to finish the work we

President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan« 10% Plan• Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction

(December 8, 1863)• Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in the

South.• He didn’t consult Congress regarding

Reconstruction.• Pardon to all but the highest ranking military

and civilian Confederate officers.• When 10% of the voting population in the

1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a government, it would be recognized.

• Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana formed governments under this plan, but Congress did not recognize. Their votes did not count for President in 1864.

President Andrew JohnsonPresident Andrew Johnson Jacksonian Democrat.Anti-Aristocrat.White Supremacist.Agreed with Lincoln that

states had never legally left the Union.

Remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War.

Lincoln chose him as his VP to help with the South’s Reconstruction.

Damn the negroes! I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!

Johnson’s plan to readmit the South was considered too gentlegentle.

Amnesty:Amnesty: Presidential pardonPresidential pardon•Rebels sign an oath of allegianceRebels sign an oath of allegiance

•10% of the population needs to be ‘loyal’ to reform state10% of the population needs to be ‘loyal’ to reform state•Even high ranking Confederate officials eligible Even high ranking Confederate officials eligible

Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•approve the approve the 13th Amendment13th Amendment

•reject secession and state’s rightsreject secession and state’s rights•submit to U.S. Government authoritysubmit to U.S. Government authority

No mention ofNo mention of•Education for freedmenEducation for freedmen

•Citizenship and voting rightsCitizenship and voting rights

Growing Northern Alarm!Growing Northern Alarm!

Many Southern state constitutions fell short of minimum requirements.

Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons.

Revival of southern defiance.

BLACK CODES BLACK CODES

Slavery is Dead?Slavery is Dead?

Black CodesBlack Codes• Purpose:• Guarantee stable labor

supply now that blacks were emancipated.

• Restore pre-emancipationsystem of race relations.

• Examples:• Annual labor contracts required;

dependent children subject to compulsory “apprenticeship” and corporal punishment by masters; “vagrants” punished with severe fines, and if they couldn’t pay (they couldn’t), they were forced into labor; generally denied privilege of owning weapons.

• Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers [tenant farmers].

Congress Breaks with the PresidentCongress Breaks with the PresidentCongress bars Southern

Congressional delegates.Congress begins passing

Reconstruction bills.February, 1866 ► President

vetoed the Freedmen’sBureau bill.

March, 1866 ► Johnsonvetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act.

Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes ► 1st in U. S. history!!

AmnestyAmnesty : : •oath of allegiance---50% required

•high ranking Confederate officials excluded•loose voting rights if didn’t sign oath

Write new state ConstitutionsWrite new state Constitutions•Ratify: 13, 14 & 15 Amendments

•reject secession and state’s rights explicitly•submit to U.S. Government authority explicitly

Help for FreedmenHelp for Freedmen•Freedmen’s Bureau for education

•Divide the South into 5 military districts

Reconstruction Act of 1867-Reconstruction Act of 1867--76 (Harsh)(Harsh)

•13th AmendmentAbolished slavery

(1865)

•14th Amendment Provided citizenship & equal protection

under the law. (1868)

•15th Amendment Provided the right to

vote for all men which included white

and black men. (1870)

Reconstruction Acts of 1867Reconstruction Acts of 1867Military

Reconstruction Act

• Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.

• Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.

Reconstruction Acts of 1867Reconstruction Acts of 1867• Command of the Army Act

• The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military.

• Tenure of Office Act• The President could not remove

any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval.

• Designed to protect radicalmembers of Lincoln’s government.

• A question of the constitutionality of this law.

Edwin Stanton

President Johnson’s ImpeachmentPresident Johnson’s Impeachment

• Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868.

• Johnson replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction.

• The House impeached him on February 24 before even drawing up the charges by a vote of 126 – 47!

The Senate TrialThe Senate Trial

• 11 week trial.

• Johnson acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3s vote).

1. Poor whites and freedmen have no jobs, no homes, and no money to

buy land.2. Landowners need laborers and have no money to pay

laborers.

4. Landlord keeps track of the money that sharecroppers

owe him for housing, food or local store.

5. At harvest time, the sharecropper is

paid.

•Pays off debts.

•If sharecropper owes more to the landlord or store than his share of

the crop is worth…

6. Sharecropper cannot leave the

farm as long as he is in debt to the

landlord.

3. Hire poor whites and

freedmen as laborers

•Sign contracts to work landlord’s

land in exchange for a part of the

crop.

SharecroppingSharecropping

Black & White Political ParticipationBlack & White Political Participation

The “Invisible Empire of the South”The “Invisible Empire of the South”

KKKKKK

Ku Klux Klan refers to a secret society or an inner circleOrganized in 1867, in Polaski, Tennessee by Nathan Bedford Forrest.Represented the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers Disrupted Reconstruction as much as they could.Opposed Republicans, Carpetbaggers, Scalawags and Freedmen.

1876 Presidential Election1876 Presidential Election

A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877

Reconstruction EndsReconstruction Ends•Corruption: Reconstruction legislatures & Grant’s administration symbolized corruption & poor government.

•The economy: Reconstruction legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting the southern states deeper into debt.

•Violence: As federal troops withdrew from the South, some white Democrats used violence and intimidation to prevent freedmen from voting. This tactic allowed white Southerners to regain control of the state governments.

•The Democrats’ return to power: The pardoned ex-Confederates combined with other white Southerners to form a new bloc of Democratic voters known as the Solid South. They blocked Reconstruction policies.

•The Country: The Civil War was over and many Americans wanted to return to what the country was doing before the war.

Successes and Failures of Successes and Failures of ReconstructionReconstruction

Successes Failures

Union is restored. Many white southerners bitter towards US govt & Republicans.South’s economy grows and

new wealth is created in the North.

The South is slow to industrialize.

14th and 15th amendments guarantee Blacks the rights of citizenship, equal protection under the law, and suffrage.

After US troops are withdrawn, southern state governments and terrorist organizations effectively deny Blacks the right to vote.

Freedmen’s Bureau and other organizations help many black families obtain housing, jobs, and schooling.

Many black and white southerners remain caught in a cycle of poverty.

Southern states adopt a system of mandatory education.

Racist attitudes toward African Americans continue, in both the South and the North.