RECONSTRUCTION

Reconstruction was….The federal government’s controversial effort to 1. repair the damage to the South and

2. restore southern states to the Union

Timing of Reconstruction

Lasted from 1865-1877

That would be 12 years and involved four presidents!

Physical DamageFarmland, machinery, work

animals, livestock, and buildings destroyed

9,000 miles of railroads2/3 of all shipping

Ruined building in the burned district – Richmond, VA

Ruins of a papermill and machinery – Richmond, VA

• Destruction ranges from

buildings and

factories…

Ruins of Gallego Flour Mill - Richmond, VA

Ruins of a paper mill w/ waterwheel - Richmond, VA

Charleston, SCApril 1865

Charleston, SCApril 1865

Charleston, SCApril 1865

Atlanta, GAApril 1865

Vicinity of Atlanta, GA - 1864

…to roadways, bridges, tunnels (infrastructure)

Death Tolls Northern Death Toll

364,000 deaths

(38,000 were African Americans)

Southern Death Toll

260,000 deaths

1/5th of all adult white males were

dead

1 out of 3 males were killed or

wounded!

Civil War Aftermath: Devastating physical toll to the South

Consider This . . . Who are the workers in the economy?

What now happens to the women and children?

Southern HardshipsFreed Slaves (Freedmen)

New life in poor economic area

HomelessHungryUnemployed

Stay or Go?

Southern Hardships, cont.Plantation OwnersLoss of slave laborLand was often seized by the

government

Southern Hardships, cont.Poor White SouthernersCompeting against former slaves

(freedmen) for jobsMany became migrants looking for

jobsLoss of social and political status

Plantation Life ChangesFreedman now have choice – to

stay or to leave

Plantation owners now have to pay salaries for labor

Reintegrating the South

Problem #1

Determine the role of the freedmen

Problem #2

Define the role and acceptable power of former Confederates within their states and within the nation

Problem #3

Determine which branch of government would be

responsible for overseeing reconstruction

Three Plans for Reconstruction

Lincoln’s Plan

…..Also called the 10% plan!

Lincoln’s Plan

1.Required 10% of white men to swear allegiance (loyalty) to the constitution and the Union.

2.Plan included the emancipation of slaves

Lincoln’s Plan, cont.3. Former Confederates can

run local governments4. Full participation in the

Union

Lincoln Plan problems…

Republicans in Congress felt this plan was way too kind!

HE DID NOT PUNISH THE REBELS!

FELT LINCOLN WAS TOO EASY ON SOUTH

Lincoln’s Plan - PROBLEMS

• No role for

freed men

identified

• No guarantee of rights or future

rights

Lincoln’s Plan is never implemented!

•April 1865 -Lincoln assassinated

Andrew Johnson, (southern democrat, former slave owner) administered his own new policy

The Johnson Plan 1.Granted amnesty

(forgiveness) to some former Confederates who signed loyalty oath

2.Restored all property, except slaves and confiscated lands

Johnson’s Plan

3. Voided secession laws and ratify the 13th amendment

4. Cancelled war debts

Johnson’s Plan - PROBLEMSVery similar to Lincoln’s plan so most of the same

problems plus:

1. Amnesty awarded to “certain” southerners (not the wealthy or high-ranking)

2. Flawed election process (blacks excluded from voting)

Johnson’s PresidencyHe lacked• Mandate to

govern• Support of

Congress• Also was anti-

civil rights “white men alone must manage the

South”

Consider This . . . Who are not considered in the

two plans?

What will the freedmen do?

How did the freedmen’s lives change?

Radical = extreme in their beliefsModerates = mainstream views of the

political party, not extreme at all

We had moderate plans for reconstruction (Lincoln & Johnson), but now they change to the RADICAL version called . . .

Radical Reconstruction!

Congress bypasses President Johnson and enacts the

Reconstruction Act of 1867-passed by radical republicans-state governments declared illegal

1. south divided into 5 military districts

Radical Reconstruction cont…

To rejoin the Union:2. Adopt a constitution guaranteeing all

male citizens the right to vote3. Elect a new government4. Ratify the 14th amendment (no white

southern who served as conf. soldier/official could vote on new constitution)

Johnson not Cooperating! Vetoes legislation that would extend help to

freed blacks (Freedman’s Bureau)

Vetoes the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that would extend citizenship and equal rights to all freed slaves

Fires the Secretary of War (a Radical Replublican)

Impeachment!- Congressional power growing

-The House votes to “impeach” Johnson

(to accuse of wrongdoing and bring to trial)

-President escapes removal by only 1 vote!

Civil War Amendments13th

Amendment

Unlike the Emancipation Proclamation, this change to the Constitution ends ALL slavery in the United States

Declared former slaves CITIZENS

Equal Rights for ALL CITIZENS

15th Amendment

Election of 1870 – many angry white southerners refused to (or couldn’t) vote

More than 600 African Americans were elected to southern legislatures and 16 black men were elected to congress

The right to vote regardless of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (if

you were a slave)

FreedomThe joys of freedom…

Freedom of movement, land ownership, education, etc.

The realities of life…

Food, Clothing and Shelter?

Freedmen’s BureauDeveloped to help former slavesProvided food, schools, legal help, etcUnpopular with many white southerners

Vetoed by Johnson

anger at being forced to submit to the acts of Reconstruction leads to defiance

Fear of loss of power leads to…

BLACK CODESset limits on the rights and

opportunities of African Americans

“Now that the slaves have become emancipated, it is necessary to pass regulations that preserve public order. These regulations must also

preserve the correct behavior of the former slaves.”

Therefore, the following rules have been adopted • Every Negro is required to be in the regular service of some

white person or former owner• No public meetings or congregations of Negroes shall be allowed

after sunset.

• Negroes may not serve on juries.

• A Negro may not testify against a white person in a Court of Law.

• It shall be illegal for a Negro or a person of Negro descent to marry a white person.

• No Negro shall be permitted outside in public after sundown without permission in writing from the government.

• No person may vote in this county who does not own land, cannot read or whose grandfather could not vote

These “codes” later become actual “LAWS”

“Jim Crow” laws lead to legalized segregation or separation, first in the South, then throughout the U.S.

Plessy vs Ferguson 1896, legalized

segregation throughout the United States

Areas that still felt threatened by freedmen…

Rise of KKK – an attempt to keep African-Americans from exercising their rights through fear and intimidation

Ku Klux KlanStarted in 1866 by 6 former

Confederate soldiersMembers wore robes and masks to

look like the ghosts of dead Confederate soldiers who returned for revenge against enemies of the South.

The goal of denying African-Americans their rights and keep them in the role of submissive

laborers

A cartoon threatening that the KKK would lynch carpetbaggers, Tuscaloosa, AL, Independent Monitor (1868) 

Sharecropping a landowner allows a tenant to use the land

in return for a share of the crop produced on the land (e.g., 50 percent of the crop).

Tools, seed, mules and other equipment had to be paid for with the remainder of the crop (to the landowner)

Who gets the money?

Tenant Farming Only slightly better…these farmers have

managed to purchase their own equipment and only rent the land.

CarpetbaggersNorthern

Republicans who moved south. Seen as greedy men seeking power and a quick dollar. Most were honest and educated.

Scalawags

a Southern white who joined the Republican Party in the ex-Confederate South during Reconstruction

The End of ReconstructionWhy did Reconstruction

efforts finally end? Heavy taxes Corruption Lack of northern

support for racial equality

The Solid South – Southern Democrats reversed many of the reforms

The Compromise of 1877 Samuel Tilden wins popular

vote; a dispute over electoral votes

The Democrats agree to give Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in return for the removal of all federal troops from the Southern States

Hayes’ removal of troops from the south is regarded as

the end of reconstruction!

How successful

was Reconstruction?