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• Reconstruction- rebuilding of the nation after the Civil War
• Louisiana was one of the first to start and one of the last to end it.
• Issues– How should the states be readmitted?– What rights to give former slaves? – Should Confederates be punished?
President Lincoln believed
• states had rebelled, not really left Union.• President had the power to make loyal state
governments and return them to the Union.• Treat Southerners fairly
Radical Republicans believed
• Had left the Union, committed “state suicide”
• Radical changes would need to be made before seceded states could be part of the U.S. again
• Only Congress can admit states, so they should decide how and when to readmit
• Punish Confederate supporters, reward former slaves
Lincoln’s Plan
• Before war ended offered to return Southerners political rights and property (except slaves) if they took an oath of allegiance, most in Louisiana did not. • Ten Percent Plan- could
reclaim place in Union if 10% of 1860 voters took the oath and organized a loyal state government
Constitution of 1864 • New governor Michael Hahn and General Banks
held convention to write new constitution
• Officially abolished slavery in Louisiana
• Established free public education for black children
• Gave legislature the power to grant voting rights to freedmen (former slaves)
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War time governments
• Abraham Lincoln was murdered and his Ten Percent Plan went away with him.
• VP Johnson became President, he disliked slave owners and the Confederacy. Believed many southerners were just defending their homes.
April 7, 1865—Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.April 14, 1865—The assassination of President Lincoln.April-June 1865—Final surrenders among remaining Confederate troops.
President Andrew Johnson’s Plan
• Pardoned former Confederates
• A state must repeal secession ordinance, repudiate (refuse to pay) Confederate debt, and ratify 13th Amendment.
• Radicals were angry, thought it was to easy
Confederate Veterans Come Home
• After the war ended soldiers returned home from battlefields and prison camps.
• Blamed Republicans for the destruction they saw
• Madison Wells was Governor after Hahn got elected to the U.S. Senate (even though Congress wouldn’t let Louisiana take their seats)
• soldiers as a boost to Democrats chances to beat him in the next election because they would be a majority of the voters- Wells helped some Democrats to try and better his odds .
• Wells won the next election. – he played sides against each other, did not support
equality, wavered on important issues
– Democrats gained control of Louisiana – There was riot in New Orleans (Mechanics
Institute Riot) when freedman and White Republicans tried to meet and write a new state constitution that would give political rights to freedmen and an angry mob of Democrats attacked the building.
Radical Reconstruction• Radical Congressmen took control of
Reconstruction after President Johnson lost much of his support (by 1867)
• Military Reconstruction Act- divided South into 5 military districts, each with a military governor who could override elected governors decisions.
• General Philip Sheridan (LA and TX), he was later replaced by General Winfield Scott Hancock(who did not support the Radicals, agreed with Johnson)
Corruption
• Henry Clay Warmoth became elected governor, one of LA most corrupt governors.– Took bribes (then was legal), got state contracts
for his paper, profited from selling state bonds • Political corruption became common in
Reconstruction LA• Oscar J. Dunn (a former slave) became the first
African American in LA elected to a high political office, lieutenant governor.
Constitution of 1868• Bill of Rights that guaranteed specific civil rights
• Prohibited discrimination in public places
• All children guaranteed free public education in integrated schools
• Granted black men the right to vote
• The constitution’s equal rights provisions were not always enforced
Also during Governor Warmoth’s• Ratified the 14th Amendment (citizenship) and
• The 15th Amendment (prohibited states from denying the vote due to race)
• Louisiana fulfilled all the Reconstruction requirements and reentered the Union in 1868
Rebuilding the Land• Crop Liens system- farming system where the
farmer borrowed money from a lender and paid back by giving the lender a portion of the harvest.
• Sharecropping-farming system where tenant farmers paid landowners rent by giving him a share of the harvest– Landowner divided property into small plots– Had contracts with workers- provided house, seed,
tools, and animals for the first crop– Workers did not get paid till they sold the crop, but still
needed essentials (food, cloths, etc.)• Both systems could lead to debt
Freedmen’s Bureau
• Federal agency that provided protection and help for freedmen and also aided poor whites– Fed poor– Created schools for black children– Established hospitals– Helped negotiate contracts and settle disputes
between planters and freedmen.
The Nightriders• frustration over Democrats having no real chance of
winning an election led to the creation of secret societies.
• Ku Klux Klan- one society organized in Tennessee, opposed freedmen’s growing power and the Catholic church.(operated mostly in Northern Louisiana)
• Knights of the White Camellia more common because they did not oppose the church
• Both believed violence was needed to drive out Republicans , terror was their main weapon
Fighting back
• Union League-Republican formed organization to combat the nightriders
• Governor Warmouth convinced the legislature to create the Metropolitan Police to protect greater New Orleans. Warmouth maintained command of the police.
Louisiana explodes in violence
• During Governor Warmoth’s impeachment, 35 days before his term ended, P.B.S Pinchback, an African America, became Governor. Though his term was short he was the first African American Governor in American History.
• John D. McEnery (D) and William Pitt Kellogg (R)– Both claimed victory and were sworn in as Governor
and had own legislatures in different parts of New Orleans
• McEnery called on Democrats for help
• The Battle of the Cabildo- a group attacked the police which were housed at the Cabildo. The U.S. army stopped the fight.
• The Colfax Riot- in the parish seat of Grant Parish freedmen fearing a race war, took the town, dug trenches around the town, and fortified the courthouse. Armed whites attacked and many freedmen died then and later. It was the bloodiest incident during Reconstruction in America. – In Response President Ulysses S. Grant ordered
the army to recognize Kellogg , to end the dispute.
Governor William Pitt Kellogg• Democrats who controlled the lower house
impeached Kellogg on corruption charges but the Republican dominated senate adjourned without a trial
• State government became more honest, reduced a few taxes, appointed African Americans to state offices, tried to improve welfare programs, and during his term laws against the secret societies hurt their numbers.
• To help stop the decline the secret societies formed one powerful state wide organization- the White League
More violence• Coushatta Massacre- a group of White League
members in Republican created Red River Parish captured 6 Republican officials. The Republicans agreed to leave and were being led out of the Parish when another White League band joined them and opened fire after hearing about the agreement. 5 for the 6 died.
• Battle of Liberty Place- most famous Reconstruction battle. Thousands of White League members gathered on Canal Street at Liberty Place . The crowd got worked into a frenzy and prepared for a fight. Police responded by firing police cannons on the barricades. The police were outnumbered and forced to retreat. The White League seized the State House and McEnery was made Governor. President Grant force the White League to withdraw and McEnery to step down.
The End of Reconstruction
• After 10 years of chaos northerners were losing interest in the south and tired of the cost, violence, and corruption.
• 1876- Presidential and gubernatorial elections ended in both sides claiming victory– In Louisiana Stephen Packard (R) and Francis Nicholls
(D) for Governor.– Rutherfird B. Hayes (R) and Samuel Tilden (D) for
President.• Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana were disputed
• Compromise of 1877- Democrats let Hayes have the three states and become President and Republicans withdraw the U.S. Army from southern states.
• Without the army’s protection the Republican governments collapsed and Packard resigned , Nicholls became Governor.
