QUESTIONS OF RECONSTRUCTION

FOCUS QUESTION

• Which do you suppose is more difficult, waging war or making peace? Take the time to explain your answer in a short response

OBJECTIVES

After today’s lesson, you will:• Outline the three rival plans for Reconstruction• Discuss some of the questions which faced the

nation during the Reconstruction Era

RESULTS OF THE CIVIL WAR

• The Union was preserved• Slavery ended• Emancipation in

rebellious states• Thirteenth Amendment

ratified in 1865• Lincoln assassinated

RESULTS OF THE CIVIL WAR (II)

• Economic shift in the U.S.• Wealth transferred from the South to the North• Southern economy left a shambles

• Northern industrial economy grew dramatically• Numerous government

contracts for goods• Revised banking

standards

WAGING PEACE

Numerous questions arose1. Who will be in charge of Reconstruction?2. How will Southern states re-enter the Union?3. What will be done with former Confederate

officials?4. How should the Southern political and economic

structure be formed?5. What will be done with the Freedmen?

THE 10% PLAN

Floated by Lincoln in 1863• States readmitted to the Union when:• 10% of the voting population of 1860 swore

allegiance to the U.S.• Swore to support emancipation

• Supported the Freedmen’s Bureau

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

Wade-Davis Bill• States could re-enter the Union when:• 50% of voters swore they never supported the

Confederacy• Demanded guarantees of racial equality

• Pocket Vetoed by Lincoln

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION

Proposed by Andrew Johnson• Supported the 10% Plan• Required states to ratify the 13th Amendment

• Did not support the Freedmen’s Bureau

FREEDMEN’S BUREAU

• Agency designed to help former slaves and poor whites• Provided health care, education, and basics• Fueled by Northern abolitionists and Free Blacks• Began during the war

• Reauthorization in 1866 vetoed by President Johnson• Veto overridden by Congress

SOUTHERN RESPONSES

• Three states quickly abided by 10% Plan in 1865• Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas

• Elected former Confederates to the House and Senate• Infuriated the North• Refused to seat these congressmen

• Sets up an issue with President Johnson

PRESSING THE ISSUE

• Numerous Southern states pass a series of Black Codes• Laws designed to restrict behavior of African-

Americans• Draconian work rules• Rules for travel• Rules for public gatherings• Rules for carrying weapons

• Clear violation of Civil Liberties

CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1866

• Both Radical and Moderate Republicans angered• Black Codes attempted to erase the results of

the War• Passed the first Civil Rights Act in 1866

• Vetoed by President Johnson• Violated the states rights clause of the

Constitution• Ruined his chance to forge a national coalition

party• Veto overridden by Congress

SUMMARY

• In a short response, explain how you might have improved this lesson