Reconstruction cartoonby Thomas Nast, 1868Shows the combination of forces that threatened the success of Reconstruction: southern opposition and the greed, partisanship, and racism of northern interests. (Library of Congress)

Reconstruction cartoonReconstruction cartoon

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The Ordeal of The Ordeal of ReconstructiReconstructi

onon

1865-771865-77

Daughter teaching mother to read, Mt. Meigs, Alabama(Smithsonian Institute. Photo by Rudolf Eickemeyer.)

Daughter teaching mother to read, Mt. Meigs, Daughter teaching mother to read, Mt. Meigs, AlabamaAlabama

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Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)

Provided food, clothing, medical care, and education to freedmen and white refugees

Taught an estimated 200,000 blacks how to read

Promised 40 acres and a mule to freedmen, but little land was transferred

Local administrators often collaborated with planters

Expired in 1872 after President Johnson tried often to kill it

Thaddeus Stevens(Library of Congress)

Thaddeus Thaddeus StevensStevens

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Congressional Reconstruction

Many Confederate leaders returned to the Capitol to take their seats (December 1865)

Republicans slammed the door shut on these southerners (December 4, 1865)

Republicans feared Southerners might join with northern Democrats and win back the government

President Johnson announced the Union restored (December 6, 1865)

Distinguished Colored Men, 1883Depicts prominent African American men, several of whom had leading roles in Black Reconstruction. (Library of Congress)

Distinguished Colored MenDistinguished Colored Men

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Congress Reaches OutJoint Committee on Reconstruction takes charge (December 1865)

13th Amendment (1865)

Freedmen’s Bureau (February 1866) VETO

Civil Rights Bill (March 1866) VETO

Confederate supporters barred by Congress from holding state or federal government office

Distinguished Colored MenDistinguished Colored Men

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Congress Reaches Out

14th Amendment guarantees black citizenship and prohibits payments of Confederate war debt (1866)

Reconstruction Act (1867) VETO

White Confederates denied the right to vote VETO

New southern state constitutions must guarantee black suffrage VETO

Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

Portrait of Andrew JohnsonCombative and inflexible, President Andrew Johnson contributed greatly to the failure of his own Reconstruction program. (Library of Congress)

Portrait of Andrew JohnsonPortrait of Andrew Johnson

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Impeachment!

Command of the Army Act VETORequired the president to issue orders through a commanding general. (Ulysses S. Grant)

Tenure of Office Act VETOForbid the president to fire a cabinet member without Senate approval. (Aimed at protecting Secretary of State Seward)

Survived removal from office by one vote after firing Seward

ExodustersBenjamin "Pap" Singleton, a one-time fugitive slave from Tennessee, returned there to promote the "exodus" movement of the late 1870s. Forming a real estate company, Singleton traveled the south recruiting parties of freedmen who were disillusioned with the outcome of Reconstruction. These emigrants, awaiting a Mississippi River boat, looked forward to political equality, freedom from violence, and homesteads in Kansas. (Library of Congress)

ExodustersExodusters

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His First Vote by Thomas Waterman Wood, 1865(Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee)

His First Vote by Thomas Waterman Wood, 1865His First Vote by Thomas Waterman Wood, 1865

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The First Vote

(Library of Congress)

The White LeagueAlabama's White League, formed in 1874, strove to oust Republicans from office by intimidating black voters. To political cartoonist Thomas Nast, such vigilante tactics suggested an alliance between the White League and the outlawed Ku Klux Klan. (Harper's Weekly, October 24, 1874)

The White The White LeagueLeague

Ku Klux Klan

Founded in Pulaski, TN (1866)

A secret society dedicated to “white man’s government” & against black equality, Catholics, & Jews

Forcibly broke up Republican meetings

Physically attacked blacks & Radicals

Whippings, burnings, lynching, and cross burnings documented

Force Acts (1870-71) gave President Grant power to use federal supervisors to protect citizens from voting fraud & declared secret coercive organizations illegal

Joint Congressional Committee reported on KKK actions (1875)

Reconstruction EndsReconstruction Ends Election of 1876Election of 1876

Samuel Tilden (D-NY) leads but cannot win a Samuel Tilden (D-NY) leads but cannot win a majoritymajority

Rutherford B. Hayes (R-OH) wins contested second Rutherford B. Hayes (R-OH) wins contested second set of returns from military states of SC, LA, & FLset of returns from military states of SC, LA, & FL

Compromise of 1877Compromise of 1877 House Committee of 15 (including Rep. James A. House Committee of 15 (including Rep. James A.

Garfield) elects Hayes on party lines by 8 to 7 voteGarfield) elects Hayes on party lines by 8 to 7 vote Republicans agree to:Republicans agree to:

End military and Congressional ReconstructionEnd military and Congressional Reconstruction Name at least one Southerner to Hayes’ CabinetName at least one Southerner to Hayes’ Cabinet Give Southerners share of federal patronageGive Southerners share of federal patronage Fund Southern internal improvementsFund Southern internal improvements

Democrats agree to Hayes as PresidentDemocrats agree to Hayes as President