Reconstruction

Chapter 15

“It is hard for the old slaveholding spirit to die. But die it must”

– Sojourner Truth

“I hereby repeat . . . my unmitigated hatred . . . to the perfidious, malignant, & vile Yankee race”

– Edmund Ruffin

Reconstruction

• The era of Reconstruction was one of the most controversial in our nation’s history

• Southerners interpreted it as a vindictive North exacting revenge while Northerners viewed the South as unrepentant and unwilling to abandon its slave culture

• For African Americans throughout the nation, Reconstruction began a slow and tortured process to gain civil rights and freedoms in America

Post Civil War South

• As the Civil War ended, the physical destruction in the states of the former Confederacy was unparalleled in American History

• Approximately 258,000 Confederate soldiers died, and a substantial proportion of private and public property was destroyed

• In its defeat, the South embraced a myth of the “lost cause,” which looked back nostalgically to the South before the war

Post Civil War South

• Almost 200,000 African American had served in the Union armies and others labored in Confederate service

• At the end of the war, many left their former plantations to look for economic opportunities and to unite broken families, but they had no property and nowhere to go

• In 1865, the South was in disarray

Post Civil War South

• South Destroyed– cities were destroyed– infrastructure nonexistent– economy collapsed– 1/5 of males had died in the War– money/bonds were worthless– 4 million former slaves (freedmen) whose

condition was up in the air

Readmission of the Southern States

• Lincoln proposed the 10% Plan (1864)– extremely lenient (didn't want to alienate

Southerners from the Republican party)– general amnesty provided for everyone– except high-ranking Confederate officials/generals

Southern States– had to repudiate their debts– recognize end of slavery– if 10% of people who voted in election of 1860

signed a loyalty pledge, they could be admitted

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan—to do all which may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nation” – Abraham Lincoln

Readmission of the Southern States

• Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana readmitted• Congress refused to recognize Lincoln's plan– refused to seat representatives of those states– Republicans split:• Moderates• Conservatives• Radicals– ultimately determined Reconstruction policy

Wade-Davis Bill

• Congress's plan– much harsher– No general amnesty– anyone who fought against the Union lost right to

vote– anyone who served in Confederate government would

be disenfranchised– required a majority of Southern whites to swear

allegiance

• Lincoln pocket vetoed W-D Bill

Lincoln Assassination

• Lincoln had given a speech April 11– talked about need for reconciliation– John Wilkes Booth was listening

• April 14, 1865 - John Wilkes Booth assassinates Abraham Lincoln

• Secretary of State William Seward & Vice President Andrew Johnson were assassination targets also; both survived

Lincoln Assassination

• Booth escaped the Capitol, manhunt found him on April 26– shot & killed by Boston Corbett

• Booth planned elaborate conspiracy to bring down Federal government– 8 other conspirators– 4 hanged (including Mary Surratt)

• Booth hoped the chaos created would inspire the South to keep fighting– Booth's plan backfired– united the country

Andrew Johnson

• 17th U.S. President– racist & bigot– didn't want equality for ex-slaves– basically a Southerner– hated the Planter class

• plan for Reconstruction– similar to Lincoln’s plan.– differed on general amnesty

• willing to give pardons to high-ranking Confederate officials• anyone with an income over $20,000 would have to apply

personally to him for a pardon

• all Southern states agreed to Johnson's plan

Radical Republicans

• When Congress reconvened in 1865, they refused to seat all Southern representatives/senators– Congress upset at the way Executive Branch had

increased its power– Lincoln's extensive wartime powers– Believed Congress has authority, not the President

to plan Reconstruction

Radical Republicans

• attitudes of Republicans changed– Lincoln's assassination sparked anger against the

South– thought the Democratic party would undermine

the Republican achievements made during the war

– Confederate leaders had been elected to Congress– VP of Confederacy Stevens was elected– South hadn't changed at all

Black Codes

• An attempt to restore white supremacy in the South– spread through Southern states in 1865– prohibited blacks from owning firearms, being out

after dark, intermarrying, serving on juries, owning land, holding jobs other than servants

– vagrancy: any black caught without a job, could be arrested & hired out under a contract

• Southern rationale– tons of blacks wandering around– unstable work force

Congress Responds

• Congress set up commission to investigate Black Codes & Race riots (1866)– something needed to be done– should blacks receive equality, suffrage?

Freedman’s Bureau

• Bureau part of the War Department– objective: make transition from slave to free as

painless as possible– provided blacks with clothing, food, education– set up 9,000 schools– brief experiment to settle blacks on their own land– many plantations vacant after war; resettled some

Blacks– gave the Bureau additional power to nullify the

work contracts

Civil Rights Act of 1866

• Freedman granted citizenship• Johnson vetoes both laws– Southern states hadn't been allowed

representation, laws were invalid• Congress overrode both vetoes– first time– concerned that courts would declare the Civil

Rights Act unconstitutional, so they decided to amend the constitution

14th Amendment

• single most important amendment to the Constitution– definition of citizenship– no state can deny any citizen life, liberty, due process, or

equal protection– if any state refuses these rights to anyone, then their

representation will be reduced accordingly– no general amnesty– anyone who fought for the Confederates can't vote or hold

office– Federal Government will not pay any Confederate debts– Confederacy won't be obligated to pay it either, once

readmitted

Military Reconstruction Acts of 1867

• divided South into 5 military districts• Federal troops sent into the South– to register black soldiers

• Southern states would have to ratify the 14th, or they wouldn't be readmitted (would remain under military rule)– by 1868, 7/10 states were readmitted– Virginia, Texas, & Mississippi waited

Tenure of Office Act (1867)

• President could not remove any cabinet member without the consent of the Senate– Johnson hated Secretary of War Edwin Stanton– Was too radical

• Johnson vetoes, overridden– decides to test it by firing Stanton

Impeachment

• Congress impeaches Johnson 1868 for violating an act of Congress– Senate conducts impeachment trial– acquitted by 1 vote in the Senate– Johnson's lawyers argued that he'd never violated the

act, because he didn't actually appoint Stanton to begin with

– Tenure of Office Act is dangerous; undermined power of the Executive Branch

– political life is over for Johnson

Election of 1868

• Johnson campaigned against the 14th• Republicans much more radical, thanks to Johnson &

wanted to punish the South– Thaddeus Stevens - leader of the Radicals in the House– Charles Sumner - leader of Radicals in Senate

• Democrats nominate Horatio Seymour• Republicans nominate Ulysses S. Grant– Grant won electoral votes, but the popular vote was close– Grant won because of the black vote

15th Amendment (1870)

• prohibited states from denying anyone suffrage– became precondition for the 3 remaining southern states– no northern state before the amendment gave blacks the

right to vote– purpose of 15th was to make the black vote universal– Blacks voting, running, and being elected in the South for a

time– Black voters had a numerical majority

Southern Backlash

• Southerners hated the late 1860s the most– saw their governments dominated by Blacks,

scallywags, and carpetbaggers• "scallywags" became term for Republican-sympathetic

Southern officeholders• "carpetbaggers" - northerners who came down & took

advantage of them politically

– most actually came to help the South rebuild– Southerners wanted to overthrow these

Republican regimes

Southern Backlash• Secret societies such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the

White Camellia, and White League used violence an intimidation to solidify white supremacy and to exclude freedmen from exercising their political rights

• Ku Klux Klan– founded by Nathan Bedford Forest– founded as a social club for ex-Confederates– turned into terrorist organization to suppress the black

vote– burned black schools, businesses, churches– terrorized scallywags, carpetbaggers– Klan was successful in suppressing the Black vote

Klan Acts / Enforcement Acts (1870)

• aimed at stopping the Klan– authorized the president to impose martial law

anywhere these groups were operating, and to arrest Klan members

– Federal courts set up to try anyone who intimidated a freedman

– expansion of Federal power– Klan Acts worked

General Amnesty Act (1872)

• those Confederates disenfranchised by the 14th are granted amnesty– only high-ranking officials still disenfranchised– Democratic party restored in the South– Democrats gained control of the House in 1864– Southerners had "redeemed" themselves– beginnings of the "Solid South"– always voted Democratic until 1960s

Rebuilding the South

• Public Schools– 50% of whites, 40% of blacks became literate– problems• whites refused to go to school with black• School segregation results

Rebuilding the South

• Infrastructure– rebuilt the cities– taxes skyrocketed to support these improvements– outrage:• northern businesses employed to do the building• corruption rampant• but no more rampant than the north• one of the most corrupt periods of American politics

Reconstruction Failures

• Failed in Land Redistribution (now the Democratic governments)– one of the great failures of reconstruction– increasing numbers of white & black tenant

farmers– huge decline in white land ownership

• South had no banking system– no fluid capital– system of credit developed

Reconstruction Failures

• Crop Lien System– loans only went out at extremely high interest

rates– percentage of crop (lien) would be taken against

the loan– sharecropping - had to turn over 50% in return for

credit– to make sure that you can make your payments,

Southerners had to grow marketable cash crops– was a disaster

Decline of the South

• Crop Lien System led to increasing tenancy– because farmers had to foreclose on their farms– still failed to diversify their economy– still dependent on south agriculture– widespread poverty

New South• needed to industrialize, diversify• needed to do away with prejudices against Yankee businesses• Henry Grady led the movement

– new image of the south never really materialized• South did begin to industrialize more rapidly especially in textile

manufacturing• tobacco industry grew because of James B. Duke; owned American

Tobacco Company– cigarettes replaced cigars because price of tobacco was so high

• coal fields discovered around Birmingham, Alabama– used by steel mills there

• railroad mileage doubled• New South was more fiction; by 1900, Southern industry was at

the exact same level as before the war

Ulysses S. Grant

• 18th U.S. President• unprepared for the presidency• greatest weakness: trusted his friends– brought in his friends to staff key cabinet positions

Ulysses S. Grant

• Presidency was plagued by corruption– Whiskey Ring

• distillers bribing government not to collect taxes on whiskey

– Credit Mobilier Scandal• building of Transcontinental railroad• Credit Mobilier funding the Union Pacific railroad• bribed members of Congress & the administration with

stock in the company for contracts for the Company

– Secretary of the Interior accepted kickbacks from Indian organizations

– Grant not involved in any of the corruption, but held responsible

Election of 1872

• scandals weren't enough to stop Grant from being re-nominated & re-elected

• Liberal Republicans - broke away from Republicans because of the corruption– nominated Horace Greeley

• Democrats – nominate Greeley too

Election of 1872

• Republican factions– Half-Breeds

• movement in Republican Party to clean up government by passing Civil Service Reform

• presidents spent most of their time hiring people for jobs• new jobs opened up every time a president was elected• that meant that every federal employee could be fired after

every election• Civil Service Reform wanted some jobs based on merit, not

patronage

– Stalwarts• opposed Civil Service Reform• wanted to keep political patronage / spoils system

Panic of 1873

• The Panic of 1873 was a severe depression lasting four years, and Grant’s monetary policy, which was firmly based on the gold standard, made the depression worse caused people to lose interest in Reconstruction

• helped the Democrats to regain control of the "Solid South"

• robbed of their right to rule the South, now they've been restored to their rightful position

Election of 1876

• Rutherford B. Hayes (R) vs. Sam Tilden (D)– Tilden was regarded as honest– ended the Tweed Ring - a corrupt political

machine in New York City– Hayes also regarded as corruption-free

• Tilden seems to win the election– wins popular vote– 20 electoral votes disputed– Tilden needed only one, Hayes needs them all

Compromise of 1877

• 4 states where electoral votes in dispute– 19 were in the South– Republicans in the South resubmit the 19 votes in favor of

Hayes– Constitution never said who should count the votes– Senate would give it to Hayes, House would give it to Tilden

• special commission set up– 15 men– 7 D, 7 R, 1 independent– the independent, David Davis, resigns– replaced with a Republican– commission votes to give vote to Hayes

Compromise of 1877

• Compromise– Southerners would get a position on the Cabinet– internal improvements in the South– all remaining Federal troops in the south would be

withdrawn– still at issue, ensuring that Blacks can vote, &

propping up 3 remaining Republican states in the South

– Marks the end of Reconstruction

Freedman after Reconstruction

• 1880s & 1890s - Southerners re-imposed White supremacy

• Segregation practiced– Civil Rights Cases of 1883 - was segregation

against the 14th Amendment– Court ruled that segregation is fine if practiced

privately, not by the states– 14th prevent States from segregating, not persons– Jim Crow Laws – segregation laws; name came

from the minstrel show actor

Freedman after Reconstruction

• 1896 - Plessy v. Ferguson– Homer Plessy challenges that public places could

be segregated (e.g. trains)– separate but equal– State had provided equal facilities, so it was legal– wasn't overturned until 1954 - Earl Warren

overturned it in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

Freedman after Reconstruction

• Black Suffrage– Literacy tests & US history tests for voting– Poll tax - disenfranchised poor whites– grandfather clause - only if your grandfather had

voted in election of 1860, could you vote– overturned in 1915 - Guinn v. US– 1965 - Poll taxes & literacy tests finally abolished

• blacks leaving the south, moving to border states– migration didn't really pick up until WWI - Great

Migration

Freedman after Reconstruction

• Booker T. Washington– basically accepted idea that his race should give up

the struggle for restoration of civil & political rights– Blacks could prove themselves to whites only if they

made economic contribution to growth of new South– policy of accommodation– founded a school in 1880s - Tuskegee– provided practical training to blacks– 1865 - gave speech - The Atlanta Compromise– "we can be as separate as the fingers in all things

social, but one as the hand in all things commercial"

Freedman after Reconstruction

• W. E. B. Du Bois– The Souls of Black Folk– criticized Booker T's approach– doesn't think blacks should just hope things are going to

change– educated blacks need to take leadership role, agitate for an

immediate restoration of black civil/political rights– 1st black to get Ph.D. from Harvard– met with some blacks & whites in Niagra Falls; Niagra

Movement– led directly to the formation of the NAACP in 1909– first success was 1915 when courts overturned the

grandfather clause

DBQ

Freedman after Reconstruction

• Intimidation by groups such as the KKK• huge amounts of lynching• no white southerner charged for lynching

DBQ