Chapter 15 notes
Who was Andrew Johnson?
. Humble origin Given the task of overseeing the restoration of the Union He achieved success through politics Rose to serve in the state legislature b. "Honest yeoman" identity Was seen as a foe of large planters Described them as a "bloated, corrupted aristocracy" A strong defender of the Union c. Political career Only senator from a seceding state to remain at his post in Washington D.C Named him military governor Republicans nominated him to run for vice president as a symbol of the party's hope of extending its organization into the South d. Hostility to southern secession and racial equality Still had racist views and had no role to play in Reconstruction
What happened to white southerners after blacks had left them?
. Loss of life Most white southerners reacted to military defeat and emancipation with dismay They had to submit to northern demands Affected all classes of Southerners Nearly 260,000 men died for the Confederacy b. Destruction of property The widespread destruction of work animals, farm buildings, and machinery ensured that economic revival would be slow and painful The value of property was 30 percent lower than before the war c. Draining of planters' wealth and privilege Faced profound changes in the war's aftermath Lost not only their slaves but their life savings, which they had patriotically invested in now worthless Confederate bonds Slaves departed the plantation and for the first time, they were compelled to do physical labor d. Psychic blow of emancipation i. Inability to accept Struggled to accept the reality of emancipation Most planters defined black freedom in the narrowest manner They did not want to see black people have the same rights as they did. ii. Intolerance of black autonomy or equality They wanted to bring back the antebellum definition of freedom as if nothing had changed Meant that it was a privilege not a right
What was the impeachment of Johnson?
1. Charges Responded by approving articles of impeachment Presented charges against Johnson to the Senate 2. Acquittal Had to decide whether to remove him from office D. 1868 presidential election 1. Republican waving of "bloody shirt" All republicans considered Johnson a failure as president Some moderates disliked Benjamin F. Wade 2. Democratic race-baiting The final tally was 35-19 to convict to remove him Seven republicans had joined the Democrats in voting to acquit the president 3. Ulysses S. Grant victory Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant The Union's most prominent military hero Grant's Democratic opponent was Horatio Seymour Reconstruction became the central issue of the bitterly fought 1868 campaign
What was the reconstructed state governments?
1. Composition a. Predominance of Republicans Former Confederate states had been readmitted to the Union All were under Republican control b. Black Republicans i. Officeholding at federal, state, and local levels Expanded black representation Expanded public responsibilities Established the region's first state funded systems of free public education, and they created new penitentiaries, orphan asylums, and homes for the insane ii. Varied backgrounds Granted equality of civil and political rights and abolished practices of the antebellum era such as whipping as a punishment for crime, property qualifications for officeholding and imprisonment for debt Some were politicians They came from wealthy and educated black families c. White Republicans i. Carpetbaggers White group that implied that they packed all their belongings in a suitcase and left their homes in order to reap the spoils of office in the South Some were corrupted and others were Union soldiers that left the South Teachers and former slaves were part of the carpetbaggers ii. Scalawags Nickname from confederates to describe these "traitors" Thought they were traitors to their race or religion Most were non-slave holding white farmers Been War tiem unionists iii. Varied motivations of each Cooperated with the Republicans in order to prevent rebels from returning to power Others hope Reconstruction governments would help them recover from wartime economic losses by suspending the collection of debts and enacting laws protecting small property holders from losing debts and their homes to creditors 2. Achievements a. Public education Established the South's first state supported public schools The new educational systems served both black and white children b. Affirmation of civil and political equality Generally schools were segregated by race Public schools integrated during Reconstruction and only in South Carolina did the University admit black students c. More equal allocation of public services and resources The new governments also pioneered civil rights legislation Their laws made it illegal for railroads, hotels, and other institutions to discriminate on the basis of race d. Measures to protect free labor Enforcement varied considerably from locality to locality Reconstruction established for the first time at the levels standard of equal citizenship and a recognition of blacks' right to a share of public services e. Fairer system of justice The republican governments also took steps to strengthen the position of rural laborers and promote the South's economic recovery f. Improvement in public facilities Passed laws to ensure that agricultural laborers and sharecroppers had the first claim on harvested crops, rather than merchants to whom the landowner owed money. South Carolina created a state Land Commission, which by 1876 had settled 14,000 black families and a few poor whites on their own farms 3. Shortcomings a. Uneven enforcement of laws Pinned their hopes for southern economy and opportunity for African Americans b. Economic stagnation Economy was still weak Abundant opportunities lied to the West c. Persistence of black poverty Most African Americans remained locked in poverty Public facilities were rebuilt and expanded School systems and legal codes were purged of racism The conservative elites were concerned with their dwindling powers
What was the urban growth in the South?
1. Growth of towns in the South Southern cities experienced remarkable growth after the Civil War Railroads penetrated the interior They enabled merchants in market centers like Atlanta to trade directly with the North 2. Rise of a middle class in the South A new urban middle class of merchants, railroad promoters, and bankers reaped the benefits of the spread of cotton production in the postwar South Brought about profound changes in the lives of southerners New social classes, such as landowning employers, black and white sharecroppers, cotton-producing white farmers, wager earning black laborers, and urban entrepreneurs Turned to Reconstruction politics in an attempt to shape to its own advantage the aftermath of emancipation
What was the northern reaction?
1. Johnson satisfaction Violated free labor principles that they called forth a vigorous response from the Republican North Wars especially civil wars-often generate hostility and bitterness Groups of rebels have been treated more leniently than the defeated Confederates 2. Republican outrage Johnson announced that with loyal governments functioning in all the southern states, the nation had been reunited Radical republicans who had grown increasingly disenchanted with Johnson during the summer and fall Dissolution of these governments and the establishment of new ones with "Rebels" excluded from power and black men guaranteed the right to vote
What were the republican goals and principles?
1. Moderate and Radical Republicans a. Equality of races before the law Fully embraced the expanded powers of the federal government born during the civil war Wanted to protect the rights of citizens Outspoken foes of slavery and defenders of black rights b. Federal enforcement Traditions of federalism and states' rights Must not obstruct a sweeping national efforts to protect the rights of all Americans 2. Radical Republicans only a. Dissolution of Confederate-run state governments Were outspoken foes of slavery and defenders of black rights Fully embraced the expanded powers of the federal government born during the civil war b. Enfranchisement of blacks Freed and armed slaves Favored black suffrage in the South c. Redistribution of land to former slaves Thaddeus Stevens most cherished aim was to confiscate the land of disloyal planters and divide it among former slaves and northern migrants to the South Was seen as "too radical" to other radicals
What was the aftermath of slavery?
1. Parallels of end of slavery elsewhere in the western hemisphere a. Former planters encourage freed slaves to stay and work Tried to encourage or require former slaves to go back to work on plantations to grow the same crops as under slavery. Planters elsewhere held the same stereotypical view of black laborers as were voiced by their counterparts in the United States. b. Former slaves sought as much freedom as possible Tried to carve out as much independence as possible Both in their daily lives and their labor Attempted to reconstruct family life by withdrawing women and children from field labor. c. Former slaves sought to become land owners Devoted more time to growing food for their families than crops for their international market 2. Differences of end of slavery elsewhere in the western hemisphere a. Within two years, freed slaves given full citizenship within two years Southern planters tried to bring in more Chinese immigrants to replace freedmen The Chinese workers remained only a tiny proportion of the Southern workforce b. Freed slaves given the right to vote Few freed slaves were given the right to vote Few anticipated this development when the Civil War ended c. Freed slaves given the right to hold office, and do They were given a major share of political power
Why were congressional Republicans against Johnson?
1. Passage of bill extending life of Freedmen's Bureau Republicans enjoyed an overwhelming majority Internally divided Proposed two bills The first extended the life of the Freedmen's Bureau 2. Passage of Civil Rights Bill One of the most important bills ever presented to the House for its action Defined all persons born in the United States as citizens and spelled out rights they were to enjoy without regard to race 3. Vetoes and override Johnson vetoed both bills Centralize power in the national government and deprive the states of the authority to regulate their own affairs. The vetoes made a breach between the president and nearly the entire Republican Party inevitable Congress failed by a single vote to muster the two-thirds majority necessary to override the veto of the Freedmen's Bureau Bill In April 1866, the Civil Rights Bill became the first major law in American history to be passed over a presidential veto 4. Fourteenth Amendment a. Terms and significance Proceeded to adopt its own of Reconstruction Approved and sent to the states for ratification Empowered the federal government to protect the rights of all Americans The amendment prohibited the states from abridging the "privileges and immunities" of citizens or denying them the "equal protection of the laws b. Approval by Congress, transmission to states This broad language opened the door for future Congresses and the federal courts to breathe meaning into the guarantee of legal equality
What was the southern white response to the emancipation of slaves?
1. Restoration of Confederate leaders and Old South elite Refused to pay the Confederate debt White voters returned prominent Confederate and members of the old elite to power 2. Violence against freedpeople and northerners Reports of violence directed against former slaves and northern visitors in the South further alared Republicans 3. Black Codes Laws passed by the new southern governments that attempted to regulate the lives of the former slaves Granted blacks certain rights such as legalized marriage, ownership of property, and limited access to the courts They denied them the rights to testify against whites, to serve on juries or in state militias, or to vote Declared that those who failed to sign yearly labor contracts could be arrested and hired out to white land owners. Limited the occupations open to blacks and barred them from acquiring land and other to blacks and barred black children to work for their former owners without the consent of the parents The death of slavery did not automatically mean the birthh of freedm
What was the post emancipation labor systems?
1. Task system (rice) Supervised wage labor Survived under the task system in the South 2. Wage labor (sugar) Closely supervised wage labor predominated on the sugar plantations of southern Louisiana 3. Sharecropping (cotton, tobacco) Dominated the Cotton belt and much of the Tobacco belt of Virginia and North Carolina Arose as a compromise between blacks' desire for land and planters demand for labor
What was the radical reconstruction in the South?
A. Black initiatives 1. Mass public gatherings Inspired an outburst of political organization At mass political meetings community gatherings attended by men, women, and children Blacks declared their citizenships and privileges and immunities are enjoyed by white men 2. Grassroots protests against segregation Inspired sit-ins that integrated horse-drawn public streetcars in cities across the South 3. Labor strikes Plantation workers organized strikes for higher wages 4. Political mobilization Speakers, male and female, fanned out across the South Black veterans of the abolitionist movement, embarked on a two year tour 5. Forming of local Republican organizations a. Union League An organization closely linked to the Republican Party b. Voter registration The vast majority of eligible African Americans registered to vote
What was the Significance of "Great Constitutional Revolution?
A. Idea of national citizenry, equal before the law Reflected the intersection of two products of the Civil War era Newly empowered national state The idea of a national citizenry enjoying equality before the law B. Expansion of citizenry to include blacks The Supreme Court had declared the Dred Scott decision of 1857 had prohibited blacks from getting citizenship The laws and amendment of Reconstruction repudiated the idea that citizenship was an entitlement of whites alone C. Empowerment of federal government to protect citizens' rights The Reconstruction amendments voided many northern laws discriminating on the basis of race Amendments also transformed the relationship between the federal government and states D. New boundaries of American citizenship 1. Exclusion of Asian immigrants Asian immigrants could not apply for citizenship The racial boundaries of nationality had been redrawn but not eliminated 2. Exclusion of women a. Unfulfilled campaigns for women's emancipation Advocates of women's right Encountered the limits of the Reconstruction commitment to equality Women activists saw Reconstruction as the moment to claim their own emancipation b. Split within feminism over Reconstruction amendments Split between feminists who wanted more job opportunities as well as liberty for married women Demands for liberalizing divorce laws Recognizing "woman control over her own body"
What was the radical reconstruction?
A. Reconstruction Act 1. Placement of South under federal military authority The Congress adopted the Reconstruction Act Gave black men the right to vote 2. Call for new state governments, entailing black right to vote Temporarily divided the South into five military districts and called for the creation of new state governments Demands by former slaves for the right to vote, the Radical's commitment to the idea of equality Conflict between Congress and President Johnson did not end with the passage of the Reconstruction Act
How did America improve with the Freedman Bureau?
Ambiguous role of federal government; Freedmen's Bureau a. Achievements in education and health care Bureau was an experiment in government social policy that seems to belong more comfortably to the New Deal of the 1930's or the Great Society of the 1960s Established schools, provided aid to the poor and ages Settled disputes between whites and blacks Coordinated and helped to finance the activities of northern societies committed to black education Assumed control of hospitals and expanded the system into white southerners. b. Betrayal of commitment to land reform President Andrew Johnson ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owners Evicted blacks off "Sherman lands" Majority of free people were poor without property
What was the Tenure of Office Act?
Barred the president from removing certain officeholders including cabinet members Johnson considered this an unconstitutional restriction on his authority Removed Secretary of War
What was the significance of church to African Americans?
Church i. Worship Abandoned white-controlled religious institutions to create churches of their own Only 600 biracial churches remained after the civil war opposed to the 24,000 before The church played a central role in the black community.
What were the institutions of black families?
Family i. Reuniting families separated under slavery Idealized the dream of being a middle class black family Family became the center to the post emancipation black community Located loved ones from whom they had been separated under slavery Widows of black soldiers successfully claimed survivors' pension. ii. Adopting separate gender roles Women adopted more house chores Women preferred to be at home with the family More black women had higher proportions of black women than white women to go work for wages Men considered it a badge of honor to see their wives remain at home
\What was the Fifteenth Amendment?
Grant won the election of 1868 Many republicans found the election uncomfortably slim Adopted the fifteenth amendment Prohibited the federal and state governments from denying any citizen the right to vote because of race. Bitterly opposed by the Democratic Party, it was ratified in 1870
What was the significance of land ownership to African Americans?
Land ownership Rural people throughout the world, former slaves' ideas of freedom were directly related to land ownership. With land, they could develop independent communities free of white control. Many former slaves insisted that through their unpaid labor, they had acquired a right to the land
What happened to Northern Republicans?
Middle approach between aspirations of freedpeople and planters The victorious Republican North tried to implement its own vision of freedom Emancipated blacks enjoyed the same opportunities for advancement as northern workers They would labor more productively than they had as slaves The northern capital and migrants would energize the economy The South would eventually come to resemble the "free society of the North. Carl Schurz rose to become a leader of the Republican Party.
What was the approach to reconstruction?
Pardons Offered a pardon after the war to white southerners who took an oath of allegiance Excluded Confederate leaders and wealthy planters whose prewar property had been valued at more than $20,000. Received individual pardons from the president Appointed provincial governors and ordered them to call state conventions b. Reserving of political power to whites Elected whites alone Would establish local governments in the South Apart from the requirement that they abolish slavery, repudiate secession, and refuse to pay the Confederate debt He granted the new governments a free hand in managing local affairs
Did blacks have voting rights?
Political participation a. Right to vote Became central to the former slaves' desire for empowerment and equality. Douglass explained no special disgrace applied to those denied the right to vote Free blacks and emancipated slaves claimed a place in the public sphere. They came together in conventions, parades, and petition drives to demand the right to vote and, on occasion, to organize their own "freedom ballots" b. Engagement in political events Black spokesmen insisted that anything less than full citizenship would betray the nation's democratic promise and the war's meaning.
What was the meaning of freedom for newly freed blacks?
Self-ownership After the emancipation slavery, the argument that was brought up was that the simple absence of slavery imply other rights for the former slaves. The meaning of freedom arose new kinds of relations between black and white southerners and a new definition of the rights of all Americans Demonstrated their liberation from the regulations, significant or trivial Acquired dogs, guns, and liquor No longer obtained a pass from their owners to travel in search of better jobs Left plantations in search of better jobs, family members, to simplify a test of personal liberty. Many of them moved to Southern towns and cities
How did newly freed blacks incorporate into American society?
Social events It housed social events and political gatherings iii. Political meetings Black ministers came to play a major role in politics. Some 250 held public office during the Reconstruction c. Schools i. Motivations Wanted individual and community improvement as their desire for education Education was seen as the next best thing to liberty There was a desire to read the Bible, the need to prepare for the economic marketplace, and the opportunity to take part in politics ii. Backgrounds of students and instructors Blacks of all ages flocked to the schools established by northern missionary societies This included the Bureau and groups of ex slaves themselves iii. Establishment of black colleges During the reconstruction, the creation of the nation's first black colleges Included Fisk university, Hampton institute, and Howard university
What was the overthrow of Reconstruction?
Southern white opposition 1. Grievances expressed a. Corruption They were disgusted by the new government Corruption existed in either party across the region\ The rapid growth of state budgets and the benefits to be gained from public aid led in some states to a scramble for influence that produced bribery, insider dealing, and a get rich quick atmosphere Southern frauds were dwarfed by the practices in the Whiskey ring and the Tweed ring. b. Incompetence They were controlled by millions of dollars They involved high officials in the get rich atmosphere c. High taxes Needed to pay for schools and other new public facilities and to assist railroad development were another cause of opposition to Reconstruction d. Black supremacy Most white southerners could not accept the idea of former slaves voting, holding office, and enjoying equality before the law Believed that reconstruction must be overthrown Opponents launched a campaign of violence in an effort to end Republican rule. 2. Underlying motivations a. Antipathy for racial equality Violence was mostly local and unorganized Blacks were assaulted and murdered for refusing to give way to whites on city sidewalks Using "insolent" language Secret societies sprang up with the aim of preventing blacks from voting and destroying the organization of the Republcian governments b. Desire for controllable labor Wanted to control the African American population Wanted to ensure the Southern life again Wanted a reliable labor force 3. Reign of Terror a. Against any perceived threat to white supremacy Secret societies sprang up aiming to prevent blacks from voting and destroying the organization of the republican party by assassinating local leaders and public officials b. Against Republicans, black and white Tried to get rid of them and kill the republican party to get rid of "black supremacy" c. Ku Klux Klan and other secret societies Served as a military arm of the Democratic Party in the South A terrorist organization It quickly spread into nearly every southern state Style themselves the South's respectable citizens Victims included white republicans, black schools, lynched black men and women
What was the subversion of independent white yeomary?
Spread of indebtedness, dependence on cotton production They considered wartime devastation as a loss of freedom Most small farmers had concentrated on raising food for their freedom and grew little cotton 2. Sharecropping and crop lien systems To obtain supplies from merchants, farmers were forced to take up the growing of cotton and pledge a part of the crop as collateral. Interest rates were high and the price of cotton fell steadily, many farmers found themselves still in debt after marketing their portion of the crops at the year's end. White farmers cultivated only 10 percent of the South's cotton crop in 1860 Both black and white farmers found themselves caught in the sharecropping and crop-lien systems
What was the 1866 midterm election?
a. Bitter campaign Became the central issue of the political campaign of 1866 Made wild accusations that the Reconstruction did not like him b. Republican sweep Opposed to Johnson's policies won a sweeping victory Every southern state but Tennessee refused to ratify the Fourteenth amendment c. Growing breach between Johnson and Republicans The intransigence of Johnson and the bulk of the white South pushed moderate Republicans toward the Radicals
What was the controversy in the North?
i. Democrats vs. Republicans The fourteenth amendment produced an intense division between the parties Not a single Democrats in Congress voted in its favor Only 4 of 175 Republicans were opposed ii. Congress vs. Johnson Embarked on a speaking tour of the North Urges voters to elect members of Congress committed to his own Reconstruction program Made wild accusations that the Radicals were plotting to assassinate him. His behavior further undermined public support for his policies Riots that broke out in Memphis and New Orleans in which white policemen and citizens killed dozens of blacks
