AMSCO Chapter 15 Reconstruction 1863-1877

Lincoln's Last Speech

April 11, 1865 encouraging Northerners to accept Louisiana as a reconstructed state and outlined Lincoln's support for granting freedmen the right to vote

Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction 1863

Lincoln's process for political reconstruction (reconstructing the state governments in the South so that Unionists were in charge rather than secessionists) - full presidential pardons to most Confederates who (1) took an oath of allegiance to the Union and the U.S. Constitution, and (2) accepted the emancipation of slaves - a state government could be reestablished and accepted as legitimate by the U.S. president as soon as at least 10% of the voters in the state took the loyalty oath

regions, political parties, and economic interests

conflicts that existed before and during the Civil War

Freedmen's Bureau

created by Congress in 1865 that was an early welfare agency, providing food, shelter, and medical aid for those made destitute by the war its greatest success was education

Wade-Davis Bill 1864

created by Congress out of concern for President Lincoln's 10 percent plan required 50% of the voters of a state to take the loyalty oath and permitted only non-Confederates to vote for a new state constitution. Lincoln vetoed this bill

Abraham Lincoln's stance on succession

firmly believed that the Southern States could not constitutionally leave the Union

General Oliver O. Howard

lead the Freedmen's Bureau's greatest success- education. provided over 3,000 schools for freed blacks which taught about 200,000 Africans Americans to read

4 million

number of African Americans freed during Reconstruction

Johnson's Reconstruction Policy

provided for the disfranchisement (loss of the right to vote and hold office) of (1) all former leaders and officeholders of the Confederacy and (2) Confederates with more than $20,000 in taxable property. But Johnson still had an escape clause for wealthy planters

Andrew Johnson

self-taught tailor, Tennessee politician, only senator from a Confederate state who remained loyal to the Union