Reconstruction

Failure?

- taking the right to vote or hold office away from Southern Whites was a violation of republicanism. -Northern Republicans' lack of effectiveness in guaranteeing political rights to Blacks. -not giving land to the freedmen so they could have their own economic base of power. - Sates' inability to suppress the violence of Southern Whites when they sought reversal for Blacks' gains. Federal and state governments failed to secure the rights guaranteed to former slaves by constitutional amendments. Radical Republican governments were unable or unwilling to enact land reform or to provide former slaves with the economic resources needed to break the cycle of poverty. State Republican parties could not preserve black-white voter coalitions that would have enabled them to stay in power and continue political reform. Racial bias was a national, not just a southern, problem. Northerners became more absorbed in westward expansion and industrialization than with the problems of the former slaves. The Supreme Court undermined the power of the 14th and 15th Amendments. At the end of Reconstruction, former slaves found themselves once again in a subordinate position in society. The historian Eric Foner concludes: "Whether measured by the dreams inspired by emancipation or the more limited goals of securing blacks' rights as citizens...Reconstruction can only be judged a failure."

Grant's presidential Reconstruction

Effective civil rights executive Final four Reconstruction states admitted Department of Justice created Enforcement acts (1870-1871) Prosecuted Ku Klux Klan Amnesty act 1872 Civil Rights Act of 1875 Countered election fraud National support of Reconstruction declines African American officeholders

Reconstruction Successes

1) Union restored 2) 14th and 15th amendment are passed 3) rebuild and repair the South had four primary successes including the restoration of the federal union, limited reprisals against the South directly after the war, property ownership to blacks, and the establishment of national citizenship and legal equality.

Andrew Johnson

17th President of the United States, A Southerner form Tennessee, as V.P. when Lincoln was killed, he became president (also a democrat). He opposed radical Republicans who passed Reconstruction Acts over his veto. The first U.S. president to be impeached, he survived the Senate removal by only one vote. He was a very weak president. Johnson favored rapid measures to bring the South back into the Union, allowing the Southern states to determine the rights of former slaves. Lincoln's last speeches show that he leaned toward supporting the suffrage of all freedmen, whereas Johnson and the Democratic Party strongly opposed this. had to deal with southern inflation and destruction and sectionalism.--> south in ruins with destroyed infrastructure.

Wade-Davis Bill

1864 Proposed far more demanding and stringent terms for reconstruction; 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 refused to sign the bill, pocket vetoing it after Congress adjourned. The issue of loyalty emerged in the debates over the Wade-Davis Bill of 1864. The bill required voters to take the "ironclad oath" swearing that they had never supported the Confederacy or been one of its soldiers. Pursuing a policy of "malice toward none" announced in his second inaugural address,[26] Lincoln asked voters only to support the Union.[27] Lincoln pocket vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, which was much more strict than the ten percent plan. Following Lincoln's veto, the Radicals lost support but regained strength after Lincoln's assassination in April 1865.

Military Reconstruction

1867; divided the South into five districts and placed them under military rule; required Southern States to ratify the 14th amendment; guaranteed freedmen the right to vote in convention to write new state constitutions

Enforcement Acts

1870 and 1871 laws that made it a federal offense to interfere with a citizen's right to vote Grant used the Enforcement Acts to combat the Ku Klux Klan, which was essentially wiped out in 1872. Grant's policies included federal integration, equal rights, black immigration, and the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

Rutherford B. Hayes

19th president of the united states, was famous for being part of the Hayes-Tilden election in which electoral votes were contested in 4 states, most corrupt election in US history

Civil Rights Bill of 1866

A bill passed by Congress in March 1866 as a measure against the Black Codes to reinforce black rights to citizenship. It was vetoed by Johnson and was later passed as the 14th Amendment. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 (14 Stat. 27-30, enacted April 9, 1866, reenacted 1870) was the first United States federal law to define citizenship and affirm that all citizens are equally protected by the law. ... The Act was passed by Congress in 1865 and vetoed by United States President Andrew Johnson. The first bill extended the life of the Bureau, originally established as a temporary organization charged with assisting refugees and freed slaves, while the second defined all persons born in the United States as national citizens with equality before the law. After Johnson vetoed the bills, Congress overrode his vetoes, making the Civil Rights Act the first major bill in the history of the United States to become law through an override of a presidential veto. The Radicals in the House of Representatives, frustrated by Johnson's opposition to congressional Reconstruction, filed impeachment charges. The action failed by one vote in the Senate.

Carpetbaggers

A northerner who went to the South immediately after the Civil War; especially one who tried to gain political advantage or other advantages from the disorganized situation in southern states. (Exploit)

Congressional Reconstruction

A process led by the Radical Republicans that led to the usage of military force to protect blacks' rights.

13th Amendment (1865)

Abolition of slavery w/o compensation for slave-owners

Liberal Republicans

Party formed in 1872 (split from the ranks of the Republican Party) which argued that the Reconstruction task was complete and should be set aside. Significantly dampened further Reconstructionist efforts. Democrats (who also strongly opposed Reconstruction) regained control of the House of Representatives in 1874.

Freedman's Bureau, 1865

Set up to help freedmen and white refugees after Civil War. Provided food, clothing, medical care, and education. First to establish schools for blacks to learn to read as thousands of teachers from the north came south to help. Lasted from 1865-72. Attacked by KKK and other southerners as "carpetbaggers" Encouraged former plantation owners to rebuild their plantations, urged freed Blacks to gain employment, kept an eye on contracts between labor and management, etc

Reconstruction Failures

bitterness remains, industrialization is slow, African Americans denied right to vote, cycle of poverty remains, racist attitudes continue failure to protect many freed blacks from Ku Klux Klan violence prior to 1871, starvation, disease and death, brutal treatment of former slaves by Union soldiers, while offering reparations to former slaveowners, but denying them to former slaves.

Radical Republicans

After the Civil War, a group that believed the South should be harshly punished and thought that Lincoln was sometimes too compassionate towards the South. Radical Republicans in Congress sought stronger federal measures to upgrade the rights of African Americans (including the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) while curtailing the rights of former Confederates and white Southern civilians alike (as through the provisions of the Wade-Davis Bill). Johnson, the most prominent Southerner to oppose the Confederacy, followed a lenient policy toward ex-Confederates.

When did it last?

December 8, 1863 - March 31, 1877

14th Amendment (1968)

Declares that all persons born in the U.S. are citizens and are guaranteed equal protection of the laws

Freedmen

Enslaved people who had been freed by the war The freedmen, with the strong backing of the Freedmen's Bureau, rejected gang-labor work patterns that had been used in slavery. Instead of gang labor, freed people preferred family-based labor groups.[90] They forced planters to bargain for their labor. Such bargaining soon led to the establishment of the system of sharecropping, which gave the freedmen greater economic independence and social autonomy than gang labor. However, because they lacked capital and the planters continued to own the means of production (tools, draft animals, and land), the freedmen were forced into producing cash crops (mainly cotton) for the land-owners and merchants, and they entered into a crop-lien system. Widespread poverty, disruption to an agricultural economy too dependent on cotton, and the falling price of cotton, led within decades to the routine indebtedness of the majority of the freedmen, and the poverty of many planters.[91]

Confiscation Acts (1861 & 1862)

First of these acts stated that any Confederate property could be seized by federal forces, including slaves; second of these acts authorized the seizure of all property of persons in rebellion safeguarding fugitive slaves who crossed from the Confederacy across Union lines and giving them indirect emancipation if their masters continued insurrection against the United States. The laws allowed the confiscation of lands for colonization from those who aided and supported the rebellion. poorly enforced

Johnson's Way:

Former Confederate President Jefferson Davis was held in prison for two years, but other Confederate leaders were not. There were no trials on charges of treason. Freedmen and the enactment of Black Codes Moderate responses Johnson's vetoes

Panic of 1873

Four year economic depression caused by overspeculation on railroads and western lands, and worsened by Grant's poor fiscal response (refusing to coin silver

Lincoln's Way:

Gradual emancipation and compensation Colonization Installation of military governors in rebel states Emancipation Proclamation Louisiana 10% electorate plan Legalization of slave marriages Freedmen's Bureau Bans color discrimination February 1865 peace conference

1876 Election/Compromise of 1877

Hayes is elected. Southern Democrats agree and the last federal troops leave the South. The results of the election remain among the most disputed ever. Although it is not disputed that Tilden outpolled Hayes in the popular vote, after a first count of votes, Tilden had won 184 electoral votes to Hayes's 165, with 20 votes from four states unresolved: in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, each party reported its candidate had won the state, while in Oregon, one elector was replaced after being declared illegal for being an "elected or appointed official". The question of who should have been awarded these electoral votes is the source of the continued controversy. An informal deal was struck to resolve the dispute: the Compromise of 1877, which awarded all 20 electoral votes to Hayes; in return for the Democrats' acquiescence to Hayes' election, the Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.

Gradual emancipation and compensation

In an effort to keep border states in the Union, President Lincoln, as early as 1861, designed gradual compensated emancipation programs paid for by government bonds. Lincoln desired Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri to "adopt a system of gradual emancipation which should work the extinction of slavery in twenty years". On March 26, 1862, Lincoln met with Senator Charles Sumner and recommended that a special joint session of Congress be convened to discuss giving financial aid to any border states who initiated a gradual emancipation plan. In April 1862, the joint session of Congress met; however, the border states were not interested and did not make any response to Lincoln or any congressional emancipation proposal.[61] Lincoln advocated compensated emancipation during the 1865 River Queen steamer conference. Even suggested AA colonize some place in Central America.

Civil Rights act 1875

Prohibited discrimination against blacks in public place, such as inns, amusement parks, and on public transportation. Declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

15th Amendment (1870)

Prohibited voting restrictions based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude (slavery) The new national Reconstruction laws, in particular laws requiring suffrage (the right to vote) for freedmen, incensed White supremacists in the South, giving rise to the Ku Klux Klan. In the period 1867 to 1869 the Klan murdered Republicans and outspoken freedmen in the South, including Arkansas Congressman James M. Hinds.

Success?

Reconstruction was an attempt to create a social and political revolution despite economic collapse and the opposition of much of the white South. Under these conditions, its accomplishments were extraordinary. African-Americans only a few years removed from slavery participated at all levels of government. State governments had some success in solving social problems. ; for example, they funded public school systems open to all citizens. African-Americans established institutions that had been denied them during slavery: schools, churches and families. The breakup of the plantation system led to some redistribution of land. Congress passed the 14th and 15th Amendments, which helped African Americans to attain full civil rights in the 20th century. Despite the loss of ground that followed Reconstruction, African Americans succeeded in carving out a measure of independence within Southern society

1866 Elections

Republicans entered campaign with Fourteenth Amendment as platform; Johnson opposed and counseled southern states against ratification, created National Union Party; Republicans won; South now faced harsher terms The 1866 elections gave Republicans a majority in Congress, enabling them to pass the 14th Amendment, federalizing equal rights for freedmen, and dissolving rebel state legislatures until new state constitutions were passed in the South. Republican coalitions came to power in nearly all of the Southern states and set out to transform Southern society by setting up a free-labor economy, using the U.S. Army and the Freedmen's Bureau. The Bureau protected the legal rights of freedmen, negotiated labor contracts, and set up schools and churches for them. Thousands of Northerners came to the South as missionaries and teachers to aid the South's reconstruction, as well as businessmen and politicians.

Black Codes

The Black Codes indicated the plans of the Southern whites for the former slaves.[87] The freedmen would have more rights than did free Blacks before the war, but they would still have only second-class civil rights, no voting rights, and no citizenship. They could not own firearms, serve on a jury in a lawsuit involving whites, or move about without employment.[88] The Black Codes outraged Northern opinion. They were overthrown by the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that gave the freedmen more legal equality (although still without the right to vote).[89]

Enforcment Acts

The Enforcement Acts were three bills passed by the United States Congress between 1870 and 1871. They were criminal codes that protected African-Americans' right to vote, to hold office, to serve on juries, and receive equal protection of laws.

Southern Treaty Commission

The Five Civilized Tribes that had been relocated to Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma) held Black slaves and signed treaties supporting the Confederacy. During the war, a war among pro-Union and anti-Union Native Americans had raged. Congress passed a statute that gave the president the authority to suspend the appropriations of any tribe if the tribe is "in a state of actual hostility to the government of the United States ... and, by proclamation, to declare all treaties with such tribe to be abrogated by such tribe".[52][53] As a component of Reconstruction, the Interior Department ordered a meeting of representatives from all Indian tribes who had affiliated with the Confederacy.[54] The council, the Southern Treaty Commission, was first held in Fort Smith, Arkansas in September 1865, and was attended by hundreds of Native Americans representing dozens of tribes. Over the next several years the commission negotiated treaties with tribes that resulted in additional re-locations to Indian Territory and the de facto creation (initially by treaty) of an unorganized Oklahoma Territory.

White League and Red Shirts

The White League, also known as the White Man's League,[2][3] was a white paramilitary terrorist organization started in the Southern United States in 1874 to intimidate freedmen into not voting and politically organizing. Its first chapter was formed in Grant Parish, Louisiana, and neighboring parishes and was made up of many of the Confederate veterans who had participated in the Colfax massacre in April 1873. Chapters were soon founded in New Orleans and other areas of the state. Members of the White League were absorbed into the state militias and the National Guard. The Red Shirts or Redshirts of the Southern United States were white supremacist[1][2] paramilitary terrorist groups that were active in the late 19th century in the last years of, and after the end of, the Reconstruction era of the United States. Red Shirt groups originated in Mississippi in 1875, when politically conservative private terror units adopted red shirts to make themselves more visible and threatening to Southern progressives, both whites and freedmen. Similar groups in the Carolinas also adopted red shirts. While sometimes engaging in violent acts of terrorism, the Red Shirts, the White League, rifle clubs, and similar groups in the late nineteenth century worked openly and were better organized than the underground terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. They used organization, intimidation and force to achieve political purposes of restoring the Democrats to power, overturning Republicans, and repressing civil and voting rights of freedmen.[5] During the 1876, 1898 and 1900 campaigns in North Carolina, the Red Shirts played prominent roles in intimidating non-Democratic Party voters.

After war: what happened to slaves?

The end of the Civil War was accompanied by a large migration of new freed people to the cities.[21] In the cities, Black people were relegated to the lowest paying jobs such as unskilled and service labor. Men worked as rail workers, rolling and lumber mills workers, and hotel workers. The large population of slave artisans during the antebellum period had not been translated into a large number of freedmen artisans during Reconstruction.[22] Black women were largely confined to domestic work employed as cooks, maids, and child nurses. Others worked in hotels. A large number became laundresses. The dislocations had a severe negative impact on the Black population, with a large amount of sickness and death

10% Plan

This was Lincoln's reconstruction plan for after the Civil War. Written in 1863, it proclaimed that a state could be reintegrated into the Union when 10% of its voters in the 1860 election pledged their allegiance to the U.S. and pledged to abide by emancipation, and then formally erect their state governments. This plan was very lenient to the South, would have meant an easy reconstruction.

Amnesty act 1872

United States federal law that removed voting restrictions and office-holding disqualification against most of the secessionists who rebelled in the American Civil War, except for some 500 military leaders of the Confederacy. The original restrictive Act was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 1866.

1868 election

Won by republican U.S grant, this is because thousands of AA voted for "the party of Lincoln" Republican President Ulysses S. Grant supported congressional Reconstruction and enforced the protection of African Americans in the South through the use of the Enforcement Acts passed by Congress.

reconciliationist vision

rooted in coping with the death and devastation the war had brought

Redeemers

self-styled conservatives in close cooperation with a faction of the Democratic Party, strongly opposed Reconstruction. They alleged widespread corruption by the carpetbaggers, excessive state spending, and ruinous taxes.

Southern Democrats

supported slavery

white supremacist vision

which included racial segregation and the preservation of White political and cultural domination in the South

emancipationist vision

which sought full freedom, citizenship, male suffrage, and constitutional equality for African Americans[2]

Scalawags

white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War. Supported Republicans.