"What Is Freedom?": Reconstruction, 1865-1877

Joint Committee Bill 1 + 2

1) Extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau 2) Civil Rights Bill (equality before the law was central; it sought to overturn the Black Codes) Johnson vetoed both bills. Congress passes both anyway.

Legacy of Reconstruction (Positives)

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments Free education in the South New role for blacks in politics Restored Union began its path toward healing politically, economically, and socially

The 13th Amendment (1865)

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY Lincoln helped it pass, but did not live to see it ratified in 1865

Blacks and the Meaning of Freedom

African-Americans' understanding of freedom shaped by experiences (as slaves) excited for opportunity to demonstrate their liberation family central Freedom subtly altered relationships within the family - black man power. Black women withdrew from work as field laborers and house servants to the domestic sphere. VOTING, celebrated 4th of July (patriotism)

The Reconstruction Act (1867)

All "reconstructed" state governments illegal (except TN). S. states divided into 5 military districts, each headed by a military commander - martial law. Only when the state had ratified its new constitution & the 14th Amendment would it be considered for re-entry to the Union. Each state was required to write a new constitution that gave all adult males, regardless of race, the right to vote (15th Amendment). Passed over Johnson's veto

Religion - Postemancipation

Blacks abandoned white-controlled religious institutions to create churches of their own. Blacks of all ages flocked to the schools established by northern missionary societies, the Freedmen's Bureau, and groups of ex-slaves.

The Fifteenth Amendment (1870)

CAN'T DENY RIGHT TO VOTE BASED ON RACE Did not extend suffrage to women

Carpetbaggers and Scalawags

Carpetbaggers were northern-born white Republicans who made their homes in the South after the war, with many holding political office. Scalawags were southern-born white Republicans. Some wealthy, most up-country non-slaveholders and some S. Unionists.

The Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

Citizenship for all people born in U.S., gov. duty to protect this. BUT It DID NOT grant blacks the right to vote.

1866 Elections, WAR OF THE GOVERNMENT: Legislative vs. Executive

Congress enraged by AJ's vetoes 1866 Elections: Johnson campaigns for new party to oppose Radicals Plan BACKFIRED: More Radical Republicans elected NOW MAJORITY

Failure of Johnson's Reconstruction

Develop. of Black Codes Southern governments began passing new laws that restricted the freedom of blacks (rebel state govs.) Radical Republicans reject --> call for Joint Committee for Reconstruction

The Quest for Prosperity during Reconstruction

During Reconstruction, every state helped to finance railroad construction. Investment opportunities in the West lured more northern investors than southern investors, and economic development remained weak in the South.

The Freedmen's Bureau

Established a working free labor system. The task of the Bureau—establishing schools, providing aid to the poor and aged, settling disputes, etc.—was daunting, especially since it had fewer than 1,000 agents. EDUCATION AND HEALTHCARE ACHIEVEMENTS

Land, Labor, and Freedom

Fmr. slaves freedom = land ownership. Many former slaves insisted that through their unpaid labor, they had acquired a right to the land. The South's defeat was complete and demoralizing. Planter families faced profound changes. Most planters defined black freedom in the narrowest manner.

The Disputed Election and Bargain of 1877

Hayes (Republican) and Tilden (Democrat) was very close. Congress set up a special Electoral Commission to determine the winner of the disputed votes. Hayes made a bargain to allow southern white Democrats to control the South if his election was accepted. The compromise led to Hayes's election and the Democrats' having a free hand in the South.

Johnson's Reconstruction Plan: The South's unexpected ally

Johnson's plan for Reconstruction offered pardons to the white southern elite. Johnson's plan allowed the new state governments a free hand in managing local affairs. Send ex-Confederates to Congress Amnesty for those who took an oath of allegiance

Liberal Republicans

Liberal attack on Reconstruction contributed to a resurgence of racism in the North. The 1873 depression also distracted the North from Reconstruction. Supreme Court whittled away at Congress's guarantees of black rights. --Slaughterhouse Cases (1873) --United States v. Cruikshank (1876) Redeemers claimed to have "redeemed" the white South from corruption, misgovernment, and northern and black control.

Legacy of Reconstruction (Negatives)

New South emerged Planter elite returned Rise of sharecropping system Democrats restored political dominance Jim Crow laws Northerners abandoned the cause Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) - separate but equal

The Failure of Land Reform

President Andrew Johnson ordered nearly all land in federal hands returned to its former owners (Democrat prez) Because no land distribution took place, the vast majority of rural freedpeople remained poor and without property during Reconstruction. Sharecropping dominated south: Type of farm tenancy in which landless workers (often former slaves) farmed planters' land in exchange for farm supplies and a share of the crop.

Lincoln's Plan (1863)

Provisional governors Simple loyalty oath "10% Plan" Lenient on South (barred some Confederate offices) "We shall sooner have the fowl by hatching it than by smashing it."

The Rights of Women during Reconstruction

Slavery end --> empowered feminists Some feminists (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony) opposed the Fifteenth Amendment because it did not enfranchise women. Divisions amongst feminists

Reconstruction Corruption/Reign of Terror

Some didn't see equality as an option - not limited to race, region, or party. "40 Acres and a Mule" - myth (Sherman's March to Sea) sharecropping, Intimidation, and Violence - reality --->"Reign of Terror": KKK developed (1866), later ended by Grant and Congress (1872) --->Political scandals

Andrew Johnson, 1865 - 1869

Southern Unionist Former slaveholder and Democrat Dogmatic states' righter Strict Interpreter of Constitution champion of "honest yeomen," foe of large planters. but lacked Lincoln's political skills, understanding of public Believed that African-Americans had no role to play in Reconstruction.

Impeachment and the Election of Grant (1868)

Tenure of Office Act (1867) by Congress to protect allies in Johnson's cabinet Johnson challenged constitutionality by dismissing Sec. of War Stanton Impeached, but not thrown out of office.

Radical Republicans

The Radicals fully embraced the expanded powers of the federal government born of the Civil War. Most Republicans were moderates, not radicals. Ultras (Charles Sumner): Called for immediate and absolute social and political equality for blacks Moderates (Thaddeus Stevens) civil rights, but not necessarily prepared to fight for absolute equality (but Stevens' personal ideals were truly radical—buried in a black cemetery) Stevens's aim - confiscate the land of disloyal planters and divide it among former slaves and northern migrants to the South.

The Black Officeholder

Two thousand African-Americans occupied public offices during Reconstruction.

Radical Republicans: The Wade-Davis Plan (1864)

Wanted to make the South pay Oath that one was not a Confederate Majority necessary before readmission Lincoln Pocket Vetoed, assassinated 1865

The White Farmer

War hurt small white farmers. Crop-lien system (use of crop as collateral for loans from merchants for supplies) BUT CROP-LIEN FAILED b/c white farmers increased cotton cultivation, cotton prices plummeted, and they found themselves unable to pay back loans. Both black and white farmers found themselves caught in the sharecropping and crop-lien systems. BUT, Southern cities experienced remarkable growth after the Civil War. --->Rise of a new middle class