Chapter 15: Reconstruction of the South
How did African Americans' lives change during the Reconstruction? With their families, work life, role of men and women in the family, etc?
Changes in black family life. Male authority increased and they were now true head of family. As citizens, acquired rights and powers denied women. Black women became more like white women, devoting themselves to separate spheres
How did some slaves initially view freedom? How did that view change?
Freedom to move without a pass, to "see the world," was one of the former slaves' most cherished benefits of emancipation. Understandably, many at first equated legal freedom with freedom from having to earn a living, a tendency reinforced for a time by the willingness of the Freemen's Bureau to provide rations and other forms of relief in war-devastated areas. Most however accepted the fact that they must earn a living; a small plot of land of their own would complete their independence.
How effective of a president was Grant? How do we know this?
Grant was a poor chief executive. Although a fine leader, Grant was honest but his honest was of a native type that made him the dupe of unscruptous friends and schemers.
Who did the Democrats nominate in 1872? Why was this unique? Who ended up winning in the election?
In 1872, a reform element organized the Liberal Republican party and nominated Horace Greeley for president.
What was the Wade-Davis bill? What did the radicals create this bill? How did Lincoln deal with it? Explain what it is?
In July 1864, the Wade-Davis Bill was passed. It provided for constitutional conventions only after a majority of the voters in a southern state had taken a loyalty oath. Confederate officials and anyone who had "voluntarily borne arms against the United States" were barred from voting in the election or serving in the convention. Besides prohibiting slavery, new state constitutions would have to repudiate Confederate debts.
What was Johnson's reaction to the 14th Amendment?
In his 1866 "swing around the circle" campaign, President Johnson denounced the amendment and encouraged southern states not to ratify it. But most northerners were determined that African Americans have at least formal legal equality. They elected Republicans in numbers that increased the Radicals' strength in Congress and in Northern states to a level sufficient to complete the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.
What happened to Southern leaders at the end of the Civil war?
Jefferson Davis was captured in May 1865 and put in jail but in 1867 the military turned him over to civilian courts which released him on bail. A few other Confederate officials spent short times in jail, but only Major Henry Wirz, commander of Andersonville military prison, was hanged.
How was Abraham Lincoln assassinated? By whom? Why?
John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. Lincoln's assassination was part of a complicated plot organized by die-hard pro-Southerners. Seldom have fanatics displayed such little understanding of their own interests, for with Lincoln perished the South's best hope for peace.
What was Johnson's true philosophy towards southerners?
Johnson did not want to humiliate all white southerners. He issued an amnesty proclamation only slightly more rigorous than Lincoln's. It assumed, correctly enough, that with the war over most southern voters would freely take the loyalty oath; thus it contained no 10 percent clause.
What is the Compromise of 1877? Why does the Compromise of 1877 denote the end of the Reconstruction? What was the outlook of America at this point?
Southern democrats declared they would be willing to accept Hayes if he would end Reconstruction. Hayes then withdrew all occupying federal troops from the south and appointed former confed. general to his cabinet.
Discuss the election of 1868. Who were the candidates? Who won? Why?
The Reconstruction Acts and the Fourteenth Amendment enfranchised southern African Americans who immediately used their votes to help Ulysses S. Grant win the 1868 presidential election.
How did this election make an impact on the Republican party?
The Republican party was also damaged by the incompetence, graft, and corruption that permeated the Grant administration. In 1872, a reform element organized the Liberal Republican party and nominated Horace Greeley for president. They advocated low tariffs, sound money, and termination of special attention to the rights of African Americans. Republican control of Reconstruction governments in the South was ending.
How were the "ultra" Radical Republicans different from rest of the Radical republicans? What did moderate Republicans want?
Ultra radicals in Congress (led by Sumner) demanded immediate and absolute civil and political equality for blacks. Moderate Republicans wanted to protect former slaves from exploitation and guarantee their basic rights but were not willing to push for full political equality.
Who were the Radical Republicans? What did they believe? Give some examples of politicians who supported this philosophy?
Ultra radicals in Congress (led by Sumner) demanded immediate and absolute civil and political equality for blacks. Radicals (led by Thaddeus Stevens in House and Ben Wade in Senate) agreed with ultras' objectives but were willing to forgo actual social equality. Moderate Republicans wanted to protect former slaves from exploitation and guarantee their basic rights but were not willing to push for full political equality.
What problems did the Radicals have in achieving their goals? Why was what they were trying to achieve, in relation to equality for freemen, radical departure from the role the federal government had previously played?
Ultra-Radical Republicans led by Charles Sumner demanded immediate equal rights for African Americans and that they be given the vote, land, and an education. Most Republicans would settle for less. Congress objected to Johnson's Reconstruction proposal because it would increase southern (Democratic party) representation in Congress, it allowed former Confederate leaders to hold public office, and it allowed southerners to adopt restrictive Black Codes to exploit and control African Americans.
What types of gains were made with Southern manufacturing?
the Tabaco industry was stimulated by the sudden popularity of the cigarette. Tabaco towns flourished. The exploration of the coal and iron deposits of northeastern areas made boomtowns. The manufacturing costs of cotton cloth increased.
What is the 15th Amendment? When was it passed? Why did Republicans push to have this amendment passed? Was this amendment effectively enforced? Why were some upset by this amendment?
15th Amendment sent to states in February 1869Forbade all states to deny the vote to anyone "on account of race, color or previous condition of servitude". Absence of clause about discrimination on basis of sex outraged many women. Most southern states, states in New England and some western states ratified the amendment swiftly. Bitter battles were waged in Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and states immediately north of the Ohio River. March 1870 amendment ratified. Passed because of unfairness of double standard of voting, contribution of black soldiers during the war and the hope of ending the strife of Reconstruction
Why was Johnson considered " his own worst enemy" when dealing with Congress and the people? Give at least 3 reasons.
Andrew Johnson was his own worst enemy when it came to dealing with the congress because he was the military governor of Tennessee, he enjoyed attacking aristocrats, and he had contempt for blacks.
Why did African Americans begin to dominate the South politically after gaining the right to vote? How effective were African Americans as politicians during this time? Explain your response. How were Northern politicians compared to Southern politicians of this time period?
Blacks did not dominate southern governments: • Mainly poor and uneducated • Nearly everywhere a minority Blacks that held office: Tended to be better educated and more prosperous than most southern blacks. Disproportionate number had been free before the war. Of those who had been slaves, most had been house servants and artisans. Mulatto politicians were also disproportionately numerous and (as a group) more conservative and economically better off than other black leaders
Why was Johnson chosen as a running mate for Lincoln in 1864? How was Johnson viewed by different political figures?
Lincoln picked Johnson as his running mate in 1864 because he was a border-state Unionist Democrat and something of a hero as a result of his courageous service as military governor of Tennessee.
What was Lincoln's plan for reconstruction? When did he start the process? What was the 10 percent plan? What did the structure of this plan say about the way he wanted the reconstruction process to be after the war?
Lincoln wanted to quickly readmit the states and welcome them back with open arms. On December 8th, 1863, Lincoln issued the 10% Plan. With the exception of high Confederate officials and a few other special groups, all Southerners could reinstate themselves by taking a simple loyalty oath. When, in any state, a number equal to 10% of those voting in 1860 election had taken this oath, they could set up a state government. The government had to be republican in form, recognize freedom of slaves, and provide for black education.
Why did gang labor work after the end of slavery? What were the alternatives?
Originally, plantation owners tried to farm land with gang labor. Blacks did not like working for wages or in gangs as it was reminiscent of slave labor. They wanted to manage their own lives. Result was new labor system: sharecropping
What is sharecropping? How is it different from share tenancy? How did this system effect white farmers?
Planters broke up their estates into small units and established a black family on each. Planter provided housing, agricultural implements, draft animals, seed and other supplies and family provided labor. Crop was divided between them (usually 50-50 basis). If landlord supplied only land and housing, laborer got a larger share—share tenancy. Many white farmers were also trapped by sharecropping system and by white efforts to keep blacks in subordinate position. Fencing laws kept them from grazing livestock on undeveloped land
How effective were the Radical southern government of this time?
Republican southern governments accomplished a great deal
What are scalawags? What are carpetbaggers? What impact did each of these groups have on the South during Reconstruction?
Scalawags: Southerners willing to cooperate with the Republicans because they accepted the results of the war and wished to advance their own interests Carpetbaggers: Northerners who went South as idealists to help the freed slaves, as employees of the federal government, or more commonly as settlers hoping to improve themselves
Discuss the legal issues in bringing the southern states " back into the union" after the Civil War.
Since Southerners believed secession was legal; logic should have compelled them to argue that they were out of the Union and would have to be formally readmitted. Northerners should have taken the contrary position, for they had fought to prove that secession was illegal.
What is the First Reconstruction Act? Break down the elements of the act. Why did Congress feel the Reconstruction Act had to be passed? What were the Southerners reaction to the act? Discuss the second and third Reconstruction acts. How effective were these Reconstruction acts?
Southern recalcitrance and abuse of African American rights led to several Reconstruction Acts in 1867. The South was divided into five military districts. The army officers who commanded these districts were empowered to protect civil rights, maintain order, and supervise the organization of new state governments. These governments were required to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment and guarantee African Americans the right to vote.
What was the Union League of America? What groups were formed as a reaction to groups like the Union? What impact did these groups have on the South and African Americans?
Southern white republicans used the Union League of America, a patriotic club founded during the war, to control the black vote. Employing secret rituals, exotic symbols, and other things which proved people to be unsophisticated, they enrolled the freedmen in droves and marched them to the polls en masse.
How did Southerners show that they weren't going to go into the reunification quietly? What are Black Codes? What were the purpose of black codes?
Southerners elected Alexander H. Stephens, vice-president of the Confederacy, to the senate; they also employed the Black Codes.
How did infrastructure (government, taxation, education system, social services) change in the South as a result of the Reconstruction?
Taxes went up but money financed repair and expansion of South's railroads, rebuilt levees, and expanded social services • Money came in part from Freedman's Bureau and from Northern religious and philanthropic organizations • State governments established and supported hospitals, asylums, and systems of free public education • Money also spent on land reclamation, repairing and expanding war-ravaged railroads, and maintaining levees
What is the 13th Amendment? How would the 13th Amendment change the political environment in America? What impact would this have on the South?
The 13th Amendment abolished slavery.
What was the Civil Rights Act? What was it a reaction to? Why was the passage of this act significant?
The Civil Rights Act was designed to aid and protect the former slaves. Congress overrode his veto of the Civil Rights Act and took control of Reconstruction. Johnson's combative personality played into the 227 hands of the Radicals, even though few northerners believed in racial equality or in providing special protection for the rights of the former slaves. But Radical Republicans understood that if African Americans were to achieve real equality, a political revolution would have to occur that would permit interference by the federal government in local affairs.
What was the Freedmen's Bureau? When was it created? What was part of the federal government was the bureau a part of? Why did Johnson have objections to the Freedmen's Bureau?
The Freedmen's Bureau, was a U.S. federal government agency that aided distressed freedmen (freed slaves) during the Reconstruction era of the United States, though by 1870 it had been considerably weakened.
In what ways can we see that Congress was very single minded in its pursuit of their form of Reconstruction?
The North's effort to impose its will on the South was provoked by the suffering and frustration of the war years, postwar southern recalcitrance, Johnson's stubbornness, and the threat of a Democratic party resurgence. In the course of Reconstruction, Republicans attempted a grand revision of the federal government that was designed to increase the authority of Congress over the president and the Supreme Court.
What is the Fourteenth Amendment? Break down the parts of the amendment. How did the creation of this amendment reflect a shift in political power?
The Radical-sponsored Fourteenth Amendment increased the power of the federal government over the states. It confirmed the great change wrought by the Civil War: the growth of a more complex, more closely integrated social and economic structure requiring closer national supervision. The amendment made African Americans citizens and protected all citizens against state violations of their right to due process and equal protection of the law. It temporarily disenfranchised some former Confederates, repudiated the Confederate debt, and penalized states that refused to give African Americans the right to vote. It did not outlaw segregation, nor did it clearly prevent a state from disenfranchising African Americans.
What was the Tenure of Office Act? What happened to President Johnson as a result of this act?
The Tenure of Office Act was a United States federal law (in force from 1867 to 1887) that was intended to restrict the power of the President of the United States to remove certain office-holders without the approval of the Senate. It culminated in an attempt to impeach President Johnson and remove him from office, but the Senate failed to convict him of impeachment charges by a single vote. The impeachment trial weakened the presidency, but its outcome preserved the federal government's checks-and-balance system.
What was the Whiskey Ring affair?
The Whisky Ring was a Scandal during Grant's presidency. It cost the government millions of dollars in tax revenue. It had to do with the management of Indian Affairs.
What issues began to dominate Northern politics? Explain why they were important enough to distract politicians from the Reconstruction.
The expansion of industry and the rapid development of the west stimulated by a new wave of railroad building, loomed more important to many than the fountain's of former slaves.
How were freedmen being treated in the South during the early years of reconstruction?
The freedmen were denied work and housing and the Black Codes were passed to discriminate against them.
Why, even with the military occupation of the south, were Southerners allowed to pressure African Americans from staying away from the voting booth?
The key to the survival of Radical southern governments was the ability of wealthy merchants and planters to mobilize the African American vote. But racist vigilante groups like the Ku Klux Klan gradually drove African Americans out of politics by resorting to violence and intimidation.
What is the crop-lien system? What impact did it have on the Southern economy? Output?
The main cause of the southern rural poverty for whites as well as blacks was the lack of enough capital to finance the sharecropping system. Like their colonial ancestors, the landowners had to borrow against Octobers harvest to pay for Aprils seeds. Thus the crop-lien system developed.
Why was the Liberal Republican party developed? Who did they nominate for president in 1872? Describe the candidate. Who were the Liberal Republicans? What did they believe?
They advocated low tariffs, sound money, and termination of special attention to the rights of African Americans
Discuss the events that took place in the election of 1876. Who were the candidates? Why was this election unique? Who was winner? Why did this candidate win?
• 1876 Election • Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, Governor of Ohio • Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden, Governor of New York, who had helped break up Tweed Ring • Results • Early returns suggested Tilden carried New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana and all southern states including South Carolina, Louisiana, and Florida • Would give Tilden 203 electoral votes to 165 and popular plurality of 250,000 out of 8 million votes cast • Republican regimes in three southern states under their control staged recounts that determined Hayes was the winner
Explain the concept of "40 acres and a mule"? Why didn't it work out? What did the federal government do for freedmen in relationship to land?
• Blacks sought land of their own and Thaddeus Stevens supported the goal, recommending redistributing land from planters o Problem: would still need seed, tools and other necessities o Congress did open 46 million acres of poor quality federal land under Homestead Act but few settled on it
How did the end of slavery make an impact on the economy of the South?
• South desperately poor • Blacks sought land of their own and Thaddeus Stevens supported the goal, recommending redistributing land from planters o Problem: would still need seed, tools and other necessities o Congress did open 46 million acres of poor quality federal land under Homestead Act but few settled on it • Whites upset because blacks were producing less than under slavery o Whites saw blacks as lazy and shiftless o Blacks chose to use time and resources differently than under slavery