HIS 112Chapter 16

The Agony of Reconstruction

Reconstruction

Political process by which the 11 rebel states were restored to a normal constitutional relationship with the 25 loyal states and their national government

It was the UNION that was to be reconstructed during the 12 years following the Civil War

There was also a physical reconstruction that needed to take place Cities had been burned Bridges were gone Railroad tracks were missing River-borne commerce had dwindled Commercial ties with Europe and the North

had been snapped Fields lay fallow

Proposals for Reconstruction On 8 December 1863, Abraham

Lincoln submitted his Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction or his 10% SolutionAs soon as 10% of voters in any

Confederate state took an oath of allegiance to the Union, the people of that state could organize a government & elect representatives

The plan excludedConfederate government officialsMilitary or civil officials who had

resigned from Congress or U.S. Commissions in 1861

Efforts to do this took place in states occupied by Union soldiers

By 1864 Louisiana and Arkansas had complied

After the war, Tennessee and parts of Virginia quickly tried to set up Unionist governments

Congress, however, would not recognize these governments, and the military remained in these states

Congressional Objections to Lincoln’s Plan

Congress didn’t like the expansion of presidential powers during the war

Congress felt there should be a Congressional Reconstruction Plan

Radical Republicans said Lincoln’s plan made no provisions for freed men

Radical Republicans came up with a plan of their own called the Wade-Davis Bill in July of 1864Said 50% of all white male citizens

had to swear an oath of loyalty to the Union before reconstruction could begin

Radical Republicans said Reconstruction would be designed by Congress, not by the President

Lincoln said he had no objections to a Congressional Plan or to giving blacks who fought in the Civil War the right to vote

But Lincoln was assassinated in April 1865

Andrew Johnson

Succeeded Lincoln as president Had been Lincoln’s Vice President Was from Tennessee and an anti-

Confederate Because Johnson had not been

elected President, he felt that he had to prove himself

Johnson took over in May, 1865 when Congress was not in session and would not re-convene until December, 1865

He wanted to have Reconstruction completed by the time Congress got back

So Johnson came up with his own planWanted to re-unite the country as

soon as possibleFormed new governments in the

South by using his power to pardonBegan pardoning in May, 1865

Johnson eventually pardoned 13,000 Confederate leaders making it possible for them to hold office and to get their confiscated property back, minus slaves

This was a switch for Johnson because he had always thought the South should be punished and have their land confiscated

Some think Johnson gave in to his vanity; he liked being sought after by former leaders

When Congress re-convened in December, 1865, the members were told that reconstruction was completed after only a few months

13,000 had sworn allegiance and governments had been set up

Objections to Johnson’s Plan The North was dissatisfied with

Johnson’s programFelt the election of prominent

Confederates to political office was an act of Defiance by the South

Practices in the South had not changed

• Newly created Black Codes were identical to Slave Codes

See handout Black Codes convinced northerners

that the South was intent upon keeping blacks in a subservient position

Congress was so outraged by Johnson that it refused to seat newly-elected Southern Representatives

Congressional Reconstruction Plan

At this time Congress was diverse but basically conservative

Made up of:DemocratsConservative RepublicansModerate RepublicansRadical Republicans – a minority

within their own party

However, the Radical Republicans were the only ones with a planWanted to democratize the SouthEstablish public education for allEnsure the rights of the freed men

• Favored black suffrage• Supported land confiscation and

redistribution

Radical Republicans were also willing to exclude the South from the Union for several years, if necessary, to achieve their goals

There was a problemCongressional elections were coming

up in 1866Congress knew it needed to come up

with its own Reconstruction Plan fast

So Republicans formed a coalition to come up with an alternative to Johnson’s plan

Ironically, Johnson and the Democrats pushed Congress towards the Radical Republicans’ ideas by refusing to cooperate with conservative or moderate Republicans

Conservatives joined with the Radicals and the result was the 14th Amendment

It was to protect blacks’ rights See p. 462 for 3 Civil Rights

Amendments The 13th Amendment freed the slaves

14th Amendment Section 1: declared Confederate debt null

and void and guaranteed the war debt of the U.S.

Section 2: prohibited political power for prominent Confederates

Section 3: gave citizenship to freed men and all the rights of a citizen; made sure blacks had due process of law

Section 4: dealt with representation; the 14th Amendment did not require states to give blacks the right to vote, but said that states which barred blacks from voting would have their Congressional representation reduced proportionally

The 14th Amendment ignored female citizens

This led women’s rights activists to begin fighting for their own right to vote

Johnson urged states to reject this amendment

All southern states except Tennessee did so

The Congressional elections of 1866 was a decisive victory for Republicans

This showed that the people liked their 14th Amendment

Freedmen’s Bureau

Created by Congress before there was a Reconstruction plan

Administered by the army Provided relief for freed men and some

whites in the form of: Food, clothing shelter Attempted to find jobs Set up hospitals & schools Eased transition from slavery to free

The Meaning of Freedom to Freedmen

EducationThey hungered for education and filled

schoolsFreedmen’s Bureau founded over

4,000 schoolsAlso founded black colleges

For many blacks, education led to election to public office

Family Life

Many black families were reunited Blacks frequently tried to minimize all

contact with whites Black neighborhoods and black

churches were founded by their choice

Share Cropping System

In return for the use of another’s land and “furnishings”, the farmer paid the landowner a share of his crops

Resulted in blacks being cheated and kept in debt

South continued to grow cotton even though the soil was poor and the market had shrunk

Reconstruction

14th Amendment passed in June of 1866

Reconstruction Act passed in 1867 Governments formed under Andrew

Johnson’s plan dissolved The South was partitioned into 5

military provinces Map, p. 463

Constitutional conventions were heldHad to abolish slaveryGive the vote to adult black malesRatify the 13th &14th Amendments

If Congress approved of their work, they would be re-admitted to the Union and to Congress

Tennessee was immediately re-admitted

1868 – 6 more states were re-admitted: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina

Their delegations to Congress included black representatives

Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia did not wish to give blacks the right to vote, so the military remained there until 1870

Next, Congress wanted to remove some power from the Executive Branch because the President’s power had grown during the Civil War

Congressional Actions towards the Presidency

Congress took partial control of the army away from Andrew Johnson

Congress tried to enforce the Tenure of Office Act of 1867It forbade the President from removing

any appointed official who had been confirmed by the Senate without first getting Senate approval

This was done to keep Johnson from dismissing Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, a Radical Republican ally

Stanton’s support would help enforce the Congressional Reconstruction Acts -- the ones Johnson opposed

Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

Johnson tried to defy the Tenure of Office Act when Congress was out of session

August of 1867, Johnson suspended Stanton from office

February of 1868, Johnson dismissed Edwin Stanton, the only Radical Republican in his cabinet

He did this without Senate approval Many said that the Tenure of Office

Act did not apply to Johnson because he had inherited Lincoln’s Cabinet

But the House of Representatives drew up articles of impeachment (Charges)

They were passed and a prosecutor was appointed (House Managers)

The Senate would act as jury The Chief Justice of the Supreme

Court presided There were 9 articles of impeachment

that dealt with the dismissal of Stanton

There were 2 articles which dealt with Johnson’s disrespect of Congress

Removal of Johnson would need a 2/3 majority vote of the Senate

That meant 36 Senators had to vote for conviction18 votes were needed for acquittal

The vote was 35 – 19Johnson remained in office by 1 vote.

Johnson was impeached but not removed

1868 was an election year, so they let Johnson serve out the rest of his time

He then returned to Tennessee and was elected to the Senate 5 years later

Andrew Johnson was exonerated in 1920s

Precedent

A precedent had been set You couldn’t impeach someone just

on political grounds (you disagree or don’t like him)

A law must have been broken

Ulysses S. Grant was elected president first in 1868 and then again in 1872

Charts, pp. 470 & 474 Grant’s election was followed by the

passage of the 3rd Civil Rights Amendment, the 15th Amendment

15th Amendment forbade states from denying the vote

to any person on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”

Results of 3 Civil Rights Amendments

Black voters Blacks represented districts and

states like Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi and Hiram Revels also of Mississippi -- both were U.S. Senators; p. 469, picture

A less savory result was the rise of Ku Klux Klan – KKK; p. 472

KKK was founded by a former slave trader and Confederate general, Nathan Bedford ForrestMembers would intimidate blacks

trying to keep them from votingBlacks were at first threatened, then

beaten, and too often murdered (lynched)

Congress outlawed and suppressed the KKK, but it has never totally gone away

President Grant would use force to support Reconstruction and the 13th, 14th, & 15th Amendments but only when absolutely needed

As the 1870s proceeded, there was less and less support for Reconstruction

Other issues were more interestingExample: the scandals and corruption

in the Grant Administration

During Grant’s first term in office there was scandal surrounding the White House but none connected with Grant himself

Grant had appointed relatives and in-laws to offices who used their offices to make money for themselves

Later grant accepted money from those who expected favors

Election of 1876

Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes3 time governor of OhioModerate on Southern policiesFavored home rule in the SouthFor civil and political rights for all

Democrat: Samuel J. TildenGovernor of New YorkA millionaireA lawyerA reformerAgainst fraud and wasteFiscal conservative

Tilden won the popular vote by a small margin and the returns from Florida and Louisiana were challenged

P. 475 It was a contested election, and in a

contested election the House of Representatives decides the outcome, as per the Constitution

In the Compromise of 1877, Congress decided the outcome and gave it to Hayes after a deal was struck between Republican leaders and southern DemocratsTroops would be withdrawn from the

SouthSome talk of support for southern

railroads & internal improvements

Help for blacks was not discussed Lynchings of blacks increased 1889 –

1899An average of 187 blacks were

lynched each year for alleged offenses against whites

Segregation laws were passed around the turn of the century ( Jim Crow Laws)

1890 – 1910 -- Disenfranchisement of blacks began with literacy tests and other legalized obstacles to votingExample: “How many bubbles are in

a bar of Ivory soap?”Poll taxesThe North and the Federal

government did little to helpCases, p. 480