Southern Reconstruction

End of the War• Following victories at Vicksburg and Gettysburg the

Union seized momentum and control of the war.– Grant replaced Mead as commander of the Potomac

Army when Mead refused to attack Lee following Gettysburg.

• Grant utilized his experience in the western front to use the entire south to win the war.– Grant used the bulk of the Army of the Potomac to

attack Lee’s forces.– Ordered Philip Sheridan to campaign through the

Shenandoah valley to cut off Confederate supplies there.– Ordered William Sherman to march deeper south and

cut off all supply lines.

Sherman and Total Warfare• Sherman’s army moved from Tennessee towards

the valuable city of Atlanta, and then on to Savannah– In doing so, Sherman’s 90,000 men lived off the land

foraging any materials they could find for survival.• Total Warfare: to make war against civilians and

resources rather than just Armies.– As Sherman’s men marched through Georgia they

raided towns and plantations for food and supplies, then burned everything in their path.

– Destroyed railroad lines so that any supplies still left would not be transported to help Confederate Army.

Union Bowtie

War Ends• Sherman captures Atlanta in September 1864.– At the time Americans were losing patience with

Lincoln and the Republican party was divided.– Johnston burned most of the city to keep Federal

troops from capturing the artillery warehouses.– The capture of Atlanta created new confidence in

Lincoln and his army, sealing his re-election in 1864.• Sherman carves a 60 mile wide path from Atlanta

to Savannah and captured the city 2 days before Christmas.

Petersburg and Appomattox Courthouse

• Grant surrounded Lee at the vital railroad depot of Petersburg, just south of Richmond.

• For 9 months the town was held under siege.– Confederate troops resorted to eating their own shoe leather due

to the starvation.• In late March, Lee made a bold move to escape south and

attempt to link with Johnston’s army in North Carolina.– Between looters and fractured supply lines, Lee’s army never

made it to North Carolina • April 9, 1865 - Lee surrenders at Appomattox Courthouse.• Jefferson Davis fled Richmond days later as the capital

surrendered, he was captured in Georgia shortly after.

Terms of Surrender• The terms of surrender offered to Lee by Grant

would demonstrate notions of Lincoln’s plans for the South following the war.– 1. Southern Soldiers had to take an oath to never fight

against the U.S. again.– 2. Officers were free to keep their weapons and horses– 3. Lincoln would grant amnesty to all Confederate

soldiers, and they were free to return home without punishment.

– 4. Union soldiers were ordered to remain silent as Confederates surrendered their weapons, many even saluted.

Lincoln’s Plans• Lincoln planned for a lenient reconstruction policy– Had hoped to gain former Whigs and Southern

Unionists to strengthen the Republican Party in the South.

• Lincoln had hoped to rally new southern governments around these unionists.

• Also intended to wait on the issue of dealing with newly freed slaves.– Actual evidence that he leaned toward starting a

colony with the newly freed slaves.

Lincoln’s 10% Plan• Bill passed by Congress in 1860 – Whenever 10% of the number of voters in any

Confederate state took an oath to the Union, those loyal voters could re-establish a state government.

– By 1864 – Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee had done so.

• Lincoln had planned to use this 10% model to re-establish new governments in the South after the war.

Lincoln’s Assassination• April 14, 1865 – John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater.– The Play: Our American Cousin – was a mildly popular

satire of the day.• The assassination was actually part of a larger plot

to kill many top members of the Executive branch.– Andrew Johnson was to be murdered, but his assailant

got drunk and lost his nerve.– Sec. of State William Seward was stabbed several times

while recovering in bed, but he survived.– Booth had hoped Grant would also be in the theater that

night.

Lincoln Assassination Cont.• Lincoln’s guard, who was prone to dereliction to

his duties, left the door to his box to have a drink at a nearby bar.

• Booth snuck in and shot Lincoln in his balcony seat.

• Upon jumping to the stage he broke his leg and hobbled to his waiting horse and got away.

• Lincoln was carried to a boarding house across the street where he died the next morning.

• Booth was captured a week later, where he was shot in a barn that was set ablaze.

Southern Devastation• Results were catastrophic for southern economy.– Towns had been gutted of all resources, plantations

burned, fields neglected, bridges and railroads had been destroyed.

• 258,000 men (20% of the southern male population) had been killed in the war.– Most of those who did return were badly disfigured.

• Most wealthy southern whites had spent nearly all of their money supporting the Confederacy.– All Confederate bonds and currency were worthless

and their property destroyed.

Romanticized Confederacy• Cult like mourning became common among

southern people.– Extending traditional mourning periods of dressing

black and grieving the dead for up to 2 years.• Confederate leaders like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall

Jackson, and Jefferson Davis were lifted to positions of revere, nearly like religious figures.

• Monuments and shrines were erected throughout southern towns in honor of those who had died for the “Lost Cause”.

Emergence of Radical Republicans• Many Republicans feared that new southern

leaders would re-unite the forces of the Democrat party once back in the Union.– New resistance from the party could undo many of the

legislative measures taken by them during the war.– They feared too lenient of a policy would allow

southern states to resemble the more powerful north.• Radical Republicans: led by Thaddeus Stevens and

Charles Sumner– Significant group that wanted to punish the south for

the anguish caused during the war.

Andrew Johnson

• A former Democrat from Tennessee– Only became a Republican when he joined the Lincoln

ticket in 1864.– Not very well liked, prone to anger, and rumored to

have been a drinker.– Wasn’t trusted by the Radica Republicans.

• Lincoln had been the only politician willing, but also popular enough, to save the south from punishment.

Johnson’s Plan• Johnson pushed through his plan for

Reconstruction during the summer of 1865– Many Radical Republicans were in their home states on

recess.• Johnson’s plan for Reconstruction of the South– Grant amnesty to all Confederate soldiers– High Ranking officers and landholders worth more than

$20,000 had to personally apply to the President for their citizenship.

– Required a majority of citizens to vote for readmission.– Until they did so he could appoint provisional governors

Johnson’s Plan Cont.• The final step for each Confederate state to return to

the Union:– They hade to revoke their ordinances of secession– Abolish slavery and accept the 13th Amendment– Repudiate all war debts (refuse them)

• Unfortunately, many of the new states that accepted Johnson’s terms elected former Confederate officials to new government positions– This angered the Radicals when they returned in the fall

• During the midterm elections of 1866 the Radicals received a 2/3 majority in Congress which allowed them to override any act made by Johnson.

Congressional Radical Reconstruction• With Lincoln gone and Johnson weak the Radical

republicans placed their own reconstruction plan• 1. disenfranchised Confederate soldiers so that

they were not allowed to vote or hold office in newly appointed southern governments.

• 2. the Reconstruction Act placed all southern states under military rule.

• 3. Southern states had to accept the 14th Amendment granting all slaves citizenship.

Radicals Cont.• Radicals also passed Civil Rights Acts that guaranteed

black citizenship and allowed Congress to intervene in state issues.– When Johnson vetoed the acts they simply overrode him.

• Black Codes– Laws created in many southern states to try and revoke rights

of many newly freed slaves.– Example: make people provide family history to obtain

marriage license.• To combat these types of laws the Radicals passed the

15th Amendment.– Granted full suffrage and rights to all citizens regardless of

their previous conditions or servitude.

Congressional Acts• To prohibit Johnson from interfering with their plans,

the Radicals passed two very questionable Acts.• Tenure of Office Act: prohibited the President from

removing any executive officials without consent of the Senate.– They did this to protect member of Lincoln’s old cabinet

that Johnson struggled with. (Edwin Stanton)• Command of the Army Act: prohibited the President

from assigning orders to the military except through commanding generals.– The generals couldn’t be relieved or reassigned without

consent of the Senate.

Johnson Impeached• Even though Radicals had free reign to pass

legislation they deemed fit, they still needed Johnson to enforce their laws.– They began seeking a way to remove him from office.

• When Johnson dismissed Edwin Stanton, Sec. of War, without Senatorial consent he violated the Tenure of Office Act.

• Johnson became the first President in U.S. history to be impeached.– He was found guilty by a vote of 35 to 19, just one vote

short of removal from office.

Life in the South• The Freedmen’s Bureau– Developed shortly after the war, the agency’s primary

objective was to aide former slaves and refugees of the war.– They provided food to millions of poor slaves– Established schools, missionaries, and churches throughout

southern territories.– Only had authority to help for roughly one year

• Most freedmen had nowhere to go once the war was over– Many former slaves were found roaming the countryside

looking for a place to settle.– Often they stayed close to the occupying armies of each

state hoping for handouts.

Reconstruction Governments• Carpet Bag Governments– Since confederate soldiers couldn’t vote, many northern

businessmen moved south and convinced former slaves to vote for them in elections.

– Many southern states responded with literacy tests attempting to prohibit black people from voting.

– 15th Amendment: granted the right to vote to all citizens regardless of race. You DON’T have to take a test to vote.

• Scalawags– Term of disdain for southern voters who supported these

new governments.– Most were former Whigs who turned to Republicans after the

war.

The Sharecropping System• Plantation owners needed to make money from

their land without the use of slaves.– Most of them had lost any wealth they had to begin

with when the Confederacy lost, and their plantations were virtually destroyed.

• Share Cropping System: poor farmers in the south worked the land for wealthy landlords using their own equipment and sharing the profits.– Many sharecroppers were uneducated and usually

taken advantage of by landlords. – They could be removed from land at any time.

Southern States Redeemed• Southern white men found new ways to impart

change in many states where Reconstruction acts had impacted the most .

• The Ku Klux Klan:– The clan was initially formed by former Confederates

who wanted to fight back against Reconstruction laws.– The used fear as their main tool• Lynching, beating, murders, and threats

– They didn’t JUST target slaves, but also Carpet Baggers, Freedmen’s Bureau Officials, Scalawags

– Their intent was to restore southern planter aristocracy and Democratic Party to power in the South.

Jim Crowe• When Reconstruction Acts were lifted and federal

troops withdrew from the southern states many of the Civil Rights Acts lost their influence.

• Segregation: the separation of people based strictly on race.– Jim Crowe laws were put in place throughout the south

to separate black and white people– These laws remained in place until the 1960’s.

• Plessy v. Ferguson (1896): case in Louisiana regarding segregation. Courts first ruled that separate was legal as long as they were equal.