Welcome to Class!March 20, 2015

What was the period of time

called that followed the Civil War?

And that's what happened to the dinosaurs. 

Reconstruction 1865-1877

* What were the newly freed people’s expectations?* What would southern whites who had supported the rebellion have to do to have their citizenship restored?* To what extent would whites comply with efforts to guarantee the civil rights of former slaves?* Who in Washington, D.C. would be in charge of Reconstruction – the President or Congress?

Questions as Reconstruction began...

The South is Destroyed

The Civil War ended April 9, 1865. Most of the land in the South was

destroyed by the Civil War. The South would need to be rebuilt.

This rebuilding of the South was called Reconstruction.

Rebuilding the Union After the Civil War,

members of Congress were unsure about how to put the nation back together.

Radical Republicans, especially Thaddeus Stevens, wanted to use federal power to create a South that would give full citizenship to freed African-Americans.

13th Amendment On February 1, 1865, President Lincoln approved the

13th Amendment.

The 13th Amendment did what the Emancipation Proclamation could not, end slavery in the U.S.

The 13th amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The Freedmen’s Bureau The Freedmen’s Bureau (signed into law

on March 3, 1864) distributed food, clothes, and fuel throughout the South after the Civil War.

The Freedmen’s Bureau was established to help poor blacks and whites in the South.

The Freedmen’s Bureau also raised money for schools and helped families reunite after being torn apart by slavery and war.

Freedmen Celebrate Emancipation

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

On March 4, 1865, President Lincoln laid out his approach to Reconstruction in his second inaugural address.

He hoped to reunite the nation and it’s people.

“With malice [hatred] toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and for his orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

-- Abraham Lincoln

Reconstruction Plan

President Lincoln wanted to reunite the nation as quickly as possible.

Any southern state with at least 10% of its voters making a pledge to be loyal to the U.S. could be readmitted to the Union.

The South also had to accept a ban on slavery.

Lincoln’s PlanQuick and easy “10%

Plan” (the states never really left the Union)

Government pardon all but high-ranking officials

10% of voters take oath of allegiance

HARSH

MEDIUM

EASY

Lincoln is assassinated Just six days after the war ended,

on April 15, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while watching a play.

Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Southerner who was angry at Lincoln, and conspired with others to assassinate Lincoln, Johnson, and Seward (Secretary of State).

Vice-President Andrew Johnson, a Democrat, became president.

Ford’s Theater, Washington DC

The hanging of four of Booth’s eight convicted co-conspirators (including one woman) in July 1865

President Johnson Johnson was a Democrat

and former slave-holder

He demanded that all states ratify the 13th Amendment, ending slavery.

However, some Southern states refused. Instead, they formed new governments that were just like the old ones and passed Black Codes.

Andrew Johnson’s PlanV.P takes over from LincolnPresidential ReconstructionStates have to…

–Withdraw secession –Swear allegiance to the

U.S.–Annul war debts–Adopt 13th amendment

HARSH

MEDIUM

EASY

The Black Codes

The Black Codes were laws passed by Southern states that limited the new-found freedom of African Americans.

Black Codes forced African Americans to work on farms or as servants. They also prevented African Americans from owning guns, holding public meetings, or renting property in cities.

Radical Republicans

The Black Codes angered many Republicans in Congress who felt the South was returning to its old ways.

The Radical Republicans wanted the South to change more before they could be readmitted to the Union.

They were angry at President Johnson for letting the South off so easy.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 Radical Republicans urged Congress to

pass the Civil Rights Act of 1866, stating that all persons born in the United States were citizens--entitled to equal rights.

Johnson shocks Congress by vetoing the bill! He says it “would operate against the white race”.

Congress overrides the president’s veto by a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate, making it a law.

Johnson strikes again… President Johnson also refused to support the

ratification of the 14th Amendment because it would protect citizenship and equality in the U.S. Constitution.

This caused Congress to change it’s lenient policy towards letting the Southern states back into the Union. They passed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867, dividing the South into 5 military districts. Each district was run by a military commander.

Before Southern states could come back to the Union, they had to ratify the 14th Amendment and give the vote to all adult males.

This was known as Radical Reconstruction.

The 14th Amendment

The 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to all people born or naturalized within the U.S. except for the Native Americans.

It said that state governments could not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

Radical Republicans Plan

Congressional Reconstruction

Wanted to punish the South for “starting the war”

Iron clad oath – 100% Military occupation Attempted to impeach

Johnson when he rejected this plan

HARSH

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EASY

Southern states give in… In 1867, Southern delegates drafted new Constitutions.

Three years later, they had all been approved.

Two groups of people that were not trusted by Southerners were the scalawags & carpetbaggers. (Scalawags were Southern Republicans that went along with Radical Reconstruction. Carpetbaggers were Northerners that rushed to the South after the war in order to take advantage of the weak state of the South.)

Former Confederate states were allowed back into the Union and sent representatives to Congress.

During Reconstruction, more than 600 African-Americans served in state legislatures in the South.

Hiram Revels Hiram Revels served as

the first African American U.S. Senator for the state of Mississippi. He actually took the place of Jefferson Davis.

Johnson’s ImpeachmentJohnson remained unpopular in Congress, especially among the Republicans. Congress passed the Tenure of office act which prevented the president from firing Cabinet members without Senate approval. The House of Representatives voted to impeach him. Johnson was impeached after he fired his Secretary Of War in 1867 without the Senate’s approval. However, he escaped removal from office by a single vote.

Ku Klux Klan In 1866 a group of white southerners created the

Ku Klux Klan.

The KKK was a secret society opposed to African Americans obtaining civil rights, particularly the right to vote.

The KKK used violence and intimidation to frighten blacks.

Klan members wore white robes and hoods to hide their identities.

The Klan was known to have murdered many people.

WHITE SUPREMACY

End of Reconstruction In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant

(Republican) beat Horatio Seymour (Democrat) in the presidential election, largely due to freedmen’s votes.

Radical Republicans pushed the 15th Amendment through Congress, allowing all men the right to vote in America.

15th Amendment

In 1870 the 15th Amendment became law.

The 15th Amendment gave African American men the right to vote (Native Americans were still not included!)

Women’s rights activists were angry because the amendment did not also grant women the right to vote.

Voting Rights Other laws were passed to keep

blacks from voting such as literacy tests.

One law, called a poll tax, said former slaves had to pay a tax to vote.

And another was passed that said a person could only vote if their grandfather had voted in the 1860s. These laws were called the Grandfather Clause.

“Boy, You ain’t a votin’ here”!

Texas Mississippi and Virginia were not allowed to vote in the election because they had not been readmitted into the Union yet.

President Grant’s Shaky Cabinet

Grant did not choose his advisors well. He chose old Army buddies and friends of his wife for government positions. Some of these officials took bribes.

In 1873, several Eastern banks ran out of money after making bad loans, causing the Panic of 1873.

The Panic of 1873

Banks closed across the land The Stock Market closed down 89 Railroads went broke, leaving farmers

with no way to transport their crops In 5 years, more than 18,000 companies

had closed Americans blamed Republicans for the

crisis, and started electing Democrats in Congress

Election of 1876

Rutherford B. Hayes ran

against Samuel J. Tilden in the 1876 election, but

the race was so

close that a

commission was chosen to

re-calculate the Votes.

Compromise of 1877A commission of 8 Republicans and 7 Democrats met and agreed to elect Rutherford B. Hayes under the following conditions:

Republicans:– Remove all federal troops from the South– Provide land grants and loans for RR construction– Appoint a Democrat into Hayes’ cabinet

Democrats:– Agree to respect the civil and political rights of

African-Americans.

As a result of this Compromise, the Southern Democrats will once again dominate the politics in the South.

After Reconstruction

After Reconstruction, most African-Americans still lived in poverty. However, protection for civil rights became part of the U.S. Constitution.

Segregation and Jim Crow Laws

Starting in 1881, blacks had to stay in separate hotels, sit in separate parts of theaters, ride in separate rail cars, and have separate schools, libraries, and parks. This is known as segregation.

Segregation - the legal separation of blacks and whites in public places

Jim Crow Laws - laws that forced segregation

Continued Fight for Civil Rights

Civil Disobedience - the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest.

Civil Rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and others will use this practice during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.

Dawes Act Authorized the President of

the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship.

Freedmen were abandoned to a redeemded SOUTH.

Amendments to the Constitution

13th (XIII) – Abolished Slavery (FREE)

14th (XIV) – granted citizenship & due process (CITIZENS)

15th (XV) – granted voting rights (VOTE)