1850------------------1860-----------1865------------------------------1877

TENSION CIVIL WAR

RECONSTRUCTION

NEW UNIT: RECONSTRUCTION &

ITS EFFECTS

The post-war picture

I. By May of 1865A. 13th Amendment passed: abolishes slaveryB. Civil War won: Lee’s Surrender to GrantC. The Freedmen’s Bureau established: helps former slavesD. Sherman’s special field order # 15: “40 acres & a mule” E. Lincoln shot, Andrew Johnson takes over

II. Conditions in the SouthA. Ruined citiesB. Dead men (more than 1/5 of the adult white male population)C. Empty pockets

III. Conditions for Blacks: 4 million freed slavesA. Still poorB. Still mostly illiterate (10-15% literacy rate among slaves)C. Many eagerly want to learn to read: Huge demand for

education.D. First real postwar difference: Freedom to travel

1. To test their freedom, to see what was out there.2. To get work in cities: Double in population for the 10

largest Southern cities.3. To seek out their families.

Planning ReconstructionI. PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION: “With

malice toward none, with charity for all” – Abraham Lincoln

A. Before Ford’s Theater, Lincoln wanted a “10% plan”

1. All Confederates (except the leaders) who swore an oath of allegiance would get a pardon.

2. Once 10% of voters in a Southern state took the oath, then the state could re-enter the union.

B. Andrew Johnson continues the plan…1. Johnson says: Abolish slavery AND take

the oath.2. Southerners are relieved: This is an easy

transition back into their old lifestyle.C. Presidential Reconstruction did NOT

include1. Voting, land, or civil rights for Blacks.2. Any real delay in restoring political

rights to former Confederates.

II. CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION- “This can only be done by treating and holding them [the South] as a conquered people.” – Thaddeus Stevens

A. The Radical Republicans in Congress hate Johnson’s plans.

1. Led by Thaddeus Stevens & Charles Sumner, they wanted complete destruction of the old political order in the South and they wanted full citizenship for blacks.

B. They take action1. They refuse to admit the freshly “pardoned”

Southerners into Congress.2. They pass 2 radical acts:

a. Expanding the Freedmen’s Bureaub. The Civil Rights Act of 1866- makes blacks citizens and outlaws the

Black Codes.

VS.

C. The Fight Begins1. Johnson VETOES both of the Republicans Acts.2. Radicals join with moderates to override Johnson’s

veto and pass the14thAmendment which granted citizenship to blacks.

3. Johnson campaigns against the 14th Amendment, convincing Southern states not to ratify it.

D. The Radicals take over:1. Congressional Elections of 1866 bring a

landslide of Republicans into Congress (a 2/3 majority).

2. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 is passed.a. Nullifies state governments in the

south.b. Turns the Southern states (except

Tennessee) into military districts.c. Calls for new State Constitutions with

the participation of Black citizens and without the former confederate leaders.

E. Impeachment

1. Fed up with Johnson’s antagonism, the Radicals go for the ultimate move.

2. They bring 11 charges of impeachment against Johnson, mainly based on his attempt to fire Secretary of War Edwin Stanton.

3. By a narrow vote, Johnson avoids being convicted and stays in office.

F. A New President

A. Johnson does NOT run in the election of 1868.

B. Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant runs for the Republicans and wins big (including help from new Black voters).

C. Fifteenth Amendment passed to safeguard black voting rights nationwide.

D. As Grant pushed the Radical plan forward, Blacks and “carpetbaggers” fought for a new order in the state houses and courthouses across the South.

Ulysses S. Grant