Chapter 12Reconstruction

1864 Presidential ElectionLincoln v. McClellan

• Johnson balances Lincoln’s ticket– Northern Democrat, southerner, former slave owner

• Absentee ballots from Union soldiers• Last minute Union victories

Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• Union Victory was certain• Themes of address– Preservation of the union “indivisible nation”– Sorrow over the war-diplomacy had failed– War was necessary to end slavery– Urged peaceful reunion and reconstruction “with

malice toward none; with charity for all”

Lincoln’s Assassination

• John Wilkes Booth-confederate sympathizer• Fords Theater• Johnson becomes President

Reconstruction 1865-1877

1. Physically rebuild the South2. Readmit the southern states to the Union

Johnson’s Reconstruction PlanExecutive Plan

1. Pardon southerners who swore allegiance to the Union2. Hold constitutional conventions to form new state

governments3. Withdraw their secession4. Ratify the 13th Amendment5. Hold elections and be part of the Union

Criticisms of Johnson’s Plan

• Many CSA politicians retained positions of power• CSA politicians were able to pass Black Codes– Curfews– Could be whipped or sold into slavery if convicted of

vagrancy– Had to work for whites at least a year ETC…

Radical Republicans v. Johnson“Congress should be in charge of

Reconstruction!”

• Thaddeus Stevens• Punish states for secession• Destroy political power of former slave holders• Full citizenship and suffrage for African

Americans• Land distribution

13th Amendment

• Abolishes slavery

Civil Rights Act 1866

• Gave African Americans citizenship• Forbade Black Codes• Johnson vetoes, congress overrides

14th Amendment

• Provided a Constitutional Basis for the Civil Rights Act

• No person, regardless of race, can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

15th Amendment

• 15-suffrage– cannot deny the right to vote based on race, color,

or previous condition of servitude

Reconstruction Act of 1867

• Kicked readmitted states out and set new readmission requirements (Johnson vetoed, congress overrode)– 5 military zones– Write new state constitutions that have to include African

American suffrage– Southerners who supported the CSA were denied suffrage– Have to ratify the 14th amendment giving former slaves state

citizenship

Johnson’s Impeachment

• High crimes and misdemeanors• Radicals passed laws to keep Johnson weak• Johnson ignored those laws: Tenure of Office Act• 3 month trial Not guilty by 1 vote

Impeachment Process

CongressHouse impeach SenateVotes to impeach Senate becomes jurors

Chief Justice Presides over trial

Recommend to impeach or not

Judiciary 2/3 to convictCommitteeReviews evidence guilty-out of office

not guilty-stays in

12:2 Reconstructing Society

Share Cropping

• Kept former slaves tied and in debt to land owners

• Owner provided land, tools, housing• Had to give up a share of the crop

Tenant Farming

• Paid rent to land owner• Owned the crops to sell• Cycle of debt kept (391) kept tied to and in

debt to land owners

40 Acres and a Mule

• Promised by Sherman to slaves who left the plantation and followed the Union Army during the war

• Johnson gave it back to original landowners

Freedmen’s Bureau 1865-1869

• 1st federal relief agency in U.S. history• Provided clothes, medical attention, food,

education and land• Helped transition to freedom

African American Churches

• One of the few institutions truly owned and controlled by the black population

• Center for social and political issues• Ministers were spiritual, social, and political

leaders

Education during Reconstruction

• Freedmen’s Bureau, churches• Teachers-often black soldiers who had acquired

some education in the service• Kids and adults• Morehouse College “Black Harvard” provides

advanced education

Political Power during Reconstruction

• 90% voted-mostly Republican• Hiram Revels-1st African American U.S. Senator• Several House Members• 100s of state office holders

Scalawags

• White southerners who joined the Republican party– Redistribute wealth– Redistribute political power– Bring industry to the South

Carpetbaggers

• Northerners who moved South after the War– Freedmen’s Bureau– Buy cheap land– Business men/entrepreneurs took advantage of

the devastated economy of the South

12:3The End of Reconstruction

Ku Klux Klan

• Secret society• Used murder, arson, violence as

means of controlling freed Africans Americans

• Founded by Confederate Army veterans

• Fought against Congressional Reconstruction plans

• Federal troops occupied the south to curtail KKK violence

Enforcement Acts 1870, 1871

• Provided federal supervision of elections• Provided federal troops in active KKK areas

Freedmen’s Bureau Expires

• Congress does not renew funding

Amnesty Act 1872

• Returned the right to vote and hold office to 160,000 former Confederates

• Republicans lose political power

Panic of 1873

• Businesses had expanded during the Civil War

• Post-war production exceeded demand

• Banks closed• Stock market crashed• 5 year depression

Redemption

• Democrats regain power– Amnesty Act– Scandal in Grant Administration– Supreme Court Decisions weaken the power of the 14th and 15th

Amendments– Depression

1876 Election

• (R)Rutherford B. Hays v. (D) Sam Tilden• Hays wins electoral vote, Tilden wins popular vote• Contested election-House decides

Compromise of 1877

House will accept Hayes as President IF• Federal Troops removed from the south• Democrats get $$ for southern public

works programs• Hayes puts southern conservatives in his cabinet

Home Rule

• Ability to run state government without interference of the federal government

• Took 80 years for the Civil Rights movement to begin gaining equality for African Americans