1865-1877. federal program to rebuild the south period of time following the civil war when the...
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Rebirth and Rebuilding of the South
Reconstruction1865-1877
Federal program to rebuild the South
Period of time following the Civil War when the South was rebuilt
1865-1877
Reconstruction was…
Guns and Ruined Buildings Near the Tredegar Iron Works - Richmond, VA, April 1865
Right: Atlanta, Georgia
Above: Charleston, South Carolina
The Defeated South
A: Because the majority of battles took place in the South, many Southern houses, farms, bridges, and railroads were destroyed.
Q: Based upon your observations of the map below, how were the North and the South effected differently as a result of the Civil War?
After the Civil WarThe Civil War was the most costly war in American
History in terms of total devastation.At least 618,000 Americans died in the Civil War,
and some experts say the toll reached 700,000. These casualties exceed the nation's loss in all its
other wars, from the Revolution through Vietnam.
Amazing War Losseswww.civilwarhome.com/casualties.htm
0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
Battle Sickness
NorthSouth
Railroads, bridges, plantations, and crops had been destroyed.
Lincoln, Johnson, and Congress
Reconstruction Plans
Lincoln’s Plan
“With malice towards none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to 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 orphan… to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
10% Plan
President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan10% Plan
* Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 8, 1863)
* Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in the South.
* He didn’t consult Congress regarding Reconstruction.
* Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers.
* When 10% of the voting population in the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty and established a government, it would be recognized.
President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan
1864 “Lincoln Governments” formed in LA, TN, AR
* “loyal assemblies”
* They were weak and dependent on the Northern army for their survival.
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864) Required 50% of the
number of 1860 voters to take an “iron clad” oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion ).
Required a state constitutional convention before the election of state officials.
Enacted specific safeguards of freedmen’s liberties.
SenatorBenjamin
Wade(R-OH)
Congressman
HenryW. Davis(R-MD)
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864) “Iron-Clad” Oath.
“State Suicide” Theory [MA Senator Charles Sumner]
“Conquered Provinces” Position[PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens]
PresidentLincoln
Wade-DavisBill
PocketVeto
President Andrew Johnson
President Andrew Johnson Jacksonian
Democrat.
Anti-Aristocrat.
White Supremacist.
Agreed with Lincolnthat states had neverlegally left the Union.
Damn the negroes! I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+)
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except
Confederate civil and military officers and those with property over $20,000 (they could apply directly to Johnson)
In new constitutions, they must accept minimumconditions repudiating slavery, secession and state debts.
Named provisional governors in Confederate states and called them to oversee elections for constitutional conventions.
EFFECTS?
1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates.2. Pardoned planter aristocrats brought them back to political power to control state organizations.3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite were back in power in the South!
Growing Northern Alarm!
Growing Northern Alarm! Many Southern state
constitutions fell short of minimum requirements.
Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons.
Revival of southern defiance.
BLACK CODES BLACK CODES
Johnson the Martyr / Samson
Johnson the Martyr / SamsonIf my blood is to be shed
because I vindicate the Union and the preservation of this government in its original purity and character, let it be shed; let an altar to the Union be erected, and then, if it is necessary, take me and lay me upon it, and the blood that now warms and animates my existence shall be poured out as a fit libation to the Union. (February 1866)
“Andrew Johnson Mends the Union”
Congress’ PlanRadical Republicans wanted to make
the southerners pay for the war they had caused
Outspoken proponents for the hard line against the SouthThaddeus Stevens – leader in the
HouseCharles Sumner – leader in the
SenateBenjamin DavisHenry Davis
Radical Plan for Readmission
Radical Plan for Readmission Civil authorities in the territories were
subject to military supervision.
Required new state constitutions, includingblack suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making.
Congress Breaks with the President
Congress Breaks with the President Congress bars Southern
Congressional delegates.
Joint Committee on Reconstruction created.
February, 1866 Presidentvetoed the Freedmen’sBureau bill.
March, 1866 Johnsonvetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
Congress passed both bills over Johnson’s vetoes 1st in U. S. history!!
The 1866 Bi-ElectionThe 1866 Bi-Election
Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle”
A referendum on Radical Reconstruction.
Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda tour around the country to push his plan.
Republicanswon a 3-1majority in both houses and gained control of every northern state.
Radical Plan for Readmission
Radical Plan for Readmission Civil authorities in the territories were
subject to military supervision.
Required new state constitutions, includingblack suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making.
The Radical Republicans Plan
The Republicans, unlike Johnson, wanted to be very hard on the rebellious southern states. They organize the south up into 5 military districts each controlled by a former Civil War General.
Radical Republicans - members of the Republican party that believed that Pres. Johnson was too lenient on the South.
13th Amendment13th Amendment Ratified in December, 1865.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
14th Amendment14th AmendmentRatified in July, 1868.
* Provide a constitutional guarantee of the rights and security of freed people.
* Insure against neo-Confederate political power.
* Enshrine the national debt while repudiating that of the Confederacy.
Southern states would be punished for denying the right to vote to black citizens!
15th Amendment15th Amendment Ratified in 1870.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!
The Balance of Power in Congress
The Balance of Power in Congress
State White Citizens Freedmen
SC 291,000 411,000
MS 353,000 436,000
LA 357,000 350,000
GA 591,000 465,000
AL 596,000 437,000
VA 719,000 533,000
NC 631,000 331,000
Millions of freed slaves needed housing, clothing, food, and jobs.
Banks were closed.
Confederate money had no value.
· Some Radical Republicans wanted to give each freedman “40 acres and a mule”. However, all the freedmen were given was their freedom.
Sharecropper - farmer who works part of the land and gives the landowner part of the harvest
A Cycle of Poverty
Southern sharecropper picking cotton.
SharecroppingSharecropping
* As a result, freedmen were in constant debt to the landowners and were never able to earn a profit. If they tried to move, they could be arrested. Therefore, freedmen became tied down to the land, in a state similar to slavery.
How did sharecropping work?
· Freedmen would farm land belonging to white owners, oftentimes their old masters.
· Freedmen would pay rent for the land they farmed by giving the landowner a percentage of their crops.
· In addition, freedmen would purchase seed, tools, and other supplies from the landowner.
PlantationLand worked by sharecroppers.
From Bad to Worse
Racial Tensions
Problems with Reconstruction
Terrorist GroupsReconstruction brought
violent opposition throughout the South.
The KKK and similar organizations wanted to restore the old political order.
Their methods included threats, house burnings, and killings against not only blacks but whites as well.
State governments were unable to control violence.
Enforcement ActsThree Enforcement Acts
were passed, setting heavy penalties for anyone attempting to prevent a qualified person from voting.
They banned the use of disguises and gave the army and federal courts power to capture and punish KKK members.
While the KKK was soon brought under control, other groups continued to operate.
“Tis But a Change of Banners”
1864 1868
Kept the African Americans “down”Made sure that there was still a stable supply of
labor even though the slaves had been emancipated
Was almost like slavery againForced many of the newly freed slaves into
sharecroppingAfrican Americans were forbidden from:
VotingServing on juriesOwning gunsRunning for political office
Black Codes
More of the same for the African Americans
Jim Crow Laws
Jim Crow Laws - laws passed by southerners to segregate public places, such as schools, restaurants, theaters, trains, hospitals, water fountains, and cemeteries.The "Jim Crow" figure was a fixture of
the minstrel shows that toured the South; a white man made up as a black man sang and mimicked stereotypical behavior in the name of comedy.
Jump Jim Crow, Bob Ekstrand, 2:05
Get Off the Sidewalk Charles Gratton, 2:17
Sample Jim Crow Laws
Florida: The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be conducted separately.
Virginia: Any public hall, theatre, opera house, motion picture show or place of public entertainment which is attended by both white and colored persons shall separate the white race and the colored race.
Maryland: All railroad companies are hereby required to provide separate cars or coaches for the travel and transportation of the white and colored passengers. Louisiana: Any person...who shall rent any part of any such building to a negro person or a negro family when such building is already in whole or in part in occupancy by a white person or white family shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
Florida: All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited.
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
Ku Klux Klan - secret group set up in the South after the Civil War. Members terrorized primarily African-Americans, but they targeted Catholics and Jews as well.
Plessey vs. Ferguson
Separate but Equal?
Plessy v. Ferguson - The Supreme Court ruled that segregation was legal as long as facilities were “separate but equal”.
This cause came on to be heard on the transcript of the record from the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana, and was argued by counsel.
On consideration whereof, It is now here ordered and adjudged by this Court that the judgement of the said Supreme Court, in this cause, be and the same is hereby, affirmed with costs.
· Poll taxes and literacy tests were used to prevent freedmen from voting.
Separate But Not Equal
Voting Restrictions:
The Freedman’s
BureauAn Attempt in the Right
Direction
Freedmen’s Bureau SchoolFreedmen’s Bureau School
· The Freedmen’s Bureau provided food, clothing, jobs, medical care, and education for millions of former slaves and poor whites.
Freedmen’s Bureau
A teacher and elementary school students posing on the steps of the Hill School, ca. late 19th Century. The school was a part of the Christiansburg Institute, which was first opened by the U. S. Freedmen's Bureau in 1866. (Montgomery County, VA)
· Newly freed slaves, freedmen, had no land, jobs, or education.
Left and right: post-Civil War Ohio
Atlanta, GA
Carpetbaggers: northerners who moved to the South after the war and entered politics.
Carpetbaggers
Carpetbaggers Brief History of Carpetbags and Carpetbaggers
With the rapid expansion of railroads in the 1840’s and 1850’s . Ordinary people were traveling in large numbers, and there was an need for cheap luggage ,so thousands of carpetbags were manufactured. They were made by saddle makers in many town and cities and were many sizes and shape. They were called Carpetbags because the makers would buy old carpets and construct the bags from the pieces of carpet that were not completely worn out. This how Carpet bags could be manufactured cheaply , they sold in Dry Goods for $1 to $2. By the 1860’s carpetbags were carried by all most everyone, Men, Women, well to do , middle class and not so well to do. Carpetbags were the first suitcases made in large numbers. When you traveled during the Civil War (1861-1865) and though the 1870, you packed your Carpetbag . This became a way to identify an outsider (traveler).
During the civil war Reconstruction Period (1865-1870) many people for the Northern States went South because it was so poor that there many opportunities for a person with money even a little money. For example you could own a farm by paying the past due taxes for as little as $25. These Opportunities attacked all sorts people from honest hard working farmers, to crooks, charlatans, con artist and of course crooked politicians. All these outsiders (identified by their Carpetbag) were called Carpetbaggers and still are in many places. It became the term to refer to a Yankee who moved to the south and usually meant a “damn Yankee and not to be trusted, a scoundrel”. Probably the worst Carpetbaggers were the politicians who used their positions in the corrupt Reconstruction Government to enrich themselves through bribes, graft and other despicable acts at the expense of native Southerners. Today the dictionary defines a Carpetbagger as “ an outsider involved in politics”.
Scalawags: southern white Republicans after the Civil War.
Origin of term scalawag: Pre-l865: inferior cattle or ponies, vagabond or menial servant, mean fellow, loafer, blackguard, scamp. Use in l87l: "scaly sheep" in testimony by Alabama Democrat before congressional committee.
Treatment of scalawags: criticized, scorned, hated, ostracized, attacked.
Myths about scalawags:Poor, illiterate north Alabama small farmers.No antebellum political experience.Rabid Unionists at time of secession.Gained few political offices.
Scalawags
The truth about scalawags:Held majority of Republican postwar state political offices.Majority were college-educated lawyers.Many were wealthy planters; all kinds of farmers
represented.Prewar judges, legislators, members of national political
conventions, and local office holders were all counted as scalawags.
Both ex-Confederates and former Unionists became Republicans. They did so because: They recognized Republicans were the dominant political party
when they saw the growth of support for the party after Republican victory on the national level in l868.
Some were idealistic, wanting to improve economic life in the South or to improve the lot of blacks.
Scalawags
Republican Government Brings Change to the South
ScalawagsScalawag was the name
given to southerners who supported the shift in power to Congress and the army.
Many were farmers who had never owned slaves.
Some joined the Republicans to prevent the planter class from returning to power; others were southerners ruined by the war; still others wanted to end the dependence on plantation agriculture.
CarpetbaggersThe scalawags allied with
carpetbaggers, northerners who came south to take part in the region’s political and economic rebirth.
Scorned as low-class persons who could carry their belongings in a carpetbag, many were educated and came from a variety of backgrounds.
Many bought abandoned land cheaply or formed partnerships with planters.
· Southerners could now vote again, and federal troops were removed from the South.
The End of Reconstruction
Violence increased, and southern Democrats grew stronger and bolder. Grant refused assistance since the northern public was “tired out” by South’s continuing problems. By 1876 Redeemers had won back almost all of the states.
Supreme Court
decisions
Three Supreme Court decisions seriously weakened the goals and operations of Reconstruction. The Slaughterhouse Cases, United States v. Cruikshank, and United States v. Reese served to limit the impact of the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Redeeming the South
The presidential election was disputed with charges of massive voting fraud. With the Compromise of 1877 Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops in the South, and in return, Rutherford B. Hayes became president.
The election of 1876
Reconstruction’s Legacy
The 14th and 15th Amendments began permanent changes across the United States. Former slaves were now citizens with voting rights.
The New South was becoming industrial, but in many ways it remained the same. White southerners deeply resented that the federal government controlled their states.
For a century after Reconstruction ended, the South was know as the Solid South, always voting Democratic. It was not until the 1970s that the Republican Party was able to gain ground in the South.
