BellworkNow that the war is over, what challenges is the nation going to face? What problems would they have to solve?- Write down a few of your ideas at the top of your notes.

Reconstruction

Native Americans in the Civil War

• Once again, seemed to have chosen the wrong side

• Many tribes (including the Cherokee, Creek, Seminole) signed treaties with the Confederacyo Some natives were slave ownerso Confederacy promised to protect Indian territory

• Natives were severely punished after the waro Forced to sell land cheap and buy higho Territorial losses in the west- making room for other

tribeso Forced to allow the railroads to cross their lands

Slaves in the Civil War• As supplies of troops decreased, US government

instituted the draft which included both white and black men

• Total of 215,000 served, 10% of the total force

• 3/5ths were former slaves

• 54th Massachusetts Regiment- led by Robert Gould Shawo 1007 volunteers, including 2 of Frederick Douglass’

sonso Led the charge on Fort Wagner where Shaw and 281

of his men were killed

Freedom• Mixed reactions to the end of slavery

o Some violence from both sideso Searching for familieso Many white southerners felt betrayed and

abandoned- “self-deception”

The “Solution”• Sharecropping- new economic system of

exploitationo Since ex-slaves lacked land and capital, they

went to work for large landownerso Owners lent the freedmen land, a home,

supplies etc, o In exchange, the freedmen grew a cash crop

and gave half to the land owner, but other debts prevented them from making much money

o Did offer some autonomy

Political complications• Black codes- laws put into effect in southern states to

keep ex-slaves on the plantationso Denied freedmen the right to purchase or rent lando Caught in vagrancy- could be put to work for a planter

for up to 1 year- required written proof of employment before leaving the plantation

o Couldn’t own weapons, marry whites, assemble after sundown

• Freedman’s Bureau- March 1865- organization that argued for freedman’s rights

Presidential Differences• Lincoln- saw reconstruction as

restorationo Wanted the southern states restored quickly

with little retaliation from the union

• Andrew Johnsono Democrat- firm believer in state’s rightso Undermined the Freedman’s Bureau- refused

to allow ex-slaves to keep confiscated territory

Congress and the President Clash• All these actions while Congress was in recess- the

Republican Congress was furious when they returned o Congress tried to renew Freedman’s Bureau charter,

Johnson vetoed- Congress overrode

• Civil Rights act of 1866- First attempt to ensure citizenship rights for all Americans regardless of raceo Johnson vetoed, Congress overrodeo Led into the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed

citizenship (not necessarily the right to vote) to all men regardless of race- ratified in 1868

Impeachment• Congress felt the President was hindering Reconstruction-

passed several acts limiting his powero The Tenure of Office Act- President cannot remove

certain federal officeholders without the Senate’s approval

• Johnson removed Edwin Stanton (Lincoln’s Secretary of War)- led to his impeachmento 3 different votes for impeachment, all 1 vote short of

the 2/3rds majority neededo After this embarrassment Johnson stopped impeding

reconstruction

Carpet Baggers and Scalawags• Carpet Baggers- Northerners who had migrated

to the South either during or after the Civil Waro Seen as taking unfair advantage of the

South’s loss to make a profit

• Scalawags- Southern White Republicans

• Accused to scheming together to manipulate the freedmen and control Southern governments

• Some corruption, but mostly myth

KKK and White supremacy• Redemption movement sought to reestablish white

supremacy

• Ku Klux Klan- secret organization started in Tennessee in 1866- dedicated to ending Republican power and preventing blacks from voting- using violence as necessaryo "Every Democrat," said a South Carolina Redeemer,

"must feel honor bound to control the vote of at least one negro by intimidation, purchase...or as each individual will determine."

• Congress responded by giving the President power to combat these organizations, but the damage was done.

End of Reconstruction• Radical members of Congress left or died (Thaddeus

Stevens in 1868)o Resignation and then indifference

• Brought to an official end by the Presidential election of 1876o Rutherford B. Hayes (R) vs. Samuel Tilden(D)o Chaotic mess, each side accusing the other of skewing

the voting numberso Election commission chooses Hayes by 1 vote, South

was only willing to accept this result if the North withdrew troops from the South