RECONSTRUCTION

1866-1877

The State of the Union (after the war)

Economically•The South is in ruins•The underpinnings of an entire economic system has collapsed• Inflation is extremely high• Poverty can be seen everywhere

Politically•The North had complete dominance over the Southern “secessionist” states•The Republican Party is expected to stimulate business through federal measures

Special Field Order No. 15•Gen. W. T. Sherman orders that “40 acres and a mule” for the freedmen in the Sea Islands off the coasts of South Carolina and Georgia•Freedmen begin to tie economic autonomy with liberty

Phases of Reconstruction

1. Presidential Reconstruction (1866-1867)

2. Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873)

3. Redemption (1873-1877)

Issues:• How do secessionist states regain recognition with the

United States?

• What do we do with the Confederates?• Civil status for their leaders

• What is the Constitutional and legal status of freed blacks (freedmen)?

Lincoln’s Legacy for Reconstruction (1863-1865)

The Ten Percent Plan (1863)•Lincoln wanted a quick and painless method to bring the secessionist states back to the Union after the war ended•The plan indicated that any state would be reaccepted to the Union after 10% of the people who voted in the 1860 election took an oath to the United States.•The only exclusion were CSA officers and leaders.

Congress’ Response to Lincoln: The Wade-Davis Bill (1864)•Congress felt that Lincoln was too conciliatory and weak on the secessionist states.• They were afraid the slave and plantation owners would quickly

regain all their previous power.

•The Wade-Davis Bill indicated that 50% of the people of a secessionist state would be required to take an oath to the United States before they could be considered for statehood.

Presidential Reconstruction (President Andrew Johnson)

Presidential Reconstruction (1866-1867)

Freedmen’s Bureau•Established in 1866 to help fight for the rights of freedmen in hostile areas in the South•Had an impossible task; only 1000 agents in the South•Was an experiment in social policy that might have worked in the New Deal era or the 1960s•Goals:• Establish schools for blacks• Aid to poor/aged blacks• Settle racial disputes• Secure equal treatment and civility for blacks in the court system

•Made decent gains in healthcare and education, but it gets overshadowed with Reconstruction and lasting racial animosity

Presidential Reconstruction (1866-1867)

Black Codes•Set of laws put in place by Southern states to limit the political power of freedmen•Overthrown in 1866 by the Civil Rights Act, greatly influenced by the Freedmen’s Bureau

13th Amendment•Ratified 6 December 1865•Abolished slavery forever

Johnson’s Vetoes•Took a very conciliatory approach to Southern, very lenient on pardoning CSA leaders if they apologized•Vetoed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th Amendment (both moderate proposals)•Johnson claims that they were a violation of states’ rights; the federal government is trying to bully the South•Democrats loved him for this

Radical Reconstruction

Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873)

Reconstruction Act of 1867•Johnson really tried to keep this one from getting passed•The act effectively seized control of Reconstruction from Johnson• More Radical Republicans were coming into Congress;

outnumbering moderates and Democrats•The act divides the South into 5 military districts• First District: Virginia• Second District: North and South Carolina• Third District: Georgia, Alabama, and Florida• Fourth District: Arkansas and Mississippi• Fifth District: Texas and Louisiana

Annexation of Alaska•Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated a treaty between Russia and the U.S. to purchase Alaska “Seward’s Icebox” for $15 million

Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873)

Johnson Gets Impeached•Congress attempts to impeach him twice; they succeed the second time•Charge him with violating the Tenure of Office Act•He narrowly escapes being thrown out of office• Good lawyers convince Congress he would play nice until the end

of his term•Johnson becomes the first president to get impeached and the first to succeed an assassinated president

Christmas Day Amnesty Act•Johnson grants unconditional amnesty to all Confederates on 25 December 1868, less than a month before he turned over the office to Ulysses S. Grant

14th Amendment•Guarantees citizenship for all freedmen

15th Amendment•Guarantees suffrage (right to vote) regardless of race, color, or previous servitude (slavery)• Feminists enraged because they were not included

Rise of the Ku Klux Klan

Rise of the Ku Klux Klan

Reaction to Reconstruction•Klan was created in 1865 immediately after the end of the Civil War•Really did not gain steam until Radical Reconstruction in the late 1860s•The group was essentially a reaction to two things:• A rising number of discontented veterans in the South• Dramatically altered social situation where whites had to reclaim

white supremacy• Waco’s own Felix H. Robertson was most likely a member (his son

was a member of the Klan in the 1920s)•The Klan becomes tied with the Democratic Party•Essentially a Para-military force that served the interests of Democrats, planters, and all those who wished for white supremacy to return to an “Old South”•The group relates well to the “Lost Cause” mentality•President Grant effectively uses federal power to silence the Klan throughout the rest of Reconstruction• Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871

•They never really go away; just go underground until the 1920s

Klansmen in Mississippi

Ku Klux Klan Warning to Carpetbaggers in Ohio

Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873)

Carpetbaggers•Northerners who moved to the South during Radical and Redemptive Reconstruction•Had economic and business goals in mind, but claimed they were there to support the Freedmen’s Bureau and help out the South•Railroads and speculation in rail lines were of primary interest

Scalawags•Southern whites (often Democrats) that openly supported Reconstruction and Republicans

Redemptive Reconstruction (Ulysses S. Grant)

Redemptive Reconstruction (1873-1877)

The Grant Administration•Known primarily as an era of scandals•Grant had difficulty dealing with a Congress that was split on issues such as:• Tariffs• Currency• Civil Service Reform

•Mark Twain reflects on this period as an ‘age of excess’; also becomes known as the “Gilded Age”

Panic of 1873•Really marks the shift between Radical and Redemptive Reconstruction•The economy in the South was bad, but it gets much worse• Cotton prices fall in half• Many small landowners, merchants, and some wholesalers go

bankrupt•Sharecropping becomes common• Sharing the risk of owning land; black and white farmers

participate•Crop-Lien System – farmers have to commit a portion of their year’s crops as collateral for purchasing needed goods•President Grant takes the blame; Republicans lose many seats in Congress

Redemptive Reconstruction (1873-1877)

Election of 1876•Democratic candidate: Samuel Tilden•Republican candidate: Rutherford B. Hayes•The election causes great turmoil as some states send in two sets of election results•Congress is unsure what course of action is best•No one really knew who won the election

Compromise “Bargain” of 1877•Congress established a special commission to settle the election•An informal agreement eventually places another Republican in the presidency in exchange for ending Reconstruction•Terms:• Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep.) would become president• Hayes had to end Reconstruction immediately• Hayes had to guarantee federal aid to the South and remove

federal troops•Democrats would not cause trouble if the Republicans followed through with the terms•Hayes takes office and ends Reconstruction within the first month of his presidency

Election of 1876

Legacy of Reconstruction

•Essentially a 12 year struggle that failed in almost all aspects

• Failed to make a solid plan to reinvigorate the Southern economy after the war

• Failed to clearly define what citizenship meant for freedmen

• Laid the foundation for future freedom struggles

•Failed economically, socially, and politically in all regards

•One of the darker moments in United States history

• Especially the Johnson presidency