Chapter 15: Reconstruction Part 1By Neil HammondMillbrook High School

Costs of the War

The Meaning of the WarShifted power from South to NorthIncreased power of federal governmentAccelerated modernization of Northern economyPlaced on the postwar agenda the challenge of defining and protecting African-American freedom

The Ambiguity of the Constitution Silent on secessionsilent on readmission of states

Lincoln 10% plan

1. Loyalty oath (open to all except Confederate leaders and people who had resigned from Congress)

2. Form a government once 10% of a state had sworn loyalty

By 1864 this had been implemented in Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee

Lincoln v Congress Congress thought Ls plan was too weak. Wade-Davis Bill was passed by Congress

Lincoln didnt sign it (pocket veto)

He died on April 14, 1865, and his plan died with him. Andrew Johnson became president. Southerner Senator who did NOT resign in 1860 Hated plantation owners BUT no fan of blacks either

Johnsons Plan Moderate, like Lincolns

1. Loyalty oaths in exchange for amnesty for Confederates (except for Confederate leaders and those worth $200,000 or more

2. Ratification of the 13th amendment

3. Repudiation of Confederate war debts

4. Disavowal of secession ordinances

The New Southern Governments Southern states quickly formed new governments formed mainly by Southern unionists and those who had been reluctant Confederates, but because Johnson handed out lots of pardons, many Confederate leaders were elected to positions of power in the NEW Southern governments

Southern states had also passed Black codes (laws designed to keep blacks in slavery in all but name)

Congress Takes Control Republicans in Congress REFUSED to seat the new Southern delegates, effectively rejecting Johnsons program

At the same time a wave of violence erupted across the South. Many Radical Republicans believed it was time for the federal government to step in.

1. Freedmans Bureau (created in March 1865) was extended 2. Civil Rights Bill passed

Congress Takes Control Freedmans Bureau originally created to ease the transition of slaves from slavery to freedomthe Bureaus powers grew to include economic aid, voting instruction and help establishing schoolsgiven direct federal funding and tasked with investigating mistreatment toward blacks in the South out of place??? An agency that would seem to be more fitting for the 1930sgovernment usually didnt do this

Civil Rights Bill It declared ex-slaves to be citizens and granted them, along with every other citizen, equal rights of contract, access to the courts, and protection of person and property.

Congress v. The President A political struggle over who controlled Reconstruction followed

Johnson vetoed the new Freedmans Bureau Bill. A month later Johnson vetoed the Civil Rights Bill, but Republicans overrode the veto Johnsons attitude became ugly. He ranted that the US government was a government for whites

Republicans reestablished the Freedmans Bureau. More reports came out of the South about violence toward ex-slaves.

The 14th Amendment Republicans moved to establish their gains in a constitutional amendment:

This is THE most important amendment in US history. The Supreme Court has used this amendment more than ANY OTHER to decide cases.

Things Turn Ugly Johnson began to actively campaign against the 14th Amendment, urging southern states not to ratify it. Johnson aimed at establishing a new political coalition made up of Democrats and conservative Republicans.

Republicans responded by waving the bloody shirt.

Republicans crushed Johnson and national union candidates in the 1866 elections. Now they had control over reconstruction, and the Republican program became a mixture of the radical and conservative agenda.

The Federal Government Takes Charge Even after the 1866 elections Southern states remained defiant. Every state except Tennessee rejected the 14th amendment.

SoCongress passed the Military Reconstruction Act in 1867 over Johnsons veto

The Federal Government Takes Charge To be readmitted to the union, states had to: 1. pass the 14th amendment 2. organize a government that guaranteed black suffrage (voting) The South was divided into 5 military districts

Impeachment Tenure of Office Act

1. Required senate consent for the removal of ANY official whose appointment had required senate confirmation 2. All orders to the army had to be issued through its commanding general

Radical Republicans were trying to remake the presidency as well as Reconstruction

Johnson tried to remove Secretary of War StantonRepublicans responded by impeaching the president

Johnson Video

Impeachment House acts as the prosecutor Senate acts as the Judge

After an eleven-week trial, thirty-five senators on May 15 voted for conviction, one vote short of the two-thirds majority required. Seven moderate Republicans broke ranks, voting for acquittal along with twelve Democrats. Why? too radical wary of next in line for presidency, Benjamin Wade, a Radical Republican

1868 Election Johnson narrowly avoided conviction, but he was powerless for the rest of his presidency

Republicans waved the bloody shirt and nominated US Grant, who defeated Democrat Horatio Seymour

15th Amendment Many felt a need to protect the right of blacks to vote. 1. Grant had received almost all of the 700,000 black votes cast2. 11/21 northern states did not allow blacks to vote

3 Different versions: 1. prohibited states from denying citizens the vote because of their race, color, or the previous experience of being a slave. 2. prevented states from denying the vote to anyone based on literacy, property, or the circumstances of their birth. 3. all males 21+ had right to vote

15th Amendment Congress chose the least radical solution

Many states used poll taxes, literacy tests and other methods to qualify voters

In order to get this to pass, Congress made the 14th and 15th amendments a condition of readmission to the union for the states of Texas, Virginia and Mississippi

15th Amendment Women WERE NOT a part of this amendment

When women, because they are women, are hunted down dragged from their homes and hung upon lamp posts when their children are not allowed to enter schools; then they will have an urgency to obtain the ballot equal to our own. Frederick Douglass

"Think of Patrick and Sambo and Hans and Ung Tung, who do not know the difference between a Monarchy and a Republic, who never read the Declaration of Independence... making laws for Lydia Maria Child, Lucretia Mott, or Fanny Kemble." Elizabth Cady Stanton

15th Amendment The womens movement split:

AWSA -- accepted that the 15th amendment did not allow the vote

NSWA -- Led by Stanton and Susan B Anthonyfought for the right to vote