Chapter 9:Louisiana’s Reconstruction Era
On Louisiana’s Journey…
© 2005 Clairmont Press
-- What living conditions did surviving Louisianans and former slaves face after the Civil War?
What issues had to be resolved regarding Southern states once the Civil War ended?
Section 1: After the War
Issues to be Resolved:
The issues that had to be resolved were: How should the southern states be readmitted
to the Union? What, if any, political and civil rights should be
granted to former slaves? Should the former Confederates be punished
for the rebellion?
What words do I need to know?
-- freedmen
-- reconstruction
-- Black Code
-- Freedman’s Bureau
Section 1: After the War
Union General Banks burned much of central Louisiana
Livestock populations decimated Parish records lost or destroyed Transportation infrastructure (roads,bridges, levees
, and railroads) badly damaged
Postwar Conditions
Devastated economy worsened disorder and poverty for former slaves
Freed slaves lacked land and resources to rebuild a prosperous new life
War-torn South struggled to survive
Freedmen
All Northerners didn’t agree on how to rebuild the South
Lincoln’s “10 Percent Plan” allowed states to rejoin union after 10 percent of 1860 voters signed loyalty oath
Louisiana’s 1864 Constitution ended slavery, but forbid freedmen from voting
Lincoln’s assassination brought harsher reconstruction conditions to Louisiana
Presidential Reconstruction
President Andrew Johnson readmitted Southern states that approved the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Republican “Radicals” wanted to give the land owned by Confederate officers to the freed slaves
Johnson pardoned former Confederate officers, allowing them to keep their land
Congress nearly voted Johnson out of office
Johnson and Reconstruction
Many former Confederates elected to the Louisiana legislature
The legislators’ doorkeeper, an armless Confederate veteran, manned the door in a Confederate uniform
Louisianan Republicans were mostly Northerners, former slaves, and free people of color
Governor James M. Wells was a Unionist, who had supported the Union during the war
Louisiana’s Postwar Government
Former slaves sought security, education, and united families
Many freedmen left plantations and sought work in the state’s towns
Black codes limited the freedmen’s movements, actions, and conduct
Freedmen were made to sign one-year labor contracts or face arrest or public work
Black Code
Established in 1865 by federal government Provided food, clothing, and basic shelter to
needy Southerners and former slaves Agents around the state handled work
contracts between freedmen and planters Riots in New Orleans in 1866 ended a
planned Constitutional Convention, which might have assured the freedmen the right to vote
Freedmen’s Bureau
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION
-- How did military enforcement and policies change the course of Reconstruction?
Section 2: Military Reconstruction
What words do I need to know?
-- carpetbagger
-- scalawag
-- Knights of the White Camellia
-- fraud
Section 2: Military Reconstruction
Reconstruction Act of 1867 placed the Southern states under strict military control
States were pressured to approve the 14th
Amendment, guaranteeing voting rights to all males
Former Confederates could no longer hold office
The state remained under military control for 10 years
Radical Reconstruction
Henry Clay Warmouth, a former Union officer, was elected Republican governor in 1868
He was known as the “Louisiana’s Carpetbagger Governor”
Carpetbaggers described newcomers who moved South with few belongings to make their fortunes
Scalawags were local white Unionists who joined the controlling Republicans
Carpetbaggers
Self-described “Conservatives,” mostly former Confederates, sought to regain pre-war political power
These “Redeemers” resented military control and black elected officials
The Knights of the White Camilla, a masked group, intimidated voters to keep freedmen from voting
Governor Warmouth appointed a board to throw out votes found to be fraudulent (unfair)
The Redeemers
Governor Warmouth was charged with election corruption
William P. Kellogg declared Louisiana’s governor by the federal government
P.B.S. Pinchbeck became acting governor in December 1872, during impeachment hearings against Governor Warmouth
Pinchbeck was first African American governor of any state
The 1872 Election
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION
-- How did the Reconstruction years end in Louisiana?
Section 3: The Last Years of Reconstruction
What terms do I need to know?
-- anarchy
-- The White League
-- Colfax Riot
Section 3:The Last Years of Reconstruction
Louisiana came close to anarchy (lawless absence of government) during Reconstruction’s final years
The Colfax Riot of 1873, in Grant Parish, resulted in more than 50 black deaths
The black Republican candidate fought the white Democrat for control of the Sheriff’s office
The 1873 Unification Movement, designed to help blacks and whites share political offices, failed to bring both sides together
Violence in Louisiana
White Louisianans began policies to reclaim control of the state government
The White League (1874) intended to restore political power to white Democrats, with or without violence
Bulldozing (violence and threats to drive Republicans from office) was a tactic used
New Orleans’ “Battle of Liberty Place” in 1874 pitted 4,000 Metropolitan police against 8,000 White League members
Federal troops arrived to restore order
The White League
The Republican leadership in Washington, DC agreed to end military Reconstruction
Federal troops removed from Louisiana and rest of South by 1877
Republican Rutherford B. Hayes elected President in 1876
National Republicans would no longer keep Louisiana Republicans in power
The 1876 Elections
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ESSENTIAL QUESTION
-- How did Louisianans survive during Reconstruction?
Section 4: Rebuilding Louisiana
What words do I need to know?
-- sharecropping
-- credit
-- economic plan
Section 4: Rebuilding Reconstruction
Banks reluctant to rebuild the plantation system because planters had no slaves
Slaves had been used as collateral (something of value pledged as security for a loan)
Sharecropping developed: laborers lived on planters’ land in return for a share of the profit when the crop was sold
Crop Lien System: Merchants sold on credit in return for payment at the year’s end
Sharecroppers remained in debt year-round
Labor in Louisiana
Trade centers in parts of Louisiana began to expand
Traveling circuses and riverboat shows filled the waterways
Riverboat races provided riverfront dwellers entertainment
Baseball travel teams became popular Volunteer fire departments held socials and
parades African-American churches became community
center for many former slaves
Rebuilding Lives
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