hogan's history- southern reconstruction
TRANSCRIPT
Southern Reconstruction
Reconstruction
Reconstruction refers to the period from 1865 to 1877, when the process of
bringing the southern states that had seceded during the Civil War to be re-
admitted back into the Union. There were many disagreements about the best
way to accomplish this and many important pieces of legislation emerged as a
result.
Questions that had to be resolved:
•How should the Southern whites be treated?
•What should be done for the freed southern blacks?
Many people wanted the South to be punished for trying to leave the Union. Other people, however, wanted to
forgive the South and let the healing of the nation begin.
Lincoln's Ten Percent Plan
Lincoln’s plan was very forgiving to the South. Southern states could be re-
admitted into the Union when only ten percent of its voters (who were
registered in the 1860 presidential election) took a solemn oath to support
the Constitution of the United States and also acknowledge the emancipation
of the slaves.
When each southern state achieved this goal, then it could be re-admitted
back into the United States.
Since Abraham Lincoln
believed that the South had
never legally withdrawn
from the Union, restoration
was to be relatively simple.
Lincoln’s plan was lenient
and he believed that the
South shouldn't be treated
harshly.
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
Wade-Davis Bill required 50% of the states’ voters to take oaths of allegiance
and demanded stronger safeguards for emancipation than the 10% Plan.
The bill also declared that the Reconstruction of the South was a legislative
(Congress), not executive (Presidential) matter, an attempt to weaken the
power of the president.
Benjamin Wade (OH) Henry Winter Davis (MD)
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
April 14, 1865
Lincoln’s assassination was the worse thing to happen to the South because he planned to be lenient
with his reconstruction policies.
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was a Tennessean who served in Congress as a Democrat who
became Lincoln’s vice presidential running mate in the 1864 election.
Andrew Johnson became president after Lincoln was assassinated.
He never earned the trust of the North and never regained the confidence of the
South who labeled him a traitor.
Johnson was the only Confederate congressman not
to leave Congress when the rest of the South seceded.
Because he was a Tennessean the people in the South
hated Johnson because they viewed him as a traitor.
The Radical Republicans hated him because he was
viewed as being too weak on Reconstruction.
Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction
It was less severe than Radical Reconstruction and only required that
southerners swear allegiance to the Union and denounce their secession and
ratify the Thirteenth Amendment (abolish slavery).
President Johnson’s Proclamation of Amnesty
In May 1865, Andrew Johnson issued a new Proclamation of Amnesty which
pardoned many former members of the Confederate government and military
that became eligible to be elected to Congress. The Southern members of
Congress included 58 high-ranking army officers and members of the former
Confederate Congress; including former vice president of the Confederacy,
Alexander Stephens and six members of his cabinet.
To make matters worse for
the North, the Southern states
had more representation in
Congress that before the war.
Representation in the House
of Representatives was now
based on all people living in
the South. Before the war,
each slave was only counted
as three-fifths of a person.
Now they were counted as a
full person.
Radical Republicans
After the Civil War, a group called the Radical Republicans believed the
South should be harshly punished for all the years of strife.
The Radical Republicans thought that Lincoln was too compassionate
towards the South and feared that the leniency of the 10 % Plan would
allow the Southerners to become too powerful again.
Thaddeus Stevens
Stevens was a powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives from
Pennsylvania. He had taken up the anti-slavery cause early on and
remained dedicated to the abolition of slavery for all of his life.
As a leader of the radical Republicans’ Reconstruction program after the
Civil War, Stevens believed in harsh punishments for the South and wanted
the Southern states to be treated as "conquered provinces."
The South should be treated as
“Conquered Provinces.” Not
only did Southern states secede
from the Union, but they should
be reverted to the status of
unorganized territory and
treated like a foreign nation
that the U.S. has conquered.
Thaddeus Stevens
Charles Sumner
Sumner, former abolitionist from Massachusetts, was an aggressive U.S.
Senator and one of the leaders of the radical Republicans’ Reconstruction
program and involved in the impeachment of Andrew Johnson.
Charles Sumner was the formulator of the state suicide theory, which stated
that when the Southern states seceded, they had destroyed themselves and
forfeited their status as states.
Charles Sumner
Call it “State Suicide.”
When the Southern states
seceded, they forfeited their
status as states.
Radical Republicans Plan for Reconstruction
• The southern states were put under military rule under the command of an
army general.
• African-Americans were allowed to vote.
• Southern states had to ratify the 14th Amendment (approve), which made
African Americans citizens of each state as well as the nation.
Freedman's Bureau (1866)
The purpose of the Freedmen’s Bureau was to provide assistance to the former
slaves who recently gained their freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau provided
medical care, meals, assistance in finding jobs, and also built schools.
Lacking support, it eventually ended in 1869 however, during its brief
time, it helped many slaves transition to freedom throughout the South.
Freedmen’s Bureau As Seen Through Southern Eyes
"Forty Acres and a Mule"
"Forty acres and a mule" refers to the desire of Radical Republicans such as
Thaddeus Stevens to carry out land redistribution in the South. He wanted to
subdivide confiscated land and distribute it among the freedmen. Proposals
such as these failed in Congress and state legislatures.
Sharecropping System and Debt Peonage
Share Cropping
The farm tenancy system that arose from the cotton plantation system after the
Civil War. Landlords provided land, seed, and credit. The croppers contributed
labor and received a share of the crop’s value, minus their debt to the landlord.
This along with the crop lien system held back African Americans economically.
Debt Peonage
As time passed, many landowners began to abuse this system. The landowner
would force the tenant farmer to buy seeds and tools from the land owner’s
store, which often had inflated prices. Thereby keeping the sharecropper in
perpetual debt to the landowner.
Storekeepers granted credit until the farm was
harvested. To protect the creditor, the storekeeper
took a mortgage, or lien, on the tenant's share of
the crop. The system was abused and uneducated
blacks were taken advantage of. The result, for
Blacks, was not unlike slavery.
African American Universities
Morehouse College “The Black Harvard”
College founded in 1867 to train African American men
to be ministers and/or teachers.
In 1913, the institution changed its name to Morehouse
College and has traditionally been one of the most
prestigious African American colleges in the nation.
Did You Know? Howard University in
Washington, D.C., was founded in 1867 by the
Freedmen’s Bureau in order to educate newly
freed slaves and their descendants. Today it is
the largest predominantly African American
university in the United States. The school
offers degrees in professions such as law,
medicine, dentistry, religion, engineering,
architecture, and social work. The school has a
large collection of materials on African
American life and history in the United States.
Many formerly enslaved African Americans attended schools in the South
during Reconstruction. An important network of African American colleges
and universities began to grow in the South.
Tenure of Office Act (1866)
In 1867, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, which prohibited the
president from dismissing any cabinet member or other federal
officeholder without the required the consent of the Senate. (It was meant
to prevent Johnson from removing radicals from office and to keep Edwin
M. Stanton, a Republican spy, in office).
Johnson’s violation of this act caused the impeachment crisis.
Secretary of War Stanton
Edwin Stanton served as the secretary of war under Abraham Lincoln during
the Civil War.
President Andrew Johnson dismissed Stanton in 1867 who he considered a spy
for the Radicals during closed-door cabinet meetings. His subsequent dismissal
by President Johnson led to the impeachment of President Johnson in 1868.
Johnson Receiving Summons for Impeachment: The
House charged Johnson with illegally removing the
secretary of war from office and for violating several
Reconstruction acts.
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson Congress impeached President Johnson after he tried to fire Secretary of War
Edwin Stanton because such a move violated the Tenure in Office Act.
The impeachment was led by a fiery Radical Republican congressman named
Thaddeus Stevens and brought to a head the conflict between Congress and
the president over Reconstruction.
The Senate voted to spare Johnson's presidency by just one vote. Many
politicians feared establishing a precedence of removing the president through
impeachment.
Final VOTE = 35 guilty
19 not guilty
(One vote short of the 2/3 required)
Did You Know? In 1866 the House of
Representatives brought 11 articles of
impeachment against President Andrew
Johnson. Tickets of admission to the president’s
Senate trial were sold. In 1974 President
Richard M. Nixon was charged with 3 articles
of impeachment. Nixon resigned from office
before there was a trial in the Senate. In 1998
the House of Representatives brought 2 articles
of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
Like Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton was not
convicted.
13th Amendment (1865)
The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1865. It
prohibited "slavery or involuntary servitude except as punishment for crime
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." This amendment
guaranteed freedom for African Americans.
14th Amendment (1866)
The Fourteenth Amendment was passed in 1868. It said that no state can
make or enforce any law which "deprives any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law." Also, states could not "deny to any
person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Fourteenth Amendment confirmed African Americans citizenship and barred
most former Confederate leaders from political office.
15th Amendment (1869)
The 15th Amendment was ratified on March 30, 1870. It explicitly forbids the
denial of the right to vote for citizens "on account of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude."
Some women suffrage advocates
were disappointed by the 15th
Amendment, since it didn’t give
women suffrage.
Carpetbaggers
Deceitful Northern politicians who migrated south during Reconstruction.
Carpetbaggers tried to manipulate new black voters for their own power and
profit and to obtain lucrative government contracts. The African-American
vote won them important posts in Republican state governments.
They carried their belongings in
carpetbags, and most intended to
settle in the South and make money
there.
Scalawags
White Southerners who joined the Republican Party during the Reconstruction
period. Scalawags were considered traitors to the Southern cause and were
condemned by Southern Democrats. The term scalawag was applied both to
entrepreneurs who supported Republican economic policies and Whig planters
who had opposed secession.
Black Legislators
Thousands of formerly enslaved people took part in governing the South. They
were delegates to state conventions, local officials, and state and federal
legislators. Scholars have identified more than 1,500 African American
officeholders during the Reconstruction period (1865–1876). All were
Republicans. Florida had one of the highest number of African Americans
elected or appointed to office. Did You Know? As a result of Reconstruction,
most Southern whites became firm supporters
of the Democratic Party. For more than 40
years after Reconstruction, no Republican
presidential candidate received a majority of
votes in any state in the “Solid South.”
Ku Klux Klan
The Ku Klux Klan was a secretive organization established in 1866 of white
Southerners whose members often used violence, murder, and threats to
intimidate blacks and those who favored giving African Americans equal
rights and the opportunity to vote.
White-supremacist group formed by six former Confederate officers after the Civil War. The name is
essentially Greek for "Circle of Friends."
Hatred
Waving the Bloody Shirt
“Waving the bloody shirt" refers to the practice of politicians making
reference to the blood of martyrs or heroes to criticize opponents.
In American history, the phrase gained popularity with a fictitious incident
in which Benjamin Franklin Butler of Massachusetts, when making a
speech on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, allegedly held up a
shirt stained with the blood of a carpetbagger whipped by the Ku Klux
Klan.
Knights of the White Camellia
Founded in May 1867 in Franklin, Louisiana. Chapters existed primarily in
he southern part of the Deep South.
Unlike the Klan, which drew much of its membership from lower-class
southerners (primarily Confederate veterans), the White Camelia consisted
mainly of upper crust southerners, including physicians, landowners,
newspaper editors, doctors, and officers.
White League
A white paramilitary group started in 1874 that operated to turn
Republicans out of office and intimidate freedmen from voting and political
organizing.
Through violence and intimidation, its members reduced Republican voting
and contributed to the Democrats' taking over control of the Louisiana
Legislature in 1876.
Red Shirts
The Red Shirts were white paramilitary groups that adopted red shirts to
make themselves more visible and threatening to Southern Republicans, both
white and freedmen.
In contrast to the Ku Klux Klan, the Red Shirts worked openly and were
better organized: they had one goal, the restoration of the Democrats to
power by getting rid of Republicans.
Ulysses S. Grant (U.S. President 1873-1877)
As commander of the Union forces, Ulysses S. Grant had led the North to
victory in the Civil War. He had little political experience, however. He believed
his only role as president was to carry out the laws. He let Congress develop
policy. This left the president weak and ineffective. It also helped divide the
Republican Party and undermined public support for Reconstruction.
Grant was one of the most popular men in America after the Civil War, as a full-fledged war hero. Grant was a naïve
president who appointed many of his friends to cabin positions, as personal favors. These men included Secretary of
War William Belknap and Secretary of Navy George Robeson, who received illegal payments. These repeated
scandals damaged Grant’s repetition and until recently, he was thought of as one of the worst presidents.
Compromise of 1877
Hayes promised to show concern for Southern interests and end Reconstruction
in exchange for the Democrats accepting the fraudulent election results. He
took Union troops out of the South.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Reconstruction ended in 1877 during his presidency.
Black Codes
Southern laws aimed at keeping African Americans in submission and in a
state of servitude. They were not “slaves,” but in reality, their lives were little
different than before the war.
The codes forbade African Americans:
• From serving on a jury
• Barred African Americans from renting or leasing land.
• African Americans could be punished for “idleness” by being subjected
to working on a chain gang.
Examples of Black Codes
Curfews:
Generally, African Americans could not gather after sunset.
Vagrancy Laws:
Freedmen could be convicted of vagrancy, that is, not working and could be fined, whipped, or sold for a year’s labor.
Labor Contracts:
Freedmen had to sign agreements in January for a year of work. Those who quit in the middle of a contract often lost all the wages they had earned.
Land Restrictions:
Freed people could rent land or homes only in rural areas. This restriction forced them to live on plantations.
Jim Crow Laws
All the efforts of the North to guarantee the civil rights of African-Americans
in the South were made more difficult by the Jim Crow laws. These laws were
adopted by many Southern states in the 1880s. The Jim Crow laws made
segregation laws legal. The segregation laws required blacks and whites to use
separate facilities.
Literacy Tests
Tests designed to keep blacks from voting by requiring predominantly
uneducated African Americans to prove they could read and write before
allowing them to vote.
They were designed to disfranchise educated blacks as well by asking questions
most people, white and black, could not answer.
Poll Taxes
Special taxes passed in the South after Reconstruction to prevent blacks from
voting by requiring them to pay money to vote.
Grandfather Clause
Said that a citizen could vote only if his grandfather had been able to vote.
At the time, the grandfathers of black men in the South had been slaves
with no right to vote. Another method for disenfranchising blacks.