important questions if preserving the union was lincoln’s war aim, then what will be his approach...

Important Questions

• If preserving the Union was Lincoln’s war aim, then what will be his approach be to the peace?

• Why does the radical, or extreme, approach to reconstruction not lend itself very well to healing the wounds of the Civil War?

• What is to be done with the freed slaves?

3 Reconstruction Questions

• What conditions should be placed on the Southern States before they could be readmitted into the Union?

• Should the President or Congress determine the conditions for Southern return into the Union?

• What conditions should be granted to newly freed blacks and how should these rights be enforced?

Restoring the Union

• Reconstruction:– period in American History between 1865 and

1877 when the South was brought back into the Union

Moderates

The Moderates

• led by President Lincoln, who believed the following:– the Southern states had never left the Union,

since no state could legally secede– Reconstruction was the task of the President who

has the sole power to pardon– the South should be treated kindly and fairly so

that southern loyalty could be regained

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan

• all Southerners should be pardoned on taking an oath of allegiance to the Union

• a state would be readmitted into the Union when 10% of voters took the oath of allegiance and agreed to all laws against slavery (13th Amendment)

• high ranking Confederate leaders could not vote or hold political office

Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address

• “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations”

“…I believe it to be the duty of everyone to unite in the restoration of the country and the reestablishment of peace and harmony”.

General Robert E. Lee

Radicals

Radical Republican Plan

• led by Radical Republicans in Congress who believed:– slavery was a moral evil– the defeated South should be treated harshly– the Southern states were conquered provinces

that should be dictated to by Congress– newly freed blacks should be protected when the

war ended


• the Radical Republicans proposed the following plan, which was defined in the Wade – Davis Bill:– Congress should determine how the Southern

states would be allowed back into the Union– Southern states would come under military rule– Northern generals would serve as governors of

the Southern states

Wade-DavisBill


–51% of white voters would have to take loyalty oaths– loyalty oaths would be given to anyone who

had supported the Confederacy– slavery would be immediately abolished

“The future condition of the conquered power depends on the will of the conqueror”. Thaddeus Stevens Radical Republican

13th Amendment

• abolished slavery throughout the nation:– supported by Lincoln– felt Constitution did not give him legal power to

end slavery in the border states

13th

Amendment

Regroup

• What did Lincoln say in his 2nd Inaugural Address that hinted at what his plan for Reconstruction would be?

• What was Lincoln’s 10% Plan?• What was the Radical Plan for

Reconstruction?• What was the Wade-Davis Bill?• What was the 13th Amendment?

Lincoln Assassination

• April 14, 1865- Lincoln assassinated– succeeded by Vice President Andrew

Johnson– Johnson promised to follow Lincoln’s

moderate reconstruction program– Johnson’s plan more lenient than Lincoln’s

“Now he belongs to the ages”.

Edwin Stanton Secretary of War

Washington and Lincoln“Secular” Saints

Johnson and ModerateReconstruction

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

• Johnson proposed that any southern state would be readmitted into the Union if it did the following:– declared secession illegal– swore allegiance to the Union– promised not to pay any Confederate debts– ratified the 13th Amendment

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

• most Southern states accepted President Johnson’s easy terms:– Johnson pardoned most ex-Confederate leaders– many ex-Confederate leaders returned to political

office– black codes – passed throughout the South to

deny civil rights to freed blacks

“Traitors must be punished and impoverished. Their social power must be destroyed. I say, as to the leaders, punishment. I say leniency, conciliation, and amnesty to the thousands whom they have misled and deceived”. President Andrew Johnson

BlackCodes

Black Codes

• the following codes were passed by Southern states to restrict the freedoms and movement of the blacks:– blacks could not bear arms, serve on juries, hold

public office– blacks had to obey vagrancy and curfew laws– unemployed blacks sentenced to apprenticeship

under white employers– blacks could not marry whites

Black Codes– special passes required for blacks to leave

employment– blacks could not own businesses or drink alcohol– black preachers could not preach without a

license

• black codes made freed blacks 2nd class citizens throughout the entire South:– still slaves in all but name

• Radical Republicans opposed black codes

“The men of the North will convert the State of Mississippi into a frog pond before they will allow such laws to disgrace one foot of soil in which the bones of our soldiers sleep and over which the flag of freedom waves”. Chicago Tribune

Freedmen’s Bureau (1866)

• created by the Radical Republicans to help freed blacks (freedmen)– provided food, clothing, medical supplies to

freedmen– supervised contracts between freedmen and

white employers– used military courts in cases of white

discrimination against freedmen

Freedmen’s Bureau (1866)

– gave land to freedmen ( 40 acres and a mule)– established elementary and secondary schools for

freedmen

• Freedmen’s Bureau vetoed by President Johnson:– considered it an abuse of Congressional power– criticized it as being too harsh on the defeated

South– veto overridden (checks and balances)

40 Acres & A Mule

Civil Rights Bill1866

Civil Rights Bill (1866)

• Passed by Congress to do the following:– grant citizenship to blacks– prohibited states from passing discriminatory laws

against blacks

• Johnson vetoed the bill– considered it an abuse of Congressional power– black codes passed after veto of Civil Rights Bill

(overridden)

14th Amendment

“Equal Protection of the Law”

The 14th Amendment• Written by Congress to avoid judicial review

on the Civil Rights Bill• 14th Amendment:– guaranteed citizenship to blacks– required each state to guarantee all citizens

“equal protection of the law”– no state could deny any citizen life, liberty or

property without due process– prohibited ex-Confederate leaders from holding

state or federal office

The 14th Amendment

• President Johnson opposed the 14th Amendment for the following reasons:– considered it too harsh on South and ex-

Confederate leaders– believed Congress did not have legal authority to

treat states in this way– urged Southern states to reject the 14th

Amendment

Regroup

• What was Johnson’s Reconstruction plan?• What were the Black Codes designed to do?• What were some of the provisions of the

Black Codes?• How was the Freedmen’s Bureau supposed to

help freed blacks?• What was the Civil Rights Bill?• What did the 14th Amendment provide for?

Tenure of OfficeAct

Impeachment of President Johnson

• 1866 – Radical Republicans win overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress– now had 2/3 majority to override all Presidential

vetoes

• Tenure of Office Act:– stated that Presidents could not remove cabinet

officers approved by Congress without 2/3 vote of the Senate


– removal of cabinet member considered a “high crime and misdemeanor” (an impeachable offense)

• Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin G. Stanton

– Stanton a radical sympathizer

• February, 1868 – House votes to impeach Johnson

• Senate fails to convict by one vote– 2/3 majority needed


• The impeachment of President Andrew Johnson posed the following constitutional danger:– Congress threatened balance of power between

the executive and legislative branches– Congress tried to intimidate the executive into

approving legislation

Radicals in Control

PresidentUlysses S. Grant

Grant as President

• 1868 – Ulysses S. Grant elected President– proved to be a weak President• Too trusting of subordinates• Too many scandals

– controlled by the Radical Republicans in Congress

Reconstruction Acts

• between 1867 and 1868, the Radical Republicans passed 4 Reconstruction acts:– any Southern governments established by

Lincoln and Johnson were removed (Why?)– the Southern states (except Tennessee)

would be divided into 5 military districts (controlled by U.S. Army)

Reconstruction Acts

– a loyalty oath by a majority of white male voters needed for re-admittance of a state–new state governments had to let blacks

vote and ratify the 14th Amendment

Reconstruction Acts

The 15th Amendment

15th Amendment

• prohibited states from denying the right to vote because of “race, color or previous condition of servitude”– passed to ensure black votes for Republicans• Completely backfired on Republicans

Scalawags

• Southerners who opposed secession before the Civil War and now supported “radical” Reconstruction of the South:– many were religious– always opposed slavery and the Confederacy– wanted to improve the Southern economy– hated throughout the South (considered traitors)

Scalawags

Carpetbaggers

• Northerners who went South after the Civil War to take advantage of the defeated South:– wanted to help blacks economically– helped blacks get into government positions– most carpetbaggers went South to make a fortune– hated throughout the South

Carpetbaggers

Solid South

• the term referring to the South’s strong loyalty to the Democratic Party:– blamed Republicans for all Southern problems,

such as scalawags, carpetbaggers, freedmen, military occupation

– strong loyalty to Democrats would last 100 years• Reagan first Republican to carry the South (save for

Georgia) in 1980 & carried entire South in 1984

The Solid South

Status of Former Slaves

• freed slaves did not live much differently after emancipation– slaves in all but name– many remained on plantations as sharecroppers• a farmer who pays landlord a share of his crops

as rent:–1/3 of crops in return for use of land–1/3 of crops in return for use of tools–remaining third left for sharecropper


• sharecroppers faced the following problems:– owned nothing– everything provided by landlord– usually cheated by landlord– lived in constant cycle of poverty


• crop lien system – an agreement whereby a farmer uses a portion of his crops in return for credit:– seed, fertilizers and tools needed for harvest– farmers went further into debt each year and

made share-cropper more dependent on landlord

Sharecroppers

Denying BlackCivil Rights

*Literacy Test

*Poll Tax

*Grandfather Clause

Denying Black Civil Rights

• Southern state governments instituted the following policies to deny blacks political power:– literacy test – a test whereby a person had to

prove he could read in order to vote– poll tax – a tax that had to be paid in order for a

person to vote (tax usually one or two dollars)


• grandfather clause enacted throughout South to help poor whites unable to meet literacy requirement to vote:– grandfather clause – exempted anyone from

literacy test whose grandfather could vote prior to the Civil War• no blacks could vote before 1867


• all Southern states legally segregated blacks:– segregation – the separation of one group from

another– de jure segregation – segregation by law or

statute– segregation laws were also known as Jim Crow

Laws

Segregation & TheJim Crow South

Jim Crow

Ku Klux Klan• a secret society formed by Confederate war

veterans• Klan objectives:– frighten blacks from voting– keep blacks living as second citizens

• Klan violence usually unpunished– most blacks did not vote– ex-Confederate leaders returned to office because

blacks could not vote against them

Nathan BedfordForrest

Emerging Black Leadership

• Booker T. Washington:– a former slave who acquired wealth and stressed

education– believed blacks should work hard and make

economic progress– once economic progress made, blacks would

achieve social integration and political equality


• therefore, asked blacks to temporarily accept segregation

• process of slow movement toward equality called “gradualism”

• 1881 – Booker T. Washington formed Tuskegee Institute to offer vocational training for blacks

“Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top”. Booker T. Washington


• W.E.B. du Bois:– a black intellectual– 1901 – broke from Washington’s view of

gradualism and accommodation– urged blacks to resist social and political inequality

by militantly struggling for full civil rights


• Niagara Movement:– supporters of du Bois met near Niagara Falls

(1905)– called for increased militancy and agitation to

achieve black civil rights– black leadership would come from “Talented

Tenth” (10% of black population who were highly educated and able)


• NAACP:– National Association for the Advancement of

Colored People– 1909 – formed by blacks and sympathetic whites– the protection of black civil rights and voting

rights their major objectives– W.E.B. du Bois the first major spokesman

“Nothing in all history equaled this wonderful, quiet, sudden transformation of four million human beings from…the auction-block to the ballot box”. William Lloyd Garrison Abolitionist

The Grant Era• Ulysses S. Grant a popular Civil War general– staffed White House with military friends– most of Grant’s friends dishonest and corrupt

• the following political scandals marked the Grant Era:– Credit Mobilier– Salary Grab– Whiskey Ring– Indian Service Scandal

“I have made it a rule of my life to trust a man long after other

people gave up on him, but I don’t see how I can trust any human being again”. President Ulysses S. Grant

The Grant Era• Credit Mobilier• construction company formed to build the

Union Pacific Railroad– charged Union Pacific many times more than the

job cost– investigations showed owners of Credit Mobilier

were also directors of the Union Pacific– Credit Mobilier a dummy construction company

formed to steal money from Union Pacific stockholders (23 million in 1868, 370,990,000 in 2012)

The Grant Era

• Salary Grab:– Congress voted itself a 50% pay increase– increase made retroactive for two years– retroactive pay gave members an additional

$5000– public outrage at Salary Grab led to repeal of the

pay increase

The Grant Era

• Whiskey Ring:– the Whiskey Ring was a conspiracy between

distillers and revenue officials to defraud government of taxes on distilled liquor:

– taxes were recorded as paid– instead tax money pocketed by distillers and

officials– some money given to Republican campaign

committees

The Grant Era

• 238 government officials and distillers indicted– treasury officials bribed to keep silent– Whiskey Ring the largest single act of corruption

in U.S. History

The Grant Era

• Indian Service Scandal• Secretary of War, William K. Belknap,

accepted bribes in assigning trading posts in Indian Territory– Belknap impeached on charges of corruption

Tweed Ring

• Corruption not only a problem on federal level– also on state and local level– indicative of the age

• William Marcy Tweed:– a New York State legislator– leader of Tammany Hall, the local Democratic

Party organization (New York)

Tammany Hall

Tweed Ring

• Tammany Hall provided social services the federal and state governments would not provide:– found jobs and housing for immigrants– provided relief for unemployed– expected votes in return for all political favors

Tweed Ring

• All public works projects funded by tax dollars:– Tweed ordered all contractors to add 100% onto

all jobs performed– money went to Tammany Hall– EXAMPLE: NYC courthouse cost $9 million for a

$250,000 job Tweed brought in $200 million in corrupt deals

Tweed Arrested

The End of The End of ReconstructionReconstruction

Election of 1876

• Candidates:–Samuel J. Tilden – Democrat–Rutherford B. Hayes – Republican

The Candidates

Election of 1876

• Tilden won popular vote:– one electoral vote short of needed majority– electoral votes of South Carolina, Florida and

Louisiana uncounted– Hayes and Republicans made a bargain in return

for 19 remaining electoral votes (SC, FL, LA)

Election of 1876

• Hayes’ Bargain:– a Southerner would be appointed to Hayes’

cabinet – federal money granted to develop Southern

railroads– remaining federal troops would be removed from

the South

End of MilitaryEnd of MilitaryOccupationOccupation

End of Military Occupation

• 1877 – Rutherford B. Hayes elected President:– removed remaining federal troops as promised– state governments controlled by Radical

Republicans immediately collapse throughout the South

– Democrats regain control of all Southern state legislatures

– blacks now left at mercy of southern politicians and KKK

White Controlof the South

White Control of the South

• Ku Klux Klan gained influence throughout the South

• the crusade to ensure black civil rights stopped with the end of the Reconstruction Period:– most Northerners did not care about freed blacks– considered blacks subhuman– all ethnic groups looked down on blacks as inferior

Plessy v. Ferguson1896

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Supreme Court ruled that a state law separating blacks from whites on trains was legal if facilities were of equal quality– established doctrine of “separate but equal”

(segregation)– based on “equal protection of the law” clause of

the 14th Amendment– de jure segregation now became accepted way of

life throughout the South

Results of Reconstruction

• Reconstruction officially ended with removal of federal troops from the South

• 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to blacks, due process and equal protection of laws– civil rights and equality diminished by Jim Crow

laws


• 15th Amendment guaranteed right to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”– black and white women still could not vote– many Southern blacks unable to vote because of

literacy tests, poll taxes and grandfather clauses– 1898 – Supreme Court declares literacy test and

poll tax legal


• Reconstruction reestablished the principle of FEDERALISMFEDERALISM :– supremacy of federal authority over states

absolute– states rights issues now solely determined by

courts– secession from the Union settled as illegal

“If one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them of the same plane”. Justice Henry B. Brown Supreme Court Majority Opinion Plessy v. Ferguson Decision, 1896

Important Questions

• If preserving the Union was Lincoln’s war aim, then what will be his approach be to the peace?

• Why does the radical, or extreme, approach to reconstruction not lend itself very well to healing the wounds of the Civil War?

• What is to be done with the freed slaves?

important questions if preserving the union was lincoln’s war aim, then what will be his approach...

Documents

radical plan

southern loyalty

harshlythe southern

southern return

following plan

unionsouthern states

conquered power

president lincoln