Radical Congressional Reconstruction

Radical Republican beliefs

• Radical Republicans believed blacks were entitled to the same political rights and opportunities as whites.

• They also believed that Confederate leaders should be punished for what they did during the Civil war.

Beliefs continued

• They believed that the Federal government should have direct intervention in state affairs and that laws should be designed to protected emancipated blacks.

• At the heart of their beliefs was the notion that blacks should be given a free-labor economy.

How the Republicans came into power

• The Republicans came into power when the Democrats sided with the Confederacy.

• Republicans dominated in the elections of November 1866.

Freedmen's bureau

• The Freedmen's Bureau provided food, housing, and medical aid, established schools and offered legal assistance for blacks.

• It also attempted to settle former slaves on Confederate lands confiscated or abandoned during the war.

Congress introduces bills

• In 1866, Congress introduced a bill to extend the life of the Freedmen's Bureau and began work on a Civil Rights Bill.

Johnson's response

• Johnson vetoed both of the bills, rejecting that blacks have the "same rights of property and person" as whites.

Republican reactions

• Moderate Republicans were appalled at Johnson's racism.

• Moderates decided to join the Radicals to overturn Johnson's Civil Rights Act veto.

• This was the first time in history that a major piece of legislation was overturned.

Tension between presidency and Congress

• Andrew Johnson was a southern democrat who had owned slaves.

• The mainly Republican congress thought he was too soft toward the South

• Tensions grew

Thaddeus Stevens• Important republican

leader in Congress.

• Staunchly believed in full equality

• Took lead in excluding Southern representatives when Congress first met after the Civil War

• Disliked Andrew Jackson

Congress vs. Johnson

• Passed laws to restrict power of presidency. One was the Tenure of Office Act, which said Senate approval was needed to remove cabinet members.

• Johnson defied this.

Johnson Impeached• Thaddeus Stevens

proposed impeachment of Johnson.

• In the spring of 1868, Johnson became the first president to be impeached.

• He was impeached by the House of Representatives, but acquitted by the Senate.

14th Amendment

• "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."

• This made African Americans citizens, and should give them the rights of citizens of the United States.

• Passed by Congress June 13, 1866.

The reconstruction Acts of 1867

• First Reconstruction Act- This act divided the South into five military districts and established martial law, also listed the requirements a state must meet to be readmitted into the Union.

• Second Reconstruction Act- Put the military in charge of protecting voter registration efforts to make sure that no one was refused his right to vote.

New State Constitutions• Congress made Southern states adopt new

state constitutions before rejoining the Union, with several requirements.

• African Americans must be equal before the law.

• States had to provide certain services, such as hospitals and orphanages.

• Established free statewide public schools for whites and blacks

• In June of 1868, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama and Florida readmitted to the Union.

• Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia were the only states that remained, and they faced and an additional requirement...

15th Amendment• "The right of citizens of the United States

to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

• Allowed African Americans to vote.

• By the beginning of 1868, about 700,000 African Americans were registered voters.

Force Acts

• Four acts passed from 1870-1875

• Allowed federal authorities to penalize people attempting to stop African Americans from exercising the rights given to them by the 14th and 15th Amendments

The Black Codes• Black Codes- Laws that restricted

freemen's right. They established virtual slavery. The codes where state laws, and Republicans opposed them.

• Curfew

• Vagrancy Laws

• Labor Contracts

• Land Restriction

The Republican south• The Republican Party consisted of people

who had little in common, but had a desire to prosper in the postwar South.

• The Northern Republicans who moved to the South where known as Carpetbaggers.

• In the postwar South, people who were white, southern republicans were seen as traitors. Other southerners called these people Scalawags.

African Americans join Congress

• Eventually, due to changes in the voting population after the ratification of the 14th amendment, radical Republicans in Congress were joined by African Americans.

• Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African America to serve, he was elected by the Mississippi State Senate to succeed Albert G. Brown.

• Joseph Rainey from South Carolina was elected to the House of Representatives. He was the first directly elected black member of Congress to be seated.

Why Did The Reconstruction Era End?

• The decline of the Reconstruction Era started when the power in the House shifted from Republican to Democrat.

• Also, an economical depression was raging throughout the country in 1873, and northern voters became less interested in the Reconstruction in the south and more focused on the economy in the north.

• Additionally, the scare tactics of the KKK and other southern white groups drove many Republicans out office, giving Democrats a majority in every southern state by 1877.

Why Did The Reconstruction Era End? Continued...

• In addition, the conservative Supreme Court repeatedly struck down Radical Republican legislation, issuing rulings that had a devastating effect on blacks' civil liberties.

• The breaking point of the reconstruction was The Compromise of 1877 and the removal of the remaining federal troops from the South. This signaled the end of the Reconstruction era.

Sources• The History Text Book

• History. house.gov

• digitalhistory.uh.edu

• westga.edu

• The Constitution

• www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/