rebuilding the south restoring the union restructuring southern society
TRANSCRIPT
REBUILDING the SouthRESTORING the Union
RESTRUCTURING Southern society
Key QuestionsKey Questions
1. How do we1. How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the
Union?Union?
1. How do we1. How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the
Union?Union?
2. How do we 2. How do we rebuild the rebuild the
South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction
during the war?during the war?
2. How do we 2. How do we rebuild the rebuild the
South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction
during the war?during the war?
3. How do we3. How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
3. How do we3. How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
4. What branch4. What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
4. What branch4. What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
“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 orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
Abraham Lincoln,Second Inaugural, March 4,
1865
President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan10% Plan
* Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (December 8, 1863)
* Replace majority rule with “loyal rule” in the South.
* He didn’t consult Congress regarding Reconstruction.
* Pardon to all but the highest ranking military and civilian Confederate officers.
* When 10% of a state’s voting population in the 1860 election had taken an oath of loyalty, pledged to abide by emancipation and established a government, it would be recognized.
President Lincoln’s PlanPresident Lincoln’s Plan
1864 “Lincoln Governments” formed in TN, LA, AR
* “loyal assemblies”
* They were weak and dependent on the Northern army for their survival.
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Congress feared
restoration of planter aristocracy & potential re-enslavement
Required 50% of the number of 1860 voters to take an “iron clad” oath of allegiance (swearing they had never voluntarily aided the rebellion ).
Required a state constitutional convention before the election of state officials and stronger safeguards of freedmen’s liberties.
SenatorBenjamin
Wade(R-OH)
CongressmanHenry
W. Davis(R-MD)
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864) “State Suicide” Theory [MA Senator
Charles SumnerSeceded states had committed “suicide”
& were no more than territories with conditions of readmission to be determined soley by Congress
“Conquered Provinces” Position [PA Congressman Thaddeus Stevens – Radicals”]
LINCOLN VETOES!PresidentPresident
LincolnLincolnPresidentPresident
LincolnLincolnWade-DavisWade-Davis
BillBillWade-DavisWade-Davis
BillBill
PocketVeto
PocketVeto
Jeff Davis Under Arrest
Jeff Davis Under Arrest
Capture of
Jefferson Davis
Capture of
Jefferson Davis
13th Amendment13th Amendment Ratified in December, 1865.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
CONGRESS shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865) Bureau of Refugees,
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands.
Many former northern abolitionists risked their lives to help southern freedmen.
Primitive “welfare” agency – food, clothes, medical care
Called “carpetbaggers” by white southern Democrats.
Scalawags?
Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes
Freedmen’s Bureau Seen Through Southern Eyes
Plenty to eat and nothing to do.
Freedmen’s Bureau School
Freedmen’s Bureau School
Primary success is in education
Presidential Reconstruction Andrew
Johnson
Presidential Reconstruction Andrew
Johnson Jacksonian Democrat.
Anti-Aristocrat.
White Supremacist.
Agreed with Lincolnthat states had neverlegally left the Union.
“Damn the negroes! I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!”
-A southerner who didn’t understand the North,
-A Tennessean who had earned the distrust of the S,
-A D who had never been accepted by the Rs,
-A P who had never been elected to office
-“The wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
-A southerner who didn’t understand the North,
-A Tennessean who had earned the distrust of the S,
-A D who had never been accepted by the Rs,
-A P who had never been elected to office
-“The wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+)
President Johnson’s Plan (10%+) Offered amnesty upon simple oath to all except
Confederate civil and military officers and those with property over $20,000 (but they could apply for pardon)
In new constitutions, they must REPEAL ordinances of secession, REPUDIATE war debts, & RATIFY 13TH Amendment in order to be READMITTED.
Named provisional governors in Confederate states and called them to oversee elections for constitutional conventions.
EFFECTS?
1. Disenfranchised certain leading Confederates.2. Pardoned planter aristocrats, brought them back to political power to control state organizations.3. Republicans were outraged that planter elite were back in power in the “New South!”
Growing Northern Alarm!
Growing Northern Alarm! Many Southern state
constitutions fell short of minimum requirements.
Johnson granted 13,500 special pardons.
Revival of southern defiance in the Post-war South.
BLACK CODES BLACK CODES
Slavery is Dead?Slavery is Dead?
Black Codes in the Post-War South
Black Codes in the Post-War SouthPurpose:
* Guarantee stable labor
supply now that blacks
were emancipated.
* Restore pre-emancipationsystem of race relations.
* Examples?
Forced many blacks to become sharecroppers [tenant farmers].
Congress Breaks with the President
Congress Breaks with the President Congress bars newly-elected
Southern Congressional delegates.
Fear the power of a restored South.
February, 1866 Presidentvetoed bill to extend the life of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
Congress passes Civil Rights bill in March, 1866 to grant citizenship to blacks Johnson vetoed it.
Congress passed both bills over
Johnson’s vetoes 1st time in U. S. history!! - & will continue to override his vetoes
“Dead Dogof the White House”
Johnson the Martyr / Samson
Johnson the Martyr / SamsonIf my blood is to be shed If my blood is to be shed
because I vindicate the because I vindicate the Union and the preservation Union and the preservation of this government in its of this government in its original purity and original purity and character, let it be shed; character, let it be shed; let an altar to the Union be let an altar to the Union be erected, and then, if it is erected, and then, if it is necessary, take me and necessary, take me and lay me upon it, and the lay me upon it, and the blood that now warms and blood that now warms and animates my existence animates my existence shall be poured out as a fit shall be poured out as a fit libation to the Union.libation to the Union. (February 1866) (February 1866)
Thaddeus StevensR (PA)House
Charles SumnerR (MA)Senate
Radicals and Southern Land• Desire to punish South &
wrest control from former Southern leaders…..wealthy landowners
• Desire to confiscate Southern land and redistribute to slaves
• “40 acres & a mule”• Some southern land had
been redistributed by Stanton & Sherman– 40 acres in SC & GA to
40,000 freedmen– All subsequently rescinded
by Johnson
14th Amendment14th Amendment Ratified in July, 1868.
1. Provides a constitutional guarantee of the rights of citizenship & security of freed people.
2. Insures against neo-Confederate political power – How?
3. Enshrines the national debt while repudiating that of the Confederacy.
Why better than the Civil Rights Bill?
Southern states would be punished (representation reduced) for denying the right to vote to black MALE citizens!
The Balance of Power in Congress
The Balance of Power in Congress
State White Citizens Freedmen
SC 291,000 411,000
MS 353,000 436,000
LA 357,000 350,000
GA 591,000 465,000
AL 596,000 437,000
VA 719,000 533,000
NC 631,000 331,000
A referendum on Radical Reconstruction.
Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda tour around the country to push his plan.
Republicanswon a 3-1veto-proof majority in both houses and gained control of every northern state.
The 1866 Congressional Elections
The 1866 Congressional Elections
Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle”
Radical Plan for Readmission
Radical Plan for Readmission Radicals seek full & complete rights
for blacks with federal gov’t in controlModerates (majority in Congress) just trying to keep states from infringing basic rights of blacks.
Required new state constitutions which included black suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
By 1870 – 15th Amendment ratified.Why necessary in light of 14th Am.?
In March, 1867, Congress authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Military Reconstruction Act* Restart Reconstruction in the 10
Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.
* Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.
* Each has military governor
* 20,000 troops
* TN was first Southern state back in – 1866 & thus escaped military reconstruction
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Command of the Army Act
* The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military.
Tenure of Office Act
* The President could not remove any officials [esp. Cabinet members] without the Senate’s consent, if the position originally required Senate approval.
Designed to protect radicalmembers of Lincoln’s government.
Was this law constitutional?
Edwin Stanton,Sec. of War
Limitations of Radical Reconstruction
Limitations of Radical Reconstruction
No land or education was guaranteed to freedmen
Belief that creating an electorate would be enough to protect freedmen’s rights.
Questionable legality of military rule:Ex parte Milligan – Supreme Court had ruled that military tribunals could not try civilians even during wartime if civil courts were open.
So peacetime military rule would be in direct contrast to Constitution.
“Black Reconstruction”“Black Reconstruction”
Only one state legislature (SC) elected a majority of blacks in its lower house
No state senates had black majorities
No black governors elected
Most black officials that were elected were capable, educated, free-born
2 U.S. Senators elected from MS
14 black Congressmen elected
• ““Scalawags” and Scalawags” and “Carpetbaggers”“Carpetbaggers”– Accusations of corruptionAccusations of corruption
• Ku Klux Klan, TN, 1866Ku Klux Klan, TN, 1866– Terrorists that targeted Terrorists that targeted
blacks, carpetbaggers, blacks, carpetbaggers, teachers in black schools, teachers in black schools, Radical RepublicansRadical Republicans
– Main goal is Main goal is disenfranchisementdisenfranchisement of of blacksblacks
– How else were blacks How else were blacks disenfranchised?disenfranchised?
• Congress passes Force Congress passes Force Acts of 1870 & 1871 – Acts of 1870 & 1871 – purpose?purpose?
Southern Resentment & Resistance
Southern Resentment & Resistance
President Johnson’s Impeachment
President Johnson’s Impeachment Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868.
Johnson dismissed and replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction.
The House impeached him on February 24 before even drawing up the charges by a vote of 126 – 47!
The Senate TrialThe Senate Trial
11 week trial.
Johnson acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3 vote).
The 1868
Republican Ticket
The 1868
Republican Ticket
The 1868
Democratic Ticket
The 1868
Democratic Ticket
Waving the Bloody Shirt!Waving the Bloody Shirt!
“Vote as you Shot!”“Vote as you Shot!”
1868 Presidential Election
1868 Presidential Election
Grant’s popular vote low-won due to black vote.3 Southern state votes not even counted – MS, TX, VA
Grant’s popular vote low-won due to black vote.3 Southern state votes not even counted – MS, TX, VA
President Ulysses S. GrantPresident Ulysses S. Grant
Grant Administration Scandals
Grant Administration Scandals Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented growth and corruption.
Known as Era of …?
* Credit Mobilier Scandal.
* Whiskey Ring.
* The “Indian Ring.”
The Tweed Ring in NYC
The Tweed Ring in NYC
William Marcy Tweed (notorious head of Tammany Hall’s political machine)
[Thomas Nast crusading cartoonist/reporter]
Who Stole the People’s Money?
Who Stole the People’s Money?
The Election of 1872The Election of 1872 Rumors of
corruption during Grant’s first
term discredit Republicans.
Horace Greeley runsas a Democrat/LiberalRepublican candidate.
Greeley attacked as afool and a crank.
Greeley died on November 29, 1872
1872 Presidential Election
1872 Presidential Election
Popular Vote for President: 1872
Popular Vote for President: 1872
The Panic of 1873The Panic of 1873 It raises “the money
question.”
* debtors seek inflationarymonetary policy bycontinuing circulation of greenbacks.
* creditors, intellectuals support hard money.
1875 Specie Redemption Act.
1876 Greenback Party formed & makes gains in congressional races The “Crime of ’73’!
Northern Support WanesNorthern Support Wanes “Grantism” & corruption.
Panic of 1873 [6-yeardepression].
Concern over westwardexpansion and Indian wars.
Key monetary issues:
* should the government retire $432m worth of “greenbacks” issued during the Civil War?
* should war bonds be paid back in specie orgreenbacks?
And They Say He Wants a Third Term
And They Say He Wants a Third Term
1876 Presidential Tickets1876 Presidential Tickets
1876 Presidential Election
1876 Presidential Election
The Political Crisis of 1877The Political Crisis of 1877
“Corrupt Bargain” Part II?????
• ELECTORAL COUNT ACT• Electoral commission of
15 to deal with disputed votes from FL, LA, SC– From Senate, House &
Supreme Court– Voted on party lines….– 8 Republicans & 7
Democrats
Hayes PrevailsHayes
Prevails
Sammy Tilden—Boo-Hoo! Ruthy Hayes’s got my
Presidency, and he won’t give it to me!
A Political Crisis: The “Compromise”
of 1877
A Political Crisis: The “Compromise”
of 1877 • Hayes, R gets the P• Troops to be
withdrawn from S• Southerner will
become Postmaster General
• Republicans promise federal $ for internal improvements in S
• RECONSTRUCTION ENDS!
SharecroppingSharecropping
Tenancy & the Crop Lien System
Tenancy & the Crop Lien SystemFurnishing Merchant Tenant Farmer Landowner
Loan tools and seed up to 60% interest to tenant farmer to plant spring crop.
Farmer also secures food, clothing, andother necessities oncredit from merchant until the harvest.
Merchant holds “lien” {mortgage} on part of tenant’s future crops as repayment of debt.
Plants crop, harvests in autumn.
Turns over up to ½ of crop to land owner as payment of rent.
Tenant gives remainder of crop to merchant inpayment of debt.
Rents land to tenant in exchange for ¼ to ½ of tenant farmer’s future crop.
Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South
Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South
Black & White Political Participation
Black & White Political Participation
Black Senate & House Delegates
Black Senate & House Delegates
Colored Rule
in the South?
Colored Rule
in the South?
Blacks in Southern PoliticsBlacks in Southern Politics Core voters were black veterans.
Blacks were politically unprepared.
Blacks could register and vote in states since 1867.
The 15th Amendment guaranteedfederal voting.
15th Amendment15th Amendment Ratified in 1870.
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.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
Strange Fruit
Southern trees bearing strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots;
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze;Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South;Them big bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.
Scent of magnolia — clean and fresh — And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun to rot, for the leaves to drop;
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
Southern trees bearing strange fruit,Blood on the leaves and blood at the roots;
Black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze;Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.
Pastoral scene of the gallant South;Them big bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.
Scent of magnolia — clean and fresh — And the sudden smell of burning flesh!
Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck,For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,For the sun to rot, for the leaves to drop;
Here is a strange and bitter crop.
The Failure of Federal Enforcement
The Failure of Federal Enforcement Force Acts of 1870 & 1871 [to
stop the lynchings - also known as the KKK Act]. “The Lost Cause.”
The rise of the“Bourbons.” Conservative, pro-
business Democrats
Redeemers (prewarDemocrats and Union Whigs) Wanted to oust
freedmen, carpetbaggers & scalawags
Intimidation
•Lynching•Ida B. Wells
The Civil Rights Act of 1875The Civil Rights Act of 1875 Crime for any individual to deny full &
equal use of public conveyances andpublic places. (Last attempt of Radicals)
Prohibited discrimination in jury selection.
Shortcoming lacked a strong enforcement mechanism.
No new civil rights act was attemptedfor 90 years!
Pronounced unconstitutional in Civil Rights Cases of 1883 14th Am. prohibits only government violations of
civil rights, not denial of same by “individuals.”
THE NEW SOUTH• After abandonment of Republican Reconstruction,
blacks were left friendless in South• White Ds resume power (the “Redeemers”)• Political Subjugation:
– Legal codes of segregation appear – Jim Crow laws
– Also – disenfranchisement through voter-registration laws, literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, etc.
– South’s segregation validated by Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896•“Separate but equal” doctrine… separate,
but equal, schools/facilities are constitutional• Economic Subjugation:
– Blacks forced into sharecropping/tenant farming
• Record #s of blacks lynched to ensure South’s “new” political & economic order
“JIM CROW” Jim Crow - not actually a person, but the subject of a song performed by Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice. Rice was a white man who performed in blackface. Rice denigrated Blacks through his music, his stereotypical behavior, and his rude jokes.
“Jump Jim Crow” was a bona fide hit among Caucasian Americans in the early 19th century. The lyrics express several racist sentiments. First, Jim Crow is satisfied with his lot as a slave. He is sexually promiscuous. He is also ignorant, and the song is usually sung in “supposed” slave dialect.
Jim Crow laws refer to the segregation laws in the South from Reconstruction to the 1960s.
Jim Crow - not actually a person, but the subject of a song performed by Thomas Dartmouth “Daddy” Rice. Rice was a white man who performed in blackface. Rice denigrated Blacks through his music, his stereotypical behavior, and his rude jokes.
“Jump Jim Crow” was a bona fide hit among Caucasian Americans in the early 19th century. The lyrics express several racist sentiments. First, Jim Crow is satisfied with his lot as a slave. He is sexually promiscuous. He is also ignorant, and the song is usually sung in “supposed” slave dialect.
Jim Crow laws refer to the segregation laws in the South from Reconstruction to the 1960s.
More Stereotyping
• “Birth of a Nation”
• Brute• Mammy• Tom
RECONSTRUCTION – A FAILURE RECONSTRUCTION – A FAILURE OR A SUCCESS?OR A SUCCESS?
• Traditional view has been a Traditional view has been a failurefailure::– ““The Tragic Era”The Tragic Era”– ““The Blackout of Honest Government”The Blackout of Honest Government”
• Justify these 3 reasons given by historians Justify these 3 reasons given by historians for the failure of Reconstruction to help for the failure of Reconstruction to help freedmen find their place in American life:freedmen find their place in American life:
1.1.Confused prioritiesConfused priorities
2.2.Opposition from Southern whitesOpposition from Southern whites
3.3.Federal gov’ts unwillingness to go the Federal gov’ts unwillingness to go the distance to accomplish its goalsdistance to accomplish its goals
Reconstruction a Success?Reconstruction a Success?
• ““Black Reconstruction” is how Black Reconstruction” is how revisionist historians view the erarevisionist historians view the era– A more positive characterization?A more positive characterization?
• What evidence is there that goals of What evidence is there that goals of education, economic development & education, economic development & establishing a sense of community establishing a sense of community were achieved?were achieved?
• How did Black Reconstruction pave How did Black Reconstruction pave the way for the Civil Rights the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s?Movement of the 1960s?