Reconstruction

1864 - 1877

The South after the War

• Property losses

– The value of farms and plantations declined steeply and suffered from neglect and loss of workers.

– The South’s transportation network was in very poor shape.

• Challenges for African Americans

– Had gained freedom, but had no money and little if any education. The poor economy made job prospects bleak.

– They wanted educational and economic opportunities.

• How to treat the South

– Many legal and political questions regarding the South needed to be answered.

Wartime Reconstruction The Freedmen’s Bureau was created in March 1865 to help southern refugees and freed slaves. It provided clothing, food, education, hospitals, and legal protection.

Northerners disagreed over how to treat the South, but as he stated in his inaugural address, Lincoln hoped to treat the South “with malice toward none and charity toward all.”

New roles for African Americans were tested. A. slaves were hired to work on plantations for pay, or were

allowed to rent and farm the land. B. 40-acre plots in South Carolina and Georgia coastal lands

were given away. C. In Louisiana, freedmen signed contracts to work for a year

for wages. D. Some planters deducted basic items from the wages, and

little money was left over.

Reconstruction Plans Lincoln’s 10% Plan

• When 10 percent of voters had taken the oath, a new state government could be organized.

• The new government was required to ban slavery.

Opposition • Lincoln’s plan sparked debate

in Congress.

• Some thought only power to re-admit belonged to Congress; others thought the South never officially left the Union.

• The Radical Republicans, led by Senator Charles Sumner and Representative Thaddeus Stevens wanted to destroy the power of former slave holders.

• Congress refused to allow members from the states readmitted under Lincoln’s plan to be seated.

Johnson and Congress Differ over Reconstruction

• He held no ill will toward southerners. • He supported states’ rights and limits on government

power. • Johnson’s plan added to Lincoln’s 10% Plan.

A. Wealthy southerners would have to apply for pardons, but there was no set percentage of loyal voters.

B. It required a convention to be called to repeal secession, an amended constitution banning slavery, and a refusal to pay Confederate debts.

• Johnson pushed forward with his plan, and all but one state was restored when Congress met in December. Congress was not happy, and the battle for control would begin.

Reconstruction under President Johnson

• Johnson’s attitude

– Deep-rooted prejudice continued. African Americans had rights, but those rights did not include a role in government. Johnson declared, “White men alone must manage the South.”

– Johnson pardoned nearly everyone who applied, and prewar leaders were restored to power. Congress refused to seat these former Confederates.

Radical Reconstruction

Congress passed the Fourteenth Amendment, writing the Civil Rights Act into the constitution and granting citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.”

Reconstruction Act of 1867.

A. put the southern states under U.S. military control

B. States were required to allow African-American men to

vote and ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.

C. President Johnson vetoed the act but Congress overrode

him.

Radical Reconstruction Johnson’s impeachment

• Edward Stanton, Lincoln’s secretary of war, had stayed on in Johnson’s cabinet.

• Stanton supported congressional Republicans and prevented Johnson from undermining Congress’s program. In response, Johnson fired him.

• The House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act.

• The Tenure of Office Act stated that a president could not remove cabinet officers during the term of a president who had appointed them without the approval of the Senate.

• The Senate failed to convict by one vote, and Johnson remained in office.

The Fifteenth Amendment

• During the impeachment trial, Republicans nominated General Grant as their presidential candidate.

• The 1868 election was close, but the African American vote in the South gave Grant an electoral college victory.

• Republicans pushed through the Fifteenth Amendment, which extended suffrage to all African American males nationwide.

Republican Government Brings Change to the South

Scalawags

• Scalawag was the name given to southerners who supported the shift in power to Congress and the army.

• Many were farmers who had never owned slaves.

• Some joined the Republicans to prevent the planter class from returning to power; others were southerners ruined by the war; still others wanted to end the dependence on plantation agriculture.

• Many did not support civil rights for African-Americans

Carpetbaggers

• The scalawags allied with carpetbaggers, northerners who came south to take part in the region’s political and economic rebirth.

• Scorned as low-class persons who could carry their belongings in a carpetbag, many were educated and came from a variety of backgrounds.

• Many bought abandoned land cheaply or formed partnerships with planters.

Republican Government Brings Change to the South

• African Americans in government

– Forming the largest group of Republican voters in the South, nearly 700 African Americans served in southern state legislatures during Reconstruction. They included Hiram Revels, who took the Senate seat held by Jefferson Davis before the war.

• New developments

– public school systems.

– infrastructure was repaired

– facilities built

– railroads added.

– Facilities were open to all southerners, but were usually segregated by race.

– The Black Codes were repealed in every state.

Life after Slavery for African Americans

Freedom meant a variety of things, including reuniting with family and the search for employment. Some moved west or north, but most stayed in the South.

Most eagerly sought education and began to establish their own institutions, including churches and schools. The churches became centers of community life.

A wide variety of other organizations were created: • including debate clubs • drama societies • trade associations • fire companies • mutual aid societies. • Atlanta, Fisk, and Howard Universities were founded

Reconstruction and Land Ownership

Under the new sharecropping system the employer provided the land, tools, seed—basically everything but the labor. As payment, sharecroppers gave most of their crops to the landowner and only kept a small share. If able, some switched to tenant farming, renting the land they farmed from the landowner. Independence was difficult.

Southern

Homestead

Act

Giving away planters’ land to former slaves was considered too extreme. Instead, Congress passed a law setting aside 45 million acres of government-owned land to provide free farms.

New labor

system

Southern cities grew rapidly. Atlanta and other cities became business centers, with textile mills and other manufacturing ventures being built. Workers still earned lower wages in the South, and many were locked in a cycle of debt.

Industrial

growth

Problems with Reconstruction

Terrorist Groups • Reconstruction brought

violent opposition throughout the South.

• The Ku Klux Klan or KKK and similar organizations wanted to restore the old political order.

• Their methods included threats, house burnings, and killings against not only blacks but whites as well.

• They were responsible for killing about 20,000 men, women, and children.

• State governments were unable to control violence.

Enforcement Acts

• Three Enforcement Acts were passed, setting heavy penalties for anyone attempting to prevent a qualified person from voting.

• They banned the use of disguises and gave the army and federal courts power to capture and punish KKK members.

• While the KKK was soon brought under control, other groups continued to operate.

Problems with Reconstruction

Support declines

• White southerners felt the Acts threatened individual freedoms.

• Northerners were dismayed that the army was still needed to keep the peace in the South.

• State governments were seen as ineffective.

• There was widespread poverty and lack of land reform for African Americans.

Lost faith

• Costly building programs raised taxes and put state governments in debt.

• Liberal Republicans helped the Democrats regain control of the House of Representatives.

• Economic factors came into play, with the depression that began in 1873 taking more attention.

The End of Reconstruction

Supreme

Court

decisions

Three Supreme Court decisions seriously weakened the goals and operations of Reconstruction. Decisions by the Supreme Court served to limit the impact of the 14th and 15th Amendments.

• Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden won the

popular vote but was one electoral vote away from

winning.

• Compromise of 1877

1. Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops in

the South

2. In return, Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican

candidate became president.

3. Reconstruction ended in the South

The

election of

1876

Reconstruction’s Legacy

The 14th and 15th Amendments began permanent changes across the United States. Former slaves were now citizens with voting rights.

The New South was becoming industrial, but in many ways it remained the same. White southerners deeply resented that the federal government controlled their states.