reconstruction 1865 - 1877 what is “historiography” ?
TRANSCRIPT
Reconstruction1865 - 1877
What is “Historiography” ?
Did Reconstruction fail?
QUESTIONS
• Southern View• How will you/we restore the southern economy?• What rights will be guaranteed to Blacks?• Can states determine rights and privileges?• Will we be compensated for damages and loss of
property?
QUESTIONS
• Northern Perspective• How will South be punished?• Will we have to pay southern war debts?• How will freed blacks be provided with
opportunities?• How will the government respond to the changes
in demographics?
I. Problems facing the Government
as the Civil War ends
Economic How to rebuild the devastation
of infrastructure & loss of capital?
Political How do we bring Southern states back into the Union?
2nd Inaugural AddressWade-Davis Bill
LINCOLN CONFLICTS WITH CONGRESS
ON THE POLITICAL STATUS OF SOUTHERN STATES
• Majority of Republican Congress at end of Civil War sees the South as “Conquered Provinces” who committed “Suicide” by leaving the
Union
Lincoln sees the South as “Runaway Sisters” who never really left the Union
Debate on a Lenient or Strict policy to readmit the Southern States
• Lincoln proposes “10% Plan” to readmit Southern States
• “Radical Republicans” propose “50% Plan” (Wade-Davis Bill)
• Lincoln “pocket vetoes” Wade-Davis Bill in July 1864
Andrew Johnson Thaddeus Stevens
Following the re-election of Lincoln (Nov. ‘64) , end of war and unexpected death of Lincoln (April ‘65), VP (Tennessee Democrat) Andrew Johnson
becomes President and quickly expands conflict with “RadicalRepublicans” who dominated Congress lead by Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania
Video Clip #1 – Assassination of Lincoln
1866 cartoon illustrating conflict over Reconstruction policyBetween Johnson (President) & Stevens (Congress)
Film Clip: Andrew Johnson
WHY JOHNSON?VIDEO DEBRIEF: WHY HAD LINCOLN CHOSEN HIM?
Social: What will happen to the “Freedmen”?
Freedmen after the War: (Radical Republicans) voting rights, elected office, property, education
(Pres. Johnson)-States should be able to grant suffrage.-No civil rights guarantees
II. Treatment of theFormer Slaves
Freedmen’s Bureau established in 1865 to assist former slaves &enforce new federal policies.
Freedman’s Bureauheaded by Union General
Oliver Howard
Freedman’s Bureau generally successful in area of education and some social welfare assistance
Shortcomings of Freedman’s BureauPrimary Source Reading – p. 114
• “40 Acres & a Mule” promised & taken away• Lack of funding & widespread corruption
“Revolutionary” Changes for African-Americans??
13th Amendment (1865)Ends slavery
14th Amendment (1868)Establishes black citizenship &
“equal protection under the law”
15th Amendment (1870)Suffrage for all men
Black Codes passed by most Southern StatesAttempt to re-establish white supremacy
Slave Labor Gradually Replaced by Sharecropping System –
Limited economic opportunities of former slaves
Many Northerners Criticize the Freeman’s BureauVideo Clip #2 – “Carpetbaggers in the South”
Republican party backed “Union League” & “Carpet baggers” Anger White Southern Democrats
III. POLITICAL CONFLICTS & SOUTHERN RESENTMENT
GROW
“Radicals” in Congress overrideJohnson’s Veto of
Freedmen's BureauBill in 1866
“Swing Around the Circle Tour” - Congressional Election of 1866Seals Johnson’s Political Fate
Firing of Sect. of War Edwin Stanton violating Tenure of Office Act triggers impeachment
of Johnson in 1867
Former GeneralU.S. Grant elected
in 1868 &reelected
in 1872 despitepolitical
inexperience &widespread corruption
Why?
“Waving theBloody Shirt”
& 15th Amendment
“Military Reconstruction” of Grant Era Enforces Constitutional Amendments &
Angers Southern Whites
1870 Cartoon Illustrates Southern Democratic AngerVideo Clip #4 – Formation of KKK
Ku Klux Klanand other similar
“paramilitary terrorist” groups established
by Southern Democrats for“Self Protection” and to
“Redeem” the South
Primary Source p. 115
• Anti-Klan Force Acts (‘70 & ‘71)Not Effective
• KKK growth shows gradual restoration of “Home Rule”
Historiography Question: Were the KKK “terrorists” or
“freedom fighters”?
“Compromise of 1877”Ends Reconstruction
A political deal followingdisputed presidential
election of 1876.
ResultsRepublican Rutherford B. Hayes
becomes President
Federal troops pulled fromlast Southern states.
End of Federal support for Southern blacks
Republicans get Presidency
Democrats get “Home Rule”
Blacks get 100 years ofgovernment approved
discrimination
1915 “epic” filmThe Birth of a Nation
depicts KKK as “heroes”and blacks as “villains”
of Reconstruction
Interpretations of Reconstruction change
drastically followingCivil Rights era of the 1960s
Historiography constantly changing
How history is told often reveals as much about
the time it was told as about the past