Reconstruction

1865-1877

Radical Republicans & Lincoln

• Angered by

Lincoln’s plan

because it did not

give full equality to

freed slaves

• Thought Lincoln’s

plan was too easy

on the South

The Wade-Davis Bill

• Majority of adult Southern white men

would have to swear allegiance to America

• State Constitutional Conventions would

have to:

– abolish slavery

– Reject Confederate war debt

– Deny the vote and office holding to former

CSA officers

• Lincoln killed the bill by pocket veto

John Wilkes

Booth

shot Lincoln

on April 14,

1865

Johnson’s Reconstruction

• Blamed wealthy plantation

owners for the war

• His plan for the Southern

states:

– New constitutions

– Elect a new

governments

– Repeal secession

– Cancel Confederate

debts

– Ratify the 13th

Amendment

Black Codes • Laws passed by

Southern legislatures

that limited the rights

of African Americans

in the South

• African Americans

were required to sign

yearly labor contracts

//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Nast_on_Andrew_Johnson.jpg

Johnson vs. the Radical

Republicans • 1866 – Congress passed 2 bills

– Freedmen’s Bureau Bill – provided food,

clothing, medical care, and education for war

refugees

– Civil Rights Act – nullified the Black Codes by

declaring freedmen full citizens with equal

rights

• Johnson vetoed both bills

• In April, Congress overrode Johnson’s

veto

Fourteenth

Amendment

• Granted citizenship to

all people born in the

U.S.

• No citizen could be

denied the rights

promised in the

Constitution

Military

Reconstruction

Act of 1867 • South was put under

military rule

• Southern states had to hold

new elections

• All male voters can vote

• Barred confederacy

supporters from voting

• Southern states should

guarantee equal rights

• Ratification of the 14th

amendment (1868)

Former Confederate soldiers founded the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

after the American Civil War (1861-1865). The KKK used

violence and intimidation to prevent blacks from voting and

holding office, and to keep them segregated.

Anti Klan Laws

Enforcement Act of 1870 passed to

prevent any Ku Klux Klan activity

from preventing anyone from voting

that had the right to do so.

Johnson’s Impeachment

• Congress passed 2 laws to make sure that

President Johnson would not ignore their

laws

– Command of the Army Act – President’s order

must go through General Grant

– Tenure of Office Act – Congress must

approve the removal of any cabinet member

The

Showdown • Johnson challenged

Congress & fired

Edwin Stanton

• House of

Representatives

voted to impeach

the President

• The Senate failed to

remove Andrew

Johnson

Blacks

Gained the

Right to

Vote 15th

Amendment

*Became law

March 1870

Why Did People Grow Tired of the

Reconstruction?

• Put heavy taxes on the people

• Came to symbolize corruption & greed

• When the military withdrew from the south,

gov’ts. were taken over by white southerners

→ blocked Reconstruction policies

• North voters really did not support racial

equality

• Economic downturn in 1873 drew people’s

attention elsewhere

• Democrats gave the election to Hayes

• He removed troops from the South & gave money to southern RRs

Solid

South

Reconstruction Successes

1. Republicans carried

out 2 main goals

2. Stimulated economy

3. 14th/15th Amendments

4. Freedmen’s Bureau

5. Tax-supported,

mandatory education

Failures

1. Southerners remained

in poverty

2. State gov’ts. & KKK

denied blacks the vote

3. Racist attitudes

continued.

4. Southern economy

cont’d. to emphasize

agriculture

5. Did not address needs

of other groups:

farmers, workers,

suffragettes