Chapter 15

What were the end results of the Civil War?

What had to be done in order to repair the nation?

http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/us20.cfm

South was financially, emotionally, and physically in ruins

Charleston, SC

258K CSA soldiers died 20% of white adult males The “Lost Cause” Lee, Jackson, Davis—Almost religious

figures 4 million slaves freed—But now what? Future of uncertainty

“If I cannot do like a white man, I am not free.”

“The property which they hold was nearly all earned by the sweat of our brows.”

Economic redistribution, legal equality, independence from white control

• Section 1.--Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

• Section 2.--Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

• Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.

Union troops remained in South Freedmen’s Bureau

• Distributed food• Established schools• Helped African Americans & poor whites settle• Not big enough to take on huge undertaking

How should the southern states be re-admitted?

Should southern states be punished? Radicals vs. Conservatives

• Radicals led by Thaddeus Stevens & Charles Sumner

Lincoln announced his Reconstruction plan in 1863

10% Plan• Once 10% of a state’s voters swore loyalty then

that state would be re-admitted• Some African Americans would get the right to

vote• LA, AR, TN followed this plan

Wade-Davis Bill• President would appoint provisional governor• Majority (not 10%) of voters needed to swear

loyalty• New state constitutions would abolish slavery &

disenfranchise Confederate leaders Passed by Congress, vetoed by Lincoln

• Angered Radicals

Ford’s Theater, Our American Cousin, on April 14, 1865

Shot in back of head by John Wilkes Booth

Rushed to house across the street; died there the next morning

Booth escaped on horseback Captured on April 26, 1865 and shot to

death

Had not been VP for long From TN, former slaveholder, Democrat Against equal rights Offered amnesty to southerners that took

an oath Required a majority in order for state to

be re-admitted States had to abolish slavery, ratify 13th

Am.

By end of 1865 all southern states had formed new gov’ts

Radical Republicans in Congress worked to stall re-admission• Loyalty oath seemed to easy• CSA VP, Alexander Stephens, had been elected

to Senate by Georgia

South’s state legislatures passed black codes (1865-1866)

Congress responded with Civil Rights Act of 1866• Declared African Americans as citizens of U.S.• Gave fed. gov’t power to intervene & protect

rights of citizens Johnson vetoed, Congress overrode

Section 1--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. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Adopted on July 9, 1868

Swept by Republicans Senate=42 Republicans vs. 11 Democrats House=143 Republicans vs. 49

Democrats Congress could act w/o Pres. Johnson

Reconstruction Acts (1867-1868):• Congress split South into 5 military districts; each

governed by a military commander• Qualified voters were registered• State conventions would be held to write new state

constitutions• Congress had to approve the new state constitutions• State legislatures had to approve the 14th Amendment• Then re-admitted

By 1868, 7 of 10 Confederate states had followed plan & been re-admitted

Tenure Office Act (1867)—Forbade president to remove civil officials w/o permission of Senate

Command of the Army Act (1867)—President prohibited from issuing military orders w/o commanding general of the army (Grant)

Section 1--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.

Section 2--The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Ratified on February 3, 1870

Violated Tenure Office Act by firing Sec. of War Stanton

Radicals impeached him Senate trial, March-May of 1868 Acquitted by only one vote, 35-19

• Edmund Ross of Kansas• Destroyed Johnson’s political career

Scalawags—Southern white Republicans

Carpetbaggers—Northern Republicans that moved to South during Reconstruction• Looked at South as “new

frontier” Freedmen

• No previous political experience

20 African Americans in House of Reps from 1869 to 1901

First two=Blanche K. Bruce & Hiram Revels, both of Mississippi• Both became Senators,

only 6 AA Senators all-time

• Revels took Jeff Davis’ seat

No African Americans elected as governor

Number of black officeholders stayed relatively low

Push for educational reform• For both freedmen & poor whites

4K new schools created by reformers by 1870• Opposed by wealthy whites

State gov’ts led concerted effort to increase public education

Segregation, by choice & law Black colleges

• Fisk (1866), Howard (1867), Morehouse (1867), Hampton (1868),

Freedmen’s Bureau managed to settle 10,000 black families on their own land

Led some freedmen to dream of “40 acres & a mule”

Plantation owners returned & reclaimed land• Most land was returned

White land ownership fell from 80% to 67% during Reconstruction

African American land ownership rose from nearly 0% to 20%

Majority of southerners did not own their own land

Per capita income of blacks rose 46% between 1857 & 1879, whites per capita income declined 35%

Total profits of southern agriculture declined

Most local stores had no competition Lien (claim) on crops in return for a loan

• High interest rates• Poor harvest=cycle of debt• Dependency on cash crops; esp. cotton

Effort to reunite families Ads in newspapers by people searching

for relatives Females left fields and took on domestic

roles However, over 50% of black women had

to work for wages

Johnson was unable to secure Democratic nomination• Chose former NY governor Horatio Seymour

instead Popular vote was close Grant was aided by African American

voters• Had no political experience

Relied too much on spoils system

Inadequate cabinet Supported Radical

Reconstruction Liberal

Republicans opposed “Grantism”

Grant fairs well with 56% of popular vote & landslide in Electoral College

*Grant’s main opponent Horace Greeley died before the Electoral College cast its ballots

Credit Mobilier Scandal—Union Pacific avoided investigation into corrupt practices by giving stock to Republican officeholders

“Whiskey Ring”—Republican officials avoided millions in taxes on liquor through bribery

Growing opposition to “Grantism”

Worse than previous economic depressions

Investing company failures Debate over currency flared Greenbacks were replaced by

certificates that were back by the price of gold (1879)

Secretary of State Seward bought Alaska for $7.2 million in 1867

“Seward’s Folly,” “Seward’s Icebox”

Annexation of Hawaii & Midway Islands (1867)

Nearly all southern whites had re-gained vote by 1872

Whites used intimidation, violence, & economic power to stop blacks from voting & earning rights

KKK, Red Shirts, White League

Founded in 1866 by former CSA soldiers; Nathan Bedford Forrest

Congress responded with KKK Acts in 1870-1871• Used rarely, did limit Klan’s power

After passage of the 15th Amendment northern support for Southern blacks dwindled• Ability to vote was supposed to allow blacks to

help themselves During Panic of 1873 poverty was

associated w/ new idea of “Social Darwinism”• Those who failed, did so because they were

“unfit”

Democrats took control of the House in 1874

Republican-controlled governments in the South were falling

Grant considered a 3rd term Party chose Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio

instead Democrats chose former governor of NY

Samuel Tilden Tilden won popular vote by 300K Disputes over votes in LA, SC, FL, & OR

The disputed states were settled by a special election commission

Hayes received all disputed votes & the election

In return all federal troops would be removed from the South

Hayes’ career was ruined by the election• “His Fraudulency”

The withdrawal of troops marked the end of the Reconstruction era

Much left undone Political power of African Americans

decreased 14th & 15th Amendments were largely

ignored by white southerners Racial violence & discrimination

increased

White Democrats regained control of politics in the South

Cut taxes, reduced spending, & cut services of state governments