Reconstruction and the New South

Ch.15

Bell Ringer 1/3

Predict major issues and questions that will have to be addressed during Reconstruction.

Impact of the War on the South

Devastated economy, lands, fortunes, male population, huge new population of freed blacks etc…

“Lost Cause”- Romanticize about the Southern effort and philosophy.

What does Freedom mean for Blacks?

“Though slavery was abolished, the wrongs of my people were not ended. Though they were not slaves, they were not yet quite free. No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling, and action of others, and who has no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending, and maintaining his liberty.”-Fredrick Douglass 1882

Black determination

Create black churches, schools, communities.

Black pastors and teachers become the leader of their communities.

Reconstruction Plans of LincolnProclamation of Amnesty and

Reconstruction (1863)(Lincoln’s 10% Plan)

Full presidential pardons to most southerners who…

(Took an oath of allegiance to the Union and U.S Constitution)(Accepted emancipation of slaves)

A state gov. could be reestablished and accepted as legitimate by the U.S president as soon as 10% of the voters in that state took a loyalty oath.

Republicans Rejection of Lincoln’s Plan

Wade-Davis Bill (1864) 50% of voters in a state had to take

a loyalty oath to the Union.

Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill.

Bell Ringer 1/4

What was Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction called and provide one example of his requirements for the re-admission of ex Confederate states to the Union?

What bill did Congress respond with in reaction to Lincoln’s plan?

Freedman’s Bureau

Congress passed Welfare agency to provide food,

shelter, medical aid for blacks and homeless whites.

Gave blacks confiscated farms from the South.

Helped establish education and colleges for blacks.

Death of Lincoln Killed at Ford’s Theater in Washington

Murdered by John Wilkes Booth

Secretary of State Seward was shot the same night.

*Changes the opinion of how to handle reconstruction of the South.*

How So???

“Democrat or Republican”Andrew Johnson

Poor leader, insecure and a White Supremacist

Reconstruction Policy- Similar to Lincoln’s 10% plan1)Disenfranchisement of all former leaders/officeholders of the

Confederacy &2) Confederates of $20,000 or more taxable land.

Allows all of the 11 Confederate States back to the Union.

*Catch: Johnson pardoned many southerners from this disenfranchisement.

Southern Decisions

None of the ex-Confederate states acknowledged the right to vote for blacks

Elected former Confederate leaders to office.

Established Black Codes:1)Prohibit blacks from renting or owning land2) Placed freedman in semi-bondage3)Prohibited blacks from testifying in court.

Radical Republican Reaction“Who Won the War?”

1866- Election year for Congress seats and Radical Republicans dominate!!!

Appalled by Johnson’s “presidential reconstruction”

Radical Republicans Decisions

Congress makes bold decisionsCreate the Joint Committee on Reconstruction Refuse to seat the representatives of the restored

states. Form a bill increasing Freedman’s Bureau Form a civil rights bill that nullified Black Codes

and guaranteed citizenship and equal rights to blacks.

****Johnson Vetoed these bills****

Congress overrode Johnson on each.

14th Amendment

*P

Provides the first constitutional definition of American citizenship*

1) Everyone born in the US, and everyone naturalized, was automatically a citizen and entitled to all the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed by the Constitution, including equal protection of the laws by both the state and national governments.

2) Penalties for those who do not follow 3) Kept former Confederate leaders from holding

office unless 2/3 of Congress pardoned them.

*If the former Confederate states ratified the 14th Amendment then they could readmit to the Union.

Quiz1)Who murdered Abraham Lincoln?2)What was the purpose of the Freemen’s Bureau?

3)Explain what the purpose of black codes were and provide an example.

4)What does Congress create in response to Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan and his willingness to let the South do what they want?

5)What was one outcome of the 14th Amendment?

Congressional Plan for Reconstruction

Radicals pass 3 Reconstruction Bills

1) Congress rejects Lincoln’s/Johnson’s readmission of other 10 Confederate States

2) Makes these states into 5 military districts

3) Ex-Confederate states had to ratify the 14th amendment and guarantee in their constitution the right to vote for all adult males regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (15th Amendment 1869)

Congress oversteps its power

Congress was worried they would lose everything they had achieved. They pass 2 Laws

Tenure of Office Act -Kept the president from removing civil officials without the consent of Senate.

Command of Army Act- Kept the president from issuing military orders except through the commanding general of the army who could not be removed unless approved by the Senate.

Congress and the Supreme Court

Supreme Court was going to rule in a way that would limit the Radical Republicans.

Republicans threaten through bills to overrule the Supreme Court

Deny the Court’s jurisdiction in Reconstruction cases.

Reduce the courts members. Abolish the Court.

*Supreme Court never addresses another Reconstruction issue*

Impeachment of Johnson Johnson purposefully removes a senator on his own

terms

Congress impeaches him on 11 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Johnson barely escapes the required votes to be impeached.

Election of 1868

Democrats: Horatio SeymourRepublicans: Ulysses S. Grant

Grant barely wins

Civil Rights Act of 1875

Law guaranteed equal accommodations in public places and prohibited excluding African Americans from jury.

Not Enforced, but why???

Reconstruction in the South

Republicans took over in the South. Freedmen also occasionally joined Congress. Scalawags- Southern Republicans Carpetbaggers- Northerners who came to the

south as entrepreneurs.

African American Legislators

Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels (2 black senators)

Revels took the seat in Mississippi formerly held by Jefferson Davis.

How does the South feel about this?

Evaluating the Republican RecordACCOMPLISHMENTS

Universal Male Suffrage

Property rights for women

Debt relief Modernized penal

codes Promoted building of

infrastructure State supported

public schools

FAILURES

Some corruption Potentially

unconstitutional laws

African Americans new freedom

Segregated Schools

Land redistribution fails

Sharecropping- Work for white tenants and get a share of the crop they worked.

Crop-Lien System- Loan money from country stores. Become tied to high interest and debt. (Decimates the Southern Economy)

“Grantism” Scandals take place under Grant Credit Mobilier- Built Pacific Railroad and stole money

from the gov. Whiskey Ring- Distillers filed taxes incorrectly.

Indian-post trader- Secretary of War accepted bribes.

Greenback Question Panic of 1873- Worse than all other panics

in US history

Debtors wanted the gov. to create more $

Grant makes the Specie Resumption Act- Cuts greenbacks and replace with gold backed money.

Those in favor of greenbacks create the National Greenback Party.

Foreign Affairs Under Grant William H. Seward and Hamilton Fish

lead foreign affairs

Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. (“Seward’s Folly”)

Annexed Midway Islands

Hamilton Fish- “Alabama Claims” – Treaty of Washington- Britain apologized for providing ships to the Confederacy.

Abandonment of Reconstruction North busy with political and

economical issues.

Democrats had eventually “redeemed” 7 of 11 gov. in the South.

To gain control of blacks voting abilities, whites started using intimidation.

Ku Klux Klan (1866) Founded by: Nathan Bedford Forrest

“midnight rides”, intimidation, violence all directed towards blacks.

Republican Congress passes 2 Enforcement Acts- Kept states from discriminating against voters based on race and gave the federal gov. power over state courts.

(President use military to protect civil rights)Causes a decline in the Klan

“Social Darwinism”

Society starts to uphold this philosophy

Harsh theory that individuals failed because they were “unfit”

Criticized governmental involvement to help those in need.

1874- Democrats won control of the House of Reps

Compromise of 1877 Election of 1876-Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes v. Democrat: Sam Tilden

Democrats had clearly won, but 3 southern states(SC, FL, Louisiana, and Oregon, votes were contested.

Special Electoral Commission- vote 8-7 in favor of Republicans and give all votes to Hayes. (Democrats threatened to filibuster)

Compromise: Hayes becomes president, withdrawals all federal support for Republicans in the South, and support the building of a southern transcontinental railroad.

Hayes as President

“His Fraudulency” Hayes is unproductive and

unsuccessful as president.

Eventually Federal troops are pulled from the South. What does this signal???

New South

1877- Every Southern government had been “redeemed” and ruled by “Bourbons”

Lowered taxes, reduced spending, diminished state services, eliminated school systems, etc…

Industrialization and the “New South”

Developed significantly Textile companies came for lower

taxes. Railroads developed by almost

double in 10 years.

African Americans and the “New South”

Black Middle Class- Education a huge priority and led by Booker T. Washington.

(President of Tuskegee Institute)(Focus on self-improvement and not political

rights)

Speech “Atlanta Compromise”- Speech on hard work and being self advocates.

Jim Crow 14th and 15th amendments prohibited the federal

government form discrimination but not private organizations.

Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court ruled that separate seating arrangements did not deprive blacks of equal rights.

Cumming v. County Board of Education:-Court ruled that laws establishing separate schools for

whites were ok.

Disenfranchisement of blacks started in some areas. Creating laws to keep black males from voting.

Jim Crow Poll Tax or property qualifications.

Literacy Test

Grandfather Laws: Whites who couldn’t pass the Property Qualifications or Literacy Test could vote it their ancestors could vote.

Williams v. Mississippi- Supreme Court got rid of Grandfather Laws but kept the literacy test.

Lynchings

White mobs started to lynch blacks for violation of “crimes”

Public displays with large gatherings.

Why LYNCH???

Ida B. Wells- Black journalist launched an anti-lynching movement.