STANDARD 10The student will identify legal, political, and social

dimensions of Reconstruction.

a. Compare and contrast Presidential Reconstruction with Radical Republican Reconstruction.

Presidential Reconstruction Reconstruction, at its heart, was:

A conflict between the Radical Republicans and Presidents Lincoln and Johnson (who were moderates)

Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South severely for the Civil War

Lincoln and the moderates wanted to quickly bring the South into the Union

Presidential Reconstruction The process of rebuilding the South began

before the war ended In 1863 Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent

PlanCalled on Southern states to complete three

tasks to restore to the Union1. First, they had to ratify the Thirteenth

Amendment. 2. Next states had to repudiate secession. 3. Finally, when ten per cent of 1860 voters had

taken an oath of allegiance the state would be restored to the Union.

Presidential Reconstruction Radical Republicans objected

Said the plan was too lenientThey proposed the Wade-Davis Bill, its

stated southern states would have to:○ Ratify the Thirteenth Amendment○ Voters to swear that they did not support

secessionLincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis

○ Sadly, before Lincoln could reintroduce his plan he was assassinated

Presidential Reconstruction Lincoln’s Vice-President, Andrew

Johnson’s plan of reconstruction was similar to Lincoln’sRapidly reintegrate Southern states back

into the UnionAppointed governors who would make the

required political changes

Presidential Reconstruction Unfortunately for the South, the election

of 1866 returned a Radical Republican majority to CongressThey began pushing forward bills that

favored their positionJohnson vetoed them one after anotherCongress responded by attempting the

impeach Johnson○ They failed

Congressional Reconstruction 1867, the First Reconstruction Act:

Divided the South into five military districts that were administered by military governors

The law turned the clock back on any Reconstruction measures passed by southern states (except for Johnson’s home state of Tennessee)

Congressional Reconstruction To be readmitted to the Union, the

Southern states were required to:Guarantee Black suffrageHold open elections for both White and

Black representatives to the state constitutional convention

Create a new state constitution that recognized the three Reconstruction amendments to the Constitution

Congressional Reconstruction By 1870 all the Southern states had

been re-admitted to the UnionFederal troops remained in the South to

enforce the provisions and to protect African-Americans from mob violence

b. Explain efforts to redistribute land in the South among the former slaves and provide advanced education (e.g., Morehouse College) and describe the role of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

“Forty-acres and a mule” In January 1865, Gen. William T.

Sherman issued a special field order:To settle African-American families who

were following his Army Each family was to be allotted 40-acres

and a muleFrom confiscated lands in the Georgia,

Florida, South Carolina

“Forty-acres and a mule” Approximately 18,000 families were to

be settled in this wayBefore the program could be fully

implemented, President Andrew Johnson rescinded this order and returned all confiscated lands to its former owners

The Freedmen’s Bureau In March 1865 Congress created the

Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Freedmen’s Bureau) It was in order to ease freed slaves’

transition from enslavement to freedom

The Freedmen’s Bureau The bureau’s responsibilities included:

Introducing a system of free laborOverseeing some 3,000 schools for freed

personsSettling disputesEnforcing contracts between the usually

white landowners and their black labor forceSecuring justice for blacks in state courts

The Freedmen’s Bureau The Bureau lacked any enforcement

authority on its ownLost its ability to carry out its mission when

Federal troops were withdrawn from the South

White Southerners refused to support its objectivesNorthern politicians neglected to give it

financial support The Freedmen’s Bureau ceased

operation in 1872

Educational Success The Bureau’s one notable contribution:

Creating numerous schools in the South, including:○ Howard University○ Hampton Institute

In Georgia○ Morehouse College

Examples of a colleges created to give African-American men advanced educations

c. Describe the significance of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.

13th, 14th, and 15th Three amendments ratified shortly after

the Civil War expanded civil liberties and voting rights to freed slavesThese amendments forced states to

recognize the protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights

These three amendments defined and protected voter rights

13th Amendment The Thirteenth Amendment ended

slavery in the United StatesEmancipating nine million African-Americans

14th Amendment The Fourteenth Amendment defined

citizenship, expanded due process to the state level, protected the right to vote of newly free men, ended the Three-Fifths Compromise, and denied former Confederates the ability to participate in electoral office until approved by Congress

15th Amendment The Fifteenth Amendment prohibited

states from denying anyone the right to vote on the basis previous condition of servitude, race, or colorSex was not mentioned

○ Thus denying women the right to vote

d. Explain Black Codes, the Ku Klux Klan, and other forms of resistance to racial equality during Reconstruction.

Resistance to Reconstruction Southerners resisted Reconstruction by:

Refusal to participateThrough the passage of harsh laws that

restricted economic and political rightsBy intimidation and violence

Black Codes Enacted by many Southern states

immediately after the Civil WarBlack Codes were designed to regulate

relations between white southerners and newly freed slaves

Black Codes While recognizing some rights, such as:

Legalized marriageOwnership of propertyLimited access to the court

Black Codes denied African-Americans the rights to:Testify against whitesTo serve on juries or in state militiasTo vote, and express legal concern publicly

Black Codes The Codes were an attempt by

plantation owners to secure the labor supply lost as a result of the Thirteenth AmendmentThey required all African-Americans to

provide proof of employment or be forced to work for white land owners

Black Codes Black Codes enraged northern

Congressmen and the publicSaw the laws as re-introduction of some of

the aspects of slavery The Codes were made illegal with the

passage of the Fourteenth Amendment

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Founded in Tennessee in 1866, the Ku

Klux Klan was originally a Confederate veteran’s clubQuickly became an organization closely

associated with worst forms of violence and intimidation

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Initially, the Klan tried to scare African-

Americans into compliance When this method did not work Klan

members attacked:Northern whites who came SouthSouthern whites who tried to aid

ReconstructionAfrican-Americans who were educated and

participated in community affairs

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Eventually, anyone who Klan members

disliked could be:AttackedBeatenBrutally murdered

○ Often in front of family members

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Resistance to the Klan was difficult

Due to a lack of weapons among African-Americans

Also, because of the control of the court system by the white politicians

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Some states, notably:

ArkansasTennesseeTexas

○ Successful broke up the Klan with special police forces

The Federal government used the Enforcement Acts to break up Klan activitiesBy 1872 the Klan had disappeared in the

South

e. Explain the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in relationship to Reconstruction.

Impeachment President Andrew Johnson angered the

Radical Republicans He vetoed Congressional Reconstruction

measures The Radical Republicans tried to find a

way to remove President Johnson from office

Impeachment In 1867 Congress passed the Tenure of

Office Act over Johnson’s vetoThe law forbade the President from

removing important government officials without Congressional approval

Johnson decided to test the lawHe removed Radical Republican appointee,

Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton

Impeachment Stanton supported Congressional

ReconstructionBrought him into conflict with President

JohnsonThe President fired Stanton and ordered him

to vacate his office○ Stanton barricaded himself in his War

Department office and remained there until after the impeachment trial was over

Impeachment Thaddeus Stevens

A Radical Republican member of the HouseFiled charges against President Johnson

The President was acquitted by one vote

Relationship to Reconstruction The attempt to impeach the President was

a clear move by the Radical Republicans to seize control of ReconstructionCongress couldn’t overturn Johnson’s vetoes

of key Reconstruction billsCongress attempted an end around the

Constitution by taking on powers not reserved to it.○ Later Supreme Court decisions agreed with

Johnson’s view of the law

Relationship to Reconstruction Johnson won the impeachment battle

with Congress but his days were numberedAs a one-time Democrat, he was not

considered for the Republican nomination in 1868

No Democrat could be elected to the Presidency so soon after the Civil War

Relationship to Reconstruction In the end Ulysses Grant, a Radical

Republican supporter, was elected President

Congress had full control over Reconstruction

f. Analyze how the presidential election of 1876 and the subsequent compromise of 1877 marked the end of Reconstruction.

Election of 1876 In the Election of 1876:

The Democrats nominated Samuel J. TildenThe Republicans nominated Rutherford B.

Hayes The campaign was a bitter one

Election of 1876 Tilden won popular vote by 260,000

votesHe failed to carry the majority of the

electoral votesFour states’ electoral votes were disputed:

○ Florida○ Louisiana○ Oregon○ South Carolina

Election of 1876 A special Federal commission was

appointed to award the electoral votes The Commission awarded Hayes the

election along straight party linesDemocrats in Congress threatened to

filibuster the electoral vote count

Compromise of 1877 Hayes met with Democratic House

members and worked out the Compromise of 1877In exchange for Democrats support, Hayes

agreed to:○ Support internal improvements for the South○ Appoint a Southerner to the Cabinet○ Withdraw Federal troops from the South

Compromise of 1877 Shortly after Hayes inauguration he

withdrew Federal troops from the South Republican dominated state governments

collapsed across the South and African-Americans were slowly disenfranchised by state laws

Reconstruction had endedSouthern states remained embittered toward

the Northern states for many years afterwards