the reconstructio n era 1865-1877. lincoln’s view of reconstruction a matter of restoring...

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The Reconstruction Era 1865-1877

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TheReconstruction

Era

1865-1877

LINCOLN’S VIEW OF RECONSTRUCTION

• A matter of restoring legitimate state governments

• Federal government should NOT punish the South

–“with malice towards none, with charity for all…to bind up the nations wounds…”

LINCOLN’S RECONSTRUCTION PLAN• Proclamation of Amnesty and

Reconstruction – Dec. 1863–Pardons for oath of allegiance

• 10% Plan–May form state gov’t as soon

as 10% take oath of allegiance

REACTION TO LINCOLN’S PLAN

• Did not give blacks full citizenship or voting rights

• Did not destroy the political power of the slave holding class

RADICAL REPUBLICANS’ PROPOSAL

• Wade-Davis Bill – Congress responsible for Reconstruction not the President

• Majority of voters must take oath of allegiance not 10%

• Lincoln pocket vetoed the bill• Radicals angry – want to punish

the south for secession

Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan does not go into effect

• Assassinated by John Wilkes Booth

• Andrew Johnson becomes president – Southern democrat-

–Continues Lincoln’s plan

• Radical Republicans challenge Johnson’s plan

PRESIDENTIAL RECONSTRUCTION

• Re-admission requirements–Declare secession illegal–Swear allegiance to the Union–Do not pay Confederate debts–Ratify 13th Amendment

• All southern states except TX readmitted by Dec. 1865

Presidential Reconstruction

• It is Andrew Johnson’s intent to carry out Lincoln’s plan

• Johnson is not trusted by the Republicans- From Tennessee and did not resign when the state seceded

• Many former confederate legislators were not prohibited from holding office under his plan

STEPS TAKEN TO HELP FORMER SLAVES

• Congress organized the Freedman’s Bureau to help blacks find jobs, protect rights, establish hospitals and schools

• 13th Amendment passed prohibiting slavery

Southern Whites Limit the Freedoms of Ex-Slaves

• White-controlled state governments pass laws called “BLACK CODES”–Allow worker exploitation

–Allow whipping

–Limit speech, travel, deny voting rights, imprisonment and bar court testimony against whites

Southern Whites Limit the Freedoms of Ex-Slaves

• White-controlled state governments pass laws called “BLACK CODES”–Allow worker exploitation

–Allow whipping

–Limit speech, travel, deny voting rights, imprisonment and bar court testimony against whites

Southern Whites Limit the Freedoms of Ex-Slaves

• In the first two years after the Civil War, 5000 African-Americans are murdered by whites- often by lynching

• Secret organizations, such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, are founded by whites to intimidate Blacks

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION

• Northern Republicans are convinced that Johnson’s Plan is not working– Black Codes, the KKK, and Confederate

officials still in office at state and federal levels cited as evidence

• Radical Republicans are the most critical

• Thaddeus Stephens (PA) is the most vocal critic- leads the Radical Republicans

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 is passed. Known as Radical Reconstruction or Congressional Reconstruction, this act clearly was designed to punish the South for the Civil War, increase the rights of African-Americans, disfranchise ex-confederates, and delay the readmission of states until republican governments established

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION PLAN

• Require the majority of voters in a secessionist state to take an oath of loyalty and a second “Iron-clad” oath stating that they did not support the Confederacy

• Individual governments had to outlaw slavery

• Former confederate officials were banned from voting for state legislators

CONGRESSIONAL RECONSTRUCTION PLAN

• Pass the 14th Amendment

• All qualified voters, blacks included were to elect a governor and a state legislature

• Other Reconstruction Acts will follow to strengthen enforcement of the first act.

JOHNSON VETOS THE ACT

• Unfair to the South• Congress over-rides the veto• Invalidate the state governments

re-admitted under the Lincoln and Johnson Plans. Only Tennessee will escape because they ratified the 14th Amendment before the Act was passed

TEN STATES UNDER MARTIAL LAW

• States that had not ratified the 14th Amendment were divided into five military districts

• Military will oversee elections concerning new state constitutions and governments

• Once conditions met Reconstruction will be complete

IMPEACHMENT CRISIS

• Johnson uses executive power to impede Congressional Reconstruction. –Replaced sympathetic radical

military officials with conservatives

–Defied the Tenure of Office Act and fires Secretary of War Stanton, a radical sympathizer

IMPEACHMENT CRISIS

• House of Representatives voted to impeach Johnson

• Senate trial held- Johnson’s lawyers argue that Tenure of Office Act is unconstitutional and not guilty of a crime indictable in court

• Johnson remains in office- The vote fell one vote short of the two-thirds needed to remove him from office

RECONSTRUCTION GOVERNMENTS

• Most states are re-admitted by 1870.

• Republicans will control the South until 1877–President U.S. Grant will uphold

tough reconstruction policies–Carpetbaggers and Scalawags–Southern Blacks

RECONSTRUCTION ENDS

• Use of violence keeps blacks away from the polls

• Northerners lost interest in Reconstruction

• Compromise of 1877- Rutherford B. Hayes is awarded the Presidency in exchange for a promise to removed federal troops from the south. Some troops remain but do not serve a political function

ACHIEVEMENTS OF RECONSTRUCTION

• States restored to the Union and rebuilding begun.

• Public schools established

• 14th and 15th Amendments passed

Reconstruction Amendments• 13th Amendment- Abolished

slavery

• 14th Amendment- Blacks are citizens of the United States– Intended to strengthen 1866 Civil

Rights Act

• 15th Amendment- Prohibited denial of suffrage because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Reconstruction’s Failures

• Failed to solve the problems of blacks–Too poor to afford land, many

former slaves are exploited under the sharecropping system

–Southern economic expansion is slowed by westward expansion

–“Jim Crow” laws passed to limit the rights of blacks

Sharecropping- 1880

“Jim Crow”

• Southern state governments passed laws forcing segregation and creating barriers to voting rights, such as poll taxes and grand-father clauses.

• The Supreme Court will uphold “Jim Crow” in 1895 by its ruling in Plessy vs. Ferguson

Black Resistance to “Jim Crow”

• Ida B. Wells- anti-lynching crusader, appealed to the federal government to stop lynching

• Booker T. Washington- equality via vocational education- accepted social segregation

• W.E.B. DuBois- education is meaningless without equality- strive for higher education (college)– Founded the NAACP

Because Reconstruction was implemented by Republicans, white southerners voted for Democratic candidates. This created a Bloc known as the “Solid South.”