Which statement is grammatically correct?

• The United States is at war in Iraq• The United States are at war in Iraq.

Question of the Day…

• Now that the war is over, what should we do to bring the country back together?

The Ordeal of Reconstruction1865-1877

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we

are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his

widow, and his orphan--to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace,

among ourselves, and with all nations.”

Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural

The problems of peace

• Lots of questions…– How would the south be rebuilt?– How would the liberated blacks be integrated?– How would the south be re-integrated into the

union?– Who would direct the process?– What should be done with Confederate leaders?

Andrew Johnson• Southern Democrat from

Tennessee– Just put on the ticket to

get more votes for Lincoln• He was a self-made man

who despised the wealthy planters who seceded

• He owned some slaves and was very racist

• He agreed with the principles of Lincoln’s 10% plan and sought to re-admit states quickly

Johnson wanted to admit states based on the amnesty plan and Congress rejected it-He wanted all Southern citizens to swear a loyalty oath and barred many former Confeds and elite from taking the vow, so they were on the outs. Once they swore the oath, they were pardoned.-He said that once states called special conventions to amend their constitutions and ratify the 13th amendment (no suffrage, though), they could be back in-He gave out many pardons and the wealthy were eventually back in power.-Black codes were enacted-former Confeds were elected back to Congress…among them was Alexander Stephens!-Congress refused to recognize these governments and even shut the door on them!

• In the meantime, the South had begun handling it themselves by enacting “Black Codes”

• Read primary source

Black Codes were enacted “The ex-slave was not a freeman; he was a free Negro.”

• These “codes” were loosely based on the slave codes and restricted freedom of African Americans

• Existing marriages were recognized, but interracial marriages were prohibited

• Testimony of blacks was accepted in legal cases involving blacks and in some states in ALL cases

• Blacks could own property• Blacks could sue and be sued• Could not own farmland in Mississippi or city lots in SC• Were required to enter into ANNUAL labor contracts

The Republicans in Congress were distraught with these developments, so

they attempted to take control of Reconstruction

Thaddeus Stevens was the radical leader in the House

Charles Sumner was the radical leader in the Senate

Most Republicans were rather

moderate, but were pushed to the radical side

with these developments in the South

Can we blame the South for the war?

• The radicals thought we could

Those punks stared it, now we’re going to

finish it!

The Republicans wanted to keep control of Congress

• What would happen if these Southerners started voting Democratic?

• They needed to retain a super-majority in order to be able to overturn any vetoes by Johnson (52% of his vetoes overturned).

• So they started advocating for voting rights for AA’s • By 1866 Congress and Johnson started fighting over

Reconstruction measures– Congress passed Civil Rights legislation to combat the Black Codes and

Johnson vetoed…but was overturned by Congress• To prevent this from being overturned, 14th Amendment was passed

– 14th Amendment stated-guaranteed citizenship to all born or naturalized here.» Also stated that you cannot deny someone due process, or other citizen rights

– Congress also extended the Freedman’s bureau

So, what happened once the slaves were free?

“He had neither money, property, nor friends. He was free from the old plantation, but he had nothing but the dusty road under his feet…he was turned loose, naked,

hungry, and destitute to the open sky.” Frederick Douglass

Where would they go?What would they do?

Republicans keep control in 1866 elections

•Johnson’s work to rally support actually hurts him!•Former Confeds are denied vote•Radicals get 2/3 majority and are able to override Johnson vetoes•Pass key acts

•Military Reconstruction Act -turned states into military-controlled zones, said how states could come back into Union…must ratify 14th Amendment, and AA’s could vote•Tenure of Office Act -Cabinet positions could not be changed w/o consent of Senate.

By 1868 Radicals wanted Johnson out!

“Johnson is an aching tooth in the national jaw, a screeching infant in a crowded lecture room.”

Horace Greeley

•House voted in favor of impeachment and then it went to trial in the Senate.

•Fell 1 vote short!...why?

Part of the deal was Johnson’s willingness to allow Congress to

control Reconstruction

Now the Reconstruction process can really go on with the Radical

Republican agenda

Most states were back in by 1868

• Georgia was kicked out again– They expelled 28 A.A. elected officials– State was compelled to ratify the 15th amendment

• 15th Amendment-right to vote-ratified in 1870.

• Union League was working in the South– Organiz. Set to keep AA enfranchised and recruit loyal whites– Carpetbaggers and scalawags

• Former slaves were gaining political influence and voting in large numbers

Freedmen turned to churches as independent institutions

•They left the white churches and formed their own. Hence, the role of minister became more and more influential as the churches became more than just places of worship•Also began establishing schools and colleges (Howard, Fisk, Morehouse, etc.)•Many migrated west to Kansas and beyond•Most Freedmen became Sharecroppers or tenant farmers…ended up in debt

•By 1880, only 5% had become independent landowners

Laws Fail to Protect FreedmenThe increasing violence against them as the fall 1867 election approached caused the African

American citizens of Calhoun, Georgia, to request protection from federal troops of the Third Military District.

Calhoun, Georgia, August 25, 1867General:We the Colored people of the town of Calhoun and County of Gordon desire to call your attention to

the State of Affairs that now exist in our midst.On the 16th day of the month, the Union Republican Party held a Meeting which the Colored people

of the County attended en masse. Since that time we seem to have the particular hatred and spite of that class who were opposed to the principles set forth in that meeting.

Their first act was to deprive us the privilege to worship any longer in the Church. Since we have procured one of our own, they threaten us if we hold meetings in it.

There has been houses broken open, windows smashed and doors broken down in the dead hours of the night, men rushing in, cursing and swearing and discharging their Pistols inside the house. Men have been knocked down and unmercifully beaten and yet the authorities do not notice it at all. We would open a school here, but are almost afraid to do so, not knowing that we have any protection for life or limb.

We wish to do right, obey the Laws and live in peace and quietude but when we are assailed at the midnight hour, our lives threatened and the Laws fail to protect or assist us we can but defend ourselves, let the consequences be what they may. Yet we wish to avoid all such collisions.

We would respectfully ask that a few soldiers be sent here, believing it is the only way we can live in peace until after the Elections this fall.

[Twenty-four signatures]

Insert the KKK here

• The 3rd phase of Reconstruction was known as “redemption” – The radical reconstruction of Congress began to fizzle

• Secret societies sprang up to terrorize the freedmen and prevent them from full citizenship.– Burned buildings, flogged and murdered people

• Congress responded in 1870 and ’71 with Force Acts• But, by 1872, most Northerners were ready for it all to

end…passed Amnesty Act for most Confeds.• Hence, the state gov’ts looked very similar to pre-war

The Compromise of 1877

• Financial panic hit the country in 1873• Congress goes to Democrats in 1874• Most northerners were ready for troops to

come home and for money to stop being spent of Reconst.

• Election of 1876…Rutherford Hayes v. Sam Tilden– Tilden was a democrat and Hayes was a Repub…no victor

in Electoral college…behind the scenes deal given to Hayes

So, what was really “Reconstructed”

• Most freedmen had basically no rights– Stuck in sharecropping or tenant farming

• Democrats in control in the South (and stay that way for nearly 100 years)

• Federal gov’t was supreme, but states re-asserted their sovereignty as the North lost its steam.

So, Who really “won” the war?

Pre-Civil War Slave Quarters

Georgia Sharecroppers

Today