Post on 16-Jan-2016
American History—Chapter 12American History—Chapter 12
Reconstruction
Problems after the WarProblems after the War
Human—What do you do with all the new slaves? All the people that died?
Political—What do you do with all the Southern states? What about Lincoln’s death?
Constitutional—Does the President or Congress have the right to chose which plan will work to fix the South
ReconstructionReconstruction
1867-1877: Time period in which the United States tried to rebuild after the Civil War.
Also is the name for the process that the North allowed the South to come back to the United States.
Critical Period in United States History
Lincoln’s PlanLincoln’s Plan
Didn’t blame individuals in the South—blame the Southern leaders for leaving
Wanted to restore the Union as QUICK as possible
Amnesty--To pardon (forgive) people for crimes against the government
Lincoln’s Plan never took place
Lincoln’s Plan cont..Lincoln’s Plan cont..
Pardon (forgive) all confederates who swear allegiance to the Union
This did not include high ranking people in the Confederacy (generals, politicians, POW)
States could form their own government if 10% of voting population swore allegiance to the Union
This made many people in the North mad because they felt it let the South off the hook
Radical RepublicansRadical Republicans
Radicals Republicans—people from the North who wanted to make Reconstruction difficult for the South
Thaddeus Stevens—Radical Republican leader in Congress, wanted to punish the South for what they had done
Wade-Davis BillWade-Davis Bill
Bill designed to counter Lincoln’s Plan Congress would be responsible for Reconstruction Majority (over 50%) in a state would have to
swear allegiance to the Union for the state to be readmitted
Lincoln killed this bill with a pocket veto Pocket Veto—When the president ignores a bill
passed by Congress (within the last 10 days) the bill will fail
Johnson’s PlanJohnson’s Plan
Andrew Johnson became President after Lincoln was killed (Johnson was a Democrat)
Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction1. Any state could be readmitted if they declared secession
illegal
2. Swear Allegiance to the Union
3. Promise to pay back their debts
4. Pass the 13th Amendment (no slavery)
Johnson’s Plan cont..Johnson’s Plan cont..
Very easy terms for the South—within a month every state (but Texas) had passed all the requirements and was sending representatives to Congress
Problem—Johnson pardoned (forgave) all the people responsible for causing the war
Result—58 Congressman, 6 Confederate Cabinet Members and 4 Confederate Generals were in the new US Congress.
Congressional ElectionsCongressional Elections
In 1866 the Radical Republicans won most of the Congressional Seats.
After the election, over 2/3 of Congress was made up of the Republican Party who was opposed to Johnson.
Now Congress could pass a law and then override the Presidential Veto…this started Congressional Reconstruction
Congressional ReconstructionCongressional Reconstruction Freedman’s Bureau
Assisted former slaves and free whites in the South (food, schools, hospitals)
Civil Rights Act of 1866 Gave blacks citizenship and forbade states from passing black
codes (laws that limited freedom of black)
14th Amendment Gave Civil Rights to all people born or naturalized in the USA
(Citizenship). Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness
15th Amendment No one can be kept from voting b/c of race or color Helped ensure that Republicans would stay in power
Congressional ReconstructionCongressional Reconstruction
Reconstruction Act of 1867 Abolish all governments created under
Lincoln/Johnson Plans Divided the South into 5 military districts Blacks males go the right to vote Must ratify the 14th amendment to be readmitted
into the Union
Vetoed by Johnson—Congress was able to override his veto
Response to 1Response to 1stst Reconstruction ActsReconstruction Acts
Stunned the Southern Whites (how could they be equal to the blacks?)
20,000 federal troops went to the South to make sure things went as ordered.
Now Congress turned their attention to getting rid of Johnson
Tenure of Office ActTenure of Office Act
Tenure of Office Act Law passed by Congress to try to bait Johnson into
doing something illegal. (How to get him out of office)
President could not remove any cabinet member without 2/3 Senate vote.
Johnson was willing to test this new act and kicked out his Sec. Of War (Stanton)
ImpeachmentImpeachment Impeachment—Bring to trial! House of Reps voted to Impeach Johnson on the
following charges1. Tenure of Office Act—the problem was that Stanton
was appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson, so the law didn’t apply.
2. Radicals accused him of being a disgrace—this was not a crime that could get the president removed
Result The Senate voted 35 to 19 for Johnson to be
kicked out of office (1 vote shy of the needed majority)
Election of 1868Election of 1868
Democrats ran a guy named SeymourRepublicans ran Ulysses S GrantGrant won
Almost all of the 500,000 blacks voted for Grant
Radicals decided to pass the 15th amendment which said no one could be kept from voting based on race
Section 2Section 2
Reconstructing the South
Problems for the South Problems for the South
Physical Conditions Much of the South was destroyed Sherman alone had caused more than 100 million dollars
worth of damage to Georgia Buildings, Bridges, Roads and Farms all need to be rebuilt.
Economic Conditions No property value, Confederate bonds failed, poor South was forced to pay for most of the rebuilding
Human Over 1/5 of all white men in the South died in the Civil War
Scalawags/CarpetbaggersScalawags/Carpetbaggers
Scalawags—White Southerners who joined the Republican Party
Wanted the South to industrialize quickly Did not want former slave owners back in power Most were considered traitors by the South
Carpetbaggers—Northerners who moved to the South after the war
Some were teachers/priest (wanted to help) Some were old soldiers who wanted to live in warmth Most were businessmen who wanted to make money off the
rebuilding process in the South (some dishonest)
New Freedoms for African New Freedoms for African Americans (1865-1877)Americans (1865-1877)
Travel---move new places, etc… Re-unite with family/marry Education---more African American Teachers and
Schools (80% illiterate b/f Civil War) Religion—Methodist/Baptist Politics---More involved in Politics
Hiram Revels—1st black Senator 16 Blacks were elected to Congress
De-Segregation Laws
Economic ProblemsEconomic Problems
Problem: Lots of poor people needed work and many of the old slave owners needed people to work in their fields
Sharecropping/Tenant Farming– Old Landowners divided their land– Gave each worker land, seed, tools.– When the crops were harvested, 2/3 of the
profit went back to the landowner
SharecroppingSharecropping
Good Blacks could keep some of what they produce In theory they could save up enough money and buy their own
land
Bad By the time they harvested crops and paid for the supplies—
they were in debt Heavy production hurt the soil—didn’t produce enough goods
Results—Poor white and black farmers were still in debt…..temporary solution to the problem
Section 3Section 3
People who opposed People who opposed ReconstructionReconstruction
Whites blamed the blacks for many of their problems (economic and social)– Ku Klux Klan—Began in Tennessee (1866)
Nathaniel Forrest was their leader Initially tried to prevent blacks from voting Eventually turned violent Wanted to make sure that the Republicans lost
political power
White SupremacyWhite Supremacy
Gradually Southern Whites took control of the government.
Poor whites had a hard time accepting equality because of the competition for jobs
This led to a variety of political restrictions
Political RestrictionsPolitical Restrictions
Blacks faced discrimination, especially in the voting process.
Literary test—Blacks who voted Republican would get a hard test, blacks who voted Democrat would get an easy one (what is your name?)
Poll Taxes—pay $ before they vote Grandfather Clause—a person could fail the literacy
and poll taxes and still be allowed to vote if his grandfather had been able to vote (allowed poor whites the opportunity to vote)
Separate But Equal?Separate But Equal?
Jim Crow Laws—laws that established the idea of “separate but equal”
Basically separate blacks and whites in a variety of places (Schools, hospitals, etc)
Plessy vs Ferguson—a Supreme Court Decision that said separate but equal was legal; just as long as the facilities were equal.
Response to ProblemsResponse to Problems
Force Acts—Act from Congress to lessen the activity/influence of the Klan
Troops would supervise elections
Amnesty Act—Gave the right to vote to 160,000 former Confederates
Eventually people in the North got sick of Reconstruction and started to allow old leaders to come back into power
Weakening of RepublicansWeakening of Republicans
North got sick of dealing with problems in the South
Radicals were losing influence over the Republican Party
North didn’t really want full equality in the North
Business in the North wanted a stable governments in the South
Grant’s AdministrationGrant’s Administration
Grant was honest, people around him were not.
Scandals Whiskey Ring—IRS was not taxing whiskey, govt.
employees were getting kickbacks from this William Belknap—Sec. Of War that took bribes
from merchants in the west
Depression of 1873Depression of 1873
Economy was booming after the Civil War Manufacturers had to borrow so much money to
rebuild the South that the banks could not cover the loans that they were putting out.
Major Banks went bankruptResult: 3 million workers lost their jobs
Election of 1876Election of 1876
Rutherford B Hayes (Rep) vs. Samuel Tilden (Dem)
Tilden won the popular vote and was leading the electoral college vote 184-165.
20 votes were in dispute (Florida)—Tilden should have gotten those votes and won the presidency.
Election of 1876Election of 1876
A special commission was made to investigate the votes in Florida (more Republicans than Democrats on commission)
They decided that Hayes won Florida therefore he won the election by 1 vote
Democrats were mad—they made a deal with the Republicans.
Fed. Troops had to leave the South Give the South money to build railroads Hayes must have a Southern Democrat in his cabniet
Results of ReconstructionResults of Reconstruction
Good– Political and Social Conditions Improved– Blacks could now vote– Didn’t have to own property to be in
government
Results cont..Results cont..
Bad– Segregation started to appear– Had a hard time rebuilding everything (no $
available)– State funded projects got terrible loans from
government– High taxes kept farmers in debt– Graft—People in the government who took
bribes from construction projects