Reconstruction, 1865-1876

Achievements, Conflicts, Failures, and Ongoing Impact

Interpretive Framework for the Course

America/U.S. – as an idea, a nation, a people – is a work in progress

It is a project It has not developed in linear fashion It has not always progressed towards ideals Consistent conflict over the shape of the

nation Conflict over who should be included and

excluded

Major Course Topics

Democracy Power Social Class Race and Ethnicity Inclusion and Exclusion Labor Issues Reform and Social Movements Role of the State

Background to Reconstruction

Slavery and the

Origins of the Civil War

Civil War Review

Slave system was basis of southern society, economy, and culture

Reasons for Civil War Growing divide between North and South,

economically, culturally, and politically “States Rights” – the right of white southern elite

planters to own and control black slaves, often supported by poor whites

Slavery & the Civil War: Review of the Data

Analyze the statistics on slavery in the U.S. leading up to the Civil War

What conclusions can you make? Questions? What statistics are most useful in

understanding the onset of the Civil War?

Slaves in the Original Thirteen Colonies (1750-1860)

Slaves in the South (1790-1860)

Slaves as Percentage of Southern Population (1750-1860)

Slaves as Percentage of Southern Population (1750-1860

Conclusions about Slavery and the Civil War Slavery was an economic system, social

hierarchy, form of domination and control, supported and justified by a cultural framework

Slave system was major cause of Civil War The ongoing impact of slavery and the fate of

the freed slaves were the main issues during Reconstruction

Why Did Poor Southern Whites Fight in Civil War?

Many lower-class whites bought into southern hierarchy – household

Control of land, household, labor, and political rights

Male Planter Elite/\

White Women & Children/\

White Laborers/\

Slaves & Free Blacks

Poor White Landowner or Renter

/\Wife & Children

/\Slaves and Free Blacks

Why Did Northerners Fight? Abolitionist minority – fund. opposed to slavery –

slavery was an evil, a stain on the nation – represented belief in full INCLUSION of blacks into nation

Free Labor majority – opposed to expansion of slavery

Slavery hurts free labor Free labor = economic and political independence Free people would not allow themselves to be enslaved Republican and “republican” Pro-Union – unification of nation [under free labor ideals] Belief a pivot point to judge whether people are worthy of

citizenship or rights

Ways of Understanding Reconstruction

Divided country after Civil War Different, often conflicting, goals & ideals –

Different definitions of freedom and equality Achievements Tragedies Conflicts Unresolved Problems Lasting impact on later U.S. history

Traditional Interpretations of Reconstruction

Emphasized presidential and Congressional conflicts

Emphasized personal conflicts among leaders

Emphasized white leaders’ ideas and actions Problems with this model? – left out the

people most affected by slavery, the transition to freedom, and life on the ground in the Reconstruction south

Slaves, Freedpersons, and Freedom Emphasis on freedpersons and their attempts

to realize American ideals Slaves had already made great efforts to

achieve freedom during slavery and Civil War Resistance during enslavement Emancipation Proc. (Jan. 1863) Fought for Union Fled to Union lines Attempted to reunify with families

Definitions of Full Freedom:

Conflicts over the definition of freedom for newly-freed slaves

What would FULL FREEDOM look like? (documents & class opinions):

Major Questions of Reconstruction: Would nation fulfill its ideals of freedom

and equality? Would ex-slaves be fully incorporated as

citizens into the new nation? Would whites accept their integration into

society? Would the revolutionary possibilities of the

Civil War and Reconstruction be fully realized? What shape would new nation and regions

take after the war?

Different Definitions of Reconstruction

Documents readings:

Radical Republican Attitudes During Reconstruction

The Cotton Pickers, 1876Winslow Homer

Sunday Morning in Virginia, 1877Winslow Homer

Shaw Memorial, 1900 Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Shaw Memorial, Soldier's Head, 1883-93, bronze. Augustus Saint-Gaudens

Link to short video on Shaw Memorial

Radical Republican Attitudes(based on 4 images)

Class reactions:

Why did it matter what white northerners thought of southern blacks?:

Achievements of Reconstruction: An Opening Freedpersons fought for and claimed freedom

and rights 13th, 14th, 15th amendments (ended slavery,

citizenship, voting for all men) Founded black schools and churches Black political participation, leadership

Republican Party and Union Leagues Got land in very small areas Southern states readmitted to Union –

reunification of country

Black Efforts to Achieve Full Freedom, Barrow Plantation, Georgia

Evidence?

Occupation ofthe south:

Divided into Military Districts

Freedmen’s Bureau

Northern whitefinancial support

No. white teachers

RECONSTRUCTION: SOUTHERN WHITE RESISTANCE

Southern White Tactics to Regain Power?

Southern White Tactics to Regain Power

Black Codes in early years of Reconst. Ex. – can only marry within race Ex. – forced former slaves to work Ex. – control over work; imprisonment Attempts to reinstitute slavery in fact, if not name

Organized violence: KKK and White Leagues Organized political violence: Dem. Party used

race-baiting and stereotypes to regain power – “Redemption” of the south

Southern White “Redemption”

Whites believed they had to “redeem” the south Take it back from blacks, Republicans, and

northerners Used legal, political, and violent means Political strategies

Racist images of black politicians Used fear of blacks - threat to white womanhood Intimidated and scared white Republicans Fraud, voter intimidation Very effective – “took back” all southern states

Process ofRedemption:

Dates in () =

When white Democrats retook politicalcontrol =

Southern WhiteDemocraticParty, the Solid South

Labor in the South: Compromise Sharecropping and debt peonage Positive spin: a compromise between blacks and

whites in south – neither got what wanted Negative: blacks tied to land and poverty through

debt Negative: south tied to staple crop agriculture Negative: regional econ. and political differences

reinforced Negative: southern white racism and discrimination

not uprooted

Spread of Sharecropping by 1880: Percentage of farms sharecroppedby county

Most in areas of cotton and tobacco farming: Dark Green Areas

Effects of Sharecropping, Barrow Plantation, Georgia

Positives and Negatives?

Failures of Reconstruction:The Closing

Continued political and regional divisions Federal retreat from black rights Southern white racism and denial of black

rights No women’s suffrage Redemption – southern Dem. Party became

white party linked w/ denial of black rights No widespread land redistribution or change in

southern economy to support black freedom

Causes of Failures Most white Americans did not change their

definitions of freedom, justice, or equality They continued to define “America” in

exclusive ways: people of certain races and women were not worthy of full citizenship rights

America as Inclusive or Exclusive? Included former slaves if they met white goals and

expectations But whites fell back into stereotypes and power:

freedpersons not worthy of inclusion or rights

Change in Northern Attitudes

Northern White Attitudes Expressed in this Graphic?

Quote: “Is This a Republican Form of Government? Is This ProtectingLife, Liberty, or Property? Is This theEqual Protection of the Laws?”

Columbia – “Shall I Trust These Men, And Not This Man?”

“This Is a White Man’sGovernment.”

Thomas Nast, “Colored Rule in a Reconstructed (?) State”

Columbia: “You are aping the lowest whites. If you disgrace your race in this way you had better take Back Seats”

Thomas Nast, “The Ignorant Vote: Honors Are Easy”

The Veteran in a New Field, 1865Winslow Homer (American, 1836–1910)Oil on canvas

Attitude Change & Political Compromise Southern white opposition to black freedom and social

change Northern whites lost political willpower

Turned against freedpersons Pres. Grant – corruption and lack of resolve Northern Rep. redefined as northern party, focused on spoils

of power from new urban/industrial economy

Compromise of 1876 – Hayes Pres., withdrawal of fed. troops from south to get Presidency

Panic of 1873 – economic problems; industrial labor question supplanted southern labor and civil rights

Conclusion:

Blacks fought for and won freedom Positive legal and constitutional advances Southern white violence and political

opposition, and Northern white loss of willpower, combined to end high hopes of “new birth of freedom” for ex-slaves

Ideals of freedom, justice, and equality were sacrificed for political compromise between whites of both regions

Questions?

Who really won the Civil War? – militarily, economically, socially, culturally?

Can you make direct links between Reconstruction’s failures and later problems in U.S. history?

Connections: Reconstruction, the West, and Industrial Age

Opening Music African American Work Song – “It’s a Long

John” “Trouble So Hard” “It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad” Prison and Blues – “Early in the Mornin’” Deford Bailey, “John Henry” Mississippi Fred McDowell, “John Henry” Johnny Cash, Bruce Springsteen, Aaron

Copland

NYTimes article on the real John Henry Disney short cartoon, “John Henry,” part 1 &

part 2

Messages in “John Henry”?

John Henry: Positive Messages

Monument at Big BendTunnel in Talcott, WV

John Henry: Conclusions?