Chapter 16 The Crises of Reconstruction, 1865-1877.
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Transcript of Chapter 16 The Crises of Reconstruction, 1865-1877.
Chapter 16
The Crises of Reconstruction, 1865-1877
Reconstruction Politics, ’65-68• For nation & blacks, end of war = turning point
& uncharted possibilities• Union sought reunion, not military conquest• Constitutional amendments• A presidential impeachment• Ambitious legislation: Reconstruction Acts of
’67-68• Enfranchisement of black men: unexpected
– Supported by R. Republicans– Charles Sumner (MA) & Thaddeus Stevens (PA)
Lincoln’s PlanL issued Proclamation of Amnesty &
Reconstruction in ’63• 10% of 1860’s voters take oath of
allegiance• Exclude Conf. Officials & officers: must
apply for prez. Pardoned• Excluded blacks• Wanted to woe southern Unionist, also
former Whigs, and to build southern Repub. party
Radical Republican’s plans• Wanted to bar more ex-Conf. fr. Politics• Wade-Davis bill passed in ’64
– Former Conf. states ruled by military governor– ½ eligible voters take oath of allegiance– Delegates to state convention must repeal
secession & abolish slavery– “ironclad” oath: never voluntarily supported Conf– Excluded blacks (supported by small Radicals)– Differ fr. L’s plan: delay readmission indefinitely– L pocket-vetoed it: failed to sign w/in 10 days
Congress’ adjournment• Causing impasse between Congress and L
Andrew Johnson: prez by accidentAndrew Johson (NC) was military governor of TN
in 62-64• Strong anti-Conf. & anti- s. aristocrats• Self-educated; a taylor• Enter politics as spokesman for
nonslaveholding• Owned 8 slaves• Neither adopted abolitionist ideals nor
challenged racist views• Lifelong Democrat but was added to
Republican ticket
Pres. Reconstruction under JohnsonHis plan while Congress was out of session
• AL, FL, GA, MI, NC, SC, TX = 7 states still x/out reconstruction gov’t to be readmitted
• Almost all who took oath got pardoned & properties restored
• Oath takers repudiates state debt during war & ratify 13th Amendment
• Disqualified all rich Ex-Conf• Differ fr. L’s plan: Conf. officers were excluded• Result by ’65: all 7 restored civil gov’t as in
prewar– GA sent Alexander Stephens (Conf VP) as senator
Black Codes in 7 statesTo ensure labor from landless, dependent black• Black codes replaced slave codes• Retain basic rights (13th Amend): marry, own
property, make contracts, testify against blacksCodes restricted behavior• No intermarriage, no jury by blacks, can’t testify
against whites, • Barred former slaves from leaving plantations• Special liscense for non-agricultural job• Arrest as vagrants: required annual contract
between landowners and black workers• Lawbreaker (failed to sign): involuntary servitude• Union Army & Freemen’s Bureau helped stop
enforcement of black code
Congress vs. JohnsonJohnson’ plan—sneaky– alienated moderate
RepublicansModerate & Radical cooperated to invalidate
black codes• Voted to extend the Freemen’s Bureau fro 3
yrs. But Johnson vetoed it– Congress overrode by Supplementary Freemen’s
Bureau
• Johnson also vetoed the civil rights bill but Congress overrode & it became the Civil Rights Act of 1866
The 14th Amendment, ’66: firestormAdopted in April 1866• born or naturalized in US = citizens of nation
& state• Nullified Dred Scott decision on ’57• If state denies suffrage to male citizen, it’ll
lose representation in Congress• Disqualified all prewar officeholders who
supported Conf.• Repudiated Conf. debt & validated federal
debt• 1 national effort to limit state control of civil &
political rights
Congressional Reconstruction, ’66-67Republicans overrode Johnson’s vetoes to enact series of Reconstruction act to refine & enforce the first one
• Invalidate state gov’ts (except TN) formed under L & Johnson
• Enfranchise black males & disenfranchise many ex-Conf.
• Provided only temporary military rule• Didn’t prosecute Conf. leaders for treason• No confiscation or redistribution of property
– Thaddeus Stephens wanted to give 40 acre to former slaves & crush s. aristocracy
The Impeachment Crises, ’67-68• Johnson suspended Secretary of War Stanton
& replaced him w/ Gen. Grant– Senate refused to approve so Johnson placed
Lorenzo Thomas instead of Grant– The House approved 11 charges of impeachment
• Mainly for violating the Tenure of Office Act of 67– Act prohibited prez from removing civil officers w/out Senate
consent
• But Senate voted against impeachment 39 to 19 due to distrust of Benjamin Wade (would be prez.)
The 15th Amendment• 15th Amend (1870): prohibited the denial of
suffrage by the states to any citizen on account of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”
– VA, MISS, GA, TX must ratify for reunion
• Democrats apposed the 15th: say it violates states’ right
• Loopholes: no guarantee black officeholding; doesn’t prohibited restrictions---property required, literacy test
& Women Suffrage ’69-70• Abolitionists sought to revive women’s rights• Rad. Rep & F. Douglass: black men deserve priority• E. C. Stanton & S. B. Anthony disagreed
– “male” included in 14th disabled women– 15th failed to prohibit the denial of suffrage on account of
sex…increased women’s disadvantages– Promoted federal women suffrage
• Women split:1. American Woman Suffrage Ass (Boston, suffrage in states) by Lucy Stone & Julia Ward Howe…2.Nat’l Woman Suffrage Ass. In NY
• Wyoming & Utah in ’69 & 70: enfranchised women• Minor vs. Happersett (’75) ruled: state could deny
women the vote
Reconstruction gov’tsRepublican rule was short : 5-10 yrs.
• Opposition fr. Southern democrats
• Unique: black men including ex-slaves participated.
• Black men got democratic political rights: no other liberated society (Haiti nor Carribbean) granted that to them
A New ElectorateReconstruction laws of ’67-68 disenfranchise 10-15% of
white voters & enfranchised 700TH freedmen; outnumbering whites by 100Th = majority in 5 states
Republicans got a base in the South for 1st time1. Carpetbaggers: northerners w/ so few possessions,
seeking wealth– Diverse people: teachers, missionaries, Freemen Bureu’s agents
2. Southern scalawags: “poor & ignorant whites’– Entrepreneurs who embraced nat’l banking & tarrifs– Rich planters—former Whig– apposed succession– Most were small farmers fr. NC, GA, AL, Ark = indifferent about
black rights/suffrage– Many later switched back to Democratic Party
3. Freemen: “manipulated by Republicans”– Backbone of S. Rupublicanism, which lasted longest in SC, MISS,
AL, & LA
Freedmen & officeholding• Backbone of S. Rupublicanism but held 1 in 5
political offices at most• Served in all southern legislatures: majority in SC
(60% black pop.) • Filled many high posts in LA, MiSS, & SC• No black governor• 2 senators: Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce in
Miss• House of Rep: 6% of members were black (1/2 fr.
SC)• State level: elite, 43% of SC’s black legislators were
mulattoes; secondary & higher education• Local level: more ex-slaves, not as educated
Republican Rule• Republican admin. Began reforms after power
shifted from fed. Army to new state gov’ts.• Roads, bridges, public buildings, institutions
for orphans, insane, & disabled, • Expanded state bureucracies, raised salaries
for gov’t employees, formed state militia (heavily black)
• Created public schools…almost non-exsistent in the S
• Needed $$$, so levied tax on land properties & poll tax…Southerners saw Republican rule as punishment
Counter Attacks• Democrats assailed Republican delegates of NC
Consitutional convention“Ethiopian minstrelsy..baboons, monkeys, mules… and other jackasses”
• GA Dem. Challenged black legislator’s eligibility & expelled them causing Fed. To establish military rule in GA
• Woed scalawags• Intimidate freed blacks by: shooting, rape, arson,
roasting, severe and inhuman beating• Knights of the White Camelia in LA• KKK: by 6 ex Conf. vets in TN; existed everywhere in
the South by 1868– Widespread terrorist movement– Violent instrument of the Democratic party
The Ku Klux Klan & vigilantes• Goals: suppressed black vote, establish
white supremacy, & topple the Reconstruction gov’ts
• Targets: Freemen’s Bureau’s officials, white Republicans (AL), black militia units, successful blacks, schools (Miss)& black voters
• Gen. Nathan Bedford Forest: massacred black soldiers in Fort Pillow in TN
The Ku Klux Klan & vigilantes• Enforcement Act in ’70 by Congress to protect
black voters– Witness afraid to testify against vigilantes– Local juries refused to convict them
• 2nd Enforcement Act in ’71: fed supervision of s. elections
• 3rd Enforcement Act or KKK Act (2 months later): strengthen prez. Power
– Send fed. Troops & suspend habeas corpus; most terrorists escaped conviction
• Fed. Gov’t never provided military presence large enough to suppress vigilantism; Fed power diminished
• Freemen’s Bureau died in ’69• Enforcements Acts = dead!!
The Impact of Emancipation: Confronting Freedom
• Emancipation caused migration w/in the S
– To areas of needed labor & high wages
– To towns & cities: Urban black pop. Rose 75% in 60s
– To find family members: 1870 eight out of 10 families in S. were 2-parent families… same as whites
Black Institutions• Emancipation increased churches• African Methodist Episcopal church
– Founded by Philadelphia blacks in 1790s
• Negro Baptist originated fr. Plantation “prayer meetings”
• Churches: relief, funds schools, supported Republican policies, political leaders, pillar of authority
• School: Eager to learn, Freedmen’s Bureau suppervised, American Missionary ASS. Helped found Howard, Atlanta, & Fisk universities
– Education limited: lack of access. & KKK, underfunded, & segregation, black codes,
Labor, Land, & Sharecropping• “40 acres & a mule” originated in ’64 when Gen. W.T.
Sherman set aside land on the SC Sea Islands for black settlement
• Land signifies independence & security• black landownership failed to materialize
– neither Congress nor states imposed large scale land reform– Attempts: Southern Homestead Act in ’66 by Congress
• 44M acres land in 5 S. states for freemen, but soil was poor– Whites limited black mobility & independence to ensure labor on
plantations through black codes• Sharecropping: new system includes division of
plantation into tenancies (30-50 acres) rented to blacks for a share of crop
– Both shared risk of loss of crop– whites (1/3 of w. farmers) became sharecroppers &
outnumbered blacks
Toward a Crop-Lien Economy• Sharecroppers relied on local merchants for credit• Merchant put lien on next crop w/ interest rates of
50%+ … high debt– Illiterate tenants as victim – Debt forced tenants to be tied to land, cotton, and
sharecropping
• Grew only easily marketable cash crops– Erod soil, no capital to invest in tech., locked S into poverty
• Freedmen lost independence, had no land, stuck in debt & sharecropping, lost political rights, no protection from fed. Gov’t, northern politicians had their own problems
New Concerns in the North: Grantism• Grant ran as war hero against Dem. Horatio Seymour• Grant: passive prez.; scandals plagued his admin
– Brother in law: ruined investors & saved his own forturne– VP Schyler Colfax linked to fraudulent Credit Mobilier– Private secretary Orville Babcock took $ fr. Whiskey ring– Secretary of War William E. Belknap took bribes to sell Indian
trading posts in OK
• Grantism means fraud, bribery, corruption, evils that spread beyond DC
– Democratic boss William Tweed, leader of Tammy Hall, led a ring that looted NYC’s $200M in kickbacks.
– Mark Twain & Charles D Warner coauthored & term “Gilded Age”
• William H. Seward negotiated w/ Russia & got Alaska for $7.2M + “Seward’s Ice box”
The Liberals’ RevoltCritics of Grants became Liberal Republicans• Free trade, gold standard, law of supply & demand;
demanded civil service reform• Accused regular Republicans as corrupt by barring
ex Conf.• Believed freedmen now have enfranchisement; more
concerned about Grantism & corruption• Nominated prez. Candidate Horace Greeley against
Grant– Grant won by 56% pop. Vote– Greeley died a few weeks after election
• Grant & Regular Republicans passed Amnesty Act– Southerners rose to power during Grant’s 2nd term
Panic of 1873: 5 yr. depressionCritics of Grants became Liberal Republicans• 1869 at Promontory Point, Utah: Union Pacific &
Central Pacific lines joined– 1st transcontinental railroad (Northern Pacific) headed by
Jay Cooke, a Philad. banker– Sold securities but company failed to meet obligations &
Cooke’s bank closed– Led to unemployment & industrial violence replaced
sectional conflicts• Depression fed currency dispute since ’65• Republican Congress issued Public Credit Act ’69
(engineered by John Sherman) to repay debt in gold or silver
– Also dropped silver dollar but it got partially restored• Democrats ’75 demanded expansion of currency by
more greenbacks (Greenback Party)
Reconstruction & the ConstitutionSupreme court weakened N. support for
Reconstruction during 1870s• Ex Parte Miligan ’66 doomed military court to
enforce the Supplementary Freemen’s Bureau Act
• Texas vs. White ‘69: Reconstruction process is const’l…BUT
• Slaughterhouse cases of 1873 almost nullify the 14th (to secure freedmen’s rights against state encroachment)
– Issued doctrine of “dual citizenship”; fed protects only fed. Citizen, not rights under state protection
• 2 cases ‘76: US v. Reese & US v. Cruikshank– Undercut effectiveness of the Enforcement Act
Republicans in RetreatLiberal Republican revolt erode Rad. Rep
Democrats controlled House in 1874
• Reconstruction now a liability
• Rad. Rep. disappeared: Sumner & Stevens dead
Tired of “Negro” and “Southern” questions
Lacked egalitarian spirit
Demise of Reconstruction
Reconstruction Abandoned, 76-77Democrats woed formerly apathetic voters• Bourbons Demo(old planter) for agrarian• Some Dem. Envisioned industrial South• Goal: oust Republicans from office
– IN LA “White League” = vigilante – In Miss ’74 = 300 blacks slaughtered by
rampaging whites– Scare tactics to deprive Rep. of black votes:
intimidate Republicans, dispersed meetings, patrolled voter-registration places, marched through black areas
– Labor contract bars political meetings; planters threatened eviction
– No fed protection, intimidation & economic pressure succeeded
Redemption: Democratic power• cut taxes, expenses, & social programs• limits rights of tenants & sharecroppers• Ensured black labor by vagrancy laws &
rewriting criminal laws• County w/ more blacks restricted hunting,
fishing, gun carrying, & dog owning: curtailed daily life of freedmen
– Wrongly taking crop = up to 5 yrs. hard labor– By the end of Reconstruction, a large black
convict work force had been leased out to private contractors at low rates
• Black exodus spread through Miss, TN, TX, LA; Exodus to North & Midwest got no momentum until the 19th century
Election of 1876: Rutherford Hayes• Republican: Hayes favored home rule in S &
civil & political rights for all• Democrats: Samuel Tilden campaigned
against fraud &waste• 20 electoral votes in contention: Fraud
– Republicans discarded legit Demo ballots– Dem illegally prevented freedmen from voting– Special electoral commission gave Hayes, but
Dem. Controlled House…delayed approval of ele. Vote (filibuster)
– Compromise if Hayes as prez: Fed. Troops out of FL, LA, & SC; S. states treat freedmen fairly; fed. Support for internal improvement in S.
Conclusion• Postwar: S. controlled by R. Repu.
– Black enfranchisement; S. economy’s new labor system replaced slavery
• Postwar N.: industrial growth, labor unrest, & financial crises
• N. Politicians abandoned Reconstruction• S. Controlled by the Democrats• Reconstruction died, nationalism & reunion
celebrated• Historians now see Reconstruction as a democratic
experiment that didn’t go far enough• Some blamed its failure due to lack of landownership
by freedmen & to lack of military support by fed.