The Ordeal of Reconstruction

Chapter 22

Problems of Peace

What to do with Confederate Leaders?

South’s economic & social structure collapsed

Southern cities torn apart

Southern planters – bankrupt

• $2 billion of slaves emancipated

South blamed North for problems

Freedmen Define Freedom

Free blacks face uneven prospects

• Violence

• Slavery

• ???

No official law ending slavery

• 13th amendment – Dec. 1865 – Outlawed slavery

Many blacks took to migration

Surge in black education & church attendance

Freedmen’s Bureau

March 3, 1865 – Congress creates Freedmen’s Bureau to deal w/ mass of freed slaves

• Provide food, clothing, medical, education, etc.

Made most progress in education

Corruption meant little land actually made it to blacks

• 40 acres and a mule

Freedmen’s Bureau 5

Johnson: The Tailor President

Poorest president

Misfit in Washington

• Southerner in the North

• Distrusted by South

• Democrat in Republican presidency

• President w/o being elected

Presidential ReconstructionLincoln believed reconstruction would be simple (Opposed by many Republicans)

• Reintegration w/ 10% oath of allegiance

• Formal erection of state government

Wade-Davis Bill (Vetoed by Lincoln)

• Required 50% oath

Showed split in Republicans (Moderates followed Lincoln, Radicals wanted to punish South)

Johnson proposes own reconstruction plan

• 10% oath, personal pardons, disfranchisement of wealthy, etc, ratify 13th amendment

Republicans furious over new state governments

Baleful Black Codes

Varied from state to state

Ensure a stable & subservient workforce

• Labor contracts

Violators forfeit wages & forcefully returned

Fined & hired out to pay fines

• Forbade blacks to own land, serve on juries, vote, etc.

All become slaves to the land

Congressional Reconstruction

Many Confederate leaders elected in Southern states

Republicans enjoyed free reign w/o South

• Raised tariffs, Pacific Railroad Act (North)

• Homestead Act – 160 acres free in West

North angered by new strength of South

• Blacks now count as 1 instead of 3/5

Johnson declares that South has satisfied his conditions & must be let back in

Johnson Clashes w/ Congress

1866

• Congress extends Freedmen’s Bureau, Johnson vetoes, Congress re-passes

• Congress passes Civil Rights Bill, Johnson vetoes, Congress re-passes

Gives blacks citizenship, renounces black codes

• 14th Amendment – Johnson tells South to oppose

Provides equal protection under laws

Swinging ‘Round the Circle w/ Johnson

Gives a series of speeches throughout the country

Johnson accuses Congress of planning anti-black riots & murder in the South

• Greatly disregarded

Gains support for opponents

• Republicans win 2/3 of seats in 1866 elections

Republican Principles & Programs

Republicans seek to control reconstruction

Sought to limit power of anti-black southern governments

Determined to give blacks the vote

Reconstruction by the SwordReconstruction Act of 1867

• Divided South into 5 military districts

Each commanded by a Union general w/ Union soldiers as police

• Disfranchised thousands of former Confederates

Essentially re-kick out South

• Demand ratification of 14th amendment & full suffrage for adult males

15th amendment – Prohibit denial of voting on basis of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

1870 – All southern finally re-admitted

• 1877 – Federal troops finally removed

South quickly congeals as Democratic South

Military Reconstruction & Effect on Republican Party

No Women Voters

Women left out

Women begin work again on women’s rights issues

Realities of Reconstruction in the South

South points to North not allowing blacks to vote

Blacks represent Republicans in Democratic South

• Organize political parties

Elect blacks to state assemblies

Black-supporting whites – scalawags

Northerners seeking power & profit in South –carpetbaggers

“New South” – South after Civil War

• Introduce many needed reforms

Corruption rampant in southern governments

Ku Klux Klan

Secret organizations rise in South

• “Invisible Empire of the South” (KKK)

Determined to keep blacks & supporters away from polls & enforce white supremacy

• Terror tactics, murder, etc.

Force Acts of 1870 & 71 – Allowed Congress to use military to stop KKK

• Damage already done & KKK too far spread

South openly rejected 14th & 15th amendments

Johnson Walks the Impeachment Plank

1867 – Congress passes Tenure of Office Act

• Required consent of Senate for President to remove his appointees

Meant to keep radical spy, Edwin M Stanton, as Sec of War

1868 - Johnson dismisses Stanton

House impeaches Johnson for “high crimes & misdemeanors” & for verbal assaults on Congress

Impeachment Trial

Not-Guilty Verdict for Johnson

SC defends Johnson’s right to fire Stanton

• Tenure of Office Act is unconstitutional

House has trouble making case against Johnson

Vote for removal fails by 1 vote

Nation split over outcome of trial

Outcome strengthens Constitution

• President cannot be removed because Congress does not like him

Purchase of Alaska

“Seward’s Folly”

• 1867 – William Seward negotiates purchase of Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million

Heritage of Reconstruction

White southerners resent reconstruction more than the Civil War itself

Republicans sought to protect freed slaves & promote Republican party

• Ultimately failed at both

Republican party absent from South for 100 years

Failed to grasp depth of racism in South

• Failed to eliminate “Old South”