Reconstruction

ReconstructionReconstruction

What is Reconstruction?What is Reconstruction?

• Reconstruction—The period between 1865-1877 in which the Confederate states rejoined the United States.

• It is divided into 3 distinct stages:– 1. Presidential Reconstruction– 2. Radical Reconstruction– 3. End of Reconstruction

• We’ll look at each stage separately

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But, First a Little BackgroundBut, First a Little Background

• The war was fought to free slaves, right?

• Wrong! Slavery was a part of it but most northerners had little desire in freeing slaves

• Lincoln (and much of the north) wanted to keep the Union together

• That desire stuck with Lincoln from before the war into the Reconstruction period


• Took effect in 1863• Only freed slaves

living in the 11 official Confederate states

• But not in Union controlled areas of Louisiana, for example

• Not in Missouri or other border states

The Emancipation ProclamationThe Emancipation Proclamation


The Defeat of the CSAThe Defeat of the CSA

• If the Confederacy won the Civil War it would exist as a separate country

• However, if the Union won the war the north and south would reunite

• The defeat of the CSA required Reconstruction



The “Lost Cause”The “Lost Cause”

• The accepted reasons that forced the south to lose the war

• Superior northern $ and industry

• Lee’s incompetent commanders

• Slavery had nothing to do with the war

• Slaves enjoyed their conditions

• These are called the “Lost Cause”

• Confederates in the Attic

• Following US victories at Gettysburg and Vicksburg (1863) Lincoln created a plan to “reconstruct” the northern and southern states at the war’s conclusion

• His goal was reconciliation• Granted forgiveness to southerners and

rallied northern support for the war• Actions he hoped would cause battle-

weary CS troops to surrender

Lincoln’s ReconstructionLincoln’s Reconstruction


Lincoln’s “10% Plan”Lincoln’s “10% Plan”

• 10% of voting population from 1860 voter rolls swore an oath of allegiance (Loyalty Oath) to the Federal government

• A requirement for southern states’ readmission to the Union

• New state constitutions and governments would then be written and elected

• All southerners except high-ranking CS officers and CSA government officials would be pardoned

• In response, Lincoln promised protection of personal property—but, not slaves


Louisiana’s ExampleLouisiana’s Example

• White southerners in Union-occupied Louisiana met in 1864 to draft a new constitution

• Promised free schooling, labor improvements, public works projects

• Abolished slavery but refused to grant black suffrage

• Lincoln accepted—Congress refused (thought it was too lenient)


““Radical Republicans”Radical Republicans”

• Believed in harsh treatment against the south (for starting the war)

• Believed in total and instant emancipation

• Wanted to control the Reconstruction process—transform southern society, disband the planter aristocracy, redistribute land, develop industry, and grant civil rights to former slaves


““Radical Republicans”...Cont’d.Radical Republicans”...Cont’d.

• Passed the Wade-Davis Bill

• A state could only enter Union if 50% of registered voters swore the “Iron-Clad” oath

• Established certain black civil liberties

• Did NOT give freed slaves voting rights

• Lincoln vetoed the bill


Most southerners took the Iron Clad Oath about as serious as this…

Lincoln’s AssassinationLincoln’s Assassination

• The President was shot on April 14, 1865

• At Ford’s Theater in DC• John Wilkes Booth left

his horse with a stagehand outside and entered the theater at around 9:30

• At 10:00 he went to the Presidential box and shot Lincoln


Lincoln’s Assassination...Cont’d.Lincoln’s Assassination...Cont’d.

• He leapt to the stage yelling “Sic Semper Tyrannis” catching his spur in a flag causing him to land awkwardly breaking his left leg

• He stopped at a tavern in Surrattsville, Maryland to pick up a gun

• Stopped at Dr. Mudd’s home to get his leg set

• Was captured by Union troops at Garrett’s farm


Johnson Takes CommandJohnson Takes Command

• Andrew Johnson, Lincoln’s VP took control after Lincoln’s assassination

• He disappointed Radical Republicans by siding closer to Lincoln

• He was a Democrat• Believed in states’ rights• Believed in laissez-faire

politics


Johnson Takes Command...Cont’d.Johnson Takes Command...Cont’d.

• Essentially believed exactly the same way the south proclaimed it did in going to war!

• He rejected all Radical Republican attempts to dissolve the plantation system, reorganize southern economy, and protect civil rights of freed slaves

• He pardoned more people than any president before him (mostly wealthy southern landowners)

• Believed slaves should not be given same rights as whites

• Opposed special treatment for former slaves• Against strong-federal control (states’ rights)


• Began by Johnson while Congress was in recess– Returned confiscated property to white southerners– Issued hundreds of pardons to former CS officers

and government officials– Ordered the Freedmen’s Bureau to return all

confiscated land to white landowners– Appointed governors to oversee drafting of new

state constitutions– Promised readmission by ratifying 13th Amendment– Declared Reconstruction over in 1865

Presidential ReconstructionPresidential Reconstruction


Freedmen’s BureauFreedmen’s Bureau

• Lincoln, Johnson and Congress argued over how to redistribute southern land

• Lincoln wanted US generals to resettle freed slaves on captured plantations

• Gen. Sherman’s “Special Field Order No. 15”


Freedmen’s Bureau...Cont’d.Freedmen’s Bureau...Cont’d.

• Congress formed the Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865

• Distributed food & supplies

• Established schools

• Redistributed land to former slaves and poor white

• Pledging loyalty to the Union got you 40 acres

• “40 acres & a mule”


Freedmen’s Bureau...Cont’d.Freedmen’s Bureau...Cont’d.

• Most southerners thought the bureau was a nuisance & threat to their way of life

• Some believed it was a Yankee attempt to take their lands and give them to freed slaves (which was actually Lincoln’s plan)

• Plantation-owners threatened former slaves into selling their 40 acres

• Many Bureau agents accepted bribes and allowed the abuses


Congress Vs. President JohnsonCongress Vs. President Johnson

• The Freedmen’s Bureau was renewed by Congress in 1866

• They also created special courts that would override southern courts

• Johnson vetoed the renewal • Congress gained the 2/3 majority to

overturn the veto• The Bureau would remain in the southern

states until 1872


Memphis & New Orleans Race RiotsMemphis & New Orleans Race Riots

• Both occurred in 1866 & followed a similar course

• In Memphis, rumor spread that black Union troops killed a white policeman

• White mobs spread through Memphis robbing, raping, and killing citizens living in the Freedmen’s camps


Radical ReconstructionRadical Reconstruction

• Northerners were convinced that the Fed. Govt. was not being harsh enough to the south– The Race Riots– Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle” speeches

• Yankees voted the Radical Republican ticket in the 1866 election

• Started the 2nd phase of Reconstruction:– “Radical Reconstruction”


Radical Reconstruction...Cont’d.Radical Reconstruction...Cont’d.

• 1st Reconstruction Act:• Secessionist states treated

as conquered territory (not equals)

• Divided into 5 military districts (military control)

• Martial law• Required new constitutions,

ratify 14th Amendment, allow blacks to vote


http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/sespics/71853.jpg

Radical Reconstruction...Cont’d.Radical Reconstruction...Cont’d.

• 2nd Reconstruction Act:• Crooked southern

politicians did not allow freed slaves to vote

• Black codes• Outright racism• Congress placed Union

troops in charge of voter registration

• Outraged southerners


““Carpet Baggers”Carpet Baggers”

• Northerners who migrated south after the Civil War

• Got their name by the large carpet bags in which they carried belongings

• Some men but mostly women

• Some promoted education or modernization

• Others came to seek wealth


““Scalawags”Scalawags”

• Native southerners• Mostly men• Some served in the CS

army or navy • Gen. Longstreet• They were the southern

equivalent of Carpet Baggers

• Hated as much or more by southerners


SharecroppingSharecropping

• One of the characteristics of the Reconstruction south

• Allowed freed slaves to rent land, farm it, and provide for their families

• They would “pay” part of the crop or money for rent

• Many former plantation owners divided up lands to rent to former slaves

• Poor whites also took advantage of the system


Sharecropping...Cont’d.Sharecropping...Cont’d.

• By 1880, most farmers in the south were sharecroppers

• Many former slaves worked for former masters

• Forever indebted to their white landowners (bosses)

• Cotton prices crashed

• Incomes were next to nothing

• Freed slaves could only buy on credit from shops usually owned by white landlords

• Went deeply into debt

• Was it any better than slavery?


Educating Freed SlavesEducating Freed Slaves

• As slaves, most Africans were forbidden from learning to read or write

• Frederick Douglass

• During Reconstruction, freed slaves wanted their children to learn

• The Freedmen’s Bureau established thousands of schools

• Black churches also began appearing in the south


““Black Codes”Black Codes”

• The anti-Radical Republican southern whites passed laws exempting freed slaves from voting, political office, interracial marriage, etc.

• These were called “Black Codes”

• Black Codes in Mississippi were the most severe

• These Black Codes didn’t end during Reconstruction

• They lasted in the south in one way or another until the 1960s

• Where there Black Codes in Missouri?


““A White Revolution”A White Revolution”

• The Republicans controlled southern politics from 1868 to 1876 – Under former US General (now President)

Grant

• Southern whites wanted control of their states again

• Several groups organized under this goal including the Ku Klux Klan


The KKKThe KKK

• The Ku Klux Klan was formed by ex-Confederates in Tennessee

• It was a kind of social club for angry young white men

• Their goal: take back the south from northern interference


The KKK…Cont’d.The KKK…Cont’d.

• The first leader (Wizard) of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest

• Fort Pillow Massacre

• Forrest was against Radical Republicanism

• He also believed in moving on after the war



• When Forrest found out the Klan was attacking black families he resigned and distanced himself

• He said that racial violence was not the purpose of the KKK

• He later moved to Memphis, Tennessee and worked in the cause of civil rights for freed slaves



• The KKK’s violence got so bad President Grant issued martial law (1871)

• Klan members were arrested and tried

• The Klan was essentially destroyed

• It made a resurgance in the 1920s


Compromise of 1877Compromise of 1877

• The election of 1876 consisted of Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes

• 3 Southern states claimed that both candidates had won

• Instead of risk another war over the issue the Fed. Government and states made a compromise…


Compromise of 1877…Cont’d.Compromise of 1877…Cont’d.

• Republican Hayes could have the Presidency if he agreed to:– Remove ALL Union troops from the south– Appoint 1 southern Democrat to his

cabinet– Build another transcontinental railroad

through the south– Help industrialize the south

• #3 and #4 were never realized


Changing Northern Views?Changing Northern Views?

Results of ReconstructionResults of Reconstruction

• “Redeemers” took over southern governments

• Racial tensions intensified

• Northern “condescension” towards southerners

• The “Dixiecrats” (southern Democrats)

• Urbanization/Ghettoization



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Reconstruction

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