I Reconstruction Thesis Although the country was united

I. Reconstruction Thesis: Although the country was united politically during reconstruction, the south struggled to remain a distinct culture • Effects of the Civil War 1. War is bad for the Economy a. Cycle of War i. Supply and demand 2. 360, 000 union & 258, 000 confederate soldiers died 3. South lost ½ wealth & 1/3 livestock B. Issues resolved 1. Slavery 2. Federal Authority C. Advances made during war 1. Pacific Railroad Act 1862

2 2. Morrill Act (for Agricultural Colleges) a. 30, 000 acres per representative D. Reconstruction 1. Political & Ideological struggle a. Lincoln & 10% plan of 1860 voters b. Republicans in Congress want to control the south 2. John Wilkes Booth & Ford Theater 4/19/1865 3. Andrew Johnson VP a Tenn. Dem. a. 13, 000 pardons & $20, 000 property returned b. seen as biased to south

3 4. Congress reacts a. refused to seat southern representatives b. Freedmen Bureau 3/3/65 & 7/16/66 i. Emergency aid for ex-slaves ii. Legalize marriages & reunite families iii. Educate & Employ ex-slaves iv. Under budgeted & under staffed a. Union army officers run c. Three Reconstruction Acts i. South divided into 5 military districts

4 d. 14 th amendment passed i. National citizenship established ii. Denied compensation for freed slaves iii. Denied representation if blacks can’t vote iv. Confederate officers denied political office v. Repudiated Confederate debt e. Tenure of Office Act to protect Edwin Stanton i. Secretary of War under Lincoln ii. Senate approval to fire cabinet member iii. Johnson impeached but not removed

5 E. Southern Society in Reconstruction 1. Slaves are now free a. high expectations i. hopes deferred ii. Promised land? (40 acres & a mule) a. plantations divided and returned iii. Take sir names iv. Church membership increases v. Schools increase & decline a. farms needed all labor at times b. Sharecropping c. Suffrage after 1868 election

6 i. Ulyses S. Grant nearly lost to Horatio Seymour ii. Republicans believed Blacks vote Republican iii. 15 th Amendment 1870 a. Women’s movement almost dies d. Southern Homestead Act inaccessible & poor land e. Few real gains 2. White Southerners a. Fear of reprisals (Slavery requires Fear) b. initiated Black Codes i. listed rights to limit them

7 b. right to sue & testify but not against whites c. right to own property d. right to assemble in small groups e. cannot own firearms or drink alcohol f. cannot travel at night or use public facilities ii. Vagrancy laws a. yearly contracts b. required title of master on employer c. some infractions fined others beatings d. some resisted & ran away same as slavery

8 c. violence against Blacks i. vigilantly justice a. Jesse & Frank James b. Ku Klux Klan F. Exodusters 1. Benjamin “Pop” Singleton escaped slave from Ten. a. believes Blacks in U. S. will never achieve equality 2. Starts separatist colony in Kansas on 10, 000 acres 1869 a. drought 1880 s causes most to leave colony a failure G. Republican Rule

9 a. No Black majorities except SC lower house 2. Liberal constitutions a. universal suffrage for men b. no debtors prisons & some poverty relief c. care for handicapped d. women gain easier divorce & property rights e. capitol crimes reduced from 26 to 5 f. encourage construction of RR, harbors & bridges g. passed bonds for hospitals, schools, & asylums H. Redemption 1. Federal government had little effect helping Blacks

10 a. Three force acts passed 1870 & 1871 i. President can send Federal supervisors to South ii. Ku Klux Klan Act a. illegal to use disguise to take away civil right iii. Congress investigates but does little b. Grant’s advisors warn against more involvement c. Supreme Court refuses to hear Black rights cases d. Democrats take House in 1874 2. Mississippi Plan 1875 a. No Secret Ballot

11 i. Intimidate blacks into voting Democratic c. Democratic gangs broke up Republican meetings i. rallies stopped with violence fewer come d. Other states adopt plan 3. Tilden – Hayes Election 1876 a. Samuel J. Tilden Dem. Gov. of NY i. A reformer that broke the Boss Tweed Ring b. Rutherford B. Hayes Rep. (never offended anyone) c. Several States use Mississippi plan d. Tilden won the popular vote and electoral vote e. Congress investigates results

12 i. 15 man commission investigates a. 5 Senators, 5 Assemblymen 5 S. C. Justices b. 8 Republicans, 7 Democrats ii. Commission throws out Southern votes iii. Hayes wins electoral count f. Democrats refuse to count votes g. Grant calls for “Peace at any Price” h. Compromise of 1877 i. North gets Hayes & support of southern RR ii. South gets Union troops pulled out

13 b. no enforcement of 14 th or 15 th amendments c. Hayes appoints Conf. General to Cabinet d. Federal Support for Southern Economy II Agribusiness