Reconstruction Restoring relations with the South The 12

Reconstruction Restoring relations with the South [The 12 year period following the Civil War (1865 -1877)]

The Road to Reunion Facts • Conditions in the South – – – 2/3 rd of RR were destroyed 90% of bridges were destroyed Farms and plantations were in shambles. 1000 s of disabled soldiers Cities had been leveled: Charleston, Richmond, Atlanta, Savannah, (Columbia, SC = “wilderness of ruins”) • Mississippi – 1/3 rd of white men of military age had been killed or disabled – 1/5 th of state’s revenue went to provide for artificial limbs for the soldiers • Death total – 620, 00 men died in the Civil War – North = 364, 000 (1 out of 5) – South = 258, 000 (1 out of 4) • $4 billion worth of property destroyed • Freedom given to 4 million African Americans

Ten Percent Plan Lincoln announced his plans for reconstruction in December 1863. • Offered amnesty or official forgiveness of crimes to Southerners who pledged an oath of loyalty to the United States and accepted the elimination of slavery • Applied to everyone except a few high-ranking Confederate officials • Once 10% of the voters in 1860 had taken the oath of loyalty, those voters could set up a new government.

New additions • Louisiana, Arkansas, and Tennessee took advantage of this plan and applied for admission to the Union in 1864. • Congress had problems with this because they felt that Congress was in control of the admittance of new states.

Radical Republicans or Radicals • Some Republican members of Congress wanted to punish the rebellious Southern states and destroy all Southern economic and political powers. • Opposed slavery and wanted to use federal power to force changes in the South.

Wade-Davis Bill • Sponsors: Benjamin Wade of OH and Henry Winter Davis of MD • Put South under military rule • Required a majority of a state’s electorate to take the loyalty oath and the abolition of slavery • When a majority of the white males of the state make the pledge, the governor can call a state constitutional convention • Can be elected only if you took the oath • Lincoln used a pocket veto – didn’t sign it for 10 days will Congress was not in session

13 th Amendment • Approved by Senate in April 1864 but rejected by the House • It finally was passed on January 31, 1865 with only 3 more votes than the 2/3 rds needed. The institution that had divided the nation no longer existed.

Quote from Lincoln’s inaugural speech on March 4, 1865 “With malice toward none; with charity for all; . . . Let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; . . . To do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations. ”

Frederick Douglass and John Wilkes Booth attended the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln’s assassination • Good Friday @ Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865 while watching the play Our American Cousin • Assassin– John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

Reactions to Lincoln’s death. . . • Radical Republicans –viewed it with relief because they had feared that former Southern leaders would regain power under Lincoln (now they could enforce their harsher views) • Others viewed it as a tragedy. • The shocked country deeply mourned.

Lincoln’s Funeral • Funeral – Gen. Grant openly wept. – April 21 st a funeral train carrying Lincoln’s body began its journey from D. C. to his home of Springfield, Illinois. – The President became one of the causalities of the war.

th 17 President of the United States. . . Andrew Johnson

Views of the new President • Vowed to keep the policies of Lincoln’ • Southern Democrat (TN) • Radicals thought he’d keep the Southerners out of office which would allow former slaves to take office • Former slave holder who cared little about the rights of African Americans • “White men alone must manage the South. ” • Represented the ideas of small farmers and mountaineers

Johnson’s Plan for Reconstruction • 2 proclamations: – Offered amnesty and return of property – except slavery – to all who take the oath of loyalty to the Union (They could appeal to President for pardon. ) – Each state would be appointed a temporary governor who would oversee the election of convention delegates. Only those who have taken the oath could vote or serve as delegates. • New state constitutions could be written. • Had to ratify 13 th amendment, declare secession illegal, and agree not to pay Confederate debts

Radical Opposition • Johnson’s plan had allowed the return of Confederate leaders. – Mississippians elected a former Confederate general as governor. – Georgia voters chose Alexander Stephens (VP of CSA) as US Senator. • Johnson could have called for new elections but that would be admitting that his plan had failed. • Instead, he gave pardons to nearly every Confederate leader who asked for it.

In 1865, Jefferson Davis tried to flee into Mexico. He was caught and imprisoned for two years.

Black Codes These were not as strict as the slave codes before the Civil War. • These were restrictive laws that applied only to African Americans. (They were denied the right to vote, an opportunity to learn, and freedom to work. ) – SC – AA had to have licenses to do any jobs other than farm work. – MS – prevented them from buying or even renting farmland – Vagrancy laws in many states imposed fines on unemployed AA. They would be auctioned off to white landowners who paid their fine. • President did nothing.

Civil Rights Laws

Freedmen’s Bureau • Created in March 1865 • It worked to provide education, housing, and other improvements for African Americans in the South. • Johnson vetoed the bill. The Freedmen's Bureau spent $17, 000 to help establish homes and distribute food, established 4, 000 schools and 100 hospitals former slaves. This Bureau also helped freedmen find new jobs.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 • Radicals response to the Freedmen’s Bureau veto • Guaranteed African Americans some basic rights of citizens, such as owning property and bringing lawsuits. • Johnson vetoed it. • Radicals and Moderate Republicans made history with the 1 st override of a presidential veto on a significant matter. • They went on to pass the Freedmen’s Bureau over the President’s veto.

Bill of Rights finally apply to ALL Americans. Thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1866

14 th Amendment Defined citizenship to include African Americans Johnson fought against its ratification.

Between 1865 and 1868, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut, Nebraska, Ohio, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Michigan denied suffrage to African Americans.

Radical Reconstruction By 1868, LA, AL, AK, FL, NC, and SC had met the new requirements of rewriting their constitutions to allow for the freedom of African Americans and regained their statehood.

Command of the Army Act, 1867 It severely limited the President’s power as commander in chief.

Tenure of Office Act It required Senate approval for the President to remove any government official, including cabinet members, whose appointments had required its consent.

Johnson’s reaction • He had long wanted to get rid of Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, because Stanton openly sided with the Radicals. • So he dismissed him during a Congressional recess. • Stanton barricaded himself inside his office and refused to be fired. • The issue went to the Supreme Court.

Impeachment • On February 24, 1868, for the first time in American history the House voted 126 to 47 to impeach a President. • According to the Constitution, the House can vote to impeach the President for “high crimes and misdemeanors. ” • Most charges against Johnson arose from his dismissal of Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton, which allegedly violated the Tenure of Office Act. Johnson claimed the act was unconstitutional. Years later the Supreme Court agreed.

Johnson’s impeachment • House – sole power of impeachment • Senate – acts as the jury • Chief Justice of U. S. Supreme Court – acts as judge • To be officially removed from office, one has to be found guilty by 2/3 rd of the Senators. • FINAL VOTE: 35 to 19 (1 ballot shy of the 2/3 rd needed) • Checks and balances in action

Election of 1868

Presidential Election of 1868 • Radical Republicans chose General Ulysses S. Grant. • Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour (former governor of NY) • Winner is. . . with 214 out of 294 electoral votes. . .

th 18 President of the United States General Ulysses S. Grant

The Plight of Workers • To have social and economic status in the South one needed land • Tenant farmers – farmed land that they rented • Sharecroppers – people who worked the owner’s land received a share of the crops in return

The Freedmen’s Bureau • An agency of the army directed by General Oliver O. Howard. • Distributed food to million of former slaves • Made efforts to settle African Americans on their own land • Provided medical help • Tried to help them find jobs • By 1867 - it had started 46 hospitals and staffed them with doctors and nurses.

Setbacks • At first the Bureau provided for the sale of land to freed people. • African Americans began working the land in hopes of buying it. • President Johnson’s Reconstruction program ordered this land back to its original owners.

Bureau’s achievements lay in education • Started free public schools for African American men, women, and children • Private organizations like missionary societies supplied teachers and books. • 1869 -more than 247, 000 students attended 4, 329 schools • Established colleges like Howard University, Fisk University, and Hampton Institute • Bureau ended in 1872

Before the Civil War, there were laws banning African Americans from wearing things that would make them look white. Wearing hats Carrying canes Looking white people in the eye

In summer of 1865, some freed people began donning on hats, twirling canes, and refusing to yield the right of way to whites.

Ku Klux Klan KKK comes from the Greek word “Kiklos” which means circle. • Terrorist bands formed to defend the South’s old way of life • Took names like --- the Regulators, the Knights of the White Camelia, and the Ku Klux Klan • Pulaski, TN – former Confederate cavalry leader Nathan Bedford Forrest organized the KKK in 1866 -- it became the most powerful of the protective societies.

Ku Klux Klan • Wore hoods over their heads to hide their identity • Padded horses’ hooves to silence their approach • At first, they claimed that they wanted only to scare African Americans who acted too independently. • Launched a reign of terror and began whipping and murdering those who refused to be scared • Killed 1000 s of African Americans and their white friends • Beat and wounded many more and burned homes, schools, and churches • President Grant used the Civil Rights Act of 1871 to arrest 5, 000 Klansmen across the South. • For a while, they were disbanded.

African Americans in politics • 1868 - 700, 000 turned out for the Republican party and contributed to Grant’s victory • Grant appointed 2 African American justices of the peace in D. C. • Held 15 or 20 percent of political offices • Held offices as lieutenant governors, secretaries of state, and treasurers in state gov’ts of SC, FL, MS, and LA • MS elected 2 to Senate (Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce) • Southern states sent 20 to House of Representatives • SC elected 8 to Congress

Carpetbaggers Term that Southerners used to refer to Northerners who moved to the South during Reconstruction looking for business opportunities

Scalawags • Were former Whigs or Southerners interested in the economic development of the South joined Republican governments. • Most Southerners considered scalawags disloyal.

Civil Rights Showdown

Civil Rights Act of 1875 • 1870 – Sen. Sumner introduced a bill to limit racial discrimination in public places such as streetcars, hotels, churches, and cemeteries. • 1874 – His bill came before the House— former VP of CSA led the opposition • While the Civil War had brought them political freedom, this bill would offer them civil freedom as well.

Civil Rights Act of 1875 • Senate passed the bill in May 1874 (2 months after Sumner’s death). • Feb. 1875, the Civil Rights Act of 1875 passed in both houses and went into effect. • However, the Justice Dept. made little efforts to enforce it and it was ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court in 1883.

African Americans’ struggle for equality would continue into the twentieth century.

Segregation It means separating people of different races.

Segregation • Poll taxes – required votes to pay a fee each time they voted • Literacy tests – asked voters to read and explain a difficult part of the Constitution • Grandfather Clause – permitted more whites to vote – if the voter’s father or grandfather had voted in 1867, then the voter was excused from the poll or literacy tax

Jim Crow Laws • Southern states passed laws that separated blacks and whites in schools, churches, restaurants, theaters, trains, streetcars, playgrounds, hospitals, beaches, and even cemeteries

Plessy vs. Ferguson • 1896 – Supreme Court allowed segregation as long as separate facilities for blacks and whites were equal. • Only Justice John Marshall Harlan dissented. The former slave owner from KY wrote, “The law regards man and takes no account of his color when his civil rights are involved. ”

Laws passed during Reconstruction became the basis of the civil rights movement almost 100 years later.