Ch 16 powerpoint

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The American Journey: A History of the United States, Sixth EditionGoldfield • Abbott • Argersinger • DeJohn Anderson • Barney • Weir • Argersinger

The American JourneyThe American JourneyA History of the United StatesA History of the United States

Sixth Edition

Chapter

Reconstruction1865-1877

16



ReconstructionReconstruction1865-18771865-1877

• White Southerners and the Ghosts of the Confederacy, 1865

• More Than Freedom: African American Aspirations in 1865

• Federal Reconstruction, 1865–1870

• Counter-Reconstruction, 1870–1874

• Redemption, 1874–1877

• Conclusion



““A Hunger to Learn.” This 1863 watercolor by A Hunger to Learn.” This 1863 watercolor by Henry L. Stephens depicts an elderly African Henry L. Stephens depicts an elderly African

American, probably a former slave, learning to American, probably a former slave, learning to read.read.



Learning ObjectivesLearning Objectives

• How did Southerners remember the war?

• How did it shape their response to Reconstruction?

• What were African Americans’ hopes for Reconstruction?

• How did Presidential Reconstruction differ from Congressional Reconstruction?



Learning Objectives (cont'd)Learning Objectives (cont'd)

• What role did violence play in Counter-Reconstruction?

• Why did the federal government abandon African Americans after 1872?

• How and why did Reconstruction end?



White Southerners and the Ghosts of White Southerners and the Ghosts of the Confederacy 1865the Confederacy 1865



White Southerners and the Ghosts of White Southerners and the Ghosts of the Confederacy, 1865the Confederacy, 1865

• Confederate soldiers returned to devastated homes that they could hardly recognize.

• Southerners lived surrounded by ghosts of lost loved ones, happy and prosperous times, slavery, and self confidence.



White Southerners and the Ghosts of White Southerners and the Ghosts of the Confederacy, 1865 (cont'd)the Confederacy, 1865 (cont'd)

• Southerners viewed the war as the lost cause that existed not just in memory but as a three-dimensional picture of Southern history celebrated in rituals and as the educational foundation for future generations.

• Equally important, white Southerners were determined to maintain strict racial boundaries.



White Southerners and the Ghosts of White Southerners and the Ghosts of the Confederacy, 1865 (cont'd)the Confederacy, 1865 (cont'd) Lost Cause

- The phrase many white southerners applied to their Civil War defeat. They viewed the war as a noble cause but only a temporary setback in the South’s ultimate vindication.



This engraving shows southerners decorating the This engraving shows southerners decorating the graves of rebel soldiers at Hollywood Memorial graves of rebel soldiers at Hollywood Memorial

Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia in 1867.Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia in 1867.



More Than Freedom:More Than Freedom:African American Aspirations in African American Aspirations in

18651865



More Than Freedom: African More Than Freedom: African American Aspirations in 1865American Aspirations in 1865

• Black Southerners viewed the war as a victory for freedom and Reconstruction as a time of possibilities that were helped by the establishment of the Freedmen’s Bureau.

• The Freedmen’s Bureau helped establish more than 3,000 schools serving 150,000 men, women, and children.



More Than Freedom: African More Than Freedom: African American Aspirations in 1865 (cont'd)American Aspirations in 1865 (cont'd)

Freedmen’s Bureau- Agency established by Congress in March 1865

to provide social, educational, and economic services, advice, and protection to former slaves and destitute whites; lasted seven years.



EducationEducation

• At the end of the Civil War, about 10 percent of black Southerners were literate. Within a decade, that percentage had grown to 30 percent.

• Black colleges were also established.



The Freedmen’s Bureau, northern churches, and The Freedmen’s Bureau, northern churches, and missionary societies established more than 3,000 missionary societies established more than 3,000 schools, attended by some 150,000 men, women, schools, attended by some 150,000 men, women,

and children and children



““Forty Acres and a Mule”Forty Acres and a Mule”

• Land ownership offered ex-slaves the prospect of economic independence.

• During the war, General Sherman had set aside abandoned land for African Americans. In 1866, the Southern Homestead Act gave African Americans preferential access to public land in the southern states.



““Forty Acres and a Mule” (cont’d)Forty Acres and a Mule” (cont’d)

• By 1890, one out of thee black farmers in the Upper South owned land, compared to one in five for the entire South. Field Order No. 15

- Order by General William T. Sherman in January 1865 to set aside abandoned land along the southern Atlantic coast for forty-acre grants to freedmen; rescinded by President Andrew Johnson later that year.



““Forty Acres and a Mule” (cont’d)Forty Acres and a Mule” (cont’d)

Southern Homestead Act- Largely unsuccessful law passed in 1866 that

gave black people preferential access to public lands in five southern states.

Sharecropping- Labor system that evolved during and after

Reconstruction whereby landowners furnished laborers with a house, farm animals, and tools and advanced credit in exchange for a share of the laborers’ crop.



Freed women washing laundry along a creek near Freed women washing laundry along a creek near Circleville, Texas, circa 1866.Circleville, Texas, circa 1866.



Migration to CitiesMigration to Cities

• Between 1860 and 1870, the African American population rose in every major southern city.

• Most black migrants in the city worked at unskilled jobs.



Faith and FreedomFaith and Freedom

• The church became a primary focus of African American life, providing an opportunity to develop skills in self-government and administration.

• The church and the congregation were a cohesive force in black communities.



The black church was the center of African The black church was the center of African American life in the postwar urban South.American life in the postwar urban South.



Federal ReconstructionFederal Reconstruction1865–18701865–1870



Presidential Reconstruction, 1865–1867Presidential Reconstruction, 1865–1867

• Because Congress was not in session, President Johnson developed a Reconstruction plan that extended pardons and restored property rights to most Southerners swearing an oath of allegiance to the Union and the Constitution.



Presidential Reconstruction, 1865–Presidential Reconstruction, 1865–18671867(cont'd)(cont'd)

• Northerners initially supported the Johnson plan but southerners opposed it. They enacted black codes that turned northern opinion against Johnson.

• The Republican-dominated Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Fourteenth Amendment.




Black codes- Laws passed by states and municipalities denying

many rights of citizenship to free blacks before the Civil War. Also, during the Reconstruction era, laws passed by newly elected southern state legislatures to control black labor, mobility, and employment.




Fourteenth Amendment- Constitutional amendment passed by Congress in

April 1866 incorporating some of the features of the Civil Rights Act of 1866. It prohibited states from violating the civil rights of its citizens and offered states the choice of allowing black people to vote or losing representation in Congress.



This 1867 engraving shows how the black codes of This 1867 engraving shows how the black codes of the early Reconstruction era reduced former slaves to the early Reconstruction era reduced former slaves to

virtually their pre–Civil War status.virtually their pre–Civil War status.



Congressional Reconstruction,Congressional Reconstruction,1867–18701867–1870

• Radical Republicans began taking control of Reconstruction and divided the South into five military districts.

• Other acts secured the right to vote for freedmen, made it likely that Republicans would run southern states, and set harsh standards for southern readmission.



Congressional Reconstruction,Congressional Reconstruction,1867–1870 (cont’d)1867–1870 (cont’d)

• The Tenure of Office Act prohibited the president from removing certain officeholders without the Senate’s consent. Johnson violated the Act and was impeached but not convicted.




• Republicans passed the Fifteenth Amendment. Congressional Reconstruction

- Name given to the period 1867–1870 when the Republican-dominated Congress controlled Reconstruction era policy. It is sometimes known as Radical Reconstruction, after the radical faction in the Republican Party.




Tenure of Office Act- Passed by the Republican controlled Congress in

1867 to limit presidential interference with its policies, the act prohibited the president from removing certain officeholders without the Senate’s consent. President Andrew Johnson, angered at which he believed as an unconstitutional attack on presidential authority, deliberately violated the act by firing Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton. The House responded by approving articles of impeachment against a president for the first time in American history.




Fifteenth Amendment- Passed by Congress in 1869, guaranteed the

right of American men to vote, regardless of race.



MAP 16–1 Congressional Reconstruction, MAP 16–1 Congressional Reconstruction, 1865–18771865–1877



This pro- Republican drawing by This pro- Republican drawing by noted cartoonist Thomas Nast noted cartoonist Thomas Nast

includes three Democratic includes three Democratic constituenciesconstituencies



Southern Republican Governments, Southern Republican Governments, 1867–18701867–1870

• The Republican regimes in the southern states passed constitutions that promoted vigorous state governments and the protection of civil and voting rights.



Southern Republican Governments, Southern Republican Governments, 1867–1870 (cont’d)1867–1870 (cont’d)

• Southern Republicans consisted of three groups; white yeoman farmers, former Whigs were called scalawags by opponents and Northern transplants were called carpetbaggers. The largest constituency was African Americans.




• Southern African Americans served in government positions including the U. S. Congress and state legislatures.

• Republican state governments were criticized for waste and corruption.




Scalawags- Southern whites, mainly small landowning farmers

and well-off merchants and planters, who supported the southern Republican Party during Reconstruction for diverse reasons; a disparaging term.

Carpetbaggers- Pejorative term to describe northern transplants to

the South, many of whom were Union soldiers who stayed in the South after the war.




Union League- A Republican Party organization in northern cities

that became an important organizing device among freedmen in southern cities after 1865.



Contrasting Views of Reconstruction: Contrasting Views of Reconstruction: President and CongressPresident and Congress



Official photograph Congressional Black Caucus, Official photograph Congressional Black Caucus, 106th Congress.106th Congress.



Southern black men during Reconstruction Southern black men during Reconstruction



““Time Works Wonders.” This Time Works Wonders.” This Thomas Nast cartoon has Thomas Nast cartoon has

Jefferson Davis, former President Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederacy, dressed as of the Confederacy, dressed as Iago in William Shakespeare’s Iago in William Shakespeare’s

play play OthelloOthello



Counter-ReconstructionCounter-Reconstruction1870–18741870–1874



The Uses of ViolenceThe Uses of Violence

• Racial violence was widespread before Republican rule.

• The Ku Klux Klan unleashed a wave of terror throughout the South and often had political objectives.

• The federal government sought to combat violence by passing the Fifteenth Amendment, the Enforcement Act of 1870, and the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.



The Uses of Violence The Uses of Violence (cont'd)(cont'd)

Ku Klux Klan- Perhaps the most prominent of the vigilante

groups that terrorized black people in the South during Reconstruction Era, founded by Confederate veterans in 1866.



Here, a black man, John Campbell, vainly begs for Here, a black man, John Campbell, vainly begs for mercy in Moore County, North Carolina, in August mercy in Moore County, North Carolina, in August

1871.1871.



Northern IndifferenceNorthern Indifference

• After 1871, political violence succeeded in showing the lack of northern Republican will to follow through on commitments to southern Republicans.

• Northern support for Congressional Reconstruction began eroding in 1868.

• At local and federal levels, political corruption was widespread in the 1870s.



Northern Indifference (cont’d)Northern Indifference (cont’d)

• African Americans and immigrants were targets of racial theory that saw them as inferior.

• A reform movement arose to address the ills of government.



Liberal Republicans andLiberal Republicans andthe Election of 1872the Election of 1872

• Liberal Republican reformers advocated civil service reform to reduce the abuses of patronage. They also supported tariff reduction and an end to federal land grants to railroads.

• The Democrats forged an alliance with the Liberal Republicans nominating Horace Greeley for president in 1872.



Liberal Republicans andLiberal Republicans andthe Election of 1872 the Election of 1872 (cont'd)(cont'd)

• Grant won re-election in 1872.



Economic TransformationEconomic Transformation

• Despite the suffering caused by the Panic of 1873, the nation underwent a remarkable economic transformation and moved toward a national industrial economy.



Economic Transformation (cont’d)Economic Transformation (cont’d)

• The economy grew extremely quickly during the 1870s, fueled by increased consumption and the rapid expansion of new industries, as well as the application of technology in iron and steel production.



RedemptionRedemption1874–18771874–1877



Redemption, 1874–1877Redemption, 1874–1877

• The elections of 1876 confirmed the triumph of white southerners, who had accomplished their political goals by a surge in violence.

• Most Americans had become increasingly indifferent to African American aspirations and looked the other way.



Redemption, 1874–1877 (cont'd)Redemption, 1874–1877 (cont'd)

Redeemers- Southern Democrats who wrested control of

governments in the former Confederacy, often through electoral fraud and violence, from Republicans beginning in 1870.



The Democrats’ Violent ResurgenceThe Democrats’ Violent Resurgence

• Violence between 1874 and 1876 was directly and openly connected to the Democratic Party. It aimed to stop Africa Americans from voting.

• Backed by violence, Democrats throughout the South swept to political power in 1874.



The Weak Federal ResponseThe Weak Federal Response

• Congress responded to the violence in the South with the Civil Rights Act of 1875 but it failed to fulfill this purpose.



Declaration of Equality: Justice: Declaration of Equality: Justice: “Five More Wanted” “Five More Wanted”



The Election of 1876 and the The Election of 1876 and the Compromise of 1877Compromise of 1877

• Reconstruction officially ended with the election of 1876.

• The Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden won a majority of the popular vote but disputed returns in three southern states led to a compromise that gave the election to Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes.



Redemption, 1874–1877 (cont'd)Redemption, 1874–1877 (cont'd)

• The Compromise of 1877 gave control of the southern state governments to Democrats. Compromise of 1877

- The congressional settling of the 1876 election which installed Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House and gave Democrats control of all state governments in the South.



MAP 16–2 The Election of 1876MAP 16–2 The Election of 1876



The Memory of ReconstructionThe Memory of Reconstruction

• Southern Democrats used the memory of Reconstruction to maintain themselves in power. Reconstruction became the Redemption.

• For white Southerners, it represented a horrible time that ended with the rescue of the South from black rule and federal government oppression.



The Memory of Reconstruction The Memory of Reconstruction (cont’d)(cont’d)

• The southern view of Reconstruction was perpetuated in textbooks, films, and some histories of the period.



Constitutional Amendments and Constitutional Amendments and Federal Legislation of the Federal Legislation of the

Reconstruction EraReconstruction Era



Constitutional Amendments and Constitutional Amendments and Federal Legislation of the Federal Legislation of the

Reconstruction EraReconstruction Era



““The Ignorant Vote” By the time Thomas Nast The Ignorant Vote” By the time Thomas Nast drew this cartoon in 1876drew this cartoon in 1876



Modest GainsModest Gains

• The overthrow of Reconstruction frustrated black southerners and reversed the economic and political gains they had made, as well as deprived them of most of the civil rights they had enjoyed.

• Still, the former slaves were better off in 1877 than in 1865 and continued to experience social, educational, and economic advances, if slowly.



Modest GainsModest Gains (cont'd) (cont'd)

• The Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are among the few bright spots in Reconstruction’s otherwise dismal legacy. Slaughterhouse cases

- Group of cases resulting in one sweeping decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1873 that contradicted the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment by decreeing that most citizenship rights remained under state, not federal, control.



Modest GainsModest Gains (cont'd) (cont'd)

United States v. Cruikshank- Supreme Court ruling of 1876 that overturned the

convictions of some of those responsible for the Colfax Massacre, ruling that the Enforcement Act applied only to violations of black rights by states, not individuals.



ConclusionConclusion



ConclusionConclusion

• White Southerners robbed black Southerners of their gains and tried to return them to a dependent servitude.

• By 1877, the southern question no longer captured the attention of the public.

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Ch 16 powerpoint