Civil War and Reconstruction

Causes of the Civil WarSlavery

Moral issue—NO Compromise on the moral issues

Cultural DifferencesStates’ Rights

Conflicting interpretations of the Constitution

EconomicsWestern TerritoriesPolitics

Split of the Democratic party over slaveryDevelopment—and success of—the GOP

Lincoln’s Dilemma, 1861

Lincoln had four choices when he came into office: adopt the Crittenden Compromise and wait for seceded states to return

blockade the ports of the South, and wait for them to succumb

raise a huge army and batter the Confederacy into submission

give up and let seceded states go in peace

Lincoln refused to back off his campaign pledge of no western expansion of slavery

but guaranteed the operation of the Fugitive Slave Law

Ft. Sumter, April 12, 1861Lincoln attached great importance to the retention of two U.S. forts in the South, Pickens (Pensacola) and Sumter (Charleston)

sent a supply ship to Ft. Sumter on April 11, 1861

Davis also attached great importance to keeping forts

Confederate forces, on Davis’ orders, open fired on Ft. Sumter on April 12

• Fort surrendered the next day

War Aims

Confederacy:Independence

• Be left alone

Fight a defensive war• Lots of land to conquer

Don’t force war

Foreign recognition

U.S.: Restore the Union

Be the aggressor• put down the rebellion

Invade South and destroy the rebel army and government

Advantages

Confederacy:Fighting defensive war

South a huge territory

Knew the territory

Southerner fighting to protect his home

Union: Population

• 18 million persons in North; 9 million in South (4 million were slaves)

Industry• 90% of nation’s

manufacturing capacity• 2/3 of railroad miles• Most raw materials—iron,

coal, copper, and precious metals were in the

North controlled the seasU.S. Army

Battle over the Border StatesMaryland

Pratt St. Riot, April 19, 1861Md. placed under martial law; habeas corpus suspended

MissouriMo. Legislature refused to secede from Union

• But Gov. Jackson sought to join the Confederacy

U.S. troops arrest Gov. Jackson, install pro-Union gov’t

KentuckySept. 1861, both Union and Confederate forces invade

• Union forces drive Confederates out of the state

West VirginiaWhen Va. secedes from Union, western counties secede from Va.

Confederate GovernmentConfederate government faced formidable tasks

No army, navy, treasury, currency, foreign service, or bureaucracy in 1861restricted by the doctrine of states rights

1861, Confederate Congress called for 500,000 volunteers for the armyWhile volunteers joined the army readily in 1861, the government could not equip them

Most Confederate soldiers initially brought their own weapons—hunting riflesConfederate forces never all wore a regulation uniform

Confederate Conscription Act

April 1862, Confederate Conscription Actall white males between 18-35 (later 17-50) subject to military service

but provided numerous exemptions to the draft• “fighters” and “producers”

• “20 slave law”

• substitution

“King Cotton” DiplomacyConfederate government placed a lot of faith in Britain to come to its aid

Believed Britain was so dependent on cotton that it would intervene into the war on the South’s behalf

Confederacy refused to export cotton at the beginning of war

South effectively blockaded itself in 1861• The major diplomatic mistake of the war

King Cotton not as powerful as South believedBritain had stockpiles, and cotton in Egypt and IndiaBritain also had very close ties with the North

Slavery and the War Slaves played vital role in Confederate war effort

Produced foodMade up a large percentage of the industrial labor forceWere used on military projects

• laws authorized impressment of slaves for mil. work

Slave labor enabled white men to join the army

Slaves also saw war as an opportunity for freedomAs early as 1861, runaways flocked to the Union lines

• Initially, some runaway slaves were returned to masters• Later declared “contrabands”

Runaway slaves forced Union Army and Lincoln government to deal with issue of slavery

Emancipation Proclamation, 1863

Following Union victory at Antietam, 22 Sept. 1862, using the President’s war powers, Lincoln announced that on January 1, 1863, all slaves held in a state or part of a state which was in rebellion should be “then, thenceforward and forever free”

Technically, Emancipation Proclamation freed no one

However, the Emancipation Proclamation completely changed the character of the war

North now committed to larger cause of freedom

European nations were now never going to recognize the South while it was fighting to preserve slavery.

                                               

                            

Runaway Slaves entering New Bern, N.C., January 1863

Gettysburg and Vicksburg, July 1863

Gettysburg, July 1-3:Ended Lee’s northern invasion

Ruined chance of CSA to end war with a quick stroke on Northern soil

Cost Lee more men than he could afford to lose

Vicksburg, July 4: Opened Mississippi River to the Union

Gave Union control of entire Mississippi Valley

Effectively broke the Confederacy in half

Brought Grant east

The War in the SouthBy end of 1862 Southern civilians began to experience shortages

inflation was rampant• Confederate currency worthless by 1864

Food production declined dramatically• men pulled form the farms to army• slaves also fled as war progressed

Rail lines collapsedUnion occupation

• Union armies destroyed cotton, crops, and livestock

By end of 1864, Confederate army in shambles, burdened by desertion and lack of supplies

Appomattox Court House, 9 April 1865

Lincoln’s assassinationApril 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln

Booth was the leader of a conspiracy which planned to kill Lincoln, Grant, VP Andrew Johnson, and Sec. of State William Seward.Only the attempt on Lincoln was successfulBooth killed by Federal troops

Assassination of Lincoln hardened Northern attitudes

No longer willing to have an easy peace with the South

Questions of the peaceWhat power did freed slaves have?

Did they have full rights as citizens? Could they vote and hold public office?

What right did former rebels have?Did they have full rights as citizens? Could they vote and hold public office?

Who would run the Southern States?Would Southern legislatures continue in office?Would new elections be ordered? Who could vote? Who could run?

13th Amendment1864, Senate approved the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery in the U.S.

Ratified in December 1865

Questions following EmancipationNow that slaves were free, where was their place?

• were they citizens? could they vote?

Did they get any land? • ‘40 Acres and a Mule’?

Southern representation• If freedmen were not able to vote, Southern whites would get more

seats in Congress, without diluting any of their votes, helping the white South

Freedmen Southern blacks got their freedom, but little else

many stayed on their plantations, working for their same masters, but now for paysome left, just because they could

• went looking for lost family, or better work

Most wanted land of their own, but few got it soldiers, and some others who had saved some money, were able to but landthere was a hope that the U.S. government would give or lease freemen land, esp. confiscated rebel land, but few actually got any

Freedmen were free, but with little hope of ever getting any land of their own

The South after the WarSouth destroyed in 1865

economically, politically, socially, agriculturallymany areas without law and order

• widespread looting

freedmen and refugees roamed the countryside• violence against freemen and Southern Unionists

U.S. armies remained as an army of occupation200,000 Union troops kept the peace under martial lawmilitary courts set upissued rations to refugees and civiliansarmy hospitals treated sick and wounded

Early Reconstruction, 1862-65As U.S. Army invaded South, the “reconstruction” of occupied territory beganLincoln’s “10% Plan,” 1863

Full pardon and full restitution of all property (except slaves) to rebels who professed allegiance to Union

• Leading Confederate officials and officers excluded

Once 10% of the white male population took the oath of allegiance, a new state government could be formed

Congress opposed Lincoln’s plan as too lenientRefused to acknowledge three state governments—Arkansas, Louisiana, and Tennessee—that Lincoln had recognized as reconstructed.

Different views of what Reconstruction should entail:

Most Republicans agreed Reconstruction should include:• absolute repudiation of secession• guarantees for the freedom and civil rights of blacks• security and political power for Southern Unionists• temporary political disqualification for Confederates

Democrats wanted self-reconstruction:• allow existing Southern state governments to:

declare their loyalty to the Union supervise the election of new representatives

Radical Republicans wanted:• overthrow Southern ruling class• enfranchise blacks • give freedmen confiscated rebel land

Presidential Reconstruction, 1865 1865, Andrew Johnson issued his plan for Reconstructing the seceded states:

Amnesty and the restitution of property (not slaves) to rebels who would take the oath of allegiance

• prominent and rich Confederates were excluded

Named a provisional governor for N.C., and recognized the Lincoln-sponsored gov’ts of La., Ark., Tenn., & Va.Once 10% of white male population of remaining states declared allegiance to U.S., they could form gov’tsOrdered new state governments to hold constitutional conventions; new Constitutions must include:

• abolition of slavery• nullification of secession• repudiation of all state debts incurred during the war

Black suffrage With new state constitutions passed, Johnson declared all the former Confederate states readmitted to the Union in Dec. 1865None of the new state constitutions made provisions for black suffrage

angered Republicans and abolitionistsallowed Southern states to gain more political power (because of revocation of 3/5 clause), without having to give blacks the vote

Only six states allowed blacks to vote in 1865In 1865, Conn., Wis., and Minn. all rejected measures that would have given blacks the right to vote

                                    

                                       

                                    

                                       

Southern DefianceSome states did not abide by Johnson’s requirements

Repealed, instead of repudiated, their secession ordinancesMiss. and S.C. failed to repudiate their debtMiss. and Texas failed to ratify the 13th amendmentGa. sought compensation for slaves

Black Codes established in most Southern statesAllowed blacks to be arrested for ambiguous crimeset rules for where blacks could live and workRevoked by the Freedman’s Bureau and Congress

Leading ex-Confederates elected to U.S. Congress

14th Amendment, 1866All native born and naturalized persons, including blacks, were citizens of the U.S.States prohibited from depriving any person “of life, liberty, or property” without due process of the lawStates prohibited from denying any person “equal protection of the laws”Reduction of congressional representation any state that withheld suffrage from its adult male citizensDisqualified from holding office any person who had engaged in rebellion against the U.S. Guaranteed the national debt and repudiated the Confederate debtGave Congress the right to enforce the Amendment by “appropriate legislation”

Congressional Reconstruction, 1866-1868 Southern states, with Johnson’s urging, rejected passage of the 14th Amendment

drove the moderates to side with the radicals in Congress

First Reconstruction Act, Feb. 1867: Nullified the existing Southern governments

• Placed them under military rule

Set forth provisions for the readmission of unreconstructed states back into the Union:

• Constitutional convention elected by universal manhood suffrage• Ratification of a new constitution that included black suffrage• Ratification of the 14th Amendment

Johnson vetoed Reconstruction Act, but Congress passed it over his veto

Congressional ReconstructionSecond Reconstruction Act, March 1867:

Required generals in command of the Southern territories to register eligible voters and set the machinery in motion for convention elections

Third Reconstruction Act, July 1867:Declared Southern provisional governments subordinate in all respects to the military rule

• Allowed military commanders to remove officials from office

Broadly defined disfranchised ex-Confederates• Rejected any voter’s oath of allegiance if believed it to be falsely

sworn

Congressional ReconstructionSeptember 1867, 735,000 blacks and 635,000 whites were registered to vote in ten unreconstructed states

blacks held a voting majority in five states 10-15% of the white population in the South was disenfranchised because of their wartime activities

• another 25-30% of the white population in the South did not register

Southern GOP made up of Southern Unionists (scalawags)BlacksNortherners who had migrated South (carpetbaggers)

Democratic party made up of ex-Confederates who could vote

“Black and Tan” Conventions, 1867-68 A number of blacks were elected as delegates to the constitutional conventions

blacks the majority in the S.C. and La. conventions

First time in US that blacks & whites worked together to write laws of their governmentMany of the constitutions were very progressive

universal manhood suffragemandated public schools for both racesincreased state responsibility for social welfaremost forbid disfranchisement of ex-Confederates

                                    

                                       

Readmission to the Union

The Ku Klux Klan1866, KKK founded in Tenn.

by 1868 it had evolved into a terrorist organizationassaulted and killed freemen; burned their homes, businesses and schoolsattacked GOP voters & leaders, white & black

1868 presidential campaign200+ political murders in Ark. 1000 persons killed in La. between April and NovemberGOP got no votes in 11 counties

15th Amendment1868, black men not allowed to vote in 11 of 21 Northern States and none of the 5 border states.

1/6 of the nation’s black population lived in states where they could not vote

1868, the Republican Congress drafted a Constitutional amendment permitting black suffrage

Congress passed 15th Amendment in 1869; ratified by the states in March 1870.

15th Amendment forbid states from denying citizens the right to vote on the grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Myth of “Black Reconstruction”White Southerners have portrayed “black rule” of the South as incompetently run by hoards of uneducated ex-slaves, this is not the truth

blacks actually held no more than 20% of government offices during the height of reconstruction (1869-1876)

• only 14 black congressmen and 2 black senators elected

Most G.O.P. officeholders were carpetbaggers or scalawags

Republicans actually governed very progressively established public schools for both racesprovided state aid for railroad constructionconducted internal improvementsreorganized and modernized the judicial systempassed civil rights legislation

                                    

                                       

The End of ReconstructionReconstruction began to unravel during the mid-1870s, for a number of reasons:

fracturing of the Southern GOP coalitiondisenchantment of Northern RepublicansDemocratic resurgence

Reconstruction ended when Democrats returned to power and “redeemed” states from “black rule”

States redeemed at different times • 1876, Republicans out of power in every Southern state except

S.C., La., and Fla.

Compromise of 1877Disputed returns in election of 1876 between Samuel J. Tilden (D) and Rutherford B. Hayes (R)

Fraud in the electoral boards in La. and Fla.

Congress established an electoral commission to settle the election

commission decided for Hayes

Deals were made by Hayes to insure peaceAppointed Democrats to his cabinetFederal gov’t to give aid to Southern improvements Federal troops withdrawn from S.C. and La.

• GOP governments in those states soon collapsed