Part 1: ReconstructionPart 2: “New” South and

“Old” West

Dr. Kevin B. WitherspoonLander University

The Destruction of the War

Presidential Reconstruction

Abraham Lincoln Wartime acts Emancipation Proclamation*

War still in doubtFugitive slavesSlaves boost Confed. CauseNorthern moralePublic opinionFrance and BritainMorality

Presidential Reconstruction

Lincoln - 10% Plan* 10% loyalty oath Abolish slavery Northern opposition

Wade-Davis Bill*50% Ironclad oath

13th Amendment

Presidential Reconstruction

Andrew Johnson* General pardon Col. M.F. Pleasants* Voting = state issue Secession illegal Repudiate Confed.

debt Abolish slavery

Black Codes*Why?

Control Disregard federal govt. Fear black retaliation Labor supply Racism

Examples: Freedmen no testify vs. whites Vagrancy laws Taxes Whipped Blacks called “servant”, whites called “master”

Johnson’s declining popularityMemphis riot*Disputes with Congress

Freedmen’s Bureau Civil Rights bill

1866 14th AmendmentCitizenship for all persons - regardless of race - born or

naturalized in US

“Swing Around the Circle”*, 1866

Congressional ReconstructionRadical Republicans

Who were they?Thaddeus Stevens, PACharles Sumner, MA

What were their goals?Protection of freedmen and supportersFull citizenship of freedmenWin conservative supportSome extreme views

Strip Southerners of citizenshipConfiscate land

Congressional Reconstruction

The Stevens Plan* Federal officials

supervise elections Blacks vote Whites stripped of

citizenship

Congressional Reconstruction1867 Congressional Reconstruction Act

5 military districts Military make arrests, trials Military directs constitutions Not extremely radical

Johnson ImpeachmentImpeachment of Johnson

Radical crusade

Failure: Bring down presidential office Lack of clear crime Successor = Ben Wade Lawyers Johnson quiet

Reconstruction Laws & Acts

1870 15th Amendment Forbade states to deny any citizen the right to vote

on grounds of race, color, or previous condition of servitude

Decline of the Radicals

Small in numberJohnson quietRadicals dividedTrouble staying in officeDeathU.S. Grant

Scandals: political appointments, favors to businessmen and railroads

New Leadership in the South

Grant presidency Northern military Freedmen’s Bureau Carpetbaggers, scalawags,

black politicians 1870, Union restored

Black politicians 22 Congressmen Too few for great impact

New Leadership in the South

Carpet-baggers* Northerners in the South

InvestmentTeachersMinisters

Scalawags* Southern Republicans

Join party in powerOpportunisticAgreed with Republicans on one or more issuesUnionists before war

Republican ReconstructionPositive aspects:

Public education Efficiency of government Public buildings, roads, manufacturing Social services (orphanages, hospitals, welfare) Capital/investment Political democracy

What do freedmen want?LandA homeA jobMoneyEducationFamilyLegal marriageA new name

The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s Bureau*

Gen. O.O. Howard* Food Hospitals Reuniting families Dealing with the law

The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s

Bureau* Labor

Sharecropping*Other workPoor whites

LandAmnesty ActSouthern

Homestead Act*American

Missionary Association*

The Adjustment to FreedomWhy education?

Opportunity Self improvement Equality Freedom Forbidden fruit Livelihood Read the Bible

The Adjustment to FreedomEducation

Freedmen’s Bureau schools

AMA

Education for who?InstructionOpposition

The Adjustment to FreedomFreedmen’s Bureau, accomplishments

20 million rations reunited families provided land, housing, materials resettled 30,000 refugees built 40 hospitals and schools provided teachers, books, supplies protected freedom and rights

The Adjustment to FreedomThe Black Church

Social center Training Leadership Education Black pride Entertainment, theater

The white responseSocial order overturnedFear

Losing land, homes, jobs Black violence Their women Purity of white race

Black codesViolence and intimidation

Ku Klux Klan*Pulaski, TN 1866Racial violence

Disgust with Rep. Reconstruction

RacismHardened by Civ. WarFear of changeNo fear of punishmentEconomic hardshipVengeance for WarMob mentalitySend a messageAnonymity

Ku Klux Klan

What was a crime to the Klan?

Blacks acquiring property or power

Teaching blacksWitnessing a Klan crimeVotingBlacks in politics

Klan influence 1865-1872KKK Act, 1871

Republican ReconstructionDecline 1870s

Other concerns Corruption, depression

“Compromise of 1877” Dem. – Samuel J. Tilden, NY Rep. – Rutherford B. Hayes, OH Hayes wins, 185-184 Republicans withdraw N support

Legacy of Reconstruction “America’s unfinished revolution”

The New SouthManufacturingThe countryside

King Cotton? The planter aristocracy The labor force

Civil War nostalgia Veterans “Waving the Bloody Shirt” Pensions Memorial Day

The American WestAnte-bellum movement

1848, 100,000 W of Miss. 1860, 400,000

Gold Rush 1848 1849: 89,000 to CA

• 41,000 by sea; 43,000 by land Risky:

• scrabbling• theft• price gouging• competition• luck

Settling the WestMining towns

Prospectors Boom towns Vigilante action Territorial government Big business

Pike’s Peak, 1858Boom townsOregon, WA

RailroadsCommunication boom:

John Butterfield, coaches William H. Russell, “Pony

Express”

1861, Central PacificTrans-continental RR

Charles Crocker May 10, 1869 - Promontory

Point

The Great Plains

Movement west Eastern lands tired Cities booming Crime, politics No opportunities Immigrants Southern blacks

Homestead Act 1862

The Great PlainsCattle industry vaqueros Increase in $$ Cheap land Feed free Railroads Cattle drives 1866-1886: 6 mil. Cattle Stampedes Indians Cow-towns

The Great PlainsThe “Code of the West”:Personally redress wrongsStand groundAvenge insultGun = weapon of choiceNo shoot women or unarmed menMan’s word = bondHandshake = contractHorse stealing unforgivableStrangers treated kindly

Violence 1866-1900: 20,000 dead

The Great PlainsThe cattle bonanza, 1870s-80s

Buffalo almost goneIndians almost gonePopulation boom

Foreigners James S. Brisbin

Barbed wireWinter 1885-86Sheep

The Great PlainsLife on the plains

Problems:IsolationLack of resourcesGrasshoppersWeatherForbidding landscapeDebt

The Grange (National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry)

Indian Policy after the WarAnte-bellum policyInfluence of the western settlersBuffalo

Indian Policy after the WarFort Laramie Treaty 1851

$50,000/year for safe passage

Indian wars, 1854-1890 High Forehead

Fort Lyon massacre 1864 John Chivington*

1876 Little Bighorn, wars1887 Dawes Act

Indian Policy after the WarContinued resistance:

Apaches

The Ghost DanceWovokaWounded Knee