Reconstruction (1865-1877)Please pick up a copy of the class notes from the cart and work on completing Part I (Reconstruction Amendments) with your partner. You will also need your Focus 20 film guide for Lincoln.

Please turn in Focus 21 (maps only) to the box on the back table.

We will:*identify major goals of both presidential

and congressional Reconstruction and evaluate how they differed

*finish our film study of Lincoln

Reconstruction Amendments

• What are the so-called “Reconstruction” amendments?

• What did they accomplish?

• Why are they considered some of the most important amendments to the Constitution in U.S. history?

Reconstruction Amendments

13th: *ended slavery in America

14th: *guaranteed civil rights and “due process” to all citizens*defined citizenship to include African Americans*limited the ability of states to deny “due process”*section 2 eliminated the “Three Fifths” clause

15th: *guaranteed voting rights for African Americans

Important Questions at the End of the Civil War

• Should rebellious Southerners be punished for secession and causing the Civil War or should they be returned to full American citizenship as quickly as possible without any further punishment?

• Should Southern states be readmitted to the Union as quickly and easily as possible or should they be forced to undergo major hurdles before readmission?

• Should African Americans, including freed slaves, be granted full citizenship rights?

Lincoln’s Plans for ReconstructionLincoln’s “10% percent” plan (1863):• offered readmission to Southern states in which 10% of the

voting population took a loyalty oath• excluded Confederate government officials and military officers

from regaining citizenship• slaves freed but all blacks excluded from voting

Lincoln pocket-vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill, introduced by Radical Republicans, which would have required a second “ironclad” oath and delayed readmission of Southern states

Lincoln sought to reintegrate the South quickly and with few if any punitive measures; mirrored by General Grant’s conduct in accepting Lee’s surrender at Appomattox in April 1865

Andrew Johnson (17th president, 1865-69)

President Johnson’s Version of Reconstruction

After Lincoln’s assassination in April 1865, Vice-President Andrew Johnson (of Tennessee) carried Lincoln’s plan forward but with his own agenda:• exclusion of large property-holders from oath-taking

(Johnson blamed secession and the war on them)• creation of state civil governments in unreconstructed

Southern states• granting of thousands of pardons, permitting former

Confederate leaders to reassume political control• tolerance of Southern state “black codes”

Example of a Black Code (Texas, 1866)• Chapter CXXVIII. An Act to define and declare the rights of persons lately

known as Slaves, and Free Persons of Color. • SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That all

persons heretofore known as slaves, and free persons of color, shall have the right to make and enforce contracts, to sue and be sued, to inherit, purchase, lease, hold, sell, and convey real, personal and mixed estate; to make wills and testaments, and to have and enjoy the rights of personal security, liberty, and private property, and all remedies and proceedings for the protection and enforcement of the same and there shall be no discrimination against such persons in the administration of the criminal laws of this State.

• SEC. 2. …nothing herein shall be so construed as to repeal any law prohibiting the inter-marriage of the white and black races, nor to permit any other than white men to serve on juries, hold office, vote at any election, State, county, or municipal; Provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to allow them to testify, except in such cases and manner as is prescribed in the Constitution of the State.

What type of source is this?

Who/What do you notice in the image?

What is the message of the image?

How would this image have challenged the presidential approach to Reconstruction?

“Franchise: And not this man?”Harper’s WeeklyAugust 5, 1865

Congressional Reconstruction Changes Course

• Moderate and Radical Republicans united against Johnson’s perceived tolerance for the old Southern power structure, the “black codes,” and his overtures to Northern Democrats; led by:

Senator Charles Sumner (of “Bleeding Sumner” fame) and …

Representative Thaddeus Stevens (portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln)

Radical Reconstruction

Helps Freedmen:Republicans supported creation of the Freedmen’s Bureau to help former slaves adapt to life in freedom – provided education, housing, job training, and other programs

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 passed over Johnson’s veto

Congress then pushed for ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment (1868) to ensure that civil rights and “due process” would be guaranteed  

Above: Food rations distributed to the old and sick by the Freedmen’s Bureau. Below: A Richmond, Virginia school supported by the Bureau. Source: Library of Congress.

Radicals Impose Their Rule on the South:

To ensure enforcement of federal laws, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, which:• rejected legitimacy of civil governments in the South• imposed martial law and established five military districts• created more stringent rules for readmission 

The Act effectively put the U.S. Army in charge of the South

It also set the stage for a fight between Congress and President Johnson, who tried to fire Secretary of War Stanton in violation of the Tenure of Office Act (1867); led to Johnson’s impeachment and near removal from office 

Reconstruction Leadership in the South:Radical Reconstruction led to the emergence of state governments dominated by freedmen, carpetbaggers, and scalawags; created long-term social tensions and intensified Southern resentment

Freedmen: former slaves – able to vote and serve in office during Reconstruction

Carpetbaggers: Northerners who moved to the South after the war to profit from Reconstruction

Scalawags: white Southerners who joined the Republican Party and supported Reconstruction

First Black U.S. Congressmen

Frederick Douglass, 1866“The arm of the Federal government is long, but it is far too short to protect the rights of individuals in the interior of distant States. They must have the power to protect themselves, or they will go unprotected, in spite of all the laws the Federal government can put upon the national statute-book.”

                           

Before we leave…

• Complete Focus 20 and 21 to turn in today.

• Homework 12 is due by Wednesday.

• We will introduce the storyboards exhibit and your topic assignment on Wednesday.