The Crisis of Reconstruction, 1865-1877

The biggest fight after the war was political◦Power struggles between the

executive and legislative branches

◦Constitutional amendments◦Presidential impeachment◦Ambitious domestic legislation

Only a small group supported black suffrage

Lincoln’s PlanProclamation of Amnesty and

Reconstruction◦ 10% of those who had cast ballots in 1860◦ A loyal state govt. would be created◦ Excludes: Confederate govt. officials,

army/navy officers, those who resigned commissions in 1861 (they would apply for a pardon), blacks

This 10% Plan would undermine Confederacy with pro-Union govts.

He wants to win allegiance of southern Unionists and rebuild a Southern Republican Party

Radical Republicans think Lincoln’s plan is too weak

They want to punish more Confederates

July 1864: Wade-Davis Bill◦Each southern state to be ruled by a

military governor◦50% plan for readmittance after they

repeal secession and abolish slavery◦Second “ironclad” oath to qualify as a

voter/delegateLincoln pocket vetoes the bill

By the war’s end AK, LA, TN, and parts of VA had moved towards readmittance under Lincoln’s plan

Congress refuses to seat the delegates

Presidential Reconstruction Under Johnson Johnson was the only southern senator to

remain in Congress when his state seceded Johnson despised the planter classDuring Congress’s recess Johnson

announces how the seven remaining states can be readmitted:◦ Almost all who take an oath may return◦ All property except slaves will be restored◦ State conventions would have to claim the

illegitimacy of secession, repudiate state debts, and ratify the 13th Amendment

◦ Also, wealthy Confederates (over $20,000) barredc

Johnson handed out 13,000 pardonsConfederate officers and large

planters assumed state positionsEven VP Stephens went to DC as a

senatorStates enact Black Codes to get

around the 13th AmendmentWhen Congress reconvenes in

December of 1865 they refuse to seat the new delegates and establish the Joint Committee on Reconstruction◦It is now Congress vs. Johnson

Congress vs. Johnson Status of southern blacks is now the key issue Moderate Republicans were the largest bloc in

Congress; they agreed that Johnson’s plan was weak They joined up with the Radicals in the following ways

◦ Continuation of the Freedman’s Bureau 3-yr. extension; special military courts to settle

labor disputes◦ Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (over

Johnson’s veto) Blacks are citizens and it authorized the feds to

intervene in states to ensure black rights in the courts

1st major piece of legislation passed over a presidential veto

Johnson vetoed because he felt it illegitimate because the South had been cut out

The Fourteenth Amendment

April 1866: Naturalization, due process, equal protection

Nullifies Dred ScottStates who deny male suffrage can lose

representation in CongressDisqualifies from office all prewar

officeholdersRepudiates Confederate debt and maintains

validity of federal debtThis was the first national effort to limit state

control of civil and political rightsCongressional elections of 1866 were a

referendum on the 14th

◦ Republicans win 2/3 of the House; 4/5 of the Senate

Congressional ReconstructionCongress passes Reconstruction Acts

over Johnson’s vetosReconstruction Act of 1867

◦Invalidated the state governments formed under Lincoln and Johnson (except TN)

◦Set up five military districts◦Blacks and whites could elect delegates

to set up new constitutions◦Then elect state officers◦Congress approves the state constitution,

state leg. Ratifies the 14th, readmittance

This act was harsher than Johnson, but did not prosecute Confederates for treason, or permanently exclude them from politics

Also, it didn’t redistribute land◦Even Republicans didn’t want to

mess with the sacredness of property rights

Impeachment CrisisTenure of Office Act and a

rider to an army appropriations bill

Johnson fires Sec. of War Stanton

Why not removed?◦Removal would upset the

balance of power◦Afraid of the Pres. Pro Tempore

Fifteenth Amendment and the Question of Woman SuffrageThe need to make black suffrage

nationalRatified in 1870 – The south didn’t

have enough votes to block itWomen’s movement splits into two

organizations◦American Woman Suffrage Assoc. –

states◦National Woman Suffrage Assoc. –

national (Stanton and Anthony)◦Minor v. Happersett – the state can

deny women the right to vote

A New ElectorateLaws had disenfranchised 10-15%Blacks held voting majorities in five

statesCarpetbaggers, scalawags, and

freedmen◦Carpetbaggers: no more than 20,000◦Scalawags: mostly small farmers that

cared little for black rights◦Freedmen: the backbone of southern

Republicanism (8 or 10 Rep. votes) At most1 in 5 political offices; in all southern

legislatures; majority in South Carolina; two senators; no Governors; 6% of the House (half from South Carolina)

Republican RuleNo state instituted land reformPoliticians wanted to attract

northern investmentShift towards public works

projectsIncreased taxes to pay for

rebuildingReconstruction was punishing

the propertied

CounterattacksVigilante groups spring up in all southern

statesThere is an effort to deny blacks

participation in governmentIntimidation, purchase, killing, etc.1866- the KKK is formedFederal govt. responds with the

Enforcement Acts (1870 and 1871): these allow federal supervision and protection

Shows that federal supervision was necessary, but it was never going to happen on a large scale

Feds let the Freedman’s Bureau end in 1869

Confronting FreedomHouse slaves were more likely to

flee the plantation than field slavesMost moved to adjacent plantationsDuring the 1860s urban black

population increased by 75%Seeking family was prominentSo was the legalization of unions

and quickly established two-parent families

Black women seek female roles

Black Institutions Growth of the Black Church, esp. the African

Methodist Episcopal Church and Black Baptist churches

Churches and ministers become the pillars of black society

Black schools were set up by the Freedman’s Bureau and northern philanthropic societies

Traditional black colleges such as Howard, Atlanta, Fisk and Hampton all formed

However, by the end of Reconstruction 80% of black pop. is still illiterate

1883 Civil Rights cases: 14th amendment did not prohibit discrimination by individuals

A segregated society is developing, and is supported by both races

Land, Labor, and Sharecropping

Forty acres and a mule never really happened

1866: Southern Homestead Act◦44 million acres set aside in five

state◦Bad land and few made it work

Blacks had no capital; no whites would sell them land anyway; labor contracts were unjust

By 1880, 80% of land in cotton producing states is sharecropped

Crop-lien system comes into existence

Both sharecropping and the crop-lien system prevent diversification of southern agriculture

GrantismGrant is elected in 1868: Carried all

but eight states due to his popularity in the North; being unscathed by Reconstruction politics; and the black vote in the South

His administration was riddled with scandals◦Cornering the gold market, Credit

Mobilier, “Whiskey Ring,” and Indian trading posts

Grant may have not known all of these, but it was the Gilded Age

Foreign policy issues◦Seward’s Icebox◦Attempt to annex the eastern half

of Santo Domingo (Senate rejects this)

◦By 1872, Liberal Republicans form their own party to get away from Grantism and the “Great Barbeque”

Liberals’ RevoltLiberal Republicans believed in

free trade, the gold standard, and the law of supply and demand. They demanded civil service reform, the end to bayonet rule in the South, the end of high tariffs

They nominate Horace Greeley and lose

Grant then supports the Amnesty Act to undercut the Liberals views on the South

Panic of 1873The Transcontinental Railroad in

complete and over speculation in RR begins

The collapse of the Northern Pacific Railroad triggered a financial meltdown in America (5-year depression)

18,000 businesses go bankrupt; 3 million unemployed

Money and the debtWhat to do with the

greenbacks?How to pay off the debt?

Reconstruction and the ConstitutionEx parte Milligan decision dooms the

military courts established to enforce the Freedman’s Bureau

Texas v. White – Reconstruction was constitutionally possible, grounded in the Congressional power to provide a republican form of government to every state

Slaughterhouse cases of 1873 – chipped away at the 14th Amendment by narrowly defining it

Republicans RetreatIt was gradual, but it happened

◦Grant’s elections◦The rise of the Liberal Republicans◦The Amnesty Act◦Supreme Court decisions◦Radicals had left the scene◦Industrial expansion◦Just plain tired of it

Redeeming the SouthDemocrats a beginning home rule

againBut it is New South advocates vs. the

BourbonsThe White League; Mississippi plan;

Red Shirts; Rifle Clubs were effectiveOnce the redeemers were back in

power they rewrote the laws to diminish freedmen’s rights, as well as their economic, political and social standing

Late 1870 “exodusters” to Kansas

Election of 1876Hayes (R) vs. Tilden (D)Platforms were very similarTilden wins the popular vote by 3%;

however 19 electoral votes in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana (pro-Tilden) were challenged, and 1 in Oregon (pro-Hayes)

Republicans controlled the three pro-Tilden states so those were thrown out; but Democrats had kept blacks from voting

Neither had enough Electoral Votes

Compromise of 1877◦Commission of 7 Dems., 7 Rep. and

1 Independent to decide◦The Ind. Resigns to run for the

Senate and his position is filled with a Republican

◦Hayes wins!◦Not so fast: The Dems. Controlled

the House, and they were going to obstruct the approval of Electoral votes

◦A deal had to be cut

The Basic Deal◦Hayes gets to be President◦Troops are taken out of the

South◦Democrats are back in charge◦Reconstruction ends