Unit 5: The Civil War Through Reconstruction

Chapter 15: Reconstruction - High

Hopes & Shattered Dreams 1865-1877

Radical Republicans

Led by Charles Sumner in the Senate & Thaddeus Stevens in the House

Opposed to the swift restoration of the South

Wanted to use federal power to uproot Southern social structure, punish the planters, & emancipate the blacks

Senator Charles Sumner(R-MA)

Rep. Thaddeus Stevens(R-PENN)

Lincoln’s PlanBelieved that Southern states never

legally seceded from the Union

Wanted restoration to be easy & without malice

Policy called the Ten Percent PlanA state could be reintegrated into

the Union when 10% of its voters from the 1860 election had taken an oath of allegiance to the U.S. & pledged to abide by emancipation

Wrote a new state constitution that abolished slavery & elected new state officials

“With Malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds.” - Lincoln

Wade-Davis BillRadical Republicans in Congress turned down

Lincoln’s Plan

They created the Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Required 50% of a state’s voters to take the

oath of allegiance stating they were loyal & had never been disloyal

Lincoln killed the bill with a “pocket veto”

SenatorBenjamin

Wade(R-OH)

CongressmanHenry

W. Davis(R-MD)

John Wilkes Booth Assassinates Lincoln

Johnson’s Plan

Very similar to Lincoln’s planRatification of the 13th

AmendmentRepudiation of Confederate

debtsRenunciation of secessionRecommended the vote be

given to blacks

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Believing that Johnson’s plan was too mild & that the freed people needed more protection, Congressional Republicans took control of Reconstruction

Passed a Civil Rights Bill (1866) & extended the authority of the Freedmen’s Bureau

Approved the 14th Amendment

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Passed the Military Reconstruction Act 1867Divided the South into 5 military districts

ruled by military governors Ordered the states to rewrite constitutions

giving the vote to blacksRequired states to ratify the 14th

Amendment

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction

Passed the Army Act to reduce the President’s control over the Army

Passed the Tenure of Office Act, forbidding Johnson to dismiss Cabinet members without the Senate’s permission

Approved the 15th Amendment

Freedom for African AmericansCongress created the Freedmen’s Bureau

(1865) to assist A-As with food, clothing, medical care, & education

Churches became the most prominent social organization & were the first to be fully controlled by A-As

Freedom for African AmericansGeneral William T. Sherman issued

Special Field Order No. 15“forty acres & a mule”Johnson ended land redistribution

& returned it to its former owners

Freedom for African AmericansMany turned to sharecropping

Rented land & paid the landowner with crops

Turned to local merchants for equipmentIncreased the dependency of the South on

cotton

Rental contracts & crop liens were renewed if debts weren’t paid, leaving many poor blacks & whites trapped by sharecropping

Sharecropping

The White South: Confronting Change

In an effort to define a legally subordinate place for A-As, southern state legislatures passed black codesTried to ensure a stable & subservient labor

forceEstablished racial subservience

The Ku Klux Klan (1866) formed out of resentment to the changing societyUsed terror to create a climate of fearGoals were to restore white supremacy &

destroy the Republican party

Black Reconstruction

A-As began to take an active role in state & local govts. in the south

Most supported the Republican Party

Received support from some white votersCarpetbaggersScalawags

Black Reconstruction

The Mississippi Plan

Democrats in the 1875 election in Mississippi used terror tactics to intimidate the Republicans

Pres. Grant refused to get involved out of fear of losing Northern Republican support

Johnson is Impeached

Johnson removed Sec. of War Edwin StantonViolation of the Tenure of Office Act

Was impeached by the House but came within one vote of being removed by the Senate

The Senate Trial lasted for 11 weeks. Johnson was acquitted 35 to 19, which was 1 vote short of the required 2/3s vote.

Johnson is Impeached

Election of 1868

The Election of 1876

The Political Crisis of 1877

“Corrupt Bargain”Part II?

The Compromise of 1877

Congress created a special commission consisting of Democrats and Republicans to determine the outcome of the 1876 election

Hayes was given the Presidency in exchange for ending Reconstruction & withdrawing the remaining federal troops from the South

The Impact of Reconstruction

Many white southerners turned radical in their resentment of freedmen & Northerners

The Republican political agenda stood in the way of A-A’s realizing full rights & protections

Although slavery had come to an end, most A-A’s were relegated to inferior positions