Key QuestionsKey Questions
1.1. How do we How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the
Union?Union?
1.1. How do we How do webring the Southbring the Southback into the back into the
Union?Union?
2.2. How do we How do we rebuild the rebuild the
South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction
during the war?during the war?
2.2. How do we How do we rebuild the rebuild the
South after itsSouth after itsdestruction destruction
during the war?during the war?
3.3. How do we How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
3.3. How do we How do weintegrate andintegrate andprotect newly-protect newly-emancipatedemancipated
black freedmen?black freedmen?
44.. What branch What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
44.. What branch What branchof governmentof governmentshould controlshould controlthe process ofthe process of
Reconstruction?Reconstruction?
President Lincoln’s Plan10% Plan* Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction
(December 8, 1863)
* As soon as 10% of a state’s voters took a loyalty oath to the Union, the state could set up a new government.
* If the state’s constitution abolished slavery and provided education for African-Americans, the state would regain representation in Congress.
* Members of the Republican party opposed the plan.
* The radical-Republicans in Congress insisted that the Confederates had committed crimes and should be punished.
* They advocated full citizenship, including the right to vote and taking former Confederate land and giving it to freed slaves. (Sherman’s idea)
* Lincoln’s plan did not go through without support from Congress. Pocket-veto.
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
Congress rejected Lincoln’s plan believing it was too nice
This bill required that a majority of a state’s prewar voters swear loyalty to the Union.
Demanded the guarantee of African-American equality.
SenatorBenjamin
Wade(R-OH)
Congressman
HenryW. Davis(R-MD)
Jeff Davis Under Arrest
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
Created a few weeks before Lincoln’s death.
Goal was to provide food, clothing, healthcare, and education for both black and white refugees in the South.
It helped reunite families and negotiated fair labor contracts between former slaves and white land owners.
Freedmen’s Bureau School
President Andrew Johnson Was Lincoln’s Vice-President
He offered pardons for Confederates who swore loyalty.
His deal breaker was that all states coming back into the Union would have to ratify the 13th Amendment.
Wanted major Confederate leaders to write him personally to apply for a pardon.
Anti-aristocrat- resented wealthy plantation owners.
Did not want African-Americans to be able to vote.
Wanted states to determine the freedoms of former slaves.
By December, 1865, most states had met the requirements of readmission.
Growing Northern Alarm! Laws that sought to limit the rights of African Americans
and keep them as landless workers.
The codes required African Americans to work in only a limited number of occupations, most often as servants or farm laborers.
Some states prohibited them from owning land and some stipulated that any black person who did not have job could be arrested and sent to work as prison labor.
A lot of Southerners used violence and intimidation to enforce the black codes.
BLACK CODES BLACK CODES
Slavery is Dead?
Congress Breaks with the President
Congress sought to overturn the black codes by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Suspended any state laws that limited African American rights.
Johnson vetoed the law.
How would anything get better if Johnson did not support Congress?
14th Amendment Ratified in July, 1868.
Defined citizenship and guaranteed equal rights under the law.
* Protected freedmen’s rights from presidential vetoes.
* Any state that refused to allow black people to vote would risk losing the number of seats in the House of Reps.
Radical Plan for Readmission
Civil authorities in the territories were subject to military supervision.
Required new state constitutions, includingblack suffrage and ratification of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
In March, 1867, Congress passed an act that authorized the military to enroll eligible black voters and begin the process of constitution making.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Military Reconstruction Act
* Restart Reconstruction in the 10 Southern states that refused to ratify the 14th Amendment.
* Divide the 10 “unreconstructed states” into 5 military districts.
Reconstruction Acts of 1867
Command of the Army Act
* The President must issue all Reconstruction orders through the commander of the military.
Edwin Stanton
Tenure of Office Act* The President needed Senate
approval to remove certain officials from office.
President Johnson’s Impeachment
Johnson removed Stanton in February, 1868.
Johnson replaced generals in the field who were more sympathetic to Radical Reconstruction.
The House impeached him for trying to fire Stanton on February 24 before even drawing up the charges by a vote of 126 – 47!
The Senate Trial
11 week trial.
Johnson acquitted 35 to 19 (one short of required 2/3’s vote).
1868 Presidential Election
President Ulysses S. Grant
15th Amendment
Ratified in 1870.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Women’s rights groups were furious that they were not granted the vote!
Blacks in Southern Politics Core voters were black veterans.
Blacks were politically unprepared.
Blacks could register and vote in states since 1867.
The 15th Amendment guaranteed federal voting.
Ku Klux Klan Formed in Tennessee in 1866.
They roamed the countryside, especially at night, burning homes, schools, and churches, and beating, maiming, or killing African Americans.
Dressed in white robes and hoods, mounted on horses.
Designed to scare people away from voting.
The “Invisible Empire of the South”
Was it a failure or success?
Grant’s cabinet and administration was unknowingly corrupt.
He gave government jobs to untrustworthy friends who used their positions to make money. Spoils system?
13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments = success towards equality.
Southern opposition= failure.
The 1866 Bi-ElectionThe 1866 Bi-Election
Johnson’s “Swing around the Circle”
A referendum on Radical Reconstruction.
Johnson made an ill-conceived propaganda tour around the country to push his plan.
Republicanswon a 3-1majority in both houses and gained control of every northern state.
The Balance of Power in Congress
The Balance of Power in Congress
State White Citizens Freedmen
SC 291,000 411,000
MS 353,000 436,000
LA 357,000 350,000
GA 591,000 465,000
AL 596,000 437,000
VA 719,000 533,000
NC 631,000 331,000
The 1868 Republican Ticket
The 1868 Republican Ticket
The 1868 Democratic Ticket
The 1868 Democratic Ticket
Waving the Bloody Shirt!Waving the Bloody Shirt!
Republican “Southern Strategy”
Grant Administration Scandals
Grant Administration Scandals Grant presided over an era of
unprecedented growth and corruption.
* Credit Mobilier Scandal.
* Whiskey Ring.
* The “Indian Ring.”
The Tweed Ring in NYC
The Tweed Ring in NYC
William Marcy Tweed (notorious head of Tammany Hall’s political machine)
[Thomas Nast crusading cartoonist/reporter]
Who Stole the People’s Money?
Who Stole the People’s Money?
And They Say He Wants a Third Term
And They Say He Wants a Third Term
The Election of 1872The Election of 1872 Rumors of corruption
during Grant’s first term discredit Republicans.
Horace Greeley runsas a Democrat/LiberalRepublican candidate.
Greeley attacked as afool and a crank.
Greeley died on November 29, 1872!
1872 Presidential Election
1872 Presidential Election
Popular Vote for President: 1872
Popular Vote for President: 1872
The Panic of 1873The Panic of 1873 It raises “the money
question.”
* debtors seek inflationarymonetary policy bycontinuing circulation of greenbacks.
* creditors, intellectuals support hard money.
1875 Specie Redemption Act. 1876 Greenback Party formed & makes
gains in congressional races The “Crime of ’73’!
Legal ChallengesLegal Challenges
The Slaughterhouse Cases (1873)
Bradwell v. IL (1873)
U. S. v. Cruickshank (1876)
U. S. v. Reese (1876)
SharecroppingSharecropping
Tenancy & the Crop Lien System
Tenancy & the Crop Lien SystemFurnishing
MerchantTenant Farmer Landowner
Loan tools and seed up to 60% interest to tenant farmer to plant spring crop.
Farmer also secures food, clothing, andother necessities oncredit from merchant until the harvest.
Merchant holds “lien” {mortgage} on part of tenant’s future crops as repayment of debt.
Plants crop, harvests in autumn.
Turns over up to ½ of crop to land owner as payment of rent.
Tenant gives remainder of crop to merchant inpayment of debt.
Rents land to tenant in exchange for ¼ to ½ of tenant farmer’s future crop.
Black & White Political Participation
Black & White Political Participation
Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South
Establishment of Historically Black Colleges in the South
Black Senate & House Delegates
Black Senate & House Delegates
Colored Rule
in the South?
Colored Rule
in the South?
The Failure of Federal Enforcement
The Failure of Federal Enforcement Enforcement Acts of 1870 &
1871 [also known as the KKK Act]. “The Lost
Cause.”
The rise of the“Bourbons.”
Redeemers (prewarDemocrats and Union Whigs).
The Civil Rights Act of 1875The Civil Rights Act of 1875
Crime for any individual to deny full &equal use of public conveyances andpublic places.
Prohibited discrimination in jury selection.
Shortcoming lacked a strong enforcement mechanism.
No new civil rights act was attemptedfor 90 years!
Northern Support WanesNorthern Support Wanes “Grantism” & corruption.
Panic of 1873 [6-yeardepression].
Concern over westwardexpansion and Indian wars.
Key monetary issues:
* should the government retire $432m worth of “greenbacks” issued during the Civil War.
* should war bonds be paid back in specie orgreenbacks.
1876 Presidential Tickets1876 Presidential Tickets
“Regional Balance?”“Regional Balance?”
1876 Presidential Election
1876 Presidential Election
The Political Crisis of 1877
The Political Crisis of 1877
“Corrupt Bargain”Part II?
Hayes PrevailsHayes Prevails
Alas, the Woes of Childhood…
Alas, the Woes of Childhood…
Sammy Tilden—Boo-Hoo! Ruthy Hayes’s got my Presidency, and he won’t give it to me!
A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877A Political Crisis: The “Compromise” of 1877
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