Reconstruction

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Reconstruction

• 1865-1877

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I. Different Plans

• A. Problems left after the War
• 1. What to do with the freedmen?
• 2. How to treat the southern states?
• 3. Who should control reconstruction, Congress
  or the President?

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I. Different Plans

• B. Lincoln's Plan-"with malice toward none"
• Lincoln believed that the Southern states
  had never seceded and the rebellion was the
  work of individuals.
• He had proposed
• (1) All southerners could be pardoned with an
  oath of allegiance.
• (2) When 10 of voters took the oath, the
  state could form a legal state government.
  Known as the 10 Percent Plan

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I. Different Plans

• C. Johnson's Plan
• Johnson continued Lincoln's plan.
• He would readmit states that would
  (1)declare secession illegal,
• (2) swear allegiance,
• (3) promise not to pay Confederate debts,
  (4) Ratify the 14th Amendment.
• D. Freedmans Bureau
• Formed by U.S. government to aid freed slaves
  with education, housing, employment, etc.
• Was largely a failure because of lack of funds,
  poor organization, and resentment of Southerners.

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I. Different Plans

• E. President vs. Congress
• Congress passed 2 bills in 1866
• 1. Continued the work of the Freedman's Bureau
  providing food, clothing, shelter, and education
  for freed slaves.
• 2. Civil Rights Bill that would forbid states
  from passing discriminatory laws.
• -Johnson vetoed both bills, saying that they
  gave too much power to the federal government,
  particularly since the southern states had no
  representation.

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I. Different Plans

• -Southern states adopted black codes-sets of laws
  that regulated the lives of blacks.
• -Allowed freedmen to marry, own property, sue,
  and go to school.
• -Forbid them from serving
• on juries, carrying
• weapons, and testifying
• against whites.

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I. Different Plans

• E. Radical Republicans Take Over
• Led by the Radical Senator Thaddeus
  Stevens, Congress refused to recognize new
• Southern governments and their delegates.
• 1. 14th Amendment-passed by Congress, gave
  blacks citizenship. Congress required each state
  to ratify it before re-entering the Union. South
  rejected it.
• 2. 1866 Election-Republicans gained a 2/3
  majority and could now take over.

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I. Different Plans

• 3. First Reconstruction Act-1867
• Provisions 1. South divided into military
  districts and put under martial law.(except
  TN)
• 2. Black males could vote
• 3. State legislatures must ratify the 14th
  Amendment.

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I. Different Plans

• F. Impeachment of Johnson
• 1. Tenure of Office Act in 1867-forbade
  President from removing government
  officials from office without the
  approval of Senate. To test the
  constitutionality of the law, Johnson fired Edwin
  Stanton, Secretary of War.
• 2. Congress charged Johnson with a "high
  misdemeanor" but the impeachment failed.
• 3. Results Weakened the prestige of the
  presidency and separated the office from
  Congress.

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I. Different Plans

• G. Election of 1868
• Ulysses S. Grant (Rep)
• elected over
• Horatio Seymour (Dem)
• -500,000 Southern blacks had voted and helped
  the Republicans win. The 15th Amendment was
  passed shortly afterward, giving all males the
  right to vote.

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II. Radical Reconstruction 1867-1877

• A. Dividing Plantations
• Radicals promised freedmen "40 acres and a
  mule," but never delivered. Sharecropping and
  tenant farming developed as plantation owners
  needed labor and blacks needed work. Gave former
  slaves some independence.
• B. Blacks in Government
• There were more black voters than whites in the
  South. However, not many blacks were elected to
  Congress (only 16), and there were no black
  governors.
• Hiram Revels (Mississippi)-first black U.S.
  Senator, elected to the seat once held by
  Jefferson Davis

Hiram Revels
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II. Radical Reconstruction 1867-1877

• C. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers
• Scalawags-White Southerners who joined the
  Republican Party. Seen as traitors.
• Carpetbaggers-Northerners
• who moved into the
• South during
• Reconstruction.

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II. Radical Reconstruction 1867-1877

• D. The Whiskey Ring-1875
• Taxes on liquor were raised during
  Reconstruction. Northern distillers dodged these
  taxes and bribed government officials to look the
  other way. Many of these distillers were friends
  and contributors to the Republican Party. When
  the scandal broke, many believed that the
  Republican Party was trying to finance itself
  through illegal liquor sales.

Thomas Nast cartoon on the Whiskey Ring
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II. Radical Reconstruction 1867-1877

• E. Problems with Reconstruction
• -Segregated school systems developed.
• -Rebuilding was expensive and Northern investors
  took advantage of Southern governments and
  businesses, causing inflation.

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II. Radical Reconstruction 1867-1877

• F. Opposition to Reconstruction
• 1. Ku Klux Klan-formed in 1866 as a Confederate
  veteran group, it quickly developed into an
  anti- black hate group that committed acts of
  violence against blacks. The Klan became so
  violent that its founder,
• Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former
• Confederate Cavalry general tried
• to disband it.
• 2. Force Acts-passed by Congress
• to slow down the acts of violence.

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Thomas Nast-Political Cartoons

• Thomas Nast was a famous cartoonist for Harpers
  Weekly. He drew many cartoons that dealt with
  Reconstruction and other issues in the late
  1800s.

Nast is considered the father of the political
cartoon. Many of his cartoons brought about
change in politics or uncovered scandals.
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Thomas Nast cartoon from June 30, 1866
contrasting Union and Confederate prisons
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Nast cartoon from August 5, 1865 addressing the
question of postwar rights
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Nast cartoon showing Andrew Johnsons treatment
of the Freedmans Bureau
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One of Nasts most famous works, there are many
famous faces in this scene. Johnson, Grant,
Sheridan, Horatio Seymour, George Armstrong
Custer, and many more.
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Nast cartoon showing the state of things in the
South after Reconstruction
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Nast cartoon depicting Grant being defended
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Nast cartoon showing Ulysses S. Grant as president
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III. Reconstruction Ends

• A. Problems in Radical Reconstruction
• 1. Many Northerners grew tired of problems in
  the South
• 2. Radicals began to lose influence in the
  Republican Party.
• 3. Grant's administration was corrupt because
  of his lack of experience.
• 4. Depression in 1873 cost him
• more support.

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III. Reconstruction Ends

• B. Election of 1876
• Rutherford B. Hayes (Rep)
• against Samuel J. Tilden (Dem)
• -Democrats expected to win as their
• party strengthened and the Republicans
  weakened.
• -Tilden initially won 184 electoral votes to
  Hayes 165. He also won the popular vote.
• -20 votes were disputed, 19 of those from 3
  Southern states.

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III. Reconstruction Ends

• -House Committee of 8 Republicans
• and 7 Democrats voted 8-7 for Hayes.
• -Concessions given to the South
• 1. federal funds for internal improvements
• 2. Southerners in cabinet positions
• 3. Withdrawal of federal troops
• -This deal, known as the Compromise of 1877,
  essentially ends Reconstruction in the South.

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IV. Effects of Reconstruction

• A. White Supremacy is maintained in the South
• 1. Poll taxes and literacy tests were used to
  keep many blacks from voting
• 2. Grandfather clause allowed poor, illiterate
  whites to vote anyway.
• 3. Jim Crow Laws-created a segregated society
  in the South.

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IV. Effects of Reconstruction

• B. Equality is never achieved
• Radicals thought the vote would allow blacks to
  protect themselves in the South.
• It was not enough.
• C. The Solid South is reborn
• The Southern States would
• vote together in national
• elections and seem to stand
• together as one unit even
• today.