What I Should Know About Reconstruction.

1
What I Should Know About Reconstruction.

• What Is Reconstruction?
• When Was the Reconstruction Period?
• Why Was Reconstruction Necessary?
• What Was the Political Fight Over Reconstructing
  the South?
• What Were the Different Plans for Reconstruction?
  Who Supported Each Plan?
• Which Plan of Reconstruction Was Used?
• Was Reconstruction Successful?

2
Reconstruction Era Terms, People and Legislation
to Know.

• Suffrage
• Franchised
• Disfranchised
• Impeachment
• 13th amendment
• 14th amendment
• 15th amendment
• Veto
• Pocket vetoed
• The solid south

• Andrew Johnson
• Black codes
• Wade Davis bill
• Radical republicans
• Tenure in office act
• Carpetbaggers
• Scalawags
• KKK
• Compromise of 1870
• The freedmens bureau

3
The Balance Sheet of the Civil War (1861-65)

• Over 600,000 dead.
• Material losses exceed 10 billion.
• Property.
• Southern railroad almost destroyed.
• Crop acreage substantially reduced.
• Poverty, despair.

4
The South Following the Civil War

• The stricken land
• Farmhouses, barns, mills and railroads from
  Virginia to Texas had been burned and destroyed
  during the war.
• Towns had been looted and inhabitants driven out.
• Plantation owners lost their slave labor force,
  much of their property didnt have the capital
  for agricultural equipment to replace slave labor.

5
The Southern Economy Sucks (1865-1873)

• Agricultural dependence
• Labor force lost
• Young whites in war
• Freed slaves
• Poor education
• Young white males to fight for cause
• Blacks banned
• School buildings ruined by war
• Infrastructure destroyed
• Railroad
• Shops businesses
• Cities

6
Social Confusion in the South Following the War

• The war destroyed the entire of pre-war southern
  society.
• The southern aristocratic planter suddenly has
  little wealth and power and is reluctantly
  yielding influence to the bankers, merchants and
  small farmers.
• The freed Negro makes the transition from slave
  to wage earner.

7
The Political Uncertainty in the South Following
the War

• The collapse of the confederacy stopped all
  government processes in the south.
• Local governments had to be organized from the
  ground up.
• State governments had to establish normal
  relations with the federal government.

8
The Southern Way of Life for the Past 200 Years
Has Ended.

• The land and infrastructure is in ruin.
• Agricultural production is at a low.
• The social structure is changing.
• The government is in disarray.

Gone With The Wind 1753,2146, 12200
9
1860 1870 1880Per Capita Agricultural
Income atCurrent Prices (Dollars) 62.55
54.72 52.31Per Capita Agricultural Income
atConstant Prices (Dollars) 61.59 34.34
41.46Cotton Prices (Cents Per Pound) 11.5
18.0 11.7Cotton Quantity (400 Pound Bales)
2,469,307 1,228,871 2,155,034
PER CAPITA AGRICULTURAL INCOME FOR FOUR SOUTHERN
STATES, 1860-1880
10
How to Fix the Southern Problems Following the
War.

• Reconstruction of the south.
• First constitutional issues to settle.
• Did secession actually occur?
• Radicals conquered province.
• Presidential south never left union therefore
  only need to be brought back to proper place.
• Who has authority over reconstruction president
  or congress?
• The dispute over the increasing power of the
  executive branch.
• The president only executes laws not create
  legislation.
• The reconstruction issue becomes politically
  divided into two camps.
• Lincolns plan for reconstruction.
• Congressional reconstruction ( the radical
  republicans).

11
The Lincoln Plan ( Toleration).

• Set up provisional governments in areas where
  union armies are victorious.
• Amnesty to all rebels (pardoning all who swear
  allegiance to union) except high officials.
• Formation of state governments as soon as 10of
  voters in 1860 election took oath of loyalty to
  the union.
• Confederate leaders not harshly punished.

12
Wade Davis Bill ( Congressional Reconstruction)

• Claimed congressional right to control
  reconstruction.
• Imposed stiff terms.
• Majority must swear loyalty.
• Confederate soldiers and officers denied
  political rights.
• State constitution must prohibit slavery.
• Confederate debts not collectable.
• Wade Davis bill pocket vetoed by president
  Lincoln.

13
April 14th 1865 Lincoln Assassinated

• John Wilkes booth ( 1838-65).
• Shakespearian actor.
• Strong sympathizer with southern cause.
• Assassinated Lincoln at fords theatre in
  Washington.
• Shot and killed two weeks later.
• Lincoln plans for reconstruction.

14
Johnson Becomes President

• Democrat from south (Tennessee).
• Supporter of the small farmer artisans.
• Headed the loyalist government in Tennessee
  during civil war.
• Selected as Lincolns vice president to balance
  the ticket.
• Lacked the skill and ability to deal politically
  with congress.

15
Johnsons Reconstruction Efforts

• Johnson moves forward on Lincoln plan but he had
  little political skill in handling an angry
  congress.
• Nevertheless Johnson (1) sets up provisional
  governments in north Carolina, Mississippi,
  Texas, Georgia, Alabama, south Carolina, and
  Florida. (2) authorizes loyal white citizens to
  ratify new constitutions and elect state
  legislatures to
• Repeal state ordinances of secession.
• Ratify the 13th amendment.
• Which outlaws slavery involuntary servitude.
• Repudiate state confederate debt.

16
Is This the Old South Again?

• A large number of confederate officials elected
  to congress.
• The constitutional conventions ignored the 10
  percent plan.
• Strong push to leave question of black suffrage
  to states.
• Passage of black codes by new southern state
  governments permitted.

17
What Are Black Codes?

• Black codes- law that restricted freedmens
  rights and establish virtual slavery through
• Denial of voting rights.
• No blacks can sit on jury or testify against
  whites.
• Blacks are denied the right to bear arms.
• Dual standards of justice established.
• Curfews.
• Vagrancy laws involuntary servitude.
• Labor contracts- year long contract quit prior to
  term no pay.
• Land restrictions- rent only homes in rural area
  live on plantation.
• Limits on women's rights- forced to work.

18
We Have A Problem the Congressional Reaction

• In 1865 congress refused to seat the senators and
  representatives who had been elected by
  provisional government.
• Article 1 of the constitution allows each house
  to judge the election and qualifications of its
  own members.
• Named a joint congressional committee on
  reconstruction
• Looked at conditions in the south
• Passed legislation to help feed slaves

19
Johnson Vs. Radical Republicans ( Round 1)

• Vetoed freedmens bureau extension.
• Vetoed bill to extend suffrage to DC blacks.
• Vetoed civil rights act.
• Which.
• Declared blacks citizens.
• Prohibited states from interfering with legal
  property rights.

20
Johnson Vs. Radical Republicans (Round 2)

• Radical opposition to Johnson plan grows.
• Able to override vetoes.
• Passed new civil rights legislation outlawing
  discriminatory legislation.
• Passed the 14th amendment.

21
The 14th Amendment

• Denied right of states tom legislate
  discrimination.
• Contained due process clause.
• Promised equal protection under the law.
• Threatened penalties for states who denied
  suffrage.

22
Johnson Vs. Radical Republicans (Round 3)

• After gaining several seats in the house and
  senate in the election of 1866, the radical
  republicans push though a congressional plan for
  southern reconstruction.
• Divide south into five military districts, giving
  a military commander broad power to rule each
  district.
• To be readmitted to the union
• Each state must produce state constitution
  through convention process. The new constitution
  must
• Provide universal male suffrage.Teed to the union
  states must
• Popular ratification.
• Approval of congress.
• Disfranchisement of many rebels.
• States must ratify 14th amendment.

23
Johnson Vs. Radical Republicans (Round 3) The
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson

• Congress passes the tenure in office act.
• Reduce president control of military.
• President has to has congressional approval to
  fire or appoint members of his cabinet.
• Johnson wants to fire secretary of war Stanton (
  radical republican).
• Congress impeaches Johnson and is brought to
  trial.
• Johnson acquitted by 1 vote.
• Lasting impact of the Johnson trial greater
  power for executive precedent of only impeach
  for crimes not disagreement with congress.

24
Failure of Reconstruction

• The election of 1868- a narrow victory by
  radicals shows without the black vote they have
  little public support for support their policies.
• New southern governments which were organized
  under congressional mandate were a coalition of
• Carpetbaggers- northerners in the south who
  didnt always have the most pure motives.
• Scalawags- former southern democrats and Whigs
  joining with the radicals republicans for
  political or economic gain of government
  contracts.
• Blacks politically inexperienced but outnumber
  whites in number of registered voters.
• The new coalition government was a direct threat
  to the southern way of life as it had existed.

25
The Return of White Supremacy.

• The coalition government starts to fall apart.
• Violent opposition to the new southern
  governments and political structure. The KKK and
  other secret groups emerge to disfranchise the
  freed blacks.

26
The Compromise of 1877

• Republican nominate Rutherford B Hayes.
• Democrats nominate Samuel J Tilden.
• The election results
• Tilden wins the popular vote.
• The electoral votes are in dispute.
• To settle the dispute congress (republican
  dominated) offers up a compromise.
• The terms
• Southern democrats support Hayes.
• Federal troops remaining in south are removed.
• South governs own affairs.

27
Reconstruction Ends Why Did We Fight This War
Anyway?

• Ideals and promises to blacks quickly forgotten.
• Reconstruction legislation forgotten or repealed.
• Disfranchisement of blacks accomplished by 1900.
• Social conditions for blacks remain.
• American commitment to equal opportunity deferred
  for another century.
• Reconstruction ends

28
What I Should Know About Reconstruction.

• What Is Reconstruction?
• When Was the Reconstruction Period?
• Why Was Reconstruction Necessary?
• What Was the Political Fight Over Reconstructing
  the South?
• What Were the Different Plans for Reconstruction?
  Who Supported Each Plan?
• Which Plan of Reconstruction Was Used?
• Was Reconstruction Successful?

29
Reconstruction Era Terms, People and Legislation
to Know.

• Suffrage
• Franchised
• Disfranchised
• Impeachment
• 13th amendment
• 14th amendment
• 15th amendment
• Veto
• Pocket vetoed
• The solid south

• Andrew Johnson
• Black codes
• Wade Davis bill
• Radical republicans
• Tenure in office act
• Carpetbaggers
• Scalawags
• KKK
• Compromise of 1870
• The freedmens bureau

30
Major Reconstruction Legislation
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Union Graves _at_ Cedare oral vote