American History

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American HistoryChapter 12

• Reconstruction

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Problems after the War

• HumanWhat do you do with all the new slaves?
  All the people that died?
• PoliticalWhat do you do with all the Southern
  states? What about Lincolns death?
• ConstitutionalDoes the President or Congress
  have the right to chose which plan will work to
  fix the South

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Reconstruction

• 1867-1877 Time period in which the United
  States tried to rebuild after the Civil War.
• Also is the name for the process that the North
  allowed the South to come back to the United
  States.
• Critical Period in United States History

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Lincolns Plan

• Didnt blame individuals in the Southblame the
  Southern leaders for leaving
• Wanted to restore the Union as QUICK as possible
• Amnesty--To pardon (forgive) people for crimes
  against the government
• Lincolns Plan never took place

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Lincolns Plan cont..

• Pardon (forgive) all confederates who swear
  allegiance to the Union
• This did not include high ranking people in the
  Confederacy (generals, politicians, POW)
• States could form their own government if 10 of
  voting population swore allegiance to the Union
• This made many people in the North mad because
  they felt it let the South off the hook

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Radical Republicans

• Radicals Republicanspeople from the North who
  wanted to make Reconstruction difficult for the
  South
• Thaddeus StevensRadical Republican leader in
  Congress, wanted to punish the South for what
  they had done

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Wade-Davis Bill

• Bill designed to counter Lincolns Plan
• Congress would be responsible for Reconstruction
• Majority (over 50) in a state would have to
  swear allegiance to the Union for the state to be
  readmitted
• Lincoln killed this bill with a pocket veto
• Pocket VetoWhen the president ignores a bill
  passed by Congress (within the last 10 days) the
  bill will fail

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Johnsons Plan

• Andrew Johnson became President after Lincoln was
  killed (Johnson was a Democrat)
• Johnsons Plan for Reconstruction
• Any state could be readmitted if they declared
  secession illegal
• Swear Allegiance to the Union
• Promise to pay back their debts
• Pass the 13th Amendment (no slavery)

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Johnsons Plan cont..

• Very easy terms for the Southwithin a month
  every state (but Texas) had passed all the
  requirements and was sending representatives to
  Congress
• ProblemJohnson pardoned (forgave) all the people
  responsible for causing the war
• Result58 Congressman, 6 Confederate Cabinet
  Members and 4 Confederate Generals were in the
  new US Congress.

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Congressional Elections

• In 1866 the Radical Republicans won most of the
  Congressional Seats.
• After the election, over 2/3 of Congress was made
  up of the Republican Party who was opposed to
  Johnson.
• Now Congress could pass a law and then override
  the Presidential Vetothis started Congressional
  Reconstruction

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Congressional Reconstruction

• Freedmans Bureau
• Assisted former slaves and free whites in the
  South (food, schools, hospitals)
• Civil Rights Act of 1866
• Gave blacks citizenship and forbade states from
  passing black codes (laws that limited freedom of
  black)
• 14th Amendment
• Gave Civil Rights to all people born or
  naturalized in the USA (Citizenship). Life,
  Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness
• 15th Amendment
• No one can be kept from voting b/c of race or
  color
• Helped ensure that Republicans would stay in
  power

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Congressional Reconstruction

• Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Abolish all governments created under
  Lincoln/Johnson Plans
• Divided the South into 5 military districts
• Blacks males go the right to vote
• Must ratify the 14th amendment to be readmitted
  into the Union
• Vetoed by JohnsonCongress was able to override
  his veto

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Response to 1st Reconstruction Acts

• Stunned the Southern Whites (how could they be
  equal to the blacks?)
• 20,000 federal troops went to the South to make
  sure things went as ordered.
• Now Congress turned their attention to getting
  rid of Johnson

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Tenure of Office Act

• Tenure of Office Act
• Law passed by Congress to try to bait Johnson
  into doing something illegal. (How to get him out
  of office)
• President could not remove any cabinet member
  without 2/3 Senate vote.
• Johnson was willing to test this new act and
  kicked out his Sec. Of War (Stanton)

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Impeachment

• ImpeachmentBring to trial!
• House of Reps voted to Impeach Johnson on the
  following charges
• Tenure of Office Actthe problem was that Stanton
  was appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson, so the law
  didnt apply.
• Radicals accused him of being a disgracethis was
  not a crime that could get the president removed
• Result
• The Senate voted 35 to 19 for Johnson to be
  kicked out of office (1 vote shy of the needed
  majority)

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Election of 1868

• Democrats ran a guy named Seymour
• Republicans ran Ulysses S Grant
• Grant won
• Almost all of the 500,000 blacks voted for Grant
• Radicals decided to pass the 15th amendment which
  said no one could be kept from voting based on
  race

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Section 2

• Reconstructing the South

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Problems for the South

• Physical Conditions
• Much of the South was destroyed
• Sherman alone had caused more than 100 million
  dollars worth of damage to Georgia
• Buildings, Bridges, Roads and Farms all need to
  be rebuilt.
• Economic Conditions
• No property value, Confederate bonds failed, poor
• South was forced to pay for most of the
  rebuilding
• Human
• Over 1/5 of all white men in the South died in
  the Civil War

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Scalawags/Carpetbaggers

• ScalawagsWhite Southerners who joined the
  Republican Party
• Wanted the South to industrialize quickly
• Did not want former slave owners back in power
• Most were considered traitors by the South
• CarpetbaggersNortherners who moved to the South
  after the war
• Some were teachers/priest (wanted to help)
• Some were old soldiers who wanted to live in
  warmth
• Most were businessmen who wanted to make money
  off the rebuilding process in the South (some
  dishonest)

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New Freedoms for African Americans (1865-1877)

• Travel---move new places, etc
• Re-unite with family/marry
• Education---more African American Teachers and
  Schools (80 illiterate b/f Civil War)
• ReligionMethodist/Baptist
• Politics---More involved in Politics
• Hiram Revels1st black Senator
• 16 Blacks were elected to Congress
• De-Segregation Laws

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Economic Problems

• Problem Lots of poor people needed work and
  many of the old slave owners needed people to
  work in their fields
• Sharecropping/Tenant Farming
• Old Landowners divided their land
• Gave each worker land, seed, tools.
• When the crops were harvested, 2/3 of the profit
  went back to the landowner

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Sharecropping

• Good
• Blacks could keep some of what they produce
• In theory they could save up enough money and buy
  their own land
• Bad
• By the time they harvested crops and paid for the
  suppliesthey were in debt
• Heavy production hurt the soildidnt produce
  enough goods
• ResultsPoor white and black farmers were still
  in debt..temporary solution to the problem

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Section 3
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People who opposed Reconstruction

• Whites blamed the blacks for many of their
  problems (economic and social)
• Ku Klux KlanBegan in Tennessee (1866)
• Nathaniel Forrest was their leader
• Initially tried to prevent blacks from voting
• Eventually turned violent
• Wanted to make sure that the Republicans lost
  political power

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White Supremacy

• Gradually Southern Whites took control of the
  government.
• Poor whites had a hard time accepting equality
  because of the competition for jobs
• This led to a variety of political restrictions

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Political Restrictions

• Blacks faced discrimination, especially in the
  voting process.
• Literary testBlacks who voted Republican would
  get a hard test, blacks who voted Democrat would
  get an easy one (what is your name?)
• Poll Taxespay before they vote
• Grandfather Clausea person could fail the
  literacy and poll taxes and still be allowed to
  vote if his grandfather had been able to vote
  (allowed poor whites the opportunity to vote)

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Separate But Equal?

• Jim Crow Lawslaws that established the idea of
  separate but equal
• Basically separate blacks and whites in a variety
  of places (Schools, hospitals, etc)
• Plessy vs Fergusona Supreme Court Decision that
  said separate but equal was legal just as long
  as the facilities were equal.

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Response to Problems

• Force ActsAct from Congress to lessen the
  activity/influence of the Klan
• Troops would supervise elections
• Amnesty ActGave the right to vote to 160,000
  former Confederates
• Eventually people in the North got sick of
  Reconstruction and started to allow old leaders
  to come back into power

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Weakening of Republicans

• North got sick of dealing with problems in the
  South
• Radicals were losing influence over the
  Republican Party
• North didnt really want full equality in the
  North
• Business in the North wanted a stable governments
  in the South

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Grants Administration

• Grant was honest, people around him were not.
• Scandals
• Whiskey RingIRS was not taxing whiskey, govt.
  employees were getting kickbacks from this
• William BelknapSec. Of War that took bribes from
  merchants in the west

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Depression of 1873

• Economy was booming after the Civil War
• Manufacturers had to borrow so much money to
  rebuild the South that the banks could not cover
  the loans that they were putting out.
• Major Banks went bankrupt
• Result 3 million workers lost their jobs

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Election of 1876

• Rutherford B Hayes (Rep) vs. Samuel Tilden (Dem)
• Tilden won the popular vote and was leading the
  electoral college vote 184-165.
• 20 votes were in dispute (Florida)Tilden should
  have gotten those votes and won the presidency.

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Election of 1876

• A special commission was made to investigate the
  votes in Florida (more Republicans than Democrats
  on commission)
• They decided that Hayes won Florida therefore he
  won the election by 1 vote
• Democrats were madthey made a deal with the
  Republicans.
• Fed. Troops had to leave the South
• Give the South money to build railroads
• Hayes must have a Southern Democrat in his cabniet

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Results of Reconstruction

• Good
• Political and Social Conditions Improved
• Blacks could now vote
• Didnt have to own property to be in government

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Results cont..

• Bad
• Segregation started to appear
• Had a hard time rebuilding everything (no
  available)
• State funded projects got terrible loans from
  government
• High taxes kept farmers in debt
• GraftPeople in the government who took bribes
  from construction projects