Chapter Ten: Reconstruction

1. Chapter Ten: Reconstruction

2. After the War Economy Politics North dominates “Secess’” states Should federal gov’t stimulate economy? 40 Acres and a Mule? (Sherman) • South in ruins • Inflation • Poverty everywhere

3. Three Periods of Reconstruction • Presidential Reconstruction (1866-1867) • Radical Reconstruction (1867-1873) • Redemption (1873-1877) • Issues that come up: -How do secessionist states come back to US? -What do we do with the Confederates? -What is the Constitutional and legal status of freed slaves?

4. SO Many Plans Lincoln: 10% Plan Congress: Wade-Davis Plan Lincoln plan was too weak Afraid the slave and plantation owners would quickly regain all their previous power. Plan: 50% of the people of a secessionist state would take an oath to the US before statehood. • Lincoln wanted quick and painless • The plan - state would be reaccepted to the Union after 10% of the people who voted in the 1860 election took an oath to the US • The only exclusion were CSA officers and leaders.

5. Presidential Reconstruction • Freedmen’s Bureau: Established in 1866 to help fight for the rights of freedmen in hostile areas in the South -Impossible? Only 1000 agents in the South • Goals: -Establish schools -Financial aid -Settle racial disputes -Secure equal treatment in the court system *Made decent gains in healthcare and education, but it gets overshadowed with Reconstruction and lasting racial animosity

6. Black Codes -Set of laws put in place by Southern states to limit the political power of freedmen -Overthrown in 1866 by the Civil Rights Act, greatly influenced by the Freedmen’s Bureau • 13th Amendment -Ratified 6 December 1865 -Abolished slavery forever • Andrew Johnson’s vetoes -Very lenient on pardoning CSA leaders if they apologized -Vetoed the CRA of 1866 and the 14th Amendment (both moderate proposals) -Johnson claims that they were a violation of states’ rights; the federal gov’t is trying to bully the South -Democrats loved him for this

7. Radical Reconstruction • Reconstruction Act of 1867 -The act effectively seized control of Reconstruction from Johnson (He’s mad) -More Radical Republicans were coming into Congress; outnumbering moderates and Democrats • The act divides the South into 5 military districts: -1st District: VA -2nd District: NC and SC -3rd District: GA, AL, and FL -4th District: AK and MS -5th District: TX and LA • Annexation of Alaska -Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated a treaty between Russia and the U.S. to purchase Alaska (“Seward’s Icebox”) for $15 million

8. Johnson gets Impeached -Charge him with violating the Tenure of Office Act - Almost thrown out but lawyers tell Congress he will be good • Christmas Day Amnesty Act: Johnson grants unconditional amnesty to all Confederates on 25 December 1868, less than a month before he turned over the office to Ulysses S. Grant • 14th Amendment: Guarantees citizenship for all freedmen • 15th Amendment: Guarantees suffrage (right to vote) regardless of race, color, or previous servitude (slavery)Feminists enraged because they were not included

9. By 1870, all former states rejoin Union (Congress plan) • Many northerners move South during reconstruction, some getting political positions (Carpetbaggers) South thinks they are intruders • Scalawags: white southerners who worked with Republicans • Schools: by 1870, more than 200,000 former slaves were now students, 40% of population attend by 1876 Republican Rule

10. The KKK Emerges • Forms over reaction to 2 things: A rising number of unhappy veterans in the South and altered social situations where whites had to “reclaim” white supremacy • Para-military force that served the interests of Democrats, planters, and all those who wished for white supremacy to return to an “Old South” • Grant uses federal power to silence the Klan throughout the rest of Reconstruction (Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871) • They never really go away; just go underground until the 1920s

12. Collapse of Reconstruction • U.S. Grant elected in 1868 • Grant had issues with a Congress that was split during Reconstruction • Southern economy bad, but it gets much worse -Cotton prices fall in half • Small landowners, merchants, etc. go bankrupt -Sharecropping becomes common -Sharing the risk of owning land; black and white farmers participate • Crop-Lien System – farmers have to commit a portion of their year’s crops as collateral for purchasing needed goods • President Grant takes the blame; Republicans lose many seats in Congress

13. Election of 1876: Democratic candidate: Samuel Tilden, Republican candidate: Rutherford B. Hayes • Problem! Some states send in two sets of election results • Congress doesn’t know what to do-who wins?! • Compromise “Bargain” of 1877: Congress established a special commission to settle the election -Agreement: Rep in WH in exchange for ending Reconstruction • Hayes had to end Reconstruction immediately, guarantee federal aid to the South and remove federal troops • Dems would not cause trouble if the Reps followed through with the terms • Hayes takes office and ends Reconstruction within the first month of his presidency

15. Legacy • Essentially a 12 year struggle that failed in almost all aspects • Failed to make a solid plan to reinvigorate the Southern economy after the war • Failed to clearly define what citizenship meant for freedmen • Laid the foundation for future freedom struggles • Failed economically, socially, and politically in all regards • One of the darker moments in United States history