Bell Assignment

1. Bell Assignment • How does a civil war differ from an armed conflict involving a foreign army? • What added complications does a civil war bring to the post war period? What happens when “the enemy” is “us” and is never going to “leave and go back home”?

2. Impact the Civil War • 1861-1865 • 620,000 men died – approximately 2% of the population • 405,399 men died – World War II • One in four soldiers never returned home

3. Impact of the Civil WarNorth and South • Read through the document and take notes using the chart below that summarize the impact of the Civil War on each region.

4. Discuss • To what extent did the Civil War transform the societies and economies of the North and South? • Prepare three talking points. • Be prepared to share your thoughts.

5. Reconstruction Notes

6. What was Reconstruction? • 1865 – 1877 • The period when the U.S. rebuilt after the Civil War. • The process of readmitting the Confederate states to the Union. Reconstruction Issues: • Amending the Constitution to abolish slavery. • Bringing the former Southern states back into the Union.

7. Plans, plans and more plans!

8. Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan • Very lenient • The government would pardon all Confederates – except high ranking officials and those accused of war crimes – who would swear allegiance to the Union. • After ten-percent of those on the voting lists took this oath of allegiance, the state could form a new government and be readmitted to the Union. • How does this plan reflect the ideas he expressed in his Second Inaugural Address?

9. Radical Response to Lincoln’s Plan • They were angered by Lincoln’s plan. • They wanted to destroy the political power of the former slaveholders • They wanted African-Americans to be given the right to vote. • Proposed the Wade-Davis Bill

10. Wade-Davis Bill • Proposed that Congress, not the President be responsible for Reconstruction. • Declared that in order for a state to be readmitted – a MAJORITY of the voters had to swear allegiance. • Lincoln vetoed this bill (pocket veto)

11. John Wilkes Booth Kills Lincoln

12. Lincoln's Funeral Procession

13. President Johnson • After Lincoln’s assassination he announced his own plan – Presidential Reconstruction • Very similar to Lincoln’s plan • Major difference: Johnson wished to prevent most high-ranking Confederates and wealthy Southern landowners from taking the oath needed for voting rights

14. Radical Response • They were upset that Johnson, like Lincoln, failed to address the needs of former slaves in three areas; • Voting Rights • Land • Protection Under the Law

15. South’s Response • They were relieved by Johnson’s plan because it supported states’ rights. • Johnson was not in favor of African American suffrage (voting rights) • The Southern states quickly agreed to Johnson’s terms

16. Congressional Reconstruction • Congress refused to admit the Southern states under Johnson’s conditions • Civil Rights Act of 1866 – gave African Americans citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws (black codes)

17. Congressional Reconstruction • Freedman’s Bureau –assisted former slaves and poor whites in the South; gave food, medical care, education • Fourteenth Amendment – made “all persons born or naturalized in the U.S.” citizens – wanted all states to ratify it.

18. Fourteenth Amendment • Gave citizenship to African Americans • Did not specifically give African Americans the vote – it did specify that a state would lose a % of its congressional seats equal to the % of citizens kept from the polls

19. President Johnson’s Response • Believed it was wrong to force states to accept an amendment to the Constitution that their leaders had no part in drafting • He advised the Southern states to reject the amendment • All of the states rejected it EXCEPT for Tennessee

20. Reconstruction Act of 1867 – Congress Takes Control Again • Did not recognize state governments formed under the Lincoln and Johnson Plans – except Tennessee which had ratified the Fourteenth Amendment • Divided the other Confederate states into five military districts, each headed by a Union general.

21. Reconstruction Act of 1867 • In order for a state to re-enter the Union, its constitution had to ensure African-American men the vote and ratify the 14th amendment • Johnson vetoed the act but Congress promptly overrode his veto

22. Johnson is Impeached • What does it mean to impeach? • Formally charge a president with misconduct of office • Congress felt President Johnson was not enforcing the Reconstruction Act and they wanted to find something to charge him with • Congress wanted to fire Johnson for violating the Tenure of Office Act – he removed a member of his cabinet from office without the consent of Congress • Johnson felt this law was unconstitutional and challenged it • The senate needed a 2/3 majority to convict Johnson – the vote was one shy and Johnson was found “not guilty”

23. Johnson’s Impeachment Trial

24. Ulysses S. Grant • Democratic candidate – knew Johnson could not win so they chose Grant • Elected in 1868

26. Fifteenth Amendment • States that no one can be kept from voting because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” • Some Southern states refused to follow the law and used intimidation to keep African Americans from voting • As a result Congress passed the Enforcement Act of 1870 – giving the federal government more power to punish states who violated these laws

27. Conditions in the South • Vast destruction of Confederate property; charred buildings, twisted railroad tracks, demolished bridges, neglected roads, and abandoned roads

28. Conditions in the South • Southerners from every class were poorer that they were before the start of the war • Wealth per capita for whites dropped from $18,000 to $3,000 • 1/5 of the South’s adult white men had died in the war • Many of those who did return were maimed for life

29. Politics in the South

30. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers • Scalawags – negative term for white southerners who joined the Republican Party. • Some hoped to gain political offices with the African American vote and use their office to enrich themselves

31. Scalawags and Carpetbaggers • Carpetbaggers – negative term for Northerners who moved to the South after the war • Some were dishonest but many had noble motives; teachers, ministers, etc…

32. Former Slaves Face Challenges • Slaves had been forbidden to travel without permission, to marry legally, to attend school, and to live and work as they chose. • In the beginning many former slaves were cautious about testing their freedom

33. Former Slaves Face Challenges Reunification of the family – many African Americans searched for their lost loved ones • One man walked 600 miles looking for his wife and children • In many cases the lost family members were never found

34. Education of Former Slaves • Nearly 80% of freed African Americans were illiterate • Freedman’s Bureau and other organizations established educational institutions. • Many faced violence from white southerners

35. Changes in the Southern Economy

36. 40 Acres and a Mule • Promised to freed slaves who followed General Sherman’s army • 40,000 freed persons settled 400,000 acres • August of 1865 – President Johnson ordered the former owners be able to reclaim their land and the African Americans were evicted from the land.

37. Restoration of Plantations: • Plantation owners wanted to stop African Americans and poor whites from owning land because they wanted to restore the plantation system. • Developed the system of sharecropping and tenant farming

38. A Cycle of Poverty is Created • Sharecropping – each farmer given a few acres with seed and tools – at the end of the harvest half the crop was given to the landowner. Inflated prices were charged by the landowner – kept the farmer in debt • Tenant Farming – land was rented for cash from the plantation owner – all of the crop was kept by the planter

40. Cotton No Longer King: • Price of cotton plummeted b/c demand for Southern cotton dropped • In response, Southerners produced more cotton – this caused a surplus that lowered the prices even more. • Began to grow other crops like tobacco. • Many farmers went bankrupt and many southern banks failed.

41. The Collapse of Reconstruction

42. Opposition Turns Violent • Violent terrorist organization • Goal – restore white supremacy to the South • Prevent African Americans from exercising their political rights through violence and intimidation

43. Their terrorist campaign frightened African American voters away from the polls in 1876 – white Democratic candidates swept the election

44. Enforcement Acts of 1870 & 1871 • Passed in response to violence in the South • Federal supervision of elections • Gave the President the power to use federal troops in areas where the Klan was active • Overall they were enforced in a very weak manner – not effective in curbing the violence

45. Scandals Further Weaken Reconstruction • Scandals in Grant’s administration diverted public attention away from the conditions in the South.

46. To make matters worse, the economy also takes a serious downturn.

47. Panic of 1873 A series of bank failures in the U.S. • Stock market temporarily collapsed • 18,000 companies went bankrupt • Set off a five-year-long depression

48. Judicial Support for Reconstruction Fades

49. Supreme Court Decisions • The Supreme Court began chip away at the African American rights • Slaughterhouse Cases – Most civil rights were ruled to be state, rather than federal rights and therefore unprotected by the 14th amendment • U.S. v. Cruikshank – The 14th Amendment was ruled NOT to grant the federal government power to punish whites who oppressed blacks. • U.S. v. Reese – 15th Amendment was determined not to grant voting rights to anyone, but rather to restrict types of voter discrimination.

50. Northern Support Fades • Northern voters grew indifferent to the events in the South • Weary of the “negro question” • Their attention was diverted to the economic crisis and political scandals.