Reconstruction (1865-1877)

1. Reconstruction (1865-1877)

2. When the war ended, the South was in ruins. • homes were burned • businesses closed • properties abandoned • freed African Americans lacked full citizenship and the means to make a living Richmond, Virginia

3. The Dilemma of Reconstruction How will the Southern states rejoin the Union? • Tried for treason? • Pardoned, so healing can begin. • Method of Southern Representatives reclaim seats in U.S. Congress- no provision in the Constitution of secession. • Should the President or Congress lead the way?

4. The Dilemma of Reconstruction How will the Southern economy be rebuilt? • Should the land benefit the slaves- “forty acres and a mule” • Given back to Southern owners? • Bought from white southerners and sold to former slaves?

5. The Dilemma of Reconstruction What rights will African-Americans have? • 13th Amendment freed slaves but did not give them equal rights • Need to gain the right to vote/access to education • Many leaders of the Republican Party supported these ideas but white southerners opposed it

6. Lincoln Sets a Moderate Course • Reunify the nation • In 1863 issued “Ten Percent Plan”—as soon as ten percent of a state’s voters took a loyalty oath to the Union, the state could set up a new government • If state’s constitution abolished slavery and provided education for African Americans, it could regain representation in Congress • Was willing to grant pardons to former Confederates, and consider compensating them for lost property • Did not require a guarantee of social or political equality for African-Americans

7. Congress and the Radical Republicans • Opposed Lincoln’s plan- Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner • Insisted that the Confederates had committed crimes by enslaving African Americans and leading the nation into war • Advocated full citizenship, including the right to vote for African Americans • Favored punishment and harsh terms for the South • Supported plan to confiscate Confederates’ land and give farms to freed men • Helped to pass the Wade-Davis Bill which required that a majority of the state’s prewar voters swear loyalty to the Union before restoration could begin, also demanded guarantees of African American equality

8. Lincoln and the Radical Republicans in Congress were at odds in their proposals to rebuild the South.

9. Lincoln and the Radical Republicans agreed to establish the Freedmen’s Bureau. The newly-formed organizationhelped feed, clothe, and educate blacks and whites in the South.

10. Johnson Takes Over! After Lincoln’s death, President Andrew Johnson wanted to restore the status of the southern states. • Like Lincoln, easy readmission • Offered pardons and the restoration of land to Confederates who swore allegiance to the Union and the Constitution • Each Southern state must ratify the Thirteenth Amendment and draft a constitution that abolished slavery • Resented wealthy planters and required Confederate leaders to write a letter to him personally to apply for a pardon • “government for white men” and did not want African Amercians to have the right to vote • Supported states’ rights, which would allow them to limit the freedoms of their former slaves

11. By December 1865, most southern states had met Johnson’s requirements for readmission to the Union. • All southern states instituted “black codes”- restriction on jobs, land, rise of KKK • Many states specifically limited the vote to white men. • Some states sent Confederate officials to Congress. During the required state conventions, however, southern states tried to rebuild their prewar world.

12. The South’s disregard of Reconstruction efforts angered moderates and Radical Republicans. In response, Congress passed new legislation over President Johnson’s veto. The legislation included • the Civil Rights Act of 1866- federal guarantee of civil rights • the Fourteenth Amendment-equality of all citizens • the division of the South into five military districts.

13. Military Reconstruction Act (1867)

14. Radical Republicans Impeach Johnson • Power struggle between Congress and Johnson reach a climax in 1867 • Congress passes the Tenure of Office Act- President needs approval before removing certain people from office President Johnson Sec. of War Stanton

15. Johnson’s opponents failed by one Senate vote to remove him from office. Eventually, the House voted to impeach Johnson.

16. Election of 1868 • Gen. Ulysses S. Grant won election in 1868 • Even though Grant won easily the Democratic candidate Horatio Seymour won a majority of the vote in the South.

18. The Fifteenth Amendment, 1870 To protect the voting rights of African-Americans the new President, Ulysses S. Grant, Congress passed the Fifteenth Amendment. No citizen can be denied the right to vote because of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”