Reconstruction and the New South Ch.15

1. Reconstruction and the New SouthCh.15

2. Bell Ringer 1/3 • Predict major issues and questions that will have to be addressed during Reconstruction.

3. Impact of the War on the South • Devastated economy, lands, fortunes, male population, huge new population of freed blacks etc… • “Lost Cause”- Romanticize about the Southern effort and philosophy.

4. What does Freedom mean for Blacks? “Though slavery was abolished, the wrongs of my people were not ended. Though they were not slaves, they were not yet quite free. No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling, and action of others, and who has no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending, and maintaining his liberty.” -Fredrick Douglass 1882

5. Black determination • Create black churches, schools, communities. • Black pastors and teachers become the leader of their communities.

6. Reconstruction Plans of Lincoln Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction (1863) (Lincoln’s 10% Plan) • Full presidential pardons to most southerners who… (Took an oath of allegiance to the Union and U.S Constitution) (Accepted emancipation of slaves) • A state gov. could be reestablished and accepted as legitimate by the U.S president as soon as 10% of the voters in that state took a loyalty oath.

7. Republicans Rejection of Lincoln’s Plan Wade-Davis Bill (1864) • 50% of voters in a state had to take a loyalty oath to the Union. • Lincoln pocket-vetoed the bill.

8. Bell Ringer 1/4 • What was Lincoln’s plan for reconstruction called and provide one example of his requirements for the re-admission of ex Confederate states to the Union? • What bill did Congress respond with in reaction to Lincoln’s plan?

9. Freedman’s Bureau Congress passed • Welfare agency to provide food, shelter, medical aid for blacks and homeless whites. • Gave blacks confiscated farms from the South. • Helped establish education and colleges for blacks.

10. Death of Lincoln • Killed at Ford’s Theater in Washington • Murdered by John Wilkes Booth • Secretary of State Seward was shot the same night. *Changes the opinion of how to handle reconstruction of the South.* How So???

11. “Democrat or Republican”Andrew Johnson • Poor leader, insecure and a White Supremacist • Reconstruction Policy- Similar to Lincoln’s 10% plan 1)Disenfranchisement of all former leaders/officeholders of the Confederacy & 2) Confederates of $20,000 or more taxable land. Allows all of the 11 Confederate States back to the Union. *Catch: Johnson pardoned many southerners from this disenfranchisement.

12. Southern Decisions • None of the ex-Confederate states acknowledged the right to vote for blacks • Elected former Confederate leaders to office. • Established Black Codes: 1)Prohibit blacks from renting or owning land 2) Placed freedman in semi-bondage 3)Prohibited blacks from testifying in court.

13. Radical Republican Reaction“Who Won the War?” • 1866- Election year for Congress seats and Radical Republicans dominate!!! • Appalled by Johnson’s “presidential reconstruction”

14. Radical Republicans Decisions Congress makes bold decisions Create the Joint Committee on Reconstruction • Refuse to seat the representatives of the restored states. • Form a bill increasing Freedman’s Bureau • Form a civil rights bill that nullified Black Codes and guaranteed citizenship and equal rights to blacks. ****Johnson Vetoed these bills**** Congress overrode Johnson on each.

15. 14th Amendment *P Provides the first constitutional definition of American citizenship* • Everyone born in the US, and everyone naturalized, was automatically a citizen and entitled to all the “privileges and immunities” guaranteed by the Constitution, including equal protection of the laws by both the state and national governments. • Penalties for those who do not follow • Kept former Confederate leaders from holding office unless 2/3 of Congress pardoned them. *If the former Confederate states ratified the 14th Amendment then they could readmit to the Union.

16. Quiz 1)Who murdered Abraham Lincoln? 2)What was the purpose of the Freemen’s Bureau? 3)Explain what the purpose of black codes were and provide an example. 4)What does Congress create in response to Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan and his willingness to let the South do what they want? 5)What was one outcome of the 14th Amendment?

17. Congressional Plan for Reconstruction Radicals pass 3 Reconstruction Bills • Congress rejects Lincoln’s/Johnson’s readmission of other 10 Confederate States • Makes these states into 5 military districts • Ex-Confederate states had to ratify the 14th amendment and guarantee in their constitution the right to vote for all adult males regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” (15th Amendment 1869)

18. Congress oversteps its power • Congress was worried they would lose everything they had achieved. They pass 2 Laws • Tenure of Office Act -Kept the president from removing civil officials without the consent of Senate. • Command of Army Act- Kept the president from issuing military orders except through the commanding general of the army who could not be removed unless approved by the Senate.

19. Congress and the Supreme Court • Supreme Court was going to rule in a way that would limit the Radical Republicans. Republicans threaten through bills to overrule the Supreme Court • Deny the Court’s jurisdiction in Reconstruction cases. • Reduce the courts members. • Abolish the Court. *Supreme Court never addresses another Reconstruction issue*

20. Impeachment of Johnson • Johnson purposefully removes a senator on his own terms • Congress impeaches him on 11 counts of high crimes and misdemeanors. • Johnson barely escapes the required votes to be impeached.

21. Election of 1868 Democrats: Horatio Seymour Republicans: Ulysses S. Grant Grant barely wins

22. Civil Rights Act of 1875 • Law guaranteed equal accommodations in public places and prohibited excluding African Americans from jury. • Not Enforced, but why???

23. Reconstruction in the South • Republicans took over in the South. • Freedmen also occasionally joined Congress. • Scalawags- Southern Republicans • Carpetbaggers- Northerners who came to the south as entrepreneurs.

24. African American Legislators • Blanche K. Bruce and Hiram Revels (2 black senators) • Revels took the seat in Mississippi formerly held by Jefferson Davis. • How does the South feel about this?

25. Evaluating the Republican Record Accomplishments Failures Some corruption Potentially unconstitutional laws • Universal Male Suffrage • Property rights for women • Debt relief • Modernized penal codes • Promoted building of infrastructure • State supported public schools

26. African Americans new freedom • Segregated Schools • Land redistribution fails • Sharecropping- Work for white tenants and get a share of the crop they worked. • Crop-Lien System- Loan money from country stores. Become tied to high interest and debt. (Decimates the Southern Economy)

27. “Grantism” • Scandals take place under Grant • Credit Mobilier- Built Pacific Railroad and stole money from the gov. • Whiskey Ring- Distillers filed taxes incorrectly. • Indian-post trader- Secretary of War accepted bribes.

28. Greenback Question • Panic of 1873- Worse than all other panics in US history • Debtors wanted the gov. to create more $ • Grant makes the Specie Resumption Act- Cuts greenbacks and replace with gold backed money. • Those in favor of greenbacks create the National Greenback Party.

29. Foreign Affairs Under Grant • William H. Seward and Hamilton Fish lead foreign affairs • Seward bought Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million. (“Seward’s Folly”) • Annexed Midway Islands • Hamilton Fish- “Alabama Claims” – Treaty of Washington- Britain apologized for providing ships to the Confederacy.

30. Abandonment of Reconstruction • North busy with political and economical issues. • Democrats had eventually “redeemed” 7 of 11 gov. in the South. • To gain control of blacks voting abilities, whites started using intimidation.

31. Ku Klux Klan (1866) • Founded by: Nathan Bedford Forrest • “midnight rides”, intimidation, violence all directed towards blacks. • Republican Congress passes 2 Enforcement Acts- Kept states from discriminating against voters based on race and gave the federal gov. power over state courts. (President use military to protect civil rights) Causes a decline in the Klan

32. “Social Darwinism” Society starts to uphold this philosophy • Harsh theory that individuals failed because they were “unfit” • Criticized governmental involvement to help those in need. • 1874- Democrats won control of the House of Reps

33. Compromise of 1877 • Election of 1876- Republican: Rutherford B. Hayes v. Democrat: Sam Tilden • Democrats had clearly won, but 3 southern states(SC, FL, Louisiana, and Oregon, votes were contested. • Special Electoral Commission- vote 8-7 in favor of Republicans and give all votes to Hayes. (Democrats threatened to filibuster) • Compromise: Hayes becomes president, withdrawals all federal support for Republicans in the South, and support the building of a southern transcontinental railroad.

34. Hayes as President • “His Fraudulency” • Hayes is unproductive and unsuccessful as president. • Eventually Federal troops are pulled from the South. What does this signal???

35. New South • 1877- Every Southern government had been “redeemed” and ruled by “Bourbons” • Lowered taxes, reduced spending, diminished state services, eliminated school systems, etc…

36. Industrialization and the “New South” • Developed significantly • Textile companies came for lower taxes. • Railroads developed by almost double in 10 years.

37. African Americans and the “New South” • Black Middle Class- Education a huge priority and led by Booker T. Washington. (President of Tuskegee Institute) (Focus on self-improvement and not political rights) • Speech “Atlanta Compromise”- Speech on hard work and being self advocates.

38. Jim Crow • 14th and 15th amendments prohibited the federal government form discrimination but not private organizations. • Plessy v. Ferguson: Supreme Court ruled that separate seating arrangements did not deprive blacks of equal rights. • Cumming v. County Board of Education: -Court ruled that laws establishing separate schools for whites were ok. Disenfranchisement of blacks started in some areas. Creating laws to keep black males from voting.

39. Jim Crow • Poll Tax or property qualifications. • Literacy Test • Grandfather Laws: Whites who couldn’t pass the Property Qualifications or Literacy Test could vote it their ancestors could vote. • Williams v. Mississippi- Supreme Court got rid of Grandfather Laws but kept the literacy test.

40. Lynchings • White mobs started to lynch blacks for violation of “crimes” • Public displays with large gatherings. • Why LYNCH??? • Ida B. Wells- Black journalist launched an anti-lynching movement.