The Ordeal of Reconstruction

1865-1877 American Pageant Chapter 22

Problems of Peace
After the Civil War-- four questions the people faced:
How would the South be rebuilt? How would liberated blacks fare as free men and women? How would the Southern states be reintegrated into the Union? Who would direct the process of Reconstruction the Southern states themselves, the president, or Congress?

Problems of Peacecont.
Rebel leaders
Davis2 year imprisonment Leaders pardoned eventually by Johnson Civil liberties restored 30 years later

Destroyed citiesRichmond, Charleston Economic lifestopped

Transportationdestroyed Agriculturecrippled

Many Southernersstill defiant

Freedmen and Freedom

Emancipationhalting & uneven
Planters resisted violently & legalistically Yankee military occupationforced recognition of Emancipation

Freedmen
Some stayed w/planters---loyalty Tens of thousandsleft
Went to find family Jobs in towns & cities

Church became center of social life

The Freedmens Bureau1865 to 1872

Freemenunskilled & uneducated Freedmens Bureau

Most successeducation Otherwise meager accomplishments

200,000 taught to read

Clothing, education, medical care for both white & black refugees Headed by Union General Oliver O. Howard

I.E. 40 acre land tractsrarely given Worked w/planterscajole to sign labor contracts

Andrew Johnson as President

Humble backgroundtailor War democrat Racist, hotheaded, stubborn, but intelligent
Refused to secede w/his own state, Tennessee

Did not fit w/Democrats or Republicans Worst thing for SouthernersLincolns death

Presidential Reconstruction
Lincolns Plan South never legally w/drawn from Union 10 Percent voters gave loyalty oath & abide by emancipation Set up state government Thenreturn to Union Wade Davis Bill
Congress thought Lincolns plan too soft 1864 passed Bill 50% of voters take allegiance oath

Johnsons Plan South never legally w/drawn from Union Recog. several 10% states Disenfranchised leading Confederates
Could petition for special pardon

Stronger safeguards State conventions Repeal secession to protect Repudiate Confed. emancipation debt Lincoln pocketvetoed the bill
Ratify 13th Amendment

Black Codes
Similar to pre-Civil War Codes Regulate emancipated blacks First lawNovember 1865 Goalsubservient, stable labor force
Penalties for breaking labor contracts Negro- Catchersarrested freedmen fined & then hired out to pay fine

No vote, serve on juries, sometimes rent/lease land Worst featureseventually repealed, but Resultmistreatment & poverty Sharecropping

Congressional Reconstruction
1861-1865Republicans had free hand
I.E. Morrill Tariff, Pacific Railroad Act, Homestead Act

December 1865restored states elected many rebel leaders

Republicans upsetshut down congress for 1st day

Republican (all Northerners) worries:

Without 3/5 clauseSouth has more voting power in House & Electoral ballots Southern majorityrepeal laws, perpetuate Black Codes

Dec. 6, 1865, Johnson announced that rebel states had fulfilled requirements & Union was restored

Johnson v. Congress
Sir Veto or Andy Veto
Feb. 1866Bill that extended Freemens Bureau March 1866Civil Rights Bills citizenship & struck down Black Codes
Overrode vetorepeatedly did after this

14th Amendment

Civil rights & citizenship (not vote); Reduced proportionality in representation if denied ballot Disqualified former Confed. leaders from federal office Guaranteed federal debt; repudiated Confederate debts

Johnson v. Congresscont.
Congress wanted states to ratify 14th Amendment before returning to Union Johnson told 11 Confed. states to reject 14th Amendment, so 1866--Congressional elections key
Johnson went on speaking campaign
Flopdid more harm than good

Results--Republicans more than 2/3 vote of both houses

Radical Republicans
Congress is now veto proof Radicalsidealist and/or vindictive

Moderate Republicans wanted policies that would insure citizens rights Both realizedBlacks needed the vote

Charles Sumner & Thaddeus Stevens Apply federal power for social & economic transformation

Reconstruction by the Sword

Race riots in Southern cities Reconstruction Act, March 1867
Divided South into 5 military districts 20,000 Union soldiers enforced Must ratify 14th Amendment State Constitutionsgive suffrage to freedmen

15th Amendment 1870Vote given to men regardless of race

Reconstruction by the Swordcont.

Military ruledubious legality
Ex parte Milligan (1865)S.C. ruled that military tribunals could not try civilians, even during war MostlyS.C. avoided offending Republican Congress

By 1870 all Southern states had written state constitutions complying w/demands 1877Last of federal troops leave State governments were back in the hands of white Redeemers a.k.a. aristocracy

No Women Voters
14th Amendmentfirst time Constitution clearly distinguished citizenship for males only Abolitionist movement tied with womens rights Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony
Had temporarily suspended their cause to work solely for emancipation Now campaigned against 14th Amendment Cause rift w/Frederick Douglassthe Negros hour Also wanted to change 15th Amendment so vote couldnt be denied based on gender either

Realities of Radical Reconstruction in the south

By 1867Former slaves had voting rights in South
Contrastuntil 15th Amendment in 1870 most Northern states did not allow Blacks to vote

Union League
Southern black political organization Educate members on political duties Campaign for Republican candidates Building black churches Representing black grievances Recruiting militia to protect black communities

Realities of Radical Reconstruction in the southcont.

Black women helped w/organization Black delegates to state constitutional convention
Universal male suffrage

1868-187614 Black congressmen; 2 Black senators (Hiram Revels & Blanche K. Bruce) Served in State governments
Reforms: public schools, tax system, women property rights

Some corruptionwhite freedmen allies scalawags and carpetbaggers

Graft ran rampant, but not much different than in the North

The Ku Klux Klan

Bitter white southernerssecret organizations Invisible Empire of the SouthKKK
Started Tennessee in 1866 Use intimidation for upstart blacks affected polls

Force Act of 1870 & 1871

Federal troops suppress KKK intimidation already done Continued secretlydance or missionary clubs

By 1890Southern states flouted 14th & 15th Amendments

Fraud, trickery, literacy tests Lasted for decades

Johnson & Impeachment

Tenure of Office Act1867
Senate consent before dismissal of presidential appointee who had previously been approved by senate

Johnson fires Edwin M. Stanton in 1868 House of Rep.impeach 126-47 for high crimes & misdemeanors Very public hearingsold 1000 tickets Lost 2/3 majority vote to remove from office by one vote
Destabilized checks & balances Didnt want radical Ben Wade (president pro-tempore of senate) as President

Purchase of Alaska
Russia overextendedavoid war with British Friendly to North during Civil War Sec. of State--William Seward arranged purchase for $7.2 million Unpopular purchase Sewards Folly or Sewards Icebox Later found natural resources such as oil and gas

Lasting Effects of Reconstruction

Southerners viewed Reconstructionmore damaging than war Could have been much harsher Radical Republican programs backfired after federal troops withdrew Moderate Republicans did understand strength necessary to make freemen equal citizens
Racism and indifference Many ways South resurrected not reconstructed