Chapter 12Reconstruction

Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural Address

• Union Victory was certain• Themes of address– Preservation of the union “indivisible nation”– Sorrow over the war-diplomacy had failed– War was necessary to end slavery– Urged peaceful reunion and reconstruction “with

malice toward none; with charity for all”

Lincoln’s Assassination

• John Wilkes Booth-confederate sympathizer• Fords Theater• Andrew Johnson

Reconstruction 1865-1877

• Rebuild the South• Readmit the southern states to the Union

13th Amendment

• Abolishes slavery

Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan

1. Pardon southerners who swore allegiance to the Union2. Hold constitutional conventions to form new state

governments3. Withdraw their secession4. Ratify the 13th Amendment5. Hold elections and be part of the Union

Radical Republicans v. Johnson

• Thaddeus Stevens• Punish states for secession• Destroy political power of former slave holders• Full citizenship and suffrage for African

Americans• Land distribution

Freedmen’s Bureau 1865

• 1st federal relief agency in U.S. history• Provided clothes, medical attention, food, education

and land• Helped transition to freedom• Johnson vetoed, Congress override veto

Civil Rights Act 1866

• Gave African Americans citizenship• Forbade Black Codes– No carrying weapons– No serving on juries or testifying in court– No marrying whites– No traveling without permits– Etc.

• Johnson vetoes, congress overrides

14th Amendment

• No person, regardless of race, can be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law

• Declared all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. to be citizens

• Provided a Constitutional Basis for the Civil Rights Act

Reconstruction Act of 1867

• Abolished governments formed under Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plans

• 5 military zones• Set new requirements for readmission• State constitutions had to grant suffrage

Johnson’s Impeachment

• High crimes and misdemeanors• Radicals passed laws to keep Johnson weak• Johnson ignored those laws: Tenure of Office Act• 3 month trial Not guilty by 1 vote

Impeachment Process

CongressHouse impeach SenateVotes to impeach Senate becomes jurors

Chief Justice Presides over trial

Recommend to impeach or not

Judiciary 2/3 to convictCommitteeReviews evidence guilty-out of office

not guilty-stays in

15th Amendment

• 15-suffrage– cannot deny the right to vote based on race, color,

or previous condition of servitude

12:2 Reconstructing Society

Political Problems of the South

• South destroyed, must rebuild• States have no money, can’t borrow• Black Codes

Response to Political Problems

• Public Works programs-orphanages, hospitals, schools, etc.

• Increased state taxes• African Americans elected to office

African American Political Power during Reconstruction

• 90% voted• 8/10 voted Republican• Hiram Revels-1st African American U.S. Senator• Several House Members

Economic Problems of the South

• Low property values• Population devastated by death and malnutrition• Labor shortage• Increase in taxes• Landlessness of poor whites and former slaves• Low cotton prices• Debt• Bank failures

Response to Economic problems

• Raised taxes• Tenant farming• Sharecropping• Redistribution of land owned by former

Confederates• Diversification of economy

Social Problems of the South

• Racism• African American families separated• African American education

Responses to Social Problems

• Emigration of white population north• Emigration of black population to cities• Freedmen’s Bureau reunited many families• African Americans organized schools, churches, political

institutions• Morehouse College Atlanta 1867: ministry and education

Scalawags

• White southerners who joined the Republican party– Redistribute wealth– Redistribute political power– Bring industry to the South

Carpetbaggers

• Northerners who moved South after the War– Freedmen’s Bureau– Buy cheap land– Business men/entrepreneurs took advantage of

the devastated economy of the South

African American Gains during Reconstruction

• Rebuilt families• Education– Public education

40 Acres and a Mule

• Promised by Sherman to slaves who left the plantation and followed the Union Army during the war

• Johnson gave it back to original landowners

Freedman’s Bureau

• Organized to help former slaves transition to freedom• Everyday problems: food, clothing, jobs, medicine,

medical care• Some land acquisition that was unclaimed by its pre-

war owners• didn’t go far enough to give economic independence

Few Opportunities

• Share cropping• Tenant farming• Conditions little different than slavery

12:3The End of Reconstruction

Ku Klux Klan

• Secret society• Used murder, arson, violence as means of

controlling freed Africans Americans• Founded by Confederate Army veterans• Fought against Congressional Reconstruction

plans• Federal troops occupied the south to curtail

KKK violence

Enforcement Acts 1870, 1871

• Provided federal supervision of elections• Provided federal troops in active KKK areas

Freedmen’s Bureau

• Expires 1872• Congress does not renew funding

Amnesty Act 1872

• Returned the right to vote and hold office to 160,000 former Confederates

• Republicans lose political power

Panic of 1873

• Businesses had expanded during the Civil War• Post-war production exceeded demand• Banks closed• Stock market crashed• 5 year depression

Redemption

• Democrats regain power– Amnesty Act– Scandal in Grant Administration– Supreme Court Decisions weaken the power of

the 14th and 15th Amendments– Depression

1876 Election

• (R)Rutherford B. Hays v. (D) Sam Tilden• Hays wins electoral vote, Tilden wins popular

vote• Contested election-House decides

Compromise of 1877

House will accept Hayes as President IF• Federal Troops removed from the south• Democrats get $$ for southern public

works programs• Hayes puts southern conservatives in his

cabinet

Home Rule

• Ability to run state government without interference of the federal government

• Took 80 years for the Civil Rights movement to begin gaining equality for African Americans