Reconstruction 1865 to 1877

 

What was it?

 

It was a period of bringing the Southern states that seceded back into the federal Union

 

Americans of the time had to solve THREE important questions about HOW Reconstruction would proceed:

 

     1) What condidtions should be placed on     

           the Southern states before allowing

          them to return to the Union and to

           assume their former rights?

 

     2) Which branch of government would

           determine the conditions for the return

           of the Southern states?

 

     3) What political, economic, and social

           rights should be granted to blacks and

         how should they be reinforced?

 

Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction:

 

Lincoln believed that:

 

     The Southern states never seceded since

           secession was illegal

 

     The rebellion against the Federal

           government was the work of individual

           Southerners

 

     Reconstruction was the duty of the

           President because of his power to

           pardon acts against the government

 

     Reconstruction should be lenient and

           intended to regain the South’s loyalty

           to the Union

 

     The Plan stated:

          

           All Southerners (except high military

           and government officials) would be

           pardoned upon taking an oath of

           allegiance to the Union

           State would be allowed to form a state

           government when 10 percent of

           the people took this oath of allegiance

 

This plan became known as the 10 Percent Plan

 

Andrew Johnson, a pro-Union democrat continued Lincoln’s plan

 

By late 1865, most white southerners had re-established their place in society

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Radical Republican Plan:

 

Radical Republicans such as Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner came to dominate Congress in late 1865

 

They urged Congress NOT to accept the reconstructed governments and their representatives because they felt that:

 

     Lincoln’s plan was too lenient, the South

     needed to be punished for secession

 

     Only Congress had the power to admit a

     state to the Union, being that the states

     DID secede (according to the radicals)

     they had to be readmitted

 

     Leniency would endanger the

     Republicans’ influence in the South by

     disenfranchising black voters and that

     southern Democrats might unite with

     northern Democrats to regain former

     power

 

     Need to protect blacks from

     discrimination and unequal treatment

     through the Black Codes that were

     established in the South

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congressional Reconstruction

 

Civil Rights Act 1866: (passed over Johnson’s veto)

     aimed to weaken Black Codes

     gave blacks equal rights to whites

     allowed federal troops to enforce the law

 

Freedmen’s Bureau Act 1866: (passed over Johnson’s veto)

     staffed by Radical Republicans

    

     provided food, clothes, schooling, jobs,

           protection of civil rights for freed

           blacks

    

     allowed use of military force if necessary

 

14th Amendment:

     made blacks citizens with full rights

    

     provided that no STATE could deprive

     your rights without due process of law

    

     no STATE could deny equal proctection

     of the law

    

     allowed for reduction of Congressional

           representation in states that denied

          male citizens the right to vote

    

     voided the Confederate debt

    

     disqualified former Confederate leaders

           from holding office

 

Every southern state except Tennessee refused to ratify the amendment so Congress instituted even stricter measures for the South

      

First Reconstruction Act 1867: (passed over Johnson’s veto)

     rejected all reconstruction governmments

           except Tennessee

     divided the South into 5 military districts

           each under a military governor

     to remove federal troops and be

           readmitted, the state had to:

          

     conduct an election open to blacks and

           whites for delegates to a    

                Constitutional convention

           include guarantees of black suffrage in

                the Constitution which had to be

                approved by voters and by

                Congress

          New state legislature had to ratify the

                14th amendment

          

     In 1869, the four states that still hadn’t

           complied had to ratify the 15th

           amendment too

 

In 1870 the last states were readmitted, but Federal troops remained in the South to protect blacks rights and reconstruction

governments

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reconstruction Governments:

 

Most Reconstruction governments were controlled by:

 

     Carpetbaggers: northerners who came south for fortune or to help blacks

 

     Scalawags: Pro-Union southern whites who cooperated with the Carpetbagger

 

     Blacks: became more involved in govt. process but never controlled any state govt.

 

While these governments were often corrupt and laid heavy taxes they also:

     framed liberal constitutions that protected

           civil liberties

     began rebuilding of southern buildings

           and roads

     introduced free compulsory education

     were no more corrupt than governments

           in the North

 

 

How did southern whites regain control of their state governments?

 

Ku Klux Klan: which drove out carpetbaggers, scared the scalawags, intimidated blacks

 

Increased number of southern white voters: 1872’s Amnesty Act gave former Confederates their rights

 

Northerners lost interest in black problems

     and reconstruction and wanted an end to

     social turmoil, reformers began looking at

     big business

 

Election of 1876: Hayes was given votes from remaining carpetbagger states in exchange for:

     Promise of federal funds for internal

           improvements

     appointment of a southerner to a cabinet

           post   

     removal of all federal troops from the

           South