Defining Reconstruction
• 1865 – 1877
• Rebuilding the ex-Confederate
states
• Readmitting the ex-Confederate
states into the United States
Defining Reconstruction
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An “attempt”
Tumultuous
Political
Divisive
Holding On
Stubborn
The Immediate Aftermath
• What were some of the
immediate results of the Civil War
in SC by the end of 1865?
DESTRUCTION OF
INFRASTRUCTURE
COLLAPSE OF CSA
GOVERNMENT
DEATHS
INFLATION;
CSA
MONEY
WORTH
NOTHING
EMOTIONAL
DISTRESS
FREEDMEN
ASSASSINATION OF LINCOLN
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• Helping
Freedmen
– 13th
Amendment
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• Helping
Freedmen
– Port Royal
Experiment
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• Helping
Freedmen
– Freedmen’s
Bureau
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• President
Andrew
Johnson’s Plan
– General amnesty
– Allowed SC to
create its own
new constitution
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• President Andrew
Johnson’s Plan
– Benjamin F. Perry
appointed
governor of SC by
Pres. Johnson
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• Constitution of 1865
–Repealed the Articles of Secession
but never declared it null and void
–Barely “recognized” the
abolishment of slavery
• “The slaves in SC having been
emancipated by the action of the
United States authorities…”
The Beginning of Reconstruction
• Constitution of 1865
–Included Black Codes
• severely limited rights of freedmen
–“such persons are not entitled to social
and political equality with whites.”
The Federal Response
• What was Congress’
response to SC’s
Constitution of 1865?
The Federal Response
• Congress hated it!
–bickered with President Johnson
over his leniency
–refused to seat SC representatives
–threw out SC’s Constitution
–repealed SC’s Black Codes
–passed the Reconstruction Act
The Reconstruction Act
–Stated that no state governments
existed in the South and placed the
federal government in charge.
–In order for a state to be readmitted,
it had to:
• Open voting to all male citizens.
• Ratify the 14th Amendment.
• Write a new constitution that
guaranteed universal male suffrage.
• Disband all military organizations.
The Reconstruction Act
–To ensure that the states complied
with moving toward these goals…
• the South was divided into federal
military districts.
• Union troops were placed in charge of
these areas to maintain law and order.
–SC/NC = Military District Two
• headquarters in Greenville (SC)
The Federal Response
• The Reconstruction Act
–How do you think the white citizens
of South Carolina responded to the
Reconstruction Act?
A Black Majority in Congress
• The white citizens of SC attempted to
throw an election by boycotting the
vote on a constitutional convention,
but the plan backfired on them.
• 85% of registered black voters voted
for a new constitutional convention,
and as a result, 73 of the 124 of the
new delegates elected were black.
A Black Majority in Congress
• Drafted a new constitution
–The Constitution of 1868
–remarkably different than the
previous Constitution of 1865
A Black Majority in Congress
• The Constitution of 1868:
–stated “no more slavery”
–attempted to integrate society
–provided for public education
–provided for voting rights
–changed Congressional
representation to where it was
based on population, not wealth
A Black Majority in Congress
• The black majority at this
convention also led to a black
majority in the state Congress.
• In 1868, blacks made up…
–75 of 124 Representatives
–10 of 32 Senators
– most were Republican
A Black Majority in Congress
• Famous Firsts:
– Francis L. Cardozo – the first black to win
a statewide office
– Joseph H. Rainey – the first black
member of the U. S. House of
Representatives
– Jonathan J. Wright – the first black
member of the SC Supreme Court
– Henry E. Hayne – the first black
student at USC
The White Response
• The majority of the white population
scoffed and undermined the new
Black Majority:
–claimed that the state had been
“Africanized”
–said the government was being run by
“corrupt children”
The White Response
• They responded in action, too.
–Public segregation
–Called whites who supported
Reconstruction “scalawags” and
“carpetbaggers”
–Boycotts of political activity
–Vigilante violence, such as the KKK
The White Response
• “scalawag”
– A white Southerner who had been loyal to
the Union or who supported Reconstruction
The White Response
• “carpetbagger”
– A Northerner who moved
South during Reconstruction
to take advantage of it for
political or economic gain.
The White Response
The End of Reconstruction
• Reconstruction went on for 12 years.
• It ended after the Election of 1876.
–The Election of 1876 pitted two
candidates for governor at sharp ends
with one another:
• Wade Hampton III (Democrat)
• David Chamberlain (Republican)
The End of Reconstruction
• Wade Hampton III
–Sharply criticized the
Republican government
for dishonoring SC
–His “Red Shirt” supporters
used intimidation tactics
to “win” votes.
The End of Reconstruction
• David Chamberlain
–Upheld beliefs of
Republican Reconstruction
–Used black militia troops to
“convince” people to vote
for him
The End of Reconstruction
• The results of the election were close
and disputed.
• Both men claimed victory for 5 mos.
• After federal troops were removed
from SC in a national deal to end
Federal Reconstruction, Wade
Hampton III took office.
• Chamberlain had no military support
to back up his claim.
The End of Reconstruction
• 1877-Reconstruction in SC was over.
• It is argued that “those who had lost
in 1865 triumphed in 1877.”