The Collapse of Reconstruction
• 13th Amendment
• 14th Amendment
• Johnson Impeached
• Panic of 1873
• Redemption
• Compromise of 1877
• Home Rule
13th Amendment
• Emancipation Proclamation only freed
slaves behind Confederate lines
– Slavery in Northern states and Border states
still technically legal
• Congress took up issue in 1864-65
• Proposed Constitutional amendment in
Jan. ’65
• Ratified by 27 states
• Outlawed slavery and involuntary
servitude
14th Amendment
• 1866
• All persons born or naturalized in US
granted equal protection under the law
• Barred former senators and congressmen
who supported secession from holding
elected office after the war
– Johnson thought too harsh – told southern
states not to support amendment
• Finally ratified in 1868
Impeachment
• Disagreement between Johnson and
Congress
– Congress didn’t feel he was doing his duty by
not following their lead on Recon.
• Johnson fired Sec. of War
– Congress said he couldn’t do that w/out their
permission
• Impeached by the House
• Not convicted by the Senate
Redemption
• Amnesty Act of 1872 gave 150,000 former
confederates back their voting rights
• Dems. recaptured state gov’ts in many
southern states
• Dems. had “redeemed” themselves in the
eyes of the Feds.
• Election of 1876 brought Dems. back to
power in Congress
Compromise of 1877
• Close pres. Election
• Rutherford B. Hayes won in the electoral
college, but not pop. votes
• Had to appease many lawmakers in order
for them to not contest the election
1877 cont.
• Had to remove fed. troops from LA and SC
• Fed money to rebuild RR in the South
• Appoint a conservative southerner to the
cabinet
• Hayes agreed and was inaugurated
• Brought Reconstruction to an end
Home Rule
• By 1876 Dems had control over many
southern state gov’ts
• could finally rule over their own states
w/out Federal involvement
• Passed laws that wiped out social
programs, cut taxes, and dismantled
public schools
Reconstruction and its
Effects
Foundations
• Pres. Lincoln and Johnson propose lenient
policies toward former Confederate States
• Radical Republicans gain control of
Congress and pass Reconstruction Act of
1867
• Conflict over approach leads Congress to
impeach Johnson
Progress
• States ratify 14th and 15th amendments
• States start public works programs and
public schools
• Former slaves reunite w/ family, work for
wages, and begin to create an A.A. culture
Collapse
• War debt and low demand for Southern
cotton slow South’s recovery
• A.A. are terrorized by racist violence
• Republican party is weakened by scandal
• Republicans withdraw troops from South
to get Hayes elected
• Dems. regain control of Southern gov’ts
and weaken social programs and public
schools