Reconstruction 1865-1876
U.S. History Summer School
Aftermath
• Over 600,000 DEAD
• In all other U.S. wars combined barely
620,000 total U.S. dead.
• 2/3 of southern shipping industry
destroyed
• 9000 miles of railroad destroyed
• Value of southern land drops by 70
percent
Retribution or Forgiveness
• How would the North deal with the South?
– Lincoln’s Plan (Began as early as December 1863)
• Pardon to any Confederate who takes oath of allegiance to
Union and accept federal policy of slavery
• Denies pardons to all confederate military and government
officials and to those who killed Black war prisoners
• Each state to hold a convention to create new state
constitution only after 10 percent of voters in the state had
sworn allegiance to Union.
• States could then hold elections and resume full participation
in the Union.
– Very forgiving plan
• Did not require states to be “re-admited”
Congress Disagreed
• Congress had a much different idea
– Goal was to restructure society in the south
– Lincoln’s plan too lenient
• July 1864 Wade-Davis Act
– Oath of past and future loyalty to Union.
– Swear the had not willingly taken up arms
against the U.S.
• Lincoln lets it die with a pocket Veto
• Lincoln’s Assassination changes
everything
Andrew Johnson President
• Former Democrat from Tennessee
• Former Slave Owner
• Born Poor, Grew up to become a tailor
and wife taught him to read
• Hated rich plantation owners
• Sided with North in War
• Chosen as VP in 1864 Election to win over
Northern Democrats
Johnson’s Plan (Presidential
Reconstruction)
• Pardon’s those who swear allegiance to Union
• Permitted states to hold constitutional
conventions
• States needed to void secession, abolish slavery
and reject the Confederate debt.
• States could then hold elections and rejoin
Union.
• VERY Generous plan
– Does deny pardons to leaders, but those that ask
Johnson personally are granted.
– Johnson Pardons 13,000 in 1865 alone
People of the South
• Black Southerners
– Now What?
• Homeless
• Jobless
• Plantation owners
– Lost 3 million in slave labor
– Confederate Money worthless
– Captured and Abandoned Property Act 1863
• Poor White Southerners
– No Jobs
– Head West
The First Taste of Freedom
• Now Free many “Freedmen” did not know what
to do.
– Some moved around searching for loved ones
– Real key to freedom was owning land
• Some felt they should redistribute land that slaves had
worked for years.
• This idea gained little political support
– Many formed their own churches to support each
other.
– Education became very important
• White teachers came from the north to help start schools
Freedmen’s Bureau (1865)
• First major relief agency in American
History
• Lacked strong support in congress
• Gave out clothing, medical supplies, and
meals to both black and white war
refugees.
• More than 250,000 African Americans
received their first formal education in
Bureau schools
• Congress dismantled in 1869
Free but not so much…
• Black Codes
– Under Johnson’s plan Confederates were pardoned and
white leaders quickly regained control of state
governments and passed restrictive laws on Freedmen.
– Curfews
• Not allowed out after dark
– Vagrancy laws
• Not working – Punishable with fine, whipping, or years labor
– Labor contracts
• Sign contract for a year of work – Can’t break – Paid at end
– Land restrictions
• Could only rent or buy homes in rural areas
– Keeps them on plantations
Congress Fights Back
• Frustrated by Southern Democrats return to power
– Republicans pass…
• 14th Amendment
– Passed 1866, Ratified 1868
– All persons born or naturalized in the United States…are
citizens of the United States and of the State wherein
they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of
citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive
any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor deny to any person within its
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
U.S. Congress
• Two groups in power
– Radical Republicans
• Less in number but growing in power
• Wanted to gain civil rights for Freedmen
– Moderate Republicans
• Mostly did not support Civil Rights for Freedmen
• Strongly Oppose Johnson’s Plan
• Opposed the Spread of Black Codes
• Northern Democratic Minority
– Supported Johnson’s Plan
– Wanted quick resolution to reconstruction
Johnson Becomes Unpopular
• 1866 Congressional Elections
– Johnson campaigns for states to NOT ratify
the 14th Amendment
– Northerners angered and vote in even more
radical Republicans
• Johnson greatly angers party
– Loses all power to govern
– President in name only
“Reform, Not Revenge”
• With their new found power, Radicals pass the
Reconstruction Act of 1867
– Puts South Under Military Rule, dividing into 5 districts
– Orders states to hold new elections and then re-write
state constitutions
– Requires states to allow ALL qualified Male voters,
including African Americans
– Barred those supporting the Confederacy from Voting
– Required Sothern States to guarantee equal rights to all
citizens
– Requires states to ratify the 14th Amendment.
Johnson Gets Impeached
• Yet another disagreement between Johnson and
Congress led to Congress taking the ultimate
step of Impeachment
• Johnson fires Sec. of War Stanton. New Tenure
of Office Act states presidential firings must also
be approved by congress.
• February 1868 House votes 126-47 to impeach.
• Johnson Survives trial in the Senate winning by
1 vote.
• Johnson has no power and finishes his term
without issue
Grant Elected and Republicans
grow in power
• Grant wins Election of 1868
• Republicans now control decidedly all
parts of Federal Government
• With mandate from people, Congress
passes 15th Amendment
• No citizen can be denied the right to vote
based on color, race, or previous condition
of servitude.
New South
• Sharecropping
– Poor whites and freedmen have no jobs,
homes, or money
– Sign labor contracts to work land and then
receive a “Share” of the profit from the crop.
– Landlord keeps track of costs for housing and
food
– By harvest, sharecropper owes more than the
crop it worth.
– Sharecropper in debt and cannot leave while
in debt.
New South
• Tenant Farming
– Like sharecropping, farmers did not own land
– Instead they rented the land
– This allows them to choose crops and how
much or little to work
– Better situation than Sharecropping as there
were no surprises at the end
– Raises in rent were biggest issues
Re-building
• Railroads
– By 1872 Southern Railroads were totally rebuilt
– 3,300 miles of new track had been laid.
– Business and populations of major southern
cities rose as a result
• Factories re-built
– While Factories were re-built the south never
was able to become a manufacturing center
like the North
Terror on the rise
• With Military rule in the South, Freedmen
decided they would use their voting rights.
• They voted in large numbers quickly
electing their own politicians to state and
federal governments
• To prevent African Americans from voting
groups like the KKK developed
• They terrorized, murdered, and threatened
African Americans at any opportunity to
prevent them from voting
Reaction To KKK
• Enforcement Act of 1870
– Bans the use of terror, force or bribery to
prevent people from voting because of their
race.
– Troops arrest thousands of Klansmen
throughout the South and with the troops,
KKK becomes nearly dead by 1872
– Still the Army could not be everywhere and
other groups also sprung up to prevent
African Americans from voting
Grant re-elected but has issues
• Grant was re-elected but was facing many
issues within his administration
– Corruption
• Reconstruction legislatures and Grants administration came
to symbolize greed, corruption and poor government
– The Economy
• Legislatures taxed and spent heavily, putting southern states
deeper into debt. Also economic recession in 1873 worsened
matters
– Democrats return to power
• By 1872, all but 500 ex-confederates had been pardoned
• They formed a new voting block called the solid south
– All white voters basically voted for the same person
• This allows Democrats to re-gain power in the South and
block several reconstruction policies
Election of 1876
• Republicans – Hayes
• Democrats – Tilden
• Tilden with the support of the “Solid South” tries
to bring Democrats back to White House.
• The election is very close. Tilden wins popular
vote. Electoral vote is a mess due to disputes in
3 states.
• Congress sets up special commission to resolve
the crisis
Compromise of 1877
• The commission, controlled by Republicans,
choose Hayes winner.
• Democrats have enough power in congress to
reject this decision.
• Finally they come to an agreement
• South will support Hayes to be President if he
would agree to remove all remaining Federal
troops from the South
• Also subsidies for Southern Railroads and new
levies for the Mississippi River.
• They agree and Hayes becomes President
– Troops removed from south and the African
Americans no longer have anyone to protect them.