US History
Lesson 10
Presidential Reconstruction
• Reconstruction became a major issue between Presidents Lincoln and
Johnson and the Radical Republicans
• The Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South while Lincoln and the
moderates wanted to bring the South into the Union quickly
• In 1863 Lincoln proposed the Ten Percent Plan  a plan consisting of 3
parts in order to allow Southern states back into the Union
• 1. the state had to ratify the 13th Amendment
• 2. the state had to repudiate secession
• 3. when 10% of the voters take an oath of allegiance, the state could be readmitted
into the Union
Presidential Reconstruction
• Radical Republicans objected to the 10% Plan saying it was too lenient
and it didn’t protect the rights of the newly freed slaves
• The Radical Republicans proposed the Wade-Davis Bill  called for
ratification of the 13th Amendment and 50% of all voters to denounce
secession
• Southerners believed this was impossible and just a way for the North
to dominate over the South
• Lincoln vetoed the Wade-Davis Bill but died before he could
reintroduce a new bill
Presidential Reconstruction
• Lincoln’s successor, Andrew Johnson, had a similar plan for
Reconstruction
• Johnson sought to rapidly reintegrate the South back into the Union
• The election of 1866 saw the Radical Republicans (wanted to punish
the South) gain majority in Congress
• The Radical Republicans began pushing bills to punish the South 
Johnson vetoed them one after another
• In response to the vetoes  the Radical Republicans impeached
President Johnson but failed to remove him from office
• Weakened, Johnson and the moderates were unable to stop the next
Congressional effort
Reconstruction Era Presidents
President Abraham Lincoln
President Andrew Johnson
Congressional Reconstruction
• First Reconstruction Act 1867
• Passed over President Johnson’s veto
• Divided the South into 5 military districts that were administered by military governors
• In order to be re admitted in the Union, Southern states had to
• 1. guarantee African-American suffrage
• 2. hold open elections for black and white representatives to the state constitutional
convention
• 3. create new state constitutions that the three Reconstruction Amendments (13, 14,
and 15)
• All Southern states had to be back in the Union by 1870
• Federal troops remained in the South to enforce the new provisions and
protect African-Americans from mob violence
Reconstruction Zones
“Forty Acres and a Mule”
• In 1865 General Sherman issued a special field order in order to do
settle the large mass of freed slaves following his army through the
South
• Each African-American family was to get 40 acres and a mule from
confiscated lands in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina
• Approximately 18,000 families were settled this way
• HOWEVER…before the program could be fully implemented,
President Johnson rescinded the order and returned all confiscated
lands to the former owners
“Forty Acres and a Mule”
The Freedmen’s Bureau
• In March of 1865 Congress created the Freedmen’s Bureau in order to
assist freed slaves to transition from enslavement to freedom
• The Bureau’s responsibilities included:
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•
•
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1. introducing a system of free labor
2. overseeing around 3,000 schools for freed persons
3. settling disputes between the white landowners and the black labor force
4. securing justice for African-Americans in the court system
The Freedmen’s Bureau cont…
• The Bureau did help former slaves obtain land BUT Congress did not
grant land nor the absolute right to own land to all freed slaves
• Without land and with few skills, newly freed slaves often entered
into sharecropping, crop lein, or the tenant farming system  they
often ended up working for their former slave owner with little
change from slavery
The Freedmen’s Bureau cont…
On it’s own, the Bureau had little power to enforce it’s rules  after
federal troops left the South in white Southerners refused to follow the
new rules
The Freedmen’s Bureau ceased operation in 1872
Educational Success
• During the Reconstruction period African-Americans made progress
in many areas
• 1. many AA children were able to attend free school for the first time
• 2. AA started newspapers, served in public office, and attended new colleges
established just for them
• Morehouse College was founded in Atlanta in 1867
• A former slave and two ministers founded MC in order to provide an
education for AA in the fields of ministry and education
Resistance to Reconstruction
• In the South, resistance to Reconstruction took several forms
• 1. many white Southerners refused to participate politically
• 2. South states passed harsh laws that restricted economic and political rights
of the freedmen
• 3. violence was used to intimidate the freedmen
Black Codes
• Black Codes were designed to regulate relations between whites and
blacks in the South
• Legalized marriage, ownership of property, and limited access in the
courts were some rights given to the freedmen in the South
• The Black Codes denied AA the right to testify against whites in court,
to serve on juries or in state militias, to vote, and express legal
concerns publicly
• The Black Codes enraged northern Congressmen who saw that they
were just an attempt to re-introduce slavery
Ku Klux Klan
• The KKK was originally in Tennessee in 1866 as a Confederate
veteran’s club but quickly became an organization linked to violence
and intimidation
• The KKK began by scaring AA into compliance and keep them from
voting
• When that failed, the KKK began to attack Northern whites who came
to the South, South whites who aided Reconstruction, and AA who
were educated and participated in the community
• Eventually the Klan began to attack anyone it didn’t like  attacks
often included beatings and killings in front of family members
KKK at a Voting Booth
KKK Sneak Attack
Ku Klux Klan cont…
• Resistance to the Klan was difficult because many AA’s didn’t have
weapons and KKK sympathizers often held court positions
• Some states such as Arkansas, Tennessee, and Texas broke up the
Klan with special police forces
• Eventually the federal government was able to get a handle on the
Klan by using the Enforcement Acts
• By 1872 the Klan began to step down because Southern leaders
wanted the federal troops to leave the South again
Impeachment
• President Andrew Johnson angered the Radical Republicans by
vetoing several Congressional Reconstruction measures
• In an attempt to get rid of President Johnson the Radical Republicans
passed the Tenure of Office Act  it forbade the President from
removing important government officials without Congressional
approval
• President Johnson fired Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton ( a Radical
Republican) causing the House of Representatives to impeach
President Johnson
• After a lengthy hearing Andrew Johnson was acquitted by one vote
and remained in office
Relationship to Reconstruction
• Even though the impeachment failed…President Johnson’s days were
numbered
• During the 1868 Presidential Election a Radical Republican supporter
would be elected President  Ulysses S. Grant
• The election of 1868 allowed Congress to gain full control over
Reconstruction
General Ulysses S Grant
President Ulysses S Grant
Election of 1876
• Democrats nominated Samuel J. Tilden
• Republicans nominated Rutherford B. Haynes
• After a bitter campaign, Tilden won the popular vote by 260,000
votes but failed to carry the majority of electoral votes
• A special Federal commission was appointed to award the electoral
votes for Florida, Louisiana, Oregon, and South Carolina)
• The commission awarded Rutherford B. Haynes the Presidency  the
Democrats were outraged
• Hayes met with Democratic leaders and ironed out a compromise
Compromise of 1877
• The Compromise of 1877 was an agreement between Rutherford B.
Haynes and Democratic leaders that awarded Haynes with the
Presidency
• In return Haynes agreed to
• 1. Support internal improvements for the South
• 2. Appoint a Southerner to his Cabinet
• 3. And withdraw Federal troops from the South
• After his inauguration in March of 1877, Haynes withdrew the troops
from the South  Republican dominated state governments
collapsed and AA’s were slowly disenfranchised by state laws
• Reconstruction had come to an end