Reconstruction
The rebuilding of
the United States
after the Civil War
LIST AS MANY CAUSES AND
EFFECTS AS YOU CAN OF
THE CIVIL WAR
“Burnt Richmond”
“Lincoln’s Procession”
“Locomotive Ruins”
in Petersburg/Richmond
EFFECTS OF CIVIL WAR

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Human toll of the Civil War: The North lost 364,000
soldiers. The South lost 260,000 soldiers.
creation of a single unified country
abolition of slavery-13th Amendment Dec 6th,
1865
increased power of fed. gov't
U.S. now an industrial nation
a stronger sense of nationalism
w. lands increasingly opened to settlement
a deep hatred of the North remained..
South was economically and physically
devastated

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the plantation system crippled
War destroyed 2/3 of South’s shipping industry +
9,000 miles of railroad.
The struggles in the South
By the end of the Civil War…
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Black Southerners began lives as newly freedmen in
a poor region with slow economic activity.
Plantation owners lost slave labor worth $3 billion.
Poor white Southerners: job competition due to
newly freedmen.
What are the BIG, KEY
questions that would have to be
answered following the Civil War?
Now that the Union won the war,
what issues are they going to be
faced with?
Key Questions
1. How do we
bring the South
back into the
Union?
Pardon or punish?
2. How do we
rebuild the
South?
4. What branch
of government
should control
the process of
Reconstruction?
3. How do we
integrate and
protect newlyemancipated
black freedmen?
Reconstruction
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When? 1865 to 1877
By Who? The federal government will carry
it out
Purpose? To create a plan that would
repair the damage to the South and restore
the southern states to the Union.
How Lincoln tries to answer the questions

1863 he issues the Proclamation of
Amnesty and Reconstruction


He outlined his plan on reunion
This plan was called the “10 Percent Plan”
Lincoln’s 10% Plan
In order to be “re-admitted” into the
Union:
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Confederate Governments had to disband
A pardon would be issued to any Confederate
who would take an oath of loyalty to the United
States, and accept the federal policy on slavery
(which was that slavery would be abolished).
Pardons denied to high-ranking Confederate officers
and gov’t officials
 Pardons denied to southerners who had killed African
American War prisoners

Once 10 % of 1860 eligible voters are
pardoned states would then…


hold a constitutional convention, for the
purpose of creating a new state constitution
(which would have to conform to the
Constitution of the United States).
hold elections and resume full participation in
the Union.

No former leaders of Confederacy or high
ranking officers could be a part of the new
government
**Once “readmitted”, Lincoln would protect
their property, not their slaves!
Lincoln’s plan was forgiving

In Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
March, 1865, he said the following:
“With malice toward none, with charity for all,
...let us strive on to finish the work we are in,
...to do all which may achieve and cherish a just
and lasting peace among ourselves and with all
nations.”
Was Lincoln’s Plan a Success?

1864- 3 states under Union
occupation set up governments
under the plan

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Louisiana, Arkansas, and
Tennessee
Once representative were
chosen for Congress

CONGRESS REJECTED THEM
Those who were unhappy with
Lincoln’s Plans became known as
the Radical Republicans


Lincoln was too lenient on the south and the
south needed to be punished
saw it as a threat to their Congressional
Authority.

It’s Congress’s job to make laws, not the
president’s!
Lincoln “should confine himself to his executive duties—
to obey and execute, not make the laws…and leave
political reorganization to Congress.”
Thaddeus Stevens:
Leading radical in the
House
Charles Sumner:
Leading radical in the
Senate
They created the following plan...
Wade-Davis Bill (1864)
 Required the majority, over 50%, of number
voters to take an “iron clad” oath of
allegiance (swearing they had never
voluntarily aided the rebellion ).
 Required a state constitutional convention.
 banned former Confederates from holding
public office
Congressman
Henry
W. Davis
(R-MD)
 New state Constitutions had to accept
Emancipation
 Gave newly freedmen civil liberties EXCEPT
the right to vote
 Promised to redistribute southern land
Senator
Benjamin
Wade
(R-OH)
What happened to the WadeDavis Bill?

Lincoln let the bill die in a pocket veto.

How does a pocket veto occur?


Typically, if president does not sign bill within
10 days it automatically becomes law
But….if Congress adjourns/leaves within those
10 days and is not signed then it does not
become law
How a bill is passed
Congress creates a law
Congress votes on law (majority)
President of U.S.
Yes
Pocket Veto
President ignores
10 days Congress goes
into recess bill “dies”
Veto (no)
Congress
2/3 vote
override
Why use a pocket veto?
Re-elections are
coming up
 Doesn’t get
accused of saying
“No”
 Can’t go back to
Congress for 2/3
override

Freedmen’s Bureau

Created by Congress March, 1865 to help black
and poor white southerners adjust to freedom

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Offers clothing, medical supplies, and food to war
refugees
Built schools, offered teacher training…
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Over 250,000 African Amer students received their first
former education through the Bureau schools.
Created job opportunities
redistributed additional confiscated land to former
slaves and poor whites..

leased 40acres could purchase later
How were things left before
Lincoln was assassinated?
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No decisions were made
At the end of the Civil War, in the spring
of 1865…
Lincoln and Congress were on the brink of a
political showdown with their competing
plans for Reconstruction…….and then….
Lincoln’s hopes of forgiveness end
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Weeks after his Second Inauguration, April 14,
1865, Lincoln was assassinated at the Ford’s
Theater by John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth, an actor and Confed soldier
plotted with others to first kidnap Lincoln and
exchange him for prisoners. Failed
Vice President Andrew Johnson replaced
Lincoln as President
O Captain! My Captain!
MAKE A T-CHART ON THE
FOLLOWING AND INCLUDE 10
NOTES FOR EACH
JOHNSON’S ACTIONS/BELIEFS
CONGRESS’S/BELIEFS ACTIONS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJLBrD
STgng
Restoration

Johnson’s plan would grant amnesty to
most Southerners once they swore loyalty
to the Union
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High-ranking Confederates could be pardoned only by
appealing to the president…why?
Could hold constitutional conventions
without Lincoln’s 10%-no requirement
States could hold elections and rejoin
Union if…
 denounced secession
 And ratified the 13th amendment
(Abolished slavery in the US)
 AND repudiate(reject) Confederate debt
Under Johnson’s Administration

HE:
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Believed “white men alone must manage
the South
Opposed equal rights for African Americans
As State Governments were restored…
Confederates recently pardoned
quickly passed laws severely restricting
African Americans newly found freedom.
 This allowed….

Black Codes

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Enacted black codes, laws
that restricted freedmen’s
rights.
The black codes established
virtual slavery with
provisions such as these:
Black Codes:
to regulate social & economic lives
CANNOT
CAN
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Marry Blacks
Sue in court
Own property
Go to school
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Serve on a jury
Carry a weapon
Testify against Whites
Marry Whites
Stay out after sunset
Travel w/o permit
Own a business
Commit Vagrancy
Live in urban areas
Northern Republicans in
Congress ANGERED by Codes

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Mad that southerners defied goal of
Reconstruction
Blamed President Johnson for the return
of southern democratic power
Powers Congress used to
change this problem
1)
2)
Amended the constitution.
If vetoed by Johnson, they
would override it!
Civil Rights Bill of 1866
1. Give Blacks
citizenship
2. Forbid the
passing of
discriminatory
laws
--This outlawed THE BLACK CODES--
Congress Breaks with the President
 Joint Committee on
Reconstruction created.
 February, 1866  President
vetoed the Freedmen’s
Bureau bill.
 March, 1866  Johnson
vetoed the 1866 Civil Rights Act.
 Congress overrides Johnson’s
vetoes! Passed both bills over
Johnson’s vetoes  1st
U. S. history!!
in
The Fourteenth Amendment

Ratifed July 1868, Congress passed the
Fourteenth Amendment, which states:
“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… of citizens of the United States… nor shall any State
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due
process of the law …”

Made protection of Civil Rights part of the Constitution
Johnson’s Response
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Continued to oppose equal rights for
African Americans.
Urged states not to ratify the 14th
Amendment
Angry Northern Voters Respond
to Johnson’s Stupidity
Johnson is going down….
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Elect Radical Republicans into office
Now Radicals could put their own
Reconstruction Plans into action!
The Reconstruction Act of 1867
Split up South into 5 military districts
Quiz
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3 differences about Lincoln’s, Johnson’s
and Rad Rep of 1867 Plan
Fill in total of 5 similarities
Lincoln’s Plan
If they had 3 out of the following 5 bullets =100%
Minus 2 pts each one they miss
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Didn’t pardon high-ranking military and
gov’t officials
Didn’t pardon Confederates who killed Af
Amer POWS
10% of voters must be pardoned to hold
Const Convention and elections
Protected Southern property/land
No confed leaders in new gov’t
Johnson’s Plan
If they have 3 of the following 4 bullets then 100%
Minus 2 pts each one they miss
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All could be pardoned
If high rank then humiliated
Could hold Constitutional Conventions
without any requirements
For elections: Had to void secession,
abolish slavery, and repudiate debt
Most lenient plan
Radical Reconstruction Plan
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Divided South into 5 military districts
Each district ruled by a northern general
All qualified males could vote, including
African Americans
Those who supported Confederacy could
not vote
Southern States must guarantee equal
rights for all
Ratify the 14th amendment.
Punished the South
Similarities between Lincoln and
Radical Republicans
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Limitations or Restrictions on Confederates
Similarities between Lincoln and
Johnson
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Didn’t include Civil Liberties/rights
Had restrictions on high-ranking
Confederates
Gave pardons
Made confeds sign oath of allegiance
BOTH LENIENT
Similarities Between All
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Created new state Constitutions
Ratify the 13th amendment
Goal was to rebuild the South
All held elections
SCORE Venn Diagram ___/28

2PTS FOR EACH BULLET YOU GET
RIGHT!
Total: 3 differences per plan = 18pts
Total of 5 Similarities = 10pts
Important men Johnson better watch out for
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Thaddeus Stevens: a
Pennsylvania Congressman, led the
Radical charge that would threaten
to bring down Johnson.
Charles Sumner: Founder of the
Republicans and sought voting
right for all blacks.
Edwin Stanton: Secretary of War
and friends of the Radicals, would
control military rule over the south
Bad
Mr. President

In response to the Reconstruction Act of
1867 and not wanting a Radical to control
the South, Johnson fired Secretary of
War, Edwin Stanton, without Senate
consent
 He was said to have violated the
Tenure of Office Act passed by
congress in 1867
Tenure of Office Act

A president may not replace a gov’t
official who was appointed with the
advice and consent of the Senate
without the Senate’s approval.
which places limits on the President’s
powers of who he can hire and fire b/c
he needed Senate approval
February 24, 1868 with of vote of 126 to 47,
Johnson was impeached - charged with
wrongdoing in the office–-by the House of
Representatives.
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The Senate Trial
 11 week trial.
 Johnson acquitted
35 to 19 (one short of
required 2/3s vote).
"Shall I Trust These Men, And Not This Man?"
“He won the battle but lost the
war”


Johnson served the remaining months of
his term with no mandate and no real
power.
In the following election of 1868, he
was defeated by Ulysses S. Grant.
The Fifteenth Amendment +
Impact


In February 1869, Congress passed the
Fifteenth Amendment, granted all men
eligible to vote including, Arican
American male. Ratified March 1870
During state elections angry white
southern voters stayed home to protest
blacks having the right to vote
increase in black representation in the
government.
Blackmen elected into office!
 In
1870, southern black men voted in
legislative elections for the first time.
 More than 600 African Americans
were elected to state legislature
 Louisiana gained a black governor
 Hiram Revels of Mississippi became
the first African American elected to
the Senate.
 Ironically,
he replaced Jefferson Davis
The Republican South
During Radical Reconstruction, the Republican Party
was split into two groups who both wanted to prosper in
Scalawags
Carpetbaggers the south.
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(“scrawny cattle”).
Northern Republicans
who moved South
 Supported
Nickname came from
Reconstruction
arriving with a cheap
 Some were small
suitcase made from
farmers who
carpet scraps.
resented the planter
Carpetbaggers were
often depicted as greedy class.
men seeking to grab
 Many scalawags, but
power or make a fast
not all, were poor.
buck.
SCALAWAGS
CARPETBAGGERS
Southernern
Northernern
Republicans
Republicans
Wanted to end Slavery Liked the warm Climate
Wanted to
Looking for Adventure
Industrialize
Wanted to start
Considered Traitors
Business
Wanted to get Elected Wanted to end Slavery
With the end of slavery,
what would happen to
southern agriculture?
Crop-Lien and Cash Crops

Crop-Lien: a credit
system-crops for
housing, food,
clothes, etc…


Lien = loan
If crops failed
then..IN DEBT

Emphasis on Cash
Crops: planters
encouraged to grow
cash crops, such as
cotton, tobacco, corn.
and sugar cane.

The South had to import
much of its food.

Sharecropping
The most common new farming arrangement
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Sharecropping family would farm a portion of planter’s
land (~10acres)
In exchange, the sharecropper gave 1/3 of his crop
Planter usually provided housing, tools, mule, seeds
for another 1/3 of crop
Planters owned the land so told them what to
plant….CASH CROPS
After giving planter 1/3-2/3rds of his crop, planter had
little left to make income
Lacked incentive
Sharecroppers were stuck until paid off debt + interest
Tenant farming

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If a sharecropper could save enough
money, he could then become a Tenant
farmer!
Rented land and could grow what he
wanted
SHARECROPPING TENANT FARMING
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Mainly Freedmen
in South
Work on a portion
of planter’s land
Keep 1/3-1/2 of
yield
Provided food,
shelter, clothing,
seeds, and farm
equipment at a
price
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Mainly poor, white
southerners
Rented land
After paying rent,
kept the rest of his
earnings
Chose which crops
to plant
Chose when they
wanted to work
2 impacts on South due to
changes on farming
Could the South be like the Industrialized
North?

Southern cities did become more
industrialized but never there bc

One problem: The items were shipped
north to be made into finished products
and sold.
 Ex:
Cotton: The value went from 713,000 in
1860 to 3mill in 1880


BUT the big profit went to the northern
factories who dyed the fabric and sold the
finished product.
southern factories handled the earlier, less
profitable stages of manufacturing.
Funding Reconstruction

The South’s Need:
Rebuilding the
South’s
infrastructure,
the public property
and services that a
society uses,


Roads, bridges,
canals, railroads,
and telegraph lines
public school
systems by 1872.

How to fulfill that need:
Congress, private
investors, and heavy taxe
paid for Reconstruction.
Spending in debt by
$130mill.

Much of this big spending
was lost to corruption. The
corruption became so
widespread that it even
reached the White House.
Secret
Societies
Form
Terrorism emerges
The Ku Klux Klan emerges



In 1866 a group of former Confederate
soldiers of Pulaski, TN formed a secret
society.
Named Ku Klux Klan after the Greek word
“Klukos” meaning circle.
Dressed in masks and robes to symbolize
the dead confederate soldiers who
returned from the dead in search of their
enemies of the south.
Ku Klux Klan
 GOAL:

Opposed unions and supported
prohibition
“felt threatened by changes in American
society”
In 1868 killed 1000 just from Louisiana.


to keep out “foreigners”
1867-elected
Nathan Bedford
Forrest as leader
LYNCHING
Why was it done?
 Used as a scare tactic
 Existence of a racist environment
 Permissive government
LYNCHING
1880 – 1950 = 5,000 killed with 70% being Black
1880 = 23 people every 2 ½ days
Heaviest in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama,
Lousiana and Arkansas –
What do they all have in common?
Not restricted to South – for example:
Zacharia Walker 1911 – Coatesville, PA
The Government responds to
violence
THE FORCE ACTS
 A series of four acts passed by Republican
Reconstruction supporters May 31, 187075
 Purpose: protect the constitutional rights
guaranteed to blacks by the 14th and 15th
Enforcement Act of 1870


One of the four Force Acts
What is said: banned the use of terror,
force, or bribery to prevent people from
voting bc of their race
Enforcement Act


Purpose: protected blacks' right to vote,
hold office, serve on juries, and receive
equal protection of laws.
How? Declare martial law, impose heavy
penalties against terrorist groups, use
military force to suppress the KKK
Leading up to the end of
Reconstruction and the
Compromise of 1877

For question 32, change the date from
1872 to 1877 and include the following as
answers:




White supremacy
Violence
Corruption within the gov’t
Compromise of 1877 restore all power back to
democrats (read next 2 slides for more!)
Reconstruction fades away

Republican Rutherford B Hayes ran
against Dem Samuel J Tilden

Tilden received majority of popular votes
 It
appeared he received majority of electoral
BUT 20 disputed electoral votes

20 disputed votes: bc federal troops still in
a few states so Republicans controlled
voting
Compromise of 1877

North-South Compromise

Give Hayes the votes and Hayes will
become president….. IF….
 the
North will pull federal troops out of
South,
 give confed general a seat in his cabinet,
 support federal aid for economic and
railroad development in the south,
 allow southerners to handle race relations
themselves.
Compromise of 1877


Support appropriations for building levees
along Mississippi River and give huge
subsidies to railrd
Marked the end of Reconstruction, giving
Democrats control of Southern politics
Many people question whether
or not Reconstruction was a
success or a failure?



What were the successes?
What were the failures?
Do you think Reconstruction was more of
a success or failure?
Quick Overview
Enforcement Acts … to stop the Secret Societies
1. Federal supervision of elections
2. Pres. to declare martial law in areas of Klan
But then, the
Amnesty Act
Redemption
begins
** Freedmen’s Bureau dies
out…
** The Klan dies out...
Hayes (R) vs. Tilden (D)
1876
•
•
•
•
•
Dispute over 4 states
D. scared away R. voters
R. threw away D. votes
Polls showed Hayes won
Should have been Tilden
Hayes could remain
in office if…
Two goals of Reconstruction
 Unify
the North and South
 Equality
for Freedmen
Where these goals achieved???
1
9
4
2
Lincoln’s
plan
Reconstruction Plans
* Denied pardons
to officers and
anyone who had
killed African
American war
prisoners.
* Offered
pardons to
Southerners
who swore
allegiance
* States could
* Permitted each
then hold
state to create a
new constitution elections
and rejoin
after 10 percent
the Union.
of voters took an
oath of
allegiance.
Johnson’s
plan
* Each state could
create a new
constitution
without Lincoln’s
10 percent
allegiance
requirement.
* States had to
void secession,
abolish slavery,
and repudiate the
Confederate debt.



Lincoln’s 10% Plan
Pardons were issued to any Confederate who
would take an oath of loyalty to the US
Pardons denied to high-ranking Confederate
officers and gov’t officials or southerners who had
killed African American War prisoners
Once 10 % of 1860 eligible voters are pardoned
states would then…
 Hold constitutional convention, to create a new state
constitution based on US Constitution



Must include abolishing slavery
hold elections and resume participation in Union.

No former leaders of Confederacy or high ranking
officers could be a part of the new government
*Once “readmitted”, Lincoln would protect their property, not
their slaves!

Johnson’s plan would grant amnesty to
most Southerners once they swore loyalty
to the Union



High-ranking Confederates could be pardoned only by
appealing to the president…why?
Could hold constitutional conventions
without Lincoln’s 10%-no requirement
States could hold elections and rejoin
Union if…
 denounced secession
 And ratified the 13th amendment
(Abolished slavery in the US)
 AND repudiate(reject) Confederate debt
The Reconstruction Act of 1867
Put Southern states under military rule
1. 5 districts each run by northern general
2. Southern states would have to create new state
constitutions.
3. Suffrage for all men
4. Supporters of the Confederacy were temporarily
barred from voting and therefore run for elections.
5. Southern states were required to guarantee equal
rights to all citizens.
6. All states were required to ratify the 13th and 14th
Amendments.
1.