EOC Review
Reconstruction Review
The 13th Amendment
The 14th Amendment
o Despite reluctantly acceding to the core requirements
for readmission to the Union, many of the former
Confederate states began passing laws – the so-called
"Black Codes" – that disenfranchised the former
slaves economically and politically. This drove the
Republicans who controlled Congress to undertake
stronger measures to impose their will on the
defeated Southern states. The first of these came in
the form of the 14th Amendment, a more detailed
set of restrictions on the states than either of the
other Civil War amendments.
o "All persons born or naturalized in the United States,
and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of
the United States and the State wherein they
reside."
o
Section 1: No state may abridge the privileges and immunities of any of its citizens, or deny them due
process of law or equal protection of the laws.
o
Section 2: When any state denies the right to vote at any election to any of its male citizens of voting
age, its representation in elections for national offices will be reduced in the same proportion. (Basically,
if a state excludes African Americans, then it will be given proportionally fewer seats in the U.S. House of
Representatives and fewer votes in the presidential electoral college.)
o
Section 3: No person who has engaged in or supported insurrection or rebellion against the United
States may hold public office.
o
Section 4: All debts incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States and all
compensation claims made for emancipation of any slave will be held as illegal and void.
o Congress proposed the 14th Amendment on June 13, 1866. More than two years
later on July 28, 1868 the U.S. Secretary of State certified that it had been ratified
by twenty-eight of the thirty-seven states. In the intervening time, the
Congressional elections of 1866 added to the strength of the Republicans, giving
them the two-thirds majority in both houses of Congress needed to override any
presidential veto. The Republicans began the new session in March 1867 by
passing additional reconstruction laws (over President Johnson's veto),
inaugurating a new period of much firmer treatment of the South known as the
Radical Reconstruction. Congress divided the South into military districts and
required the states to adopt new constitutions, provide for black suffrage, and
ratify the (still un-ratified) 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment
For the Past 150 years since
its ratification, this
Amendment has frequently
been used to stop states from
treating some of its citizens
differently, and thus worse,
than the majority of its
citizens.
The 15th Amendment
o Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United
States to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on
account of race, color, or previous condition
of servitude.
o Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
This unsigned Harper’s Weekly cartoon shows an
elated black man casting his vote under the authority
of the Fifteenth Amendment, as he shoos away the
irritating "flies" of states which voted against its
ratification.
In the early years of the American republic, free black
men had been able to vote in some Northern states. In
the first half of the 19th century, though, states
removed property requirements for voting as they
applied to white men, but kept or increased those or
other restrictions on the voting rights of black men.
With the abolition of slavery in 1865, voting rights for
black men became an important and controversial
political issue. In the spring of 1867, Congress required
the former Confederate states to enact black manhood
suffrage as a stipulation for readmission to the Union.
With 10-15% of the white electorate disfranchised for
past Confederate affiliation, black men made up the
majority of voters in several Southern states, with 7090% casting ballots. They were the key Republican
constituency in the South. In the North, black men
could vote only in four Midwestern states and five of
the six New England states (not Connecticut).
The 15th
Amendment
10 Years to Rebuild USA
oRadical Republicans Rush to Rehabilitate Rebels
for Readmission to Republic
o States
o Individuals
o 14th & 15th Amendments
oConquered South Divided
o 5 military districts
o Carpetbaggers
o Scalawags
Congress vs. The President
oCongress = Radical Republicans
o Rejected Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural
o “With malice towards none . . .”
o Passed Wade-Davis “50% Iron-Clad Oath” bill
o Desire to punish South
o Wanted to grant blacks the right to vote
o Lincoln vetoed bill in favor of a 10% loyalty plan
oAndrew Johnson was a loyal Southerner
oLincoln assassinated & replaced by Johnson in ’65
oWanted to forgive most rebels and repudiate the
South’s war debts
oImpeached, but escaped conviction by 1 vote!
Congress vs. The President
oCongress = Radical Republicans
o Rejected Lincoln’s 2nd Inaugural
o “With malice towards none . . .”
o Desire to punish South
o Wanted to grant blacks the right to vote
o Lincoln vetoed bill in favor of a 10% loyalty plan
oAJ was a loyal Southerner
oLincoln assassinated & replaced by Johnson in ’65
o Wanted to forgive most rebels and repudiate the
South’s war debts
o Impeached, but escaped conviction by 1 vote!
Post-Slavery South
o13th, 14th & 15th Amendments
oBlack Codes
oShare Cropping
oKKK
oHayes/Tilden Election of 1876
oCompromise of 1877
oReconstruction Ends
oWhites regain supremacy
Reconstruction Wrap Up
o Successes
o Former slaves get citizenship and equal
protection under the laws by the 14th
amendment.
o 15th Amendment grants black men the
right to vote.
o Union was restored and federal
government is supreme.
o Freedmen’s Bureau established to assist
freed slaves.
o African Americans can own property.
o 40 Acres & a Mule?
o Some Southerners try to modernize a
New South by promoting industry.
Failures
o States pass laws forcing citizens to
pass literacy tests, pay poll taxes ,
or prove a relative had voted in
the past in order to vote.
o Jim Crow laws segregated blacks
and whites.
o KKK terrorized African Americans
to reassert white social, economic
and political supremacy.
o Former slaves forced into
permanent debt through the
sharecropping system.
The American West
o 1865-1890
Manifest Destiny Defined:
The belief that Americans were destined by God
to expand from coast to coast. This concept was
used as a justification for westward expansion.
Factors in Settling the West
Role of the Physical Environment
Role of the Federal Government
Role of “Big Business” like Railroads
Role of Native Americans
Role of the Individual Settler (Miners, Ranchers,
Farmers, etc)
The Physical Environment
The “West” is difficult to define, but most use the Mississippi River
as a dividing line between East and West
The West has a diverse physical environment: vast plains, arid
deserts, rugged mountains, lush valleys, and thick forests
Land and natural resources were abundant in the West
Lack of water and difficulty in accessing the natural resources are
problems faced by those that settled there
The lure of the physical environment drove people west, and also
made life difficult for many who settled in the west
The Federal Government
After the Civil War, the Federal Government promoted
settlement of the West
The Federal Government was, and still is, the largest
landowner in the West: several important laws were passed
like the Homestead Act of 1862 that sold cheap land to
settlers if they lived and improved on it for five years
The Federal Government passed laws like the National
Reclamation Act of 1902 to aid in irrigation of arid farmland
The Federal Government aided in Railroad construction and
removed Native Americans
Examples of homesteads
Big Business: The Railroads
The Railroads were essential in the settlement of
the West
The Transcontinental Railroad, begun during the
Civil War, became an artery for travel out west and
for products coming back east
The Federal Government gave land grants to
railroads, which they could then sell, in order to
help finance their construction
Native Americans were highly opposed to the
building of these permanent “iron roads.”
The Transcontinental Railroad
Role of Native Americans
Native Americans were largely considered
“savages” who did not use land efficiently
Major conflicts erupted as settlers broke
previous treaties and moved into the hunting
grounds of plains Indians like the Sioux
Key Events:The Battle of Little Bighorn,
Massacre at Wounded Knee, Trail of Tears
Dawes Severalty Act of 1887 created the
modern reservation system and tried to
assimilate Native Americans into “modern”
society.
Role of Miners, Ranchers, and Farmers
Miners were one of the first groups to travel west in search of
gold and silver: major strikes such as in California led to a “gold
rush” in 1849
Role of Miners, Ranchers, and Farmers
Ranchers capitalized on access to railroads and high demand for
beef; cattle drives from Texas north to places like Abilene, KS
popularized cowboys and “buffalo soldiers.” The invention of
barbed wire and increasing numbers of homesteads ended this
era by 1880’s.
Role of Miners, Ranchers, and Farmers
Homesteading farmers traveling west in covered wagon trains
struggled at times to break the prairie sod, gain access to capital,
deal with a lack of water and improve the land. A “populist
movement” of small farmers developed in the 1890‘s. Massive
“bonanza farms” were a stark contrast to these small 160 acre
plots.
The Closing of the Frontier
o Historian Frederick Jackson Turner claimed the frontier closed in 1890
(2 people per square mile) and wrote about its significance.
o The Turner Thesis:
o “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the
advance of American settlement westward, explain American development.”
o The Turner Thesis claimed that the development of the frontier as
settlers moved west created and spread democratic values: in other
words, there is a material condition for democracy to exist.
o Critics of Turner claim his history does not include women, African
Americans, or Spanish-Americans, focuses too heavy on individualism
and ignores aspects of communalism, and glosses over the
destruction of Native American life.
o These historians focus on the “Three C’s” of the West:
o Continuity, Convergence, and Conquest.
The Gilded Age
America’s Industrial Growth
After the Civil War
To be “Gilded”
o to cover with Gold
o to provide an attractive but deceptive external
appearance
o Mark Twain The Gilded Age (1873)
o time period of big business, materialism and
major political corruption
Big Business
o North won Civil War - won govt. support
for business
o Examples:
1. low taxes
2. few laws – environment, labor, etc.
3. cheap loans
o Increased gap between rich and poor
o Companies became very powerful,
influential
Two business models
Vertical Integration
•Andrew Carnegie and U.S. Steel •bought companies that all contributed to a final product
Horizontal Integration
•John D. Rockefeller and Standard Oil
•bought all competing companies that made the same thing
Andrew Carnegie’s Vertical Integration
of the U.S. Steel Industry
$2.00
$1.75
$1.50
$1.50
Paul’s
goodtime
juice
$1.25
$1.00
Economic growth
o During the Gilded Age, the economy grew
quickly
o However, it benefited a small minority; not
everyone was happy - therefore, the Progressive Era
o Immigration - constant labor supply of workers
o Urbanization - people continued to move to
cities
Social Darwinism
Darwin: natural selection
survival of the fittest?
fit - live in an environment
Social Darwinism: applied Darwin’s scientific ideas to society
•Suggested human society evolved via competition
•no government involvement
•conquer former colonies / evidence of advancement
The Labor Movement
o Workers were not happy (conditions, pay,
etc.), so they wanted to join together to UNIONS
form
o Owners did not like workers to join together in
unions because it would take away from their
profits
o Conflict in American society: CAPITALISM vs. LABOR
Owners vs. Workers