CHAPTER
16 Reconstruction
1865—1877
Restoring a Divided Nation
What were the differences between
Lincoln’s and Johnson’s plan for
Reconstruction and the congressional
plan?
VOCABUlARY
Reconstruction
Lincoln-Johnson
plan
Reconstruction
Act of 1867
impeach
From Tailor to President
Persons vis
iting Andrew Johnson’s tailoring shop in
Greeneville, Tennessee, in the early 1830s
could see the stocky, broad-shouldered tai
lor sitting cross-legged as he sewed. An
drew Johnson had crossed the mountains
to live in eastern Tennessee when he was
17. There he met Eliza McCardle, who was
15 years old at the time. The two were
married the following year.
Those early years were hard ones as
Johnson struggled to make a living for
himself and his family in his Greeneville
tailoring shop. He was ambitious and a
hard worker. At first, however, his lack of
education held him back. He couid read
only a little and was unable to write more
than his name. Anything beyond the sim
plest arithmetic was a mystery to him.
Eliza Mccardle Johnson helped her
husband in his tailoring shop. But she
helped him with more than his sewing.
She taught him to write. As he sewed, she
read to him. In the evenings she worked to
improve his knowledge of mathematics.
Andrew Johnson began his political
career as a friend to working people.
First, he was mayor of Greeneville. Later,
he became a member of the Tennessee leg
islature, a United States representative, a
governor, and a senator. After the Union
army’s advance into Tennessee in 1862,
Abraham Lincoln made Johnson military
governor of that state. During his whole
career, Andrew Johnson upheld the Union
and opposed the aristocratic slaveholders
of the Southern states. Johnson was cho
sen as Lincoln’s Vice President in 1864.
Some Important Questions
Histo
rians call the years from 1865 to 1877 the
time of Reconstruction. These were the
years in which the United States had to
rebuild and restore a divided nation.
Reconstruction raised a number of
questions. How could the Confederate
states be restored to the Union? How
could the war damage to the South be re
paired? How could 4 million slaves be
helped as free persons? Who would con
trol the Reconstruction process —the
President or Congress?
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Cotton plantations were the basis of the southern economy before the
Civil War. After the Civil War the South’s economy needed to be rebuilt or
reconstructed.
• When did Reconstruction end?
392
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********* CHAPTER 15 REVIEW *********
MAIN IDEAS
1. In the Civil War the goal of the North was to
preserve the Union. and the goal of the
South was to achieve independence.
2. The war that began at Fort Sumter in 1861
lasted 4 years.
3. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by
Lincoln in 1863, freed no slaves immediately
but resulted in the enlistment of about
200,000 black soldiers in the Union army.
The Emancipation Proclamation freed only
those slaves living in the states that were in
rebellion with the United States.
4. The battle of Gettysburg is considered the
turning point of the war because Lee and his
army retreated to Virginia.
5. In the presidential election of 1861, Lincoln
faced opposition from Peace Democrats and
Radical Republicans.
6. The warended in 1865 with the surrender of
General Lee to General Grant at Appomat
lox Court House.
7. The Civil War resulted in a tremendous
number of casualties for both sides, and it
left the South in economic ruin.
VOcABUlARY REVIEW
On a separate sheet of paper. write the letter of
the best ending for each statement.
1. The border states (a) bordered on the Gulf of
Mexico, (b) included Virginia. c) remained
within the Union, cd) joined the Confederacy
2. The Emancipation Proclamation applied to
(a) only those states still in rebellion against
the United States, (b) all states in which
slavery was legal, (c) the border states, (d)
only Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia.
3. The Anaconda Plan included (a) a naval
blockade of Confederate ports, (b) releasing
snakes in the Appalachian Mountains of the
South, (c) a refusal to invade Virginia, (d) all
these things.
4. Draft acts (a) took place in the Union but
not in the Confederacy, (b) took place in
both the Union and the Confederacy,
e) were welcomed in both the Union and the
Confederacy, d) were fair to rich and poor
alike.
5. A greenback was (a) a rookie soldier. (b) an
old gold coin, fç) a Confederate sympathizen
d) a piece of Union paper money.
CHAPTER CHECKUP
1. Compare the goals of the Union and the Con
federacy at the beginning of the war.
2. Why were the border states important dur
ing the Civil War?
3. During what years were the Confederates
most successful in the war?
4. Why did the Confederacy expect aid from
Great Britain or France?
5. Why was the Civil War criticized as “a rich
man’s war and a poor man’s fight”?
6. How was the Civil War different from earlier
wars fought in the United States?
7. Why was Lincoln able to win the election of
1864?
8. Thinking Critically Do you think Lincoln
was right in trying to save the Union? Why
or why not?
9. Thinking Critically Why do you think it
has been written that the South died from
an overdose of states’ rights?
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE
1. Make a chart listing the advantages and dis
advantages the North and the South faced
during the Civil War. Which do you think
was most important in helping the North to
win the war? Explain.
2. After doing research, prepare either a writ
ten or an oral report on one of the following
topics:
Famous Generals of the Confederacy
Famous Generals of the Union
Women and the War
The War on the Water
Photography During the War
Medicine and the War
Black Soldiers in the War
391
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P ECO N STPUCTIO N
The Lincoln-Johnson PLan
In 1863,
Lincoln had announced his plan for restor
ing the Union. The first. step, according to
the President’s plan, was for a certain
number of men in a Confederate state to
take an oath of allegiance to the Union.
This number was to be 10 percent of the
number that. had voted in that state in the
election of 1860. Persons taking the oath
of allegiance pledged themselves to sup
port the Constitution of the United
States. They agreed to obey laws passed
by the United States Congress and to honor
the President’s proclamations on slavery.
When the 10 percent had taken the oath of
allegiance, they could organize a state gov
ernment. The President would then rec
ognize it as the true and loyal government
of that state.
When Andrew Johnson became Presi
dent, he followed the 10 percent plan with
some additions. The state governments
formed under the plan had to repeal their
secession acts. They had to promise that
they would make no attempt to pay the
Confederate war debt Finally, they had to
ratify the proposed Thirteenth Amend
ment to the Constitution, which said: “Nei
ther slavery nor involuntary servitude,
except as a punishment for crime whereof
the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction.” (See
page 21L)
One by one, governments in the former
Confederate states carried out the require
ments of the Lincoln-Johnson plan. By
late fall in 1865, the amendment outlawing
slavery had been ratified, and all H states
had been restored to the Union.
of the United States.
Congress Objects
But Congress had
its own ideas about Reconstruction. Some
Republican members thought the LincolnJohnson plan was too easy on the South.
They noted that the old Confederate states,
You can see the shattered ruins of a flour mill in Richmond, Virginia, the
Confederate capital, shortly after the end of the Civil War.
• How would such total destruction make it difficult for the South to
recover from the war’s effects?
394
This enti
tled them to elect members to the Congress
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After the Civil War, freed slaves faced many obstacles as they tried to
become part of the community.
• What kind of problems are the black Americans facing hi this picture?
acting under the Johnson plan, had chosen
as their representatives some of the very
people who had been leaders of the rebel
lion. These included six former members
of the Confederate Congress. Perhaps it
was understandable that Southern voters
would select as leaders the people who had
led them in the past. But were former
Confederates now to be welcomed into the
United States Congress? Were they to be
permitted to share in making laws, as
though nothing had happened in the pre
ceding 4 years?
Moreover, the newly elected represen
tatives and senators from the South were all
Democrats. If they were to join the North
ern Democrats already in Congress, the
Republican party would lose its majority
—and its control of Congress. Republi
cans were determined to prevent this.
The strongest congressional opposi
tion to the Lincoln-Johnson plan came
from a group known as the Radical Repub
licans. Their goal was to make good at last
on the words of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, “that all men are created
equal.” They wanted to raise the freed
slaves to full legal equality with whites.
This meant that blacks would have the
right to vote, would enjoy full civil rights,
and would be free from all racial discrimi
nation. Such a sweeping change in South
ern society would not be possible, they
knew, under the Johnson plan.
Thus, when the newly elected repre
sentatives and senators from the former
Confederate states arrived in Washington
in December 1865, Congress refused to
seat them. Instead, the Republicans in
Congress offered their own program for
restoring the Southern states to the
Union. Under the Republican plan, it
would be much harder for the Confederate
states to resume their places in the Union.
For one thing, the Republican congres
sional plan required the seceded states to
approve the Fourteenth Amendment, as
well as the Thirteenth, before reentering
the Union.
The Fourteenth Amendment in its
first section made all persons born or natu
ralized in the United States “citizens of the
395
RECONSTRUCTION
14
17th President
1865 • 1869
Born: 1808, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Education: Largely self-educated.
Training: Tailor, public official.
To presidency from: Tennessee.
Position when taking office: Vice President.
Political party: Democratic, but elected Vice President on
the ticket of the wartime Union party.
Married: Eliza McCardle.
Children: Three sons, two daughters.
Died: 1875, Carter Station, Tennessee.
Other facts: Apprenticed to a tailor at the age of 13. Mar
ried at 18 and taught to write by his wife. The only South
ern senator who refused to secede with his state. The only
President who was impeached. Later became the only
former President to serve as a senator.
During his presidency: The United States purchased
Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million.
United States and of the state wherein they
reside.” The first section also prohibited
any state from taking away “privileges or
immunities” of citizens of the United
States. Nor could any state deny to per
sons within its borders “the equal protec
tion of the laws:’ Clearly, this section of
the Fourteenth Amendment was designed
to make black people who were born in the
United States citizens. Furthermore, the
Fourteenth Amendment attempted to pro
tect them from illegal actions by states or
individuals. Thus the amendment was
one attempt to help the former slaves in
their new status as free people.
Other parts of the Fourteenth Amend
ment were directed more against Southern
Democrats. The second section said that
the number of members a state had in Con
gress could be reduced if that state did not
allow any of its adult male citizens the
right to vote. In its third section, the Four
teenth Amendment stated that those who
had held offices in the South before the war
could no longer serve in government if they
had taken part in the rebellion, The
396
amendment also said that the United
States war debt would be paid. However,
the Confederate war debt would not be
paid. Finally, under the terms of the Four
teenth Amendment to the Constitution, no
one who had held slaves would ever be paid
for their loss.
Johnson
and
Congress
Struggle
President Johnson advised the 11 former
Confederate states to reject the Fourteenth
Amendment. He particularly opposed the
section barring former Southern office
holders from again holding office if they
had taken part in the rebellion. Where
else, Johnson asked, could the South look
for experienced leadership? Moreovei;
Johnson held that the Southern states had
already been restored to the Union by ac
cepting the Lincoln-Johnson plan.
In the summer of 1866, Tennessee
ratified the Fourteenth Amendment and
returned to the Union. The other ten
states of the former Confederacy refused.
Radical Republicans declared that these
Southern states needed to be treated
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RECONSTRUCTION
harshly. For this reason the congressional
elections of 1866 were a contest between
Johnson’s “easy” Reconstruction program
and the Radical Republicans’ “hard” plan.
President Johnson fought for control
over the Reconstruction process. In Au
gust 1866 he went on a speaking tour
through the North. Hecklers taunted the
President almost everywhere he spoke.
Angrily, the hotheaded Johnson re
sponded with many angry and ill-consid
ered remarks. He had badly misjudged
public opinion among the Northern
voters. When the congressional elections
were over. the Republicans, led by the Radi
cals, were still firmly in control of Con
gress and the Reconstruction process.
Not all Northern voters thought the
same way. Still, a large number thought
the former Confederate states should be
punished. They felt that the South had
brought on a long, costly, and bloody war.
Some others felt that blacks deserved the
same rights as whites and that the Radical
Republican program would guarantee
equal treatment. Northern industrialists
feared that Southern Democrats in Con
would repeal economic benefits fa
vored by the Republicans.
Some Northern business leaders saw a
chance to get control of the South’s natural
resources by supporting a hard Recon
Republican politi
struction program.
cians believed they could stay in power
only if they supported the Radical pro
gram. That program would deny many
white Southerners the right to vote or hold
office. It would also permit eligible blacks
to vote, and they presumably would vote
(‘or Republicans out of gratitude.
gress
This cartoon pictures Johnson as a little boy who has unwisely involved
himself in constitutional issues, with disastrous results.
• What portion of the Constitution do you think the cartoonist might be
referring to in particular?
397
RECONSTRUCTION
Military Occupation
For these rea
sons, Republicans swept to a big victory in
the congressional elections of 1866. The
Radicals returned to Washington, set on
passing their own Reconstruction bill.
President. Johnson vetoed it. but on
March 2, 1867, Congress easily overrode
the veto and passed what was called the
Reconstruction Act of 1867.
This act divided the former Confeder
ate States of America, except for Tennes
see, into five military districts. In each
district a United States army general was
in charge, with soldiers to carry out his
orders. To get out from under military
rule, a state had to accept the Fourteenth
Amendment and guarantee black men the
right to vote. Only then would Congress
A Senate official gives Johnson a summons
to appear for his impeachment trial.
• How do you think Johnson reacted to
the news that he would be tried?
398
agree to accept that state’s senators and
representatives. United States troops
might stay; however, until Congress was
satisfied that the state was ‘recon
In some Southern states, mili
structed.”
tary occupation continued until 1877. The
presence of United States troops in those
states caused a good dea] of resentment
toward the federal government.
After arranging
Johnson Impeached
lhr military occupation in the South, the
Radical Republicans set out to deal with
President Johnson. The House of Repre
sentatives impeached the President—
that is, they accused him of “high crimes
and misdemeanors” in 11 separate arti
cles. The accusations against him were
based on Radical Republican opposition to
his policies and on his attempt to fire a
member of his Cabinet, not on any actual
crimes he had committed. Still, if John
son were found guilty of these offenses, he
would be removed from office.
The Constitution provides that im
peachment trials shall take place in the
Senate, with senators acting as a jury.
When the person on trial is the President,
the Chief Justice must serve as the presid
ing judge. (See page 196.) Johnson’s dra
matic trial lasted from March 30 until May
16, 1868. Radicals were sure that the nec
essary two thirds of the senators —36
—would vote for Johnson’s conviction.
But the final vote was 35 for conviction and
19 for acquittal. Thus the Radicals failed
to convict Johnson by the margin of 1
vote. Seven Republicans joined 12 Demo
craLs in voting Johnson not guilty.
Johnson was nearly powerless as he
served out the remainder of his term. The
Radical failure to remove him, however,
had far-reaching effects. It meant that the
weapon of impeachment would not be
freely or easily used in future conflicts
RECONSTRUCTION
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The public was so curious about seeing a President on trial that the Senate
had to issue tickets to admit guests to its galleries for the sessions of the trial.
• Why would so many people want to see this trial?
between Congress and the President.
Johnson’s fight to save his presidency also
helped to ensure the future independence
of the executive branch of government.
For the
The Fifteenth Amendment
presidential election of 18fi8, the Demo
crats chose Horatio Seymour, a former gov
ernor of New York, as their candidate. The
Republicans nominated General Ulysses S.
Grant. Grant won a big margin in electoral
votes with the help of black voters in the
South. This convinced the Radical Repub
licans that they needed the votes of South
ern blacks in future elections. They soon
proposed what, in 1870, became the Fif
teenth Amendment to the Constitution.
The Fifteenth Amendment forbade
any state to deny the right to vote because
of “race, color, or previous condition of ser
vitude.” (See page 21) Black voters in
the South supported Grant’s reelection to
the presidency in 1872. It seemed as if the
Radical program for Reconstruction had
triumphed completely.
CHECKUP
1. What were the main features of the Lin
coln-Johnson plan for Reconstruction?
2. Why did the Radical Republicans gain
allies after the election of the first post
war Congress?
3. What were the results of Andrew John
son’s impeachment trial?
4. Why were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth,
and Fifteenth Amendments added to
the Constitution?
5. Thinking Critically Why did the
framers of the Constitution make it so
difficult to impeach a President?
399
The Reconstructed South
How did blacks and whites in the
South react to Reconstruction?
VOCABULARY
scalawag
crop lien system
sharecropping
Ku Klux Klan
New South
Freedmen’s
Bureau
Black Codes
Amnesty Act
carpetbagger
In 1850, John C. Cal
“The Poor South”
houn had died murmuring, “The South, the
poor South.” The future he imagined
came true 15 years later. In 1865 the South
was indeed poor, defeated, and nearly de
stroyed by war. Confederate dollars and
bonds were worthless. Confederate war
veterans straggled home, their uniforms in
tatters, their feet often bare. Home folks
could do little for them but thank them for
the sacrifices they had made.
Confederate soldiers often returned home
to find destruction of their property.
• What has happened to this Confederate
soldier’s home?
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400
The war had exhausted white South
erners. For most of them the South was a
land of war ruins and war cripples. Their
hopes and their fortunes were gone.
For black Southerners, Lincoln’s as
sassination brought sadness and fear.
Lincoln had represented the end of slavery
and great hope for future progress. But
even after Lincoln’s death, hope re
mained. Black people in the South knew
they had many friends in Congress and
many supporters among the Northern peo
ple, both white and black.
Months be
The Freedmen’s Bureau
fore the end of the war, slaves freed by the
Emancipation Proclamation had begun to
live a free life. Thousands had enlisted in
the Union army. Others stayed in the area
where they had served as slaves. In many
cases they went to work on land aban
doned by their former masters.
In 1865, Congress set up the Freed
men’s Bureau to help the freed slaves.
This was the first time that the national
government had given aid to large numbers
of people. The Freedmen’s Bureau fur
nished food and supplies for thousands of
poor people, both white and black. It
found jobs for those without work and
homes for those without shelter.
The Freedmen’s Bureau organized ef
forts for the education of the freed slaves.
In the 5 years of its existence, the Freed
men’s Bureau built 4.300 schools and hired
3,300 teachers. General Oliver 0. Howard
headed the Freedmen’s Bureau. He had
fought at Gettysburg and had marched
through Georgia with General Sherman.
In 1867 he founded Howard University in
Washington, D.C. Hampton Institute, Fisk
University and Atlanta University were
also founded during Reconstruction to
provide educations for black people.
RECONSTRUCTION
.1
Setting up schools for freed slaves was just
one of the many
accomplishments of the Freedmen’s Bureau.
• What is unusual about this classroom and the
students who study in it?
Black Codes
In spite of aid given by the
Freedmen’s Bureau, Southern blacks had a
rough time after the war. Many white
Southerners could not or would not accept
the new situation. As a visitor in the post
war South put it, freed blacks “received a
hundred blows for every helping hand.”
Some of these blows came from the
state governments established under the
Lincoln-Johnson plan.
Legislators in
these state governments passed laws that
became known as Black Codes. The
Black Codes differed from state to state.
In general, however, they put restrictions
on freed blacks that were not applied to
Southern whites.
Some of the laws forbade former
slaves from moving freely from one place to
another. Other provisions of the Black
Codes made it illegal for freedmen to pos
sess firearms, to sit on juries, to vote, to
hold office, or to change jobs. In some
states, blacks were forbidden to own land
and to testify against white people in
court. Moreover, the Black Codes some
times applied more severe penalties to
black offenders than to whites guilty of the
same crimes.
White Southerners declared that
these Black Codes were needed to put
former slaves back to work and to keep
them from roaming restlessly all over the
South. Many Northerners believed that
the Black Codes were an attempt to restore
slavery under another name. As it turned
out, these controversial Southern laws
401
RECONSTRUCTION
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Federal troops stand outside their quarters in occupied New Orleans.
• How are different groups of local citizens reacting to the
presence of United States soldiers in their city?
were one of the main reasons for the Radi
cal Republican victories in the congres
sional elections of 1866.
Under
Reconstruction Governments
the Reconstruction Act the army sent some
20,000 soldiers (along with some black mi
litiamen) into ten states of the South. Mil
itary governments took the place of the
state governments set up under the Lin
coln-Johnson plan. Under the direction of
the arms new civilian governments were
put in charge in these ten states. These
Reconstruction state governments then
started to repair the war damage and to
build a new social and political order in the
South. Such a huge task would have chal
lenged the wisdom and skill of the wisest
and best leaders.
Some leaders in these new state gov
ernments meant well but were lacking in
wisdom and experience. Others were cor
402
rupt. The third section of the Fourteenth
Amendment barred the South’s most expe
rienced leaders from participation in go’
ernment. In 1872, Congress repealed this
law by passing the Amnesty Act. This
allowed all but about .500 former Confeder
ate officials to take part in government
Until
Carpetbaggers and Scalawags
1872, and to sothe extent even after that,
many leaders of Southern state govern
ments were carpetbaggers. Carpetbag
gers were Northerners who came south
after the war. Many of them carried their
belongings in luggage made of carpeting.
This was the fashion of the times, since
carpeting was durable. Some carpetbag
gers sincerely wanted to help in the re
building of the South. Others were out to
profit from the unsettled conditions.
Some of these people got leading positions
in state governments.
RECONSTRUCTION
Some white Southerners who worked
with the carpetbaggers gained positions
of influence in the state governments.
Some of these Southerners had the best
of intentions. Others simply aimed to gain
power for themselves. The old ruling class
looked down on these people and called
them scalawags. a scornful term used
to describe mean, runty farm animals.
The new Southern state governments
spent money for a variety of purposes, and
they spent a lot of it. South Carolina’s
legislature, for example, spent large sums
for rich furnishings in the new state capi
tol. Louisiana’s carpetbag government in
creased the state debt by $34 million, an
immense sum for the time. Still, much of
the money spent by carpetbag govern
ments
good causes. The repair of
war damages cost many millions oF dol
lars. Construction of schools for Southern
went for
Cartoonist Thomas Nast drew this picture
of a carpetbagger.
• Is Nast’s view of this person favorable
or unfavorable?
—
—
.
—
children also cost millions. The carpetbag
governments of the Reconstruction period
can be credited with creating a public edu
cation system for the South.
Black Voters
The Fourteenth and Fif
made it possible for
Amendments
teenth
black men to vote and hold office in the
South throughout the Reconstruction
years. Blacks held every kind of office,
from county sheriff to governor and sena
tor. Black voters outnumbered white
voters in several states for a time, but only
once—in South Carolina— did black peo
ple have a ma,jority in a state legislature.
Even that was only in one house and for
only a few years.
Fourteen blacks served in the United
States Congress during the Reconstruction
years. Joseph Hayne Rainey of South Car
olina was the first black to serve in the
House of Representatives. He was a
member of that both from 1870 to 1879.
Rainey was very effective in spcaking for
civil rights. He later became an agent for
the Treasury Department.
Two black men were chosen as sena
tors from Southern states during Recon
struction. Blanche K. Bruce had been a
slave until he escaped to the North. He
moved to Mississippi after the war and be
came a senator in 1874. Pinckney Pinchhack was a senator from Louisiana.
Pinchback also served briefly as governor
of the state of Louisiana.
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The Crop Lien System
Of course, most
Southerners made their living in other
ways than politics after the war. The post
war South had a plentiful supply of land
and laborers, both black and white. Yet
most small landowners lacked money for
seed, tools, and mules to get the land back
into production. Plantation owners had
somewhat different problems. They had
no money to pay people to work on their
403
RECONSTRUCTION
land, which had formerly been worked by
slaves. Often plantation owners sold off
part of their land in order to get money.
For plantation owners and small
farmers alike, one solution to their prob
lems
lay
in
the
crop
lien
system.
Through this system, a landowner got
seeds, tools, and other necessities from a
local merchant. In return, the farmer gave
the merchant a first lien on the farm’s crop,
usually cotton. This meant repaying the
merchant first when the year’s crop was
sold. Often the proceeds did not cover the
lien.
Consequently, many Southern
farmers remained in debt to local mer
chants until they had to give up their land.
Sharecropping
Another way for
Southern farmers to get back into produc
tion was by sharecropping. Using this
method, landowners would get people to
Southern farmers tried to get back into
production by tending out land in return
for a share of the crops.
• What are the sharecroppers harvesting?
b. .1W
1
404
farm their land in return for a share of the
crop that was produced. Most landowners
insisted that their sharecroppers raise
only cotton or tobacco, both good cash
crops. This method of farming made it
difficult for the postwar South to develop
more diversified agriculture.
A great many sharecroppers were
freed blacks. (See picture on page 393.)
As slaves they had owned no land. The
Emancipation Proclamation and the Thir
teenth Amendment gave them their free
dom but nothing else. Thaddeus Stevens
of Pennsylvania, a leader among Radical
Republicans in Congress, thought that
freed black families should be given 40
acres (16 ha) of land as an economic base.
He favored breaking up large Southern
plantations in order to distribute this land
to freed blacks. But the promise of “40
acres and a mule” for each family of freed
blacks never worked out.
Secret Societies
During the early
years of Reconstruction, a number of se
cret societies came into being in the
South. Three of these groups were the
Order of the White Rose, the Knights of the
White Camellia, and, most notorious of all,
the Ku Klux Klan. In 1866 some South
ern war veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee,
formed the Klan. It spread rapidly to
other Southern states. Klan members met
at night, disguised in white hoods and
white robes. At first the Klan’s goal was
to drive carpetbaggers, scalawags, and
blacks out of politics. Because Klan
members feared the effects that black peo
ple’s votes would have, the Klan’s chief ac
tivity became keeping blacks from voting.
Congress responded to the Klan’s in
creasingly violent activities by passing the
Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871. This act out
lawed the Klan’s practices and allowed the
President to use military force, if neces
V
RECONSTRUCTION
sary, to stamp them out. President Grant
did so, and the Klan’s outrages were
brought to a halt for a time.
A
The great major
Home Rule Returns
ity of Southern whites still resented the
fact that blacks had the vote. This was
especially true in states where black voters
were a majority. In the early 1870s, whites
used various means to keep blacks away
from the polls. Open threats of violence
were common. Even more effective was
economic pressure. The war had freed
black people, but they still depended on
whites for their livelihood. Southern
whites warned that they would refuse to
hire, rent land to, or give credit to any
blacks who dared to vote.
Meanwhile, Congress passed the Am
nesty Act of 1872, which restored the vote
to all but a handful of whites who had
taken part in the rebellion. Together
these measures soon produced white vot
ing majorities in the Southern states.
Since the carpetbagger governments were
Republican, the Democratic party became
the white Southerners’ instrument for re
gaining control of their state govern
ments. Democratic voters defeated the
Republican carpetbag government in Vir
ginia in 1869. Their resurgence took
longer in other states. Nevertheless,
white Southern Democrats had taken con
trol of all Southern states by 1877.
With the return of home rule, some
Southern leaders tried to make the South
an industrial region. By cooperating with
Northern industrialists and bankers,
Southerners hoped to create a New
South- By this they meant a land in which
manufacturing and commercial interests
would play a larger part. In the years fol
lowing Reconstruction, a number of South
erners began to talk of a New South. The
South they envisioned was a prosperous
After Reconstruction, the Southern leaders
tried to make the South more industrial.
• What clues of industry can you find in
the picture?
region of cities, factories, and trade, sup
ported by a diversified agriculture. This
was a long time coming, however. It would
take many years and much more social
change before industry was as important
in the South as in the North.
CHECKUP
How did the future appear for white and
for black Southerners at the end of the
Civil War?
2. How did the Freedmen’s Bureau help
Southern blacks?
3. Explain how two systems were used to
get Southern agriculture back into pro
duction after the Civil War.
1.
4.
Thinking Critically Which group (10
you think white Southerners rescnted
more—carpetbaggers or scalawags?
Why?
405
The End of Reconstruction
What brought Reconstruction in the
South to an end?
had joined the army.
VOCABULARY
Homestead Act
Tweed Ring
Compromise of
1677
Union Veterans
Northern soldiers re
turned to a prosperous land that was al
most wholly unscarred by war. Moreover,
the United States government gave every
veteran $235 in discharge pay, a warm blue
uniform, and a ticket to the place where he
In the North there
were jobs nearly everywhere. Returning
soldiers, seeking adventure and opportu
nity, could go west. Many did.
In 1862, Congress had passed the
Homestead Act. By this act any citizen or
person intending to become a citizen could
get 160 acres (65 ha) of government land by
meeting certain requirements. Such a
person had to be a ‘head of family” and
over 21 years of age. That person had to
live on the land continuously for 5 years
and pay a fee ranging from $26 to $34.
Women and men who went west as homesteaders faced a solitary life filled
with hard work under difficult conditions.
• What qualities of character does this woman seem to have?
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RECONSTRUCTION
When these requirements were met, the
head of the family owned the land.
The government assumed that anyone
being a head of family would be male.
Still, there were women who registered for
land under the Homestead Act. Many of
them got their 160 acres (65 ha) indepen
dently, without the aid of men. It is said
that these women sought economic free
dom through land ownership
sought
to earn a living by means other than those
of school teacher, maid, or factory worker.”
Confederate war veterans were ineli
gible for the benefits of the Homestead Act
until most of them had their citizenship
restored by the Amnesty Act of 1872.
After that, many of themjoined the Union
veterans who had already settled on home
steads. Blacks could homestead after the
adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment.
which made clear their rights as citizens of
the United States. Thousands of black
families moved west to take up home
steads. Indeed, the Homestead Act was a
major reason for the rapid settlement of
the Great Plains region after the Civil
War. Another reason was the extension of
railroad lines. During the Civil War, Con
gress had passed a number of laws aiding
the construction of western railroads.
This kind of economic legislation won
widespread support for the Republicans.
They were also honored as the party that
saved the Union, the party that freed the
slaves, and the party of Lincoln. These
reasons combined to give the Republicans a
slight edge in national politics for years
after the Civil War.
...
Grant’s Two Terms
In 1868, General
Ulysses S. Grant became another of the
war heroes Americans have elected to the
presidency. Grant ran the President’s offlee like an army headquarters. Soon
after Grant’s inauguration he considered
annexing the Dominican Republic in the
Caribbean Sea.
Grant made some poor appointments
to his Cabinet. Though Grant was honest
himself, a number of his friends and as
sociates turned out to be corrupt. Sev
eral scandals marked Grant’s second term
as President.
Corrupt Rings
The word ring has
many meanings. During Grant’s two
terms as President, however, the word was
used to describe a group of people acting
outside the law in their own interests.
There was, for example, the Whiskey
Ring. This was a group of whiskey dis
tillers, most of them in business in St.
Lcuis. For years they worked hand in
hand with some corrupt United States of
ficials to keep from paying certain taxes.
The Whiskey Ring even got help from Or
viille E. Babcock, President Grant’s secre
tary. Babcock gave the swindlers advance
warning whenever government inspectors
were sent to St. Louis from Washington.
The Whiskey Ring was only one of
scores of corrupt rings operating in the
North at all levels of government. The car
petbagger governments of the South had
no monopoly on corruption during these
years. Perhaps the most notorious of all
the corrupt rings was headed by William
Marcy Tweed of New York. The Tweed
Ring used bribery, graft, and other forms
of dishonesty to steal more than $50 mil
lion from the city treasury. Eventually
“Boss” Tweed was arrested, put on trial for
his illegal activities, and found guilty. He
fled the United States to escape prison, but
was recognized by a Spanish immigration
officer.
The Spanish official identified
Tweed because Thomas Nast’s cartoons
had made the Boss” well known all over
the world. Tweed was sent back to New
York to serve his prison sentence.
407
Thomas Nast
Millions of Americans know, when they
see the figure of a donkey in a political
cartoon, that the cartoonist is poking fun
at a leader or an idea of the Democratic
party. An elephant is just as recognizable
as a symbol of the Republican party. But
even some of the cartoonists do not know
that when they use these symbols, they
are borrowing from America’s first great
political cartoonist., Thomas Nast.
Thomas Nast was born in Germany in
1840. At the age of 6, he came to America
with his mother At 15 he went to work as
an engraver, preparing other people’s il
lustrations for
printing. By
the time he
was 23, he
was a fulltime car
toonist for
Harper’s
Weekly mag
azine. His
cartoons in
support of
1)
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•7
the Union cause in the Civil War earned
him immediate fame. President Lincoln
called him “our best recruiting sergeant”
because his work stirred up so much favor
able sentiment.
Nast’s favorite target of all was “Boss”
Tweed of the Tweed Ring. He made
Tweed and his henchmen look like the cor
rupt, self-serving mob that they were. He
also made them look ridiculous.
This is the work Nast is best remem
bered for. But his most. lasting contribu
tion to American political life may well
be the use of two animals as sym
bols of our
I
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F
are sore
cognizable that
people tend to
forget someone had to in
vent them. But someone
did, and that someone was
Thomas Nast.
A
44,,
Just as Ulysses S.
A Disputed Election
Grant began his second term as President
in 1873, a depression struck the country.
Land and crop prices fell, and thousands
were thrown out of work. Still, in spite of
this depression and his administration’s
record of corruption, Grant was unable to
understand why the Republicans did not
nominate him for a third term in 1876.
Instead, the Republican convention
chose Rutherford B. Hayes, the governor of
Ohio. Hayes had a reputation for hon
esty. Moreover, he had reached the rank of
major general during the Civil War. The
408
Republicans knew this would make him
popular with Union war veterans. The
Democrats chose Samuel J. Tilden, the gov
ernor of New York. as their candidate. Til
den had won a national reputation by
helping to smash the corrupt Tweed Ring.
At first it appeared that Tilden had
won the election. He had 250,000 more
popular votes than Hayes, and he was just
one electoral vote short of a majority (See
pages 201—202, 210—211.) Twenty elec
toral votes were in dispute, however—19
in three Southern states and one in Ore
gon. The three Southern states —Florida,
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•Es S.
18th President
1869’ 1877
Born: 1822, Point Pleasant, Ohio.
Education: United States Military Academy.
Training: Army officer.
To presidency from: Illinois.
Position when elected: General of the Army.
Political party: Republican.
Married: Julia Dent.
Children: Three sons, one daughter.
Died: 1885.
Other facts: Fought in the Mexican War and served in
remote western army posts. Resigned from the army in
1854. Worked at various jobs without much success until
Civil War broke out. Lost all his money after leaving the
presidency when an investment company he had helped to
start went broke. To support his family, wrote his mem
oirs, which became a financial success.
During his presidency: Joseph Glidden’s development of
barbed wire solved the problem of fencing the cattle range.
Louisiana, and South Carolina—were still
under military occupation as part of the
Radical Republican Reconstruction plan.
Each of these states sent two sets of elec
tors for the final count— one set for Til
den, the other for Hayes.
By the time the dispute was settled, it
was nearly time to inaugurate a new Presi
dent. Tensions between Republicans and
Democrats had risen to the point that some
people feared civil war might break out
again. Clearly it was time for a compro
mise, so Congress appointed a 15-member
electoral commission to settle the dis
pute. A deal was made to make Ruther
ford B. Hayes President.
To bring about this result, however,
Republicans had to make promises to
Southern Democratic leaders. For one,
soldiers would be withdrawn from those
Southern states where they still re
mained. For another, Hayes promised to
pick at least one Southerner for his Cabi
net. Finally, leaders of the Republicans in
Congress promised to supply money for
internal improvements in the South. The
day after Hayes took office, he appointed
David M. Key of Tennessee to his Cabinet.
In April, Hayes ordered the withdrawal of
the last troops from the South. These
agreements between Republicans and
Southern Democrats have sometimes been
called the Compromise of 1877. It meant
the end of Radical Reconstruction.
CHECKUP
1. Contrast the homecoming of the Union
war veteran with that of the confeder
ate veteran.
2. How were Republicans able to remain
the dominant political party foragener
ation following the war?
3. What kind of President was Ulysses S.
Grant?
4. Why was the presidential election of
1876 so hotly disputed? flow was the
dispute settled?
5. Thinking Critically What effect do
you think the Compromise of 1877 had
on Hayes’s presidency?
409
********** [SING SKILlS **********
Interpreting Political Cartoons
sury They did this by steering city building
contracts to companies that agreed to pay them
back part of the contract amount. In 1868 the
city began to build a new courthouse. It was
supposed to cost $250,000. Three years later
the city found that it had spent $8 mllhon—
and the building wasn’t even finished yet!
“BOSS” TWEED
A political cartoon is a drawing that makes a
statement about a person, a subject of current
public interest, or an important problem. Like
a newspaper editorial, it tries to persuade peo
pie to see things in a certain way. Sometimes a
cartoonist will use a caricature to express a
point of view. That is, the drawing will distort
or exaggerate a person or thing.
The cartoon below shows Thomas. Nass
view of Boss” Tweed. (Tweed is the fat man
on the left. The man beside him, toward the
center of the picture, is New York City’s mayor.
The mayor owed his job to Tweed, who con
trolled thousands of immigrant voters.)
Tweed’s powerful New York City political ring
swindled millions of dollars from the ty trea
SKILLS PRACTICE
Answer the following questions.
1. What question are all the people in the car
toon trying to answer?
a Who are the people in the background,
with their backs to the reader?
3. Why does Nast show all the figures in the
cartoon standing in a circle?
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410
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