Reconstruction
The Destruction of the War
Presidential
Reconstruction
 Abraham Lincoln
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Wartime acts
Emancipation Proclamation*
 War still in doubt
 Fugitive slaves
 Slaves boost Confed. Cause
 Northern morale
 Public opinion
 France and Britain
 Morality
Presidential
Reconstruction
 Lincoln - 10% Plan*
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10% loyalty oath
Abolish slavery
Northern opposition
 Wade-Davis Bill*
 50% Ironclad oath
 13th Amendment
Presidential Reconstruction
 Andrew Johnson*
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General pardon
Col. M.F. Pleasants*
Voting = state issue
Secession illegal
Repudiate Confed.
debt
Abolish slavery
 Why?
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Black Codes*
Control
Disregard federal govt.
Fear black retaliation
Labor supply
Racism
 Examples:
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Freedmen no testify vs. whites
Vagrancy laws
Taxes
Whipped
Blacks called “servant”, whites called “master”
Johnson’s declining popularity
 Memphis riot*
 Disputes with Congress
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Freedmen’s Bureau
Civil Rights bill
14th Amendment
 1866 Civil Rights Act
 1866 14th Amendment
 Citizenship for all persons - regardless of race - born or
naturalized in US
 Forbade states from abridging privileges of citizens
 Guaranteed due process of the law
 Equal protection of the law
 “Swing Around the Circle”*, 1866
Congressional Reconstruction
 Radical Republicans
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Who were they?
 Thaddeus Stevens, PA
 Charles Sumner, MA
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What were their goals?
 Protection of freedmen and supporters
 Full citizenship of freedmen
 Win conservative support
 Some extreme views
 Strip Southerners of citizenship
 Confiscate land
Congressional Reconstruction
 The Stevens Plan*
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Federal officials
supervise elections
Blacks vote
Whites stripped of
citizenship
Congressional Reconstruction
 1867 Congressional Reconstruction Act
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5 military districts
Military make arrests, trials
Military directs constitutions
Not extremely radical
Johnson Impeachment
 Impeachment of Johnson
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Radical crusade
 Failure:
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Bring down presidential office
Lack of clear crime
Successor = Ben Wade
Lawyers
Johnson quiet
Reconstruction Laws & Acts
 1870 15th Amendment
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Forbade states to deny any citizen the right to
vote on grounds of race, color, or previous
condition of servitude
Decline of the
Radicals
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Small in number
Johnson quiet
Radicals divided
Trouble staying in
office
 Death
 U.S. Grant
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Scandals: political
appointments, favors
to businessmen and
railroads
New Leadership in the South
 Grant presidency
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Northern military
Freedmen’s Bureau
Carpetbaggers,
scalawags, black
politicians
1870, Union restored
 Black politicians
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22 Congressmen
Too few for great
impact
Republican Reconstruction
 Positive aspects:
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Public education
Efficiency of government
Public buildings, roads, manufacturing
Social services (orphanages, hospitals, welfare)
Capital/investment
Political democracy
Republican Reconstruction
 Decline 1870s
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Other concerns
Corruption, depression
Colfax Massacre
 U.S. v. Cruikshank
 “Compromise of 1877”
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Dem. – Samuel J. Tilden, NY
Rep. – Rutherford B. Hayes, OH
Hayes wins, 185-184
Republicans withdraw N support
 Legacy of Reconstruction
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“America’s unfinished revolution”