Chapter 14 Notes
To Punish or To Forgive
(Reconstruction)
Section 1 = “With malice toward none”
- questions of how to treat rebel south after peace
- the south had already suffered regardless of any punishment
- land of cinders and desolation
- no punishment would be enough for many Northerners who had lost fathers,
sons, or husbands
- had to get South back on its feet
- factories, plantations, railroads, and government
I)
II)
III)
Lincoln versus the Radicals
- Lincoln believed “once a state, always a state”
- Believed that they could still run own affairs
- Radical Republicans wanted white southerners punished and fair
treatment for former slaves
- believed south had no rights under constitution
- nothing but territories
- Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner
- Radical leaders
- Thaddeus Stevens (Pennsylvania)
- “humanitarian w/o humanity”
- bitter man with grudge against world; abolitionist; lived life
after war intent on punishing south
- Charles Sumner (Massachusetts) (Senate)
- fought for equal rights for blacks
- proud, vain, and bitter against white southerners
- conscience of the North in Senate
Lincoln’s Plan for Reunion
- concerned with future of the nation; intent on reunion
- would pardon almost all Southerners
- must take oath of loyalty
- abolish slavery
- one-tenth plan
- Radicals not satisfied with plan; to soft
Wade-Davis Plan
- each southern state had to make list of men
- after majority of men on list took “ironclad oath” state would be
recognized
- convention to make new constitution
- no one could vote or be delegates unless they took oath
- Radicals content with leaving South under Northern General’s control
- bill passed Congress on July 2, 1864, but Lincoln refused to sign
- proposed two options
IV)
The Assassination
- April 14, 1865
- urged cabinet to use charity in reconstruction
- “malice towards none”
- assassinated at Ford’s Theater while attending play
- John Wilkes Booth
- Originally wanted to kidnap Lincoln
- Decided to kill Lincoln, VP Johnson, and Secretary of State
Seward
- Booth and conspirators caught and killed
- Lincoln became a martyr
Section 2 = Andrew Johnson and the Radicals
- succeed Lincoln after assassination
- democrat from Tennessee
- was crude, stubborn, and argumentative
- planned to follow Lincoln’s policies with the South
I)
Southern Conventions
- Northerners grew impatient
- Johnson makes suggestion to hurry things along
- repudiate war debts; nullify ordinance of secession; adopt 13th
Amendment
- Southern states took advantage of Johnson’s indecisiveness
- S.C. repeals secession; Mississippi does not accept 13th
amendment; S.C. and Mississippi do not repudiate debts
- Southern extremists gain strength
II)
The “Black Codes”
- new southern governments adopted laws to limit the freedoms of newly
freed slaves
- based on slave codes, northern vagrancy laws, and laws passed in
West Indies after emancipation
- codes restricted occupation opportunities and mobility
- slavery under a new name
III) Confederates elected to office
- former confederates elected to congress
- former VP, 6 cabinet members, 58 congressmen, and former military
- Johnson pardons the men
- Republicans upset and discouraged
- feared that they learned nothing
- returned w/ more members b/c representation based on total
population
- alliance w/ northern Democrats would bring an end of Republican
control
- congressman shutout by republicans
- President did not have power to make rules
-
IV)
-
Congress sets up Joint Committee of Fifteen
- draw up plans for reconstruction
- tried to take care of matters of real concern
Equality for the Blacks
- Freedmen’s Bureau
- meant to help war refugees get southern farms working; and help
newly freed blacks get started in their new lives
- helped feed refugees, set up hospitals
- new bill helped protect blacks from Black Codes
- built schools (colleges) and educated blacks to be teachers
- Johnson vetoed new bill for expansion of Bureau
- power through military courts to fight discrimination
- Congress passes resolution forbidding Southern Congressman into
Congress until state was recognized by Congress
- Civil Rights Bill
- protect blacks in the South
- allowed federal government to intervene in state’s affairs to protect
civil rights
- vetoed by Johnson (believed in state’s rights)
- moderates join radicals to override Johnson
- also pass new Freedmen’s Bureau Bill over veto
- Fourteenth Amendment
- defined citizenship
- forbade states to deprive rights and privileges
- reduced representation of states who did not allow all adult males to
vote
- no state could chose to pay its confederate debt
- no one who held federal office in Union and then supported
confederacy could hold office again until 2/3 vote of Congress
pardoned them
- this was the North’s clear cut terms
- Tennessee quickly accepted
- Other states were slower
President and Republicans clearly at odds
Radicals gained more power in 1866 congressional elections
Section 3 = “Black Reconstruction”
- congressional reconstruction ready to take place
- based on revenge, idealism, and political opportunism
- conquered province
- Northern troops sent to occupy south
I)
Military Reconstruction
- south divided into five military districts; ruled by Northern generals
- Radicals developed reconstruction rules to maintain Republican control
- refused to forgive and forget
II)
III)
IV)
V)
- refused to allow leading citizens to vote or hold office
- wanted to rule through friends
- feared giving political liberty to enemies
- not as severe as many wanted
- Johnson vetoed act, but was passed over the veto
- military districts established and take over
Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
- radicals out to get Johnson
- wanted to get rid of Johnson
- passed laws to take away constitutional duties of the president
- Tenure of Office Act: prevented president from dismissing any
federal official w/o the consent of the Senate
- fired Secretary of War Stanton
- radicals attempted to impeach Johnson
- May 16, 1868: majority voted guilty, but not 2/3
The Election of 1868
- Republicans nominate U.S. Grant
- knew nothing of politics, but north loved him
- Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour of New York
- wartime governor of NY
- opposed both abolitionist and southern extremist
- opposed fighting to keep south, but helped recruit troops
- savage campaign
- Republicans reminded people of the war (“waved the bloody shirt”)
- Grant won electoral votes easily; black votes in the south delivered
popular
- election results encouraged 15th Amendment
- protected the right to vote for all men regardless of race, color, or
previous servitude
New State Constitutions
- state conventions held to create new constitutions
- white majorities in most cases
- African American delegates were not all bitter
- followed requests of Congress by banning confederates from office and
black suffrage
- social welfare programs, public schools, provisions for orphans and
handicapped
- difficulty occurred in passing constitutions due to black influence
Black Reconstruction – myth and reality
- myth = governments were dominated by foolish blacks who were
manipulated by evil whites
- reality = governments made up of “scalawags” (white southerners) and
“carpetbaggers” (northerners who came south); blacks did not dominate
any state government
- had to rebuild the South, therefore taxes rose due to the great expense
- corruption existed but it was no different than any where else
-
VI)
radical reconstruction only did not last that long for most states
- 1870 TN, VI, NC
- 1877 FL, SC, LA
South Fights Back
- radicals could only stay in power w/ help from blacks
- Southerners intent on stopping blacks from voting
- Developed Ku Klux Klan and other secret societies to continue Civil War
- harassed, tortured, and struck fear into blacks
- eventually Radical governments replaced by traditional southern
governments
- oppression of blacks was now done legally
- Ku Klux Klan laws and amendments had little affect
- after 1868 the radical spirit began to die off with regards to the Southern
situation
Section 4 = The North withdraws
- 1872 = Grant wins reelection over Horace Greeley
- Grant’ s troubles began after reelection
- gullible in the world of politics
I)
Grant Administration Scandals
- Credit Mobilier scandal
- dealt w/ building of transcontinental railroad
- Union Pacific created Credit Mobilier and paid C.M. for work being done w/ federal funds
- Officers were basically paying themselves
- bribe paid to VP Colfax, Rep. James Garfield, and others to avoid
investigation
- “salary grab” = congress voted for 50% pay raise for themselves,
Supreme Court, and President
- pay increase eventually repealed for Congressmen
- Whiskey Fraud = distillers joined w/ Treasury officers to get around
whiskey tax
- Scandals were also very prevalent in Grant’s cabinet
- Cabinet members took bribes for different reasons
II)
The panic of 1873
- nation falls into severe financial panic
- growth of railroads and factories
- fires destroy Chicago (1871) and Boston (1872); $273 million in
insurance
- collapse of Jay Cooke’s investment firm began panic
- lasted five years
III) Election of 1876 and the aftermath
- depression and scandal opened door for the Democrats in Congress
(1874); “bloody shirt” tactic was over
- Republicans nominate Rutherford B. Hayes (Ohio), over James G.
Blaine, for president in 1876
-
-
-
- reform governor, moderate views on the south
Democrats nominate Gov. Samuel J. Tilden of NY
- reform governor as well, exposed corruption in NY politics
bitter campaign
electoral votes very close; after all returned there were 20 disputed votes
- question arose about which of the disputed votes should be accepted
Electoral Commission: fifteen member commission developed to
determine which disputed returns to accept
- 5 representatives, 5 senators, 5 Supreme Court justices
- 7 Dem., 7 Rep., 1 Independent
- eventually republicans had 8 members
- split along party lines in favor of Hayes
Compromise of 1877
- Democrats could block Hayes victory
- conservative (southern) Democrats make deal w/ Republicans to
secure Hayes’s victory
- (1) last federal troops would leave south; (2) at least one Southern
in cabinet; (3) conservative Southern Democrats control of part of
local patronage; (4) support for generous spending on Southern
improvements
- March 2, 1877 = Congress approves commission’s report
- April 1877 = Hayes withdrew final federal troops
- May 1877 = decorated Confederate graves at Chattanooga
reconstruction only ended because the North no longer cared to protect
the rights of black Southerners
Tilden accepted results and retired
Section 5 = The Divided South
- slavery was abolished, but the roots still existed in every part of the South
- the nation remained divided due to the existence of racism
- after the withdrawal of troops from South, Reconstruction came to an end
- segregation did not automatically appear
- many former Confederates believed that they could find away to coexist w/ the
former slaves
- majority of southern whites believed blacks were inferior
- blacks did hold positions in local, state, and national governments even after
Reconstruction
I)
“Jim Crow” laws
- prior to 1880, segregation mainly occurred in public schools
- during the 1880s informal segregation begins to appear throughout the
South
- not all Southern whites were in favor of these “Jim Crow” laws
- Plessy v. Ferguson: supreme court approved segregation in facilities that
were separate but equal
- Supreme Court more or less approved “Jim Crow” laws
- very few Northerners reacted to decision
-
II)
blacks were provided w/ very little opportunity to make a living
- sharecropping appeared in the South
- not very profitable for any involved
- kept southerners in bondage to land and crop
Scorecard
- radical reconstruction increased fears of blacks
- Reconstruction made South into “one-party” South
- Old Confederate Democrats v. Republican Yankees
- slavery’s roots ran a lot deeper than first thought
- provided public education for all
- introduced blacks into political realm
- introduced backbone of Civil Rights movement (14th & 15th Amendments)