Reconstruction
Winning a war but losing the peace
• What problems did the North face?
• Reintegration of the rebellious states
• Reconstruction of economy and society
• How to support the now freed population
• Possible solutions:
• Lincoln’s presidential reconstruction
• Johnson’s presidential reconstruction
• Radical reconstruction
Lincoln‘s Presidential Reconstruction
“With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the
right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work
we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall
have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and
with all nations”
Abraham Lincoln, Second Inaugural Address 1865
April 14th, 1865
Johnson‘s Presidential Reconstruction
• Determined to follow Lincoln’s policy for the reconstruction of the
South.
• States were given Home Rule.
• Had to invalidate secession, abolish slavery, repudiate all debts incurred by
the Confederacy, and ratify the 13th Amendment.
• Freedmen’s Bureau established.
• Many Southern states successfully enacted a series of laws known as
the “black codes”.
• Leniency enraged many in the North
Radical Reconstruction
• Radical Republicans wanted to punish the South
• Reconstruction Act of 1867: divided the South into 5 military districts
and outlined how governments were to be organized.
• 15 Amendment passed in 1869, guaranteeing African Americans the
right to vote
• Carpetbaggers and Scalawags exploited the South
• Southerners turned to violence (KKK)
• Enforcement Act of 1870: designed to punish violent Southerners
The “End” of Reconstruction
• 1872: Amnesty Act passed, restoring civil and political rights
• Southern states began electing members of the Democratic Party
• Rutherford B. Hayes’ Compromise of 1877:
• Democrats in the South agreed not to block Hayes’ victory if the Republicans
withdrew all federal troops in the South
Once Republican authority began to disappear, the old Southern way of life
returned
Reconstruction – A Failure?
• Plessy vs Ferguson
• What is the historical context? Why was Plessy arrested?
• Plessy appealed the decision, because he believed the Jim Crow laws
violated which two amendments?
• Does the Supreme Court agree with the violation?
• What does the term “separate but equal” mean? Can the term be applied to
the text?
• According to Brown, has Plessy been “deprived of his property”?
• What does Brown believe Plessy’s biggest error is?
• Is the “colored race” seen as inferior?
• In what other systems can segregation be found?
• Even though the Supreme Court is not against “social equality”, it clearly
states how it should not be reached. Where can you find the passage and
what does Brown say about who can or cannot create social equality?
• Where did this decision lead?
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Manifest Destiny
John L. O‘Sullivan
Annexation of Texas
John Gast „American
Progress“
The Indian Wars – The Campaign for the American West
• In order to unite a nation, one needs to have the same enemy to focus on
• After the war, the army could once again focus on the Indian Wars in the West.
• Due to the Indian Removal Act, many tribes were forced into the heartland of America
(The Great Plains).
• If Indians retaliated U.S. attacks, it was seen as a great threat to America.
• Federal government and the military helped the settlers. (distributed farmland through
the Homestead Act)
• 1876 last serious Sioux war erupted
• Most important battle: 25. – 26. June 1876
Battle of the Little Bighorn – Custer‘s Last Stand
• Miners moved into Sioux hunting grounds in the black
hills (Montana Territory)
• Lakota and Sioux warriors led by Red Cloud and
Crazy Horse continously attacked
• Army moved in
• George Custer located main encampment and
attacked without reinforcements
• Entire command annihilated
• Indian victory was short lived
• “It is inconsistent with our civilization and with
common sense to allow the Indian to roam over a
country as fine as that around the black hills,
preventing its development in order that he may shoot
game and scalp his neighbors.” New York Herald
 Rather than trying to save Indian culture, reformers
believed the Indian should be assimilated to the white
culture
Breaking the Tribes
• 1887: Dawes Act passed:
• Attempt to break the tribes
• Turn Indians into productive farmers
• Indians were given land which continued to belong to the government for the
first 25 years
• Indians couldn’t sell it, if they remained on it, farmed and improved it, the
owner would win full title and citizenship
• Well-intentioned in its inception, proved disastrous
• Assault on the communal organization of the Tribes caused disruption of their
traditional culture
• Recognizing failure, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act
(1934) which tried to protect communal way of life
The “End” of the Indian Wars
• Throughout 1890, U.S. government worried about the increasing
influence at Pine Ridge of the Ghost Dance spiritual movement
• 15.12.1890: Famous Sioux chief Tatanka Yotanka killed by
reservation police
• Tensions increased at Pine Ridge.
• 29.12.1890 Wounded Knee Massacre
• Left some 150 Native Americans dead
• Marks the final clash between North American Indians and
representatives of the U.S. government.
The Crazy Horse Memorial, South Dakota
Official Plan 1948
2010
To honor the culture, tradition, and living heritage of North American Indians