The Struggle for
Reconstruction
Reviewing Presidential Reconstruction
1. What was Lincoln’s Plan for Reconstruction?
2. Congress tried to take over Reconstruction by passing
the ____-_____ Bill.
3. How did the elements of Johnson’s Plan show that he
didn’t believe the government had the right to change
the culture of the South?
Southern Governments Take
Advantage of Johnson’s Plan
• Pardons
– Johnson pardoned any former Confederate
soldiers / planters that asked him
personally.
• State Governments Restored
– Must outlaw slavery, but quickly pass
“Black Codes”
• Laws limiting the citizenship of African
Americans.
– Curfews – Blacks could not gather
The Republican Congress came back from “recess” in
December of 1865 outraged at what the President had done
in their absence…
after sundown.
– Vagrancy – Freedmen who didn’t
work could be fined, whipped, or sold for
a year’s labor.
– Labor Contracts – Freedmen signed
for a year’s labor. If they left their job
early, often-times they were not paid.
– Land Restriction – Freed people
could rent land or homes in rural areas,
forcing them to live on plantations.
Congress Challenges
Presidential Reconstruction
Things to watch for…
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How many former Confederates were elected to Congress?
What was the stance of many Democrats during
Reconstruction?
The film uses a quote by Thadeus Stevens (Speaker of the
House) to summarize the Republican view of Reconstruction.
Paraphrase that quote.
What was the reaction of moderate Republicans to President
Johnson’s veto of the Civil Rights Bill of 1866?
Congress Challenges
Presidential Reconstruction
Congress Reacts to
Presidential Reconstruction
• Create Freedmen’s Bureau in 1865
– USA’s first Federal Relief Agency.
• Passes Civil Rights Act of 1866
– Over-rides Johnson’s Veto
– Propose 14th Amendment to avoid
judicial challenge.
• African American Citizenship
• Congressional Election of 1866
brought more Radical Republicans
into Congress.
– Radicals now had 2/3 majority
necessary to over-ride any veto of
Johnson.
– Can now proceed with their own
plan…
Civil Unrest, the Election of
1866, and Radical
Reconstruction
Things to watch for…
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Why was their unrest in July of 1866 in New Orleans?
How did northerners react to President Johnson’s
policies?
What happened during the elections in the fall of
1866? Why is it significant?
What were the five parts of the Radical Reconstruction
Plan?
Civil Unrest, the Election of
1866, and Radical
Reconstruction
Radical Reconstruction
• South to be divided into 5
military districts
• Southern states must again rewrite Constitutions
• All voters (including African
Americans) must be allowed to
vote in state elections.
• Ex-Confederates may not vote
(temporary)
• Southern states must guarantee
rights to all citizens (ratify 14th
Amendment.)
A Power Struggle
• Johnson tried to block Congressional
Reconstruction by firing Sec’t of War
Ed Stanton.
– Radical appointed by Lincoln. Would now
head military rule of the South.
– Violates “Tenure of Office Act”
• Johnson Impeached.
– Narrowly escapes conviction (by one
vote).
– Serves out rest of term as a “lame duck”
• U.S. Grant elected in 1868
– Congress finally has a president that will
support their views.
– Johnson goes back to Tennessee, regains
his Senate seat as a Democrat!
I’M
FIRED?
The Triumph of Radical
Reconstruction
• Passed 15th Amendment
– All men given right to vote.
• Election of African Americans
– 600+ elected to state legislatures in
South
– 8 Representatives elected to House
of Reps by 1875
-Hiram Revels, the first
African American member of
the Senate
A Backlash Against
Republicans in South
White Southern Democrats soon came to despise
the Republican Party…
• Carpet Baggers
– Northern Republicans who moved
to the South after the War.
• Scalawags
– Southern Whites who voted
Republican.
Since White Southerners weren’t able to subjugate Blacks politically, they would find a way
to do it socially…