Causes
Regional
differences between North and South grow stronger.
Question of slavery in the territories splits the North and South.
Congressional compromises are unable to settle the issue of slavery
in the territories.
Abraham Lincoln, an antislavery Republican, is elected President.
Eleven states secede and form the Confederate States of America.
CIVIL WAR
Effects
The
Union is preserved.
Slavery is abolished.
Over half a million soldiers are dead.
Southern farms and cities are left in ruins.
Plans for Reconstruction:
1865-1877
Problems of Reconstruction



Punishment of the Confederate states and
leaders.
How to readmit those seceded states to
the Union.
Jobs, homes, etc. for the freed slaves.
Lincoln’s Plan
(before the end of the Civil War)




Southern states did not secede because it
is not constitutionally possible.
Give amnesty to Confederates.
Any state could send representatives back
to Congress if 10% of 1860 voters
pledged their oath to the Union.
Establish the Freedman’s Bureau to assist
former slaves and poor whites in the
South
Wade-Davis Bill (1864):
A Proposal of the Radical
Republicans


Congress is responsible for Reconstruction
because territories are seeking admission
in the Union
A state government would be accepted
back into the Union if more than ½ of
1860 voters pledge that they never
supported the Confederacy
Andrew Johnson’s Plan




States must declare their secession illegal.
States must swear allegiance to the Union.
States must promise not to pay back
Confederate debts.
States must ratify the 13th Amendment.
By December 1865, all states but Texas had
been readmitted.
Reaction to Johnson’s
Reconstruction Plan
“Andrew Johnson’s
Reconstruction and How it
Works”
--Thomas Nast, Cartoonist
September 1, 1866, pages 552, 553
Harper’s Weekly
Johnson’s Relationship with
Congress worsens



The South saw Johnson as a traitor; the
North saw him as a Southerner.
The Radical Republicans were infuriated
by Johnson’s readmission of the Southern
states.
Johnson toured the country to campaign
against the Radical Republicans in the
Congressional Elections of 1866.
The Turning Point in the Control of
Reconstruction:
The Congressional
Elections of 1866
1866 Congressional Elections

Despite Johnson’s campaigns against
them, the Radical Republicans gained a
2/3 majority in Congress.
Why is a 2/3 majority in
Congress important?
First Reconstruction Act




Divided the seceded states into five
military districts.
Military tribunals replaced civilian courts.
States required to give the AfricanAmericans the right to vote.
States must ratify the 14th Amendment
before rejoining the Union.
Reaction to the First
Reconstruction Acts
Cartoon Caption: “We regard the
Reconstruction Acts (so called) of
Congress as usurpations, and
unconstitutional, revolutionary, and
void.”—Democratic Platform
September 5, 1868, page 568,
Harper’s Weekly
Reaction to the First
Reconstruction Act



Johnson vetoed the bill, but Congress
overrode the veto with their 2/3 majority.
By the summer 1867, troops were sent to
the South to maintain order.
In 1868, the Radical Republicans find a
way to impeach Andrew Johnson for not
enforcing the First Reconstruction Act.
Impeachment of Andrew
Johnson



Radical Republicans passed the Tenure of
Office Act (said President couldn’t remove
a cabinet member that he’d appointed
without 2/3 approval of the Senate)
Johnson fired Edwin Stanton, Secretary of
War and radical sympathizer
February 1868—found not guilty 35-19 (1
vote shy of 2/3 majority)—Stanton
appointed by Lincoln, not Johnson
Effects of Reconstruction on
African-Americans
Thomas Nast in Harper's Weekly, 1874.
Radical Reconstruction in the
South 1867-1877

Plantation work—whites have the land,
but no workers, African-Americans want
work, but have no land




Sharecroppers and tenant farmers emerge
More African-Americans participate in
govt.—more blacks than whites registered
to vote in the south
Scalawags
Carpetbaggers
Southerners sought to minimize
Reconstruction through:





the Black Codes
segregation
the KKK
poll taxes
literacy tests
Black Codes


Could marry, own property, sue in court,
go to school
Could not serve on juries, marry whites,
testify against whites, break curfew, travel
without permit, start own business
Ku Klux Klan in the 1870s


Known to burn churches and commit
murder
Pres. Grant passed the Force Acts in 187071


Federal supervision of elections in the South
Pres. could declare martial law where the Klan
was active (Grant sent troops to 9 S.C.
counties in 1871)
Grant’s corrupt administration


1873-Grant’s Sec. of Treasury caught
accepting kickbacks and resigns
Whiskey Ring—238 IRS officials indicted
for keeping revenue taxes collected on
whiskey—Grant’s personal secretary also
indicted
Election of 1876



Republican Candidate—Rutherford B. Hayes
Democratic Candidate—Samuel J. Tilden
Tilden had more popular votes, but was
one electoral vote shy of the majority to be
elected President
1876 Election Scandal




20 votes in dispute (1 OR, 19 in FL, LA, SC)
Democrats scared away black voters
Radical Republicans threw out Dem. Ballots
and made up their own returns
Both sets of ballots sent to Congress
The Decision

Democrats made a deal—Hayes becomes
President if



1) troops withdrawn from FL, LA, SC
2) federal $ for building railroads and
improving waterways
3) a conservative Southern cabinet member
added
Hardships on Southern AfricanAmericans by 1900

Voting Restrictions (1896 voters-130,334;
1904 voters-1,342)





Discrimination went around 14th & 15th
Amendments
Literacy tests
Poll taxes
Grandfather Clause
Segregation Laws—Jim Crow Laws