Chapter 22
The Ordeal of
Reconstruction,
1865–1877
I. The Problems of Peace
• Jefferson Davis and fellow “conspirators”
– Pardoned (1868)
• Conditions of the South
– Old South collapsed economically and socially
• Beaten but unbent
– Confederates believed “lost cause” was just
II. Freedmen Define Freedom
• Whites recognize emancipation realities
• Blacks suspicious and uncertain
– Blacks searched for family members, jobs, homes
– The church became the focus of black communities
p466
p467
p468
p468
p468
III. The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865-1872)
• A part of “Reconstruction”
• Provided food, clothing, medical care, education
• “40 acres and a mule”
– Failed attempt to redistribute land
• The white South resented the bureau
– Threatened to upset white racial dominance
Drawing of a Freedmen’s Bureau employee between two armed groups
IV. Johnson: The Tailor President
• Union party Needed a ‘War Democrat’
– Champion of states’ rights and the Constitution
• Johnson was a ‘misfit’
– A Southerner who didn’t understand the North
– A Tennessean who was distrusted by the South
– A Democratic President, not elected to the office
p470
V. Presidential Johnson’s Reconstruction
• Majority moderate group (Lincoln)
– States should be restored simply and swiftly
• Minority radical group (The Wade-Davis Bill)
– The South should atone more painfully for its sins
• A.J.’s Reconstruction proclamation (May 1865)
– Johnson supported 10% governments
Table 22-1 p471
VI. The Baleful Black Codes
• Designed to control emancipated blacks
– Had to work for the same employer for 1 year
– Blacks not allowed to serve on a jury
– Some barred blacks from renting or leasing land
– Blacks punished for “idleness”
– Nowhere were blacks allowed to vote
VII. Congressional Reconstruction
• Congress meets in December, 1865
– Republicans had a free hand during the war
– ‘Rebel states’ high population, 12 more reps
– Republicans had good reason to fear
• Southern & Northern Democrats could control Congress
p472
VIII. Johnson Clashes with Congress
• Congress ‘overrides Johnson’s veto
– Freedmen’s Bureau extension vetoed (Feb 1866)
– Civil Rights Bill vetoed
• The Fourteenth Amendment
– Contained principles of Civil Rights Bill
– OK’d by Congress(1866), ratified by states(1868)
– States had to approve 14th to be admitted to Union
p473
IX. Swinging ‘Round the Circle with Johnson
• The crucial congressional elections of 1866
– Johnson lost support in the North
• 1866 congressional elections results
– Republicans a 2/3s majority in both houses
• “Veto proof Congress”
X. Republican Principles and Programs
– The Radicals (led by Sumner & Stevens)
– Strongly desired racial equality
– Opposed rapid restoration of Southern states
• The Moderate Republicans
– More states’ rights and self-government oriented
– Wanted to avoid federal government involvement
• Both groups supported black franchise (1867)
p475
XI. Reconstruction by the Sword
• The Reconstruction Act (March 2, 1867)
– Divided the South into five military districts
– Laid stringent condition for readmission
• Ratify 14th Amendment, full suffrage for men
• Goal of the moderates
– Get Southern states back into the Union
• Goals Radical Republicans
– Fifteenth Amendment (1870)
– Military Reconstruction of the South
Table 22-2 p477
XII. No Women Voters
• One struggle = black freedom/women’s rights
• 13th Amendment
– Feminist leaders supported
• 14th Amendment
– Feminist leaders opposed
• Used the word male while defining citizenship
• 15th Amendment
– Feminists wanted the word sex added to the list
• Fifty years would pass before the 19th Amendment
XIII. The Realities of Radical Reconstruction in the South
• Blacks now had freedom, of a sort
– Union League
• Network of black political clubs for men
• Recruited militias to protect black communities
• Increased political power
– African American women’s roles
• Community & church leaders
• Scalawags and carpetbaggers
– Scalawags, Southerners, former Unionists & Whigs
– Carpetbaggers, Northerners seeking power & profit
• Radical regimes rule (State Legislatures)
– Passes many desirable reforms
– Despite achievements corruption ran rampant
p478
p479
XIV. The Ku Klux Klan
• Embittered whites raged against “radical” rule
• Most notorious—“Invisible Empire of the South”
– Ku Klux Klan, used terror against “upstart” Blacks
• The goals of white resistance
– Undermined attempts to empower blacks politically
– Wholesale disfranchisement of blacks in 1890
p479
XV. Johnson Walks the Impeachment Plank
• Radicals attempt to remove President Johnson
– Tenure of Office Act (1867)
• Impeachment
– Johnson dismissed (Sec of War) Stanton in 1868
– House voted 126 to 47 to impeach Johnson
p481
XVI. A Not-Guilty Verdict for Johnson
• Andrew Johnson impeached by House
• Found innocent
– Radicals one vote short of 2/3s majority
– Seven Republicans senators voted “not guilty”
XVII. The Purchase of Alaska (1867)
• Russian wanted to sell Alaskan Territory
• U.S. wanted to buy Alaska
– Russia supported the North during the Civil War
– The territory had many resources
– $7.2 million was a bargain
Map 22-2 p482
XVIII. The Heritage of Reconstruction
• Southern Whites saw “Reconstruction” as bad
– Upended their social, economic, & racial system
– Resented federal intervention in their affairs
• The Old South - resurrected not reconstructed
– Continued woe for generations of southern blacks
p482