Reconstruction, Part 2
The ruins of a
Train Depot after
the Civil War.
THE RADICAL
REPUBLICANS
Radical Republican leaders
Thadeus Stevens and
Charles Sumner
•Although President Johnson
agreed to let Texas back into
the Union, Congress did not
and refused to accept the
Constitution of 1866.
•The Radical Republicans
saw Reconstruction as a way
to punish the Southerners
and gain fair treatment for
Freedmen.
•Not long after Texas was refused its return to
the Union, the Radical Republicans in Congress
gained enough power to win any vote in
Congress and overturn any presidential veto.
The “Black Codes”
convinced the
Republicans that
Texas could not be
trusted to deal fairly
with African
Americans.
Radicial Republicans impeached
Andrew Johnson. He survived his trial
in the Senate by only one vote.
•The Republican’s passed the
Fourteenth Amendment. Among other
parts of this amendment, it granted
citizenship to former slaves.
•The Fourteenth Amendment did away
with the black codes and granted legal
equality to former slaves.
•Texas did not accept it and of the
former Confederate states, only
Tennessee agreed to the amendment.
The
Fourteenth
Amendment
Reconstruction Act of 1867
• Congress was angered by Texas and the
other Confederate states refusing to ratify the
14th Amendment.
• The Radical Republicans took a stand by
passing the Reconstruction Act of 1867.
– This act put Texas and the other Southern
states (excluding Tennessee) under
military rule.
– This act divided the ten states into five
military districts.
5 Military
Districts
•Texas was combined with Louisiana and placed
in the 5th district and fell under command of
General Philip H. Sheridan.
Ironclad
Oath
•The military controlled the
South for several years, the
Governors were appointed and
had no real power.
•Union troops began to register
voters, but required those voters
to take an “ironclad oath” which
claimed that their past loyalty
was only to the Union.
•This meant that white men who
were former Confederates
could no longer vote. This
angered many in the South.
Carpetbaggers
The South saw
the Northerners
as
Carpetbaggers, or
people trying to
ruin the south for
their personal
gain.
The Ku Klux Klan
• Many plantation owners and
former Confederate soldiers
did not want African
Americans to have rights.
• A secret group called the Ku
Klux Klan was formed.
• The goal of this group was to:
– restore Democratic control
of the South
– keep former slaves
powerless
Nathan Bedford Forrest was a former
Confederate General and the First
Leader of the Ku Klux Klan
The 15th Amendment
•The 15th Amendment to the
U.S. Constitution was passed
to guarantee freedman the
right to vote
•Despite the efforts of the Ku Klux
Klan, over 50,000 African
American men in Texas registered
to vote.
•Ten were even elected to the
Constitutional Convention of 1869.
Freedman Voting
Matthew
Gaines
became a
Texas State
Senator in
1869.
AFRICAN AMERICAN LEGISLATORS
• The New Constitution of 1869:
– This was a Radical Republican Constitution for Texas!
– declared the Constitution of the U.S. as law
– guaranteed the right of ALL men to vote or suffrage
(regardless of race, color, or former condition)
– established the foundation for a public school system for
ALL children
– system of law enforcement
• In November 1869 elections of officers of the new
state government were held.
• Radical Republican E.J. Davis was elected Governor
• Many Texans claimed that the
army had unfairly made sure
Davis was elected.
• Many Texans remained
determined to regain control of
their state.
• Davis and the legislature
ratified the 14th Amendment,
which was a requirement
from then US Congress for
Reconstruction.
• Texas was readmitted to the
Union on March 8th , 1870.
E.J. Davis
The Redeemers
•After Texas was re-admitted to the Union,
President Ulysses S. Grant declared
reconstruction over in Texas.
•The Texas legislature gave Davis
significant power. The people that
opposed Davis were known as
redeemers. They determined to
“save” Texas from the Radical
Republicans.
•The redeemers called Davis’
programs the “Obnoxious Acts”
Davis had been a
General in the Union
Army
The Redeemers: “I won’t be Reconstructed!”
•Soon the Supreme Court ruled that the Ironclad
Oath was unconstitutional. The government has
no authority to disenfranchise (take away the right
to vote) people who had never been convicted of
a crime in a court of law.
Southerners hated the oath and
a similar “Oath of Allegiance”
they were forced to take after
the war. They didn’t feel they
should be “pardoned” for their
actions and did not want
forgiveness for the war. They felt
they had fought for their rights.
“Good Ole Rebel”
-Popular song in the south at the
time
The Redeemers “I won’t be Reconstructed!”
•Soon the Supreme Court ruled that the Ironclad
Oath was unconstitutional. The government has
no authority to disenfranchise (take away the right
to vote) people who had never been convicted of
a crime in a court of law.
Southerners hated the oath and a
similar “Oath of Allegiance” they
were forced to take after the war.
They didn’t feel they should be
“pardoned” for their actions and
did not want forgiveness for the
war. They felt they had fought for
their rights.
“Good Ole Rebel”
-Popular song in
the south at the
time
In the 1872 elections,
Democrats gained control of
Texas and began to undo the
actions of Davis.
Davis was defeated in the
1873 governor’s race by
Richard Coke.
Richard Coke was
the first Democratic
Governor in Texas
since the war
•Davis refused to leave office, claiming the
election was a fraud. He and his supporters
even barricaded themselves in their offices.
•Eventually, Coke took office and this truly
signaled the end of Reconstruction in Texas.
•The redeemers called a Constitution convention
to re-write the Constitution once again.
•The new Constitution of 1876 would supremely
limit the power of the governor and allow the
legislature to meet only every other year.
As a result of the redeemers,
African Americans soon lost
much of the social ground they
had recently gained.
Racist “Jim Crow Laws” would
The Constitution of 1876 is the
be written and followed for
same one Texas has today, though
many changes have been made.
over a hundred years.
Reconstruction Amendments
Free, Citizen, Vote
13,14,15