Period 5 1844-1877 Reconstruction

Period 5 | 1844-1877 Topic 5.10 | Reconstruction AP Learning Objective K: Explain the effects of government policy during Reconstruction on society from 1865 to 1877. 1.​ War Aftermath a.​ The Civil War was fought with devastating costs. b.​ Overall, more than 3 million men fought in the war, and of these, 500,000 died. This was 2% of the population. At least as many were seriously wounded. c.​ During Sherman’s March from Atlanta to the sea in the fall of 1864, the Union army burned everything in its path. Entire cities lay in ruins. d.​ Two-thirds of southern railroads had been destroyed and at least one-third of its livestock had been destroyed or disappeared. e.​ The South was in dire straits. f.​ The process of Reconstruction was rooted in several questions: i.​ What was the political and legal status of the former Confederate states who had fought a war against America? ii.​ How would the four million formerly enslaved Black Americans be reincorporated into American society? iii.​ How should the nation rebuild the war-torn South? g.​ The initial focus of the government was on the first question: readmission of the South to the Union. 2.​ Presidential Reconstruction: Lincoln a.​ Lincoln’s Ten Percent Plan i.​ Even before the war had reached a close and the full destruction of the South became known, Lincoln began to devise a plan for reconstruction. ii.​ On December 8th, 1863, he issued a proclamation setting forth a general policy that has become known as the “Ten Percent Plan”. This plan stated that all Southerners could reinstate themselves as United States citizens by taking a simple loyalty oath. When, in any state, a number equal to 10 percent of those who voted in the 1860 election had taken this oath, they could set up state government. The governments must: 1.​ be republican in form 2.​ recognize the “permanent freedom” of slaves 3.​ provide an education for freed blacks b.​ Congress’s Response: The Wade-Davis Bill i.​ Radical Republicans in Congress disliked Lincoln’s 10% Plan, viewing it as too moderate. ii.​ In fact, even before the war had ended, the occupied states of Tennessee, Louisiana, and Arkansas had reestablished loyal governments meeting Lincoln’s criteria, but Radical Republicans in Congress refused to admit representatives from these states into Congress. iii.​ Thus, in July 1864, they passed the Wade-Davis Bill, which required a majority of southerners in a given state to take the loyalty oath. Moreover, Confederate officials and anyone who had “voluntarily borne arms against the United States” were barred from voting. iv.​ This significantly harsher bill was pocket vetoed by Lincoln, simply leaving it unsigned. v.​ What would Reconstruction have looked like under Lincoln? This question remains unanswered, because… c.​ Lincoln’s Assassination i.​ On April 5th, 1865, Lincoln visited the captured city of Richmond. ii.​ A few days later, on April 9th, the South surrendered. iii.​ On the evening of April 14th, Lincoln was watching a performance of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater. iv.​ Actor John Wilkes Booth slipped into the president’s box and fired a single shot into the back of his head with a small pistol (timed so the audience’s laughter would mask the sound). v.​ As supporters of slavery, Booth and his co-conspirators believed Lincoln was determined to overthrow the Constitution and destroy the South. vi.​ Early the next morning, Lincoln died. His Vice President, former Democratic Tennessee Governor Andrew Johnson, became president. 3.​ Presidential Reconstruction: Johnson a.​ Andrew Johnson believed that Reconstruction was an executive branch matter and sought the rapid restoration of the former Confederate states to the Union b.​ Johnson took the oath of office when Congress was in recess, putting him in charge of Reconstruction from April to December. c.​ Johnson revealed his Reconstruction Plan—or “Restoration” as he called it—soon after he took office and implemented it in the summer of 1865, when Congress was in recess. d.​ Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan, similar to Lincoln’s, called for Southern states to: i.​ Withdraw its secession ii.​ Swear allegiance to the Union (with a higher threshold than Lincoln’s 10%) iii.​ Ratify the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery e.​ At the same time, Johnson pardoned more than 13,000 former Confederates, which angered Radical Republicans. f.​ By December 1865, when Congress was reconvening, all seceded states had formed new governments under this lenient plan and awaited Congressional approval. 4.​ Congressional (Radical) Reconstruction a.​ Congress’s Turn i.​ When Congress reconvened on December 4th, 1865, the clerk in Congress refused to read the names of any of the southern delegates. ii.​ The Radical Republican Congress was thus asserting its control over Reconstruction. It was now their turn. iii.​ In February 1866, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which declared specifically the blacks were citizens and could not have their rights to property restricted. It essentially put teeth in the 13th Amendment, which had been ratified in 1865. Though Johnson vetoed the act, it was passed over his veto with a two-thirds veto on April 9th, 1866—the first major piece of legislation that became law over the veto of a president. iv.​ Importantly, the passage of this bill effectively announced that the national government had the responsibility of protecting the rights of citizens, not states. b.​ Massacre in Memphis i.​ Less than a month later, from May 1st to May 3rd, racial violence was ignited in the wake of the political, social, and racial tensions that characterized the South during Reconstruction. ii.​ White mobs, including most of the city’s police force, began to roam the street, on the hunt for Black people. iii.​ It took the army three days to regain control of Memphis. By that time, every Black church and every Black school had been burned to the ground. At least 48 people had been killed, all but two of whom were Black. iv.​ Three months later, in August, forty more were killed in a similar massacre in New Orleans. v.​ This southern violence sparked a push for the creation and passage of the 14th amendment. c.​ The Early Reconstruction Amendments i.​ The 13th Amendment (1865): 1.​ The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, had been ratified in December 1865, by the time Congress had reconvened ii.​ The 14th Amendment (1868): 1.​ The 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to anyone, regardless of race, born in the United States. This amendment effectively overturned the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision. Moreover, it struck at discriminatory legislation like the Black Codes, stating that no law can “abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” 2.​ It was first passed by Congress in June 1866, after Congress heard testimony from victims in the Memphis Massacre. However, according to the constitution, 3/4ths of the states need to ratify the amendment for it to go into effect. Every southern state at the time had an all-white state legislature. And every such government—except for Tennessee—refused to ratify the amendment. Congress would need to take drastic measures… 5.​ Military Reconstruction a.​ The Structure i.​ Every former state, except Tennessee, remained out of the Union, having no say in federal elections. So, the 1866 midterms resulted in significant majorities for Republicans, with 173 seats in the House of Representatives, compared to just 47 for the Democrats. Importantly, this gave Congress the two-thirds majority to overrule any presidential veto. Johnson was effectively completely neutralized. ii.​ Thus, by the spring of 1867, the Radical Republicans were firmly in control. iii.​ Reconstruction therefore entered a bold new phase, Military Reconstruction, with an effort to reorganize the South. George Julian of Indian argued that what the South really needed was “government, the strong arm of power, outstretched from the central authority here in Washington” to “remove the rubbish and build from the bottom.” iv.​ And so, they did. v.​ On March 2nd, 1867, Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Act (over Johnson’s veto). vi.​ This separated the southern states into 5 military districts, each overseen by a Union military general. vii.​ Congress then laid out strict new terms. To reenter the Union: 1.​ The rebel states had to adopt new constitutions 2.​ They had to give black men the right to vote (even though many northern states hypocritically did not grant this right to black men at this point) 3.​ They had to elect new state governments 4.​ And they had to ratify the 14th Amendment viii.​ Due to the aggressive terms and enforcement of these terms, Southerners at the time called this “bayonet rule” b.​ Enforcement i.​ Congress then proceeded to add Supplementary Reconstruction Acts, which directed the military commanders to begin the enrollment of voters. In the South, the provisional governments established by Johnson were swept away, and the registration of blacks and whites who had not supported secession began. ii.​ Activists and army officers spread out across the South registering freedmen to vote as martial law was declared in the southern states. iii.​ Those white southerners who cooperated with Radical Reconstruction in this period were labeled “scalawags” and northern whites who traveled into the military districts to advance the Radical cause were called “carpetbaggers.” iv.​ At the beginning of 1867, fewer than 1% of all Black men in the U.S. could vote. By the end of 1867, that number was higher than 80%. The vast majority of registered Black voters were Republican. v.​ By June 1868, six of the former Confederate states were admitted, having met Congress’s requirements, and by July of 1868, the 14th Amendment was officially ratified, reaching the ¾ths vote necessary by the state legislatures. vi.​ As if this moment in history wasn’t dramatic enough, just weeks earlier, Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives and had escaped removal by a single vote in the Senate after a dubious violation of the Tenure of Office Act. This made him the first president in the history of the U.S. to be impeached. c.​ 1868 Presidential Election i.​ By the Election of 1868, all Confederate states except Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas had met the requirements under Military Reconstruction and reentered the Union in time for the election. ii.​ White gangs terrorized black voters in New Orleans and other major southern cities, and Republicans in Georgia and Louisiana had to abandon campaigning altogether. iii.​ However, more than 500,000 Black men cast their votes. As a result, every southern state excepts Georgia and Louisiana voted for the Republican candidate, Ulysses. S. Grant. d.​ The 15th Amendment i.​ Context 1.​ Following the election of 1868, Radical Republicans’ strength and determination were renewed. Suddenly, Congress blossomed with suffrage amendments. Finally, after considerable bickering, the 15th Amendment was sent to the states for ratification in February 1869. 2.​ This 15th amendment forbade all states the denial of the right to vote to anyone “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” 3.​ The remaining unconstructed states—Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas—had to ratify this amendment before they could be considered for readmission into the Union. ii.​ Women’s Suffrage 1.​ The 15th Amendment said nothing about denial of the vote on the basis of sex, which caused feminists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony significant frustration. 2.​ Men protected their own rights, they argued, but not the rights of women. 3.​ This and the 14th amendment – parts of which only protected “males” – split the women’s suffrage movement into two, leading to decades of bitter partisanship between the two wings. 4.​ In 1869, the National Woman Suffrage Organization (NWSA) was formed and admitted only women. This group favored a federal solution to women’s suffrage, namely an amendment. Moreover, this group also supported broader individual rights for women. This group opposed the 15th Amendment, which they believed should include women. 5.​ The more conservative group, the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), also formed in 1869, but favored a state-by-state effort at securing women’s suffrage. This group supported the 15th amendment and accepted both men and women members. iii.​ Ratification 1.​ Virginia ratified the 15th Amendment in January 1870, Mississippi in February, and Texas in March. 2.​ And thus, the 15th Amendment was ratified on March 30th, 1870 and all states were officially readmitted into the Union. 3.​ However, Reconstruction was far from over… 6.​ Key Takeaways a.​ Reconstruction altered relationships between the states and the federal government and led to debates over new definitions of citizenship, particularly regarding the rights of African Americans, women, and other minorities. b.​ The 13th Amendment abolished slavery, while the 14th and 15th amendments granted African Americans citizenship, equal protection under the laws, and voting rights. c.​ The women’s rights movement was both emboldened and divided over the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution. d.​ Efforts by radical and moderate Republicans to change the balance of power between Congress and the presidency and to reorder race relations in the defeated South yielded some short-term successes. Reconstruction opened up political opportunities and other leadership roles to former slaves, but it ultimately failed, due both to determined Southern resistance and the North’s waning resolve. Key Vocabulary [highlighted throughout PowerPoint and Lecture] Pink: fundamentally important [1] War Aftermath --- [2] Presidential Reconstruction: Lincoln Ten Percent Plan Wade-Davis Bill Green: Very important [3] Presidential Reconstruction: Johnson Johnson’s Reconstruction Plan Yellow: Somewhat important (“nice to know”) [4] Congressional [5] Military Reconstruction Reconstruction 13th Amendment 15th Amendment th Military Reconstruction 14 Amendment Civil Rights Act of 1866 “scalawags” “carpetbaggers” women’s suffrage movement split bayonet rule