Week 1: Introduction American History Since 1876

Week One - Course Introduction Lots of the railroads in the U.S. South had been burned/destroyed after the Civil War -the same that was said of the railroads could have been said of the U.S. South itself in the post-Civil War era How would these states be brought back into the union? citizenship & equality - the two things hanging in the balance of the new Union (post-Civil War America) It took a long time for Black Americans and Afro-Americans to finally be considered "American citizens," due to some resistance (this resistance was made obvious by the whole Civil Rights Movement a whole century later in the 1960s) But why did the Reconstruction collapse? -Andrew Johnson, Lincoln's successor to the presidential seat -Lincoln's Reconstruction piece began in 1863, assuming the Union would win (and it did!) -The Emancipation Proclamation only worked in certain Confederate states where Union support was rising up in rebellion -in the other Confederate states, Johnson allowed antebellum power relationships to proceed as usual. They issued Black Codes & other laws to inhibit full social & economical freedom of Black Americans -Johnson's ultimate aim seemed to be restoring the antebellum southern U.S. Andrew Johnson did not believe Afro-Americans deserved the same rights as other Americans... But why?? 1/13/23 Week One, Class Two-Discussion One factor of reconstruction was the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery But in some confederate states, there were still Black Codes, which became the "new slavery" Lincoln began planning the Reconstruction and the reunification of the states, in 1863 before the Civil War even ended. Andrew Johnson allowed the Southerners who participated in the War to go back to their antebellum lives, but the rich aristocrats had to appeal to him. The white response to black freedom included violence & discrimination (like the Ku Klux Klan) Congress pushed for the Confederacy to pass the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments before returning to the Union Week Two-Day One: Discussion Black Codes White men and Black men were now equals, White women and Black women... not yet. White women were viewed by the Black Codes as the White men's property. Black freedmen were already poorly paid, and they could be penalized for quitting their jobs. So unfair! The Mississippi Black Codes say that white men and Black freedmen both had the right to property, be sued, impaled and be impaled and may acquire personal property... and then turns right around to say that no Black freedmen or mixed person can lease or rent any land, unless it's city land. there was hardly any "city" in Mississippi Jourdan Anderson!! Week Two, Day Two The Freedmen's Bureau helps establish citizenship among the rich, white landowners. Funny how under slavery, men and women were equal White men & white women weren't even on the same level Maybe women were against the suffrage movement because they were scared of change/the unknown they didn't want the dangerous jobs that men had (or they didn't want careers) The Women's Rights activists were seen as unattractive & unfit for marriage The 14th Amendment was originally gender-specific. It used to say that "males" had the right to vote. But that was only in Section 2. Section 1 of the same amendment says "all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens and therefore have the rights of one" Week One Review (for Quiz 1: Reconstruction) Violence was used during the post-emancipation period to stifle Black advancement (keep the antebellum order in place without actually enslaving the Black people) in the South. The slave people had been conditioned to view Blacks as property because it was how they'd been treated for hundreds of years (AKA brainwashing). These methods of violence included: attacks against Black political authority. interpersonal fights organized vigilante groups bushwhackers the infamous KKK White Line, White Camellia & White Brotherhood These vigilante groups would not only target Black people who wanted positions of power (politicians, merchants), or just wanted to exercise their newly granted citizenship, they also targeted white politicians who supported racial equality. 13th Amendment: abolished slavery in America -the Black Codes were written in certain Southern states so they could get away with Black inferiority without fully enslaving them all over again. The Federal Government passed the Enforcement Acts in 1870-71 (WARAY too late) that deemed it a criminal offense to deprive Black citizens of their civil rights. But then, by 1876, the federal government's opposition to anti-Black vigilante groups weakened!!! Why??? The states were fighting back against the federal attempt to Reconstruct America - the land of the free for all... It was the Democrats pushing back against the Republican federal government. The Democrats wanted to keep white supremacy going. The pushback against the federal government trying to establish Reconstruction...