Reconstruction

Reconstruction-Key Presidents/people: Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, U.S. Grant, and Rutherford B. Hayes (Hayes’s election marks the ‘end’ of Reconstruction through deal to pull U.S. military out of South; Thaddeus Stevens - key leader in the Radical Republicans to restructure south to provide for full/complete equality for African Americans and also to impeach President Johnson -Key Reconstruction Plans: Lincoln’s 10% Plan - 10% of registered voters to pledge loyalty to Union, abolish slavery Wade-Davis Bill - required the ‘Ironclad oath’ of 50% of registered voters in states who left the union, was pocket-vetoed by President Lincoln, who was more moderate than the Radical Republicans, abolish slavery Johnson’s treatment of southerners (emphasis on states’ rights - 10th amendment) - slavery is over, yet states are left to themselves how they want to restructure their government. Policies/Amendments: 10th amendment- Those powers not given to the national government are reserved to the states (reserved powers - states) 13th amendment - Abolished slavery 14th amendment - Granted citizenship to newly freed slaves; Equal Protection clause - the foundation of civil rights; most powerful amendment in the U.S. Constitution 15th amendment - Granted voting rights to African American men (women got the right to vote later with the 19th amendment) *Acceptance on behalf of state legislatures in the south was a condition of readmission into the Union following the war Civil Rights Act of 1866 - initially vetoed by President Johnson, served as the framework for the 14th amendment Civil Rights - a person’s equality before the law; it is a legally evolving issue as the ideology of society changes (what should be considered a civil right? <= Is the debate society had then and is having now, what is considered a civil right depends on one’s ideology and what ultimately becomes a civil right is determined by the courts/justice system/Supreme Court) Black Codes - restrictive laws in the south designed to prevent full African American participation in the south - later became known as ‘Jim Crow’ laws. Ku Klux Klan - first Klan headed by Nathan Bedford Forrest, dismantled considerably during presidency of U.S. Grant; sought to prevent African American voting through terrorism so that Democratic control can stay in the south as African Americans would vote Republican; did much of their terror at night *Despite many scandals in his administration, President Grant fought for African American civil rights while in office White League - same ideology as the Klan, was more localized and operated more in the open Sharecropping - system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in exchange for a share of the crop; many view this as a replacement for slavery and a tactic to keep slavery intact in the south Freedman’s Bureau - Created by Congress to promote African American interests in the U.S. Creation of Howard University - chartered by Congress in 1867 and named after Oliver Otis Howard, who headed the Freedmen’s Bureau Impeachment of Johnson as a result of the Tenure in Office Act- tactic by Radical Republicans to oust Johnson who stood in the way of their agenda to restructure/reorganize the south; Johnson is not removed from office Military Reconstruction Act of 1867 - south divided into 5 military districts, military posted to maintain order