Reconstruction and the New South

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Thirteenth Amendment

Thirteenth Amendment

• 1st of several amendments passed following the Civil War to deal with the post-war socio-political atmosphere

• This amendment abolished slavery within the U.S. & all territories under U.S. Control

• Under Johnson’s plan, Southern states were theoretically required to ratify the amendment before re-admittance

  (Ratified in September, war ended in April)

Freedmen’s Bureau

• Established 6 weeks before Lincoln’s assassination as “the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, & Abandoned Lands.“

• Helped war refugees get farms working, providing meals, build hospitals & schools, treat illnesses, find work, etc…

• The approximately 10,000 families settled on half a million acres of “Sherman“ land would later be displaced

Reconstruction Plans

Restoration:

• Moderate Republican plan to rebuild the South by nurturing pro-Union gov’ts & restoring Southern Congressional representation

• Barely happened and stopped being followed after Lincoln’s assassination

Reconstruction:

• Radical Republican plan to rebuild in steps that would ensure political & economic equality for freedmen while restricting ex-Confederates from acquiring power

• Adopted after Johnston took office for a brief period of about 9 years

Redemption

• ex-Confederate/Democratic plan in which Southerners would rebuild their own economies, societies, & political institutions while reclaiming power over their own affairs

• Overall mainly followed for about 80-90 years

Radical Republicans

• Legislators most critical of Lincoln & Johnston’s plans, believing the North should be avenged & South reformed

• Argued the South had renounced statehood & therefore had no Constitutional rights; they were conquered territories

• Three Key issues

  1. Ex-Confederate leaders should be kept from power

  2. The Republican party should become dominant in the South

  3. The gov’t should ensure civil equality & suffrage for blacks

Senator Charles Sumner

• Mass. Senator and Radical Republican who started fighting for African-American rights as early as 1862

• Never fully recovered from the brooks attack, Sumner was bitter over the Southern secessionist campaign

Rep. Thaddeus Stevens

• Penn. Congressman & Radical Republican who had taken up the abolitionist cause early in life

• Bitter over the Confederate destruction of his ironworks industry &

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Peonage

• Forced servitude due to debt

• Financial Exploitation

Lincoln’s Proclamation of Amnesty & Reconstruction

• Restoration plan announced in Dec. 1863; including:

  1. General amnesty to Confederate citizens except high-ranking civil & military officials

  2. A required citizen oath of future loyalty to the Union & acceptance of wartime legislation & proclamations

  3. 10% of 1860 voters must take the oath before southern state governments will be recognized

• Lincoln hoped southern Whigs would implement this plan; which did occur in Louisiana, Arkansas, & Tennessee

• Radicals & some moderates in the Republican party opposed Lincoln’s plan because they believed it was too lenient

Wade-Davis Bill

• 1864 legislative reconstruction plan passed by radical & moderate Republicans as an alternate to Lincoln’s plan

• Required:

  1. Each southern state to compile a list of adult white males

  2. A majority of adult white men would need to swear allegiance to the Union

  3. A state constitutional convention could be called when thus was achieved

  4. Those voting for convention delegates, or wishing to serve, would need to make an added “ironclad oath“ of past purity

• The bill also called for legal prohibition of slavery & permanent disenfranchisement of all ex-Confederate leaders

• Would leave white southerners opposed to the Confederacy and freedmen to construct new constitutions

John Wilker Booth

• Actor & Confederate patriot who became President Lincoln’s assassin on April 14, 1865

• Wanted revenge for the Confederacy’s defeat & end of slavery

• Many were involved in the plot, originally to kidnap the president to force Union recognition of the Confederacy

• Following Lee’s surrender, however, Booth changed his plan to kill Lincoln, VP Johnson, & Sec. State Seward

• At Ford’s Theater in Washington, Booth walked into the President’s box, shot him, stabbed another, and leapt to the stage to escape

• Co-conspirators wounded Seward but the attack on Johnson never took place

• Eight of Booth’s gang were convicted; four were hanged

“possessory titles“

• Land confiscated form southern landowners & redistributed to nearly 50,000 freed slaves under Sherman’s Special Field Order No. 15 (40 acres)

Andrew Johnson

• Lincoln’s VP & 17th president following Lincoln’s assassination

• Former slaveholding Tennessee Democrat who stood against secession & blamed Southern planters for the war

• Military governor of Tennessee selected as VP in 1864 to promote unity

• When Lincoln died Johnson vowed to follow his reconstruction plans

Johnson’s Reconstruction Proclamation (1865)

• Similar to Lincoln’s plan, though executed very differently

  1. Demanded that Southern states revoke ordinances of secession & ratify the 13th Amendment

  2. Offered amnesty & return of property to southerners who took an oath of loyalty to the U.S.

  3. Confederate officials & those holding more than $20,000 in taxable property were excluded from amnesty but could petition Johnson for an individual pardon

• Proving lenient with his pardoning power, Johnon allowed many ex-Confederate leaders to regain political control

Black Codes

• Legislation passed in southern states starting in 1865, designed to keep blacks oppressed

• Typically based on old slave codes that limited the movement and rights of African-Americans

• Specifics:

  • Unemployed arrested for vagrancy & placed in labor contracts

  • Limited blacks to agricultural jobs unless issued a skill license

  • Curfews limited movement

  • Restricted certain places they could live

  • Prohibited African-American meetings

  • Denied suffrage, interracial marriage, right to be a witness

• Northern outrage over Black Codes led them to refuse to seat Congressmen elected from the South

Civil Rights Act (1866)

• Legislation defining citizen rights for freedmen, including property rights, contract rights, & access to the court system

• Authorized the gov’t to intervene in state affairs to protect the rights of all U.S. citizens

• Passed by a large majority but vetoed by Jonson on the grounds that southern states lacked representation

• Johnson also claimed it discriminated against immigrants who had to wait 5 years before becoming citizens

• Johnson’s veto made moderate Republicans turn radical

• Republicans would override Johnson’s veto as well as his second veto of the Freedman’s Bureau bill

Fourteenth Amendment

Reconstruction Act of 1867

US Congress passed a law dividing the South into 5 military districts. The law required Southern states to create new constitutions ensuring Black suffrage and ratify the 14th Amendment. This aimed to rebuild the South after the Civil War and ensure equal rights for African Americans.

Reconstruction Act of 1867

The Reconstruction Act of 1867 was a law passed by the US Congress that divided the South into five military districts and required each state to create a new constitution that included ____________ rights for African Americans.

Fifteenth Amendment

The 15th Amendment to the US Constitution, ratified in 1870, forbids denying a citizen's right to vote based on race, color, or past servitude.

Fifteenth Amendment

The __________ Amendment to the United States Constitution granted African American men the right to vote, stating that the right to vote shall not be denied on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Tenure of Office Act

A US federal law passed in 1867 that required Senate approval for the President's dismissal of any federal official whose appointment had been confirmed by the Senate. It was aimed at limiting the President's power and protecting civil servants from arbitrary dismissal. It was later repealed in 1887.

Tenure of Office Act

The _______ was a law passed by Congress in 1867 that required Senate approval for the President to remove certain officeholders, including Cabinet members, without the Senate's consent.

Johnson's impeachment

• Congressional process carried out in the House, in which a federal official is charged with “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors“

• After Johnson dismissed Stanton the House brought 11 charges of criminal misconduct against him in a 128 to 47 vote

• The Tenure act was one of many to reduce presidential powers (i.e.-Command of Army Act took Johnson’s Commander in Chief powers)

• While Johnson was impeached, the Senate fell one vote short of the 2/3rds majority needed to convict & remove him

• Several moderate Republicans felt that removing Johnson would undermine future presidencies

Impeachment

Referring to the to the ________ of President Andrew Johnson by the House of Representatives in 1868. It was the first impeachment of a U.S. president and was based on his violation of the Tenure of Office Act. However, Johnson was ultimately acquitted by the Senate.

Scalawags

Scalawags were white Southern Republicans who supported Reconstruction and the Republican Party during the post-Civil War era. They were often seen as traitors by their fellow Southerners who opposed Reconstruction and the Republican Party. Many Scalawags were small farmers or businessmen who saw the Republican Party as a means to improve their economic and social status.